White isn't a color

[Jaixe Furiael]

“My, time certainly flies when you’re stuck in an abyss for years.” Jaixe commented under his breath with a hint of irritation and sarcasm, aptly matching his foul mood. Here he was again, wandering between the spires of Coruscant, with people and cars so claustrophobically packed together he had a difficult time believing that traffic ever flowed at all.
 
With no allies, no friends, no lasting effects on the world, and nothing to denote change in the time he was gone; all that he had was himself. He couldn’t remember what happened, only the unending whiteness that befell him and entrapped him for an unknown length of time, testing his sanity to its utmost limits. Did time even truly pass in his absence? He couldn’t say, and that coupled with his jarring reawakening at that damnable fountain did little to set him on the right foot today.
 
What he could say instead is that his head thumped constantly, wracking him with a persistent dull pain, people were rude and far too clustered together, and it was bitterly cold in the afternoons of this world, especially with the constant gusts of wind from squealing trucks and cars flying past at blinding speeds, whose noise seemed to endlessly reverberate in his head like an incessant, pulsing echo. To add to his ire, the sun that would normally help keep him warm decided that hiding behind the various towers was more valuable than giving him even the slightest ray of light and warmth. He cursed whoever designed this city with spires that blot out the sky and continued onward through the oncoming swarm of impatient, impudent pedestrians, pulling his long coat, buttoned up and black with dark crimson stripes along the edges, closer to him for warmth.
 
Despite the string of disappointments and irritants, he was determined to get back into action sooner rather than later. He was cautious and slow before, seeking to be methodical about his approach, and that cost him time. This time he was going to be more assertive and actively hunt his objectives, but to do so he required access to resources he currently lacked. The Empire suited his needs sufficiently for such, and even a modicum of respect in the faction could carry him a long way.
 
It took only a short while to traverse the crowds and find his way into one of many departments dedicated to the ever-so-vigilant Imperial Peace Division. He remembered clearly that the Empire greatly valued Primes that volunteered their services to them, especially those that let the research division conduct excruciating tests on them. Seeing as he was somewhat allergic to being experimented on by Omni-knows who or what, he chose the more sensible option of hunting down criminals.
 
The massive lofty complex that served as a base of operations for what essentially were the peacekeepers of Imperial society in this verse was certainly difficult to take in completely, mostly since the Empire valued signs of power and prestige over practicality in its architecture. The many stories were likely filled to the brim with Stormtroopers and office workers performing a variety of tasks that kept the gears of this well-oiled machine of “justice” turning.
 
Upon entering the stately lobby, Jaixe was immediately greeted with further irritation at their choice of décor. It wasn’t the polished floors, clean, almost featureless walls, the organized kiosks and waiting benches, nor the people walking to and fro and conversing about this problem or that report, no. It was the color, the Imperial white that surrounded him and which almost sent him reeling.

What is with that damn non-color that everyone likes so much?! He thought to himself, suppressing an almost involuntary urge to go slicing up the room.
 
Shaking off his momentary lapse into fury, he wandered over on silent footsteps to one of the workers at the front desk, attempting to put on his best neutral face as he could manage.
 
The man was a dreary looking person to be sure, sitting at his desk in his trim, metal gray uniform and his short, well-kempt hair combed over to the side, half-consciously reading through reports and news, and only making the occasional edit when he can be bothered to pay even the slightest bit attention to what he's doing rather than staring into the abyss. He didn’t seem to even register Jaixe’s arrival, at first, until he noticed that the light got dim suddenly. He looked up at Jaixe with a bored expression, “Can I help you?”
 
Jaixe stifled a sigh before replying, “I noticed a public request for the assistance of a Prime to hunt down a rather peculiar target or two...”
Jaixe brought up the public notice in question, a bounty on some petty criminal that’s been giving the local law enforcement agency some trouble to show to the officer.
 
The man nodded, “Yeah, put that up a few days ago. Guessing you want info?”
“That would be ideal,” Jaixe affirmed, returning the device to his pocket.
“Alrighty,” The small man stood up with a sigh, “follow me then, I’ll get ya started.”
 
“That particular bastard’s been irritating us for the past couple of weeks,” the man started as the duo walked around the desk and down into the nearby hallway.
 
“Seems to me he’s been trying to get under our skins and taunt us.”
“I think I can relate…” Jaixe mumbled, attempting his best to ignore the ever-clean, blank white hallways.
 
“Why just the other day he…,” the officer went on and on about the various deeds and misadventures of this criminal and their gang and the division's attempts to track and catch them. They called themselves the Red Death or something like that, Jaixe wasn't paying much attention. He didn’t particularly find the name all that unique either, but in the den of scum and villainy that is the lower levels of Coruscant, he supposed creativity had its limits. At least they didn’t name themselves the White Death...

[Boba Fett]

Odin stepped into the EPD office and the door swooshed closed behind him. Normally he hated the over-sanitized aesthetic of the stormtroopers but now found it reassuring. If things were the same way here as they were back home, they would need professionals to get the real work done.
 
“I was told you would have need of a bounty hunter,” he said without introducing himself.
 
The man behind the desk frowned as he looked over Fett. “That supposed to be some kind of rip-off stormtrooper armor?” The Mandalorian clenched his fist and glared at the man through his visor but didn’t even get a chance to respond. “Because if you ain’t a Prime, it isn’t going to do you any good.”
 
It took a moment for Fett to understand what he meant. His mind ran back through what he had learned over the past few hours. Finally, it clicked. “I’m a Prime,” he responded curtly, “name’s Boba Fett.”
 
If the rudeness bothered the Imperial agent, he didn’t show it. “Alright, good. We have a problem that we could use some help with. If you follow me, I’ll show you to the room the other guy is being briefed in.”
 
Other guy? “You got anything else? I don’t like working with strangers,” stated Fett.
 
The officer suddenly turned on Fett. “Look big guy. I’ve never heard of you. You might have been some kind of big shot where you come from, but around here, you’re fresh meat. This is what I need taken care of. So, do you want the job or not?”
 
Fett squeezed the grip of his carbine but refused to let his professionalism lax any more than that. “I’ll get it done,” he replied in a detached tone. It must have been good enough for the Imperial because he turned away and continued leading him.
 
They came to a door marked C-21, and it slid open. Inside were two men. One was clearly another officer and was showing the other man some photos on a holo-projector. Fett’s soon-to-be-partner wasn’t even looking at the information that was being presented. He was looking in its general direction, but his glazed-over eyes said it was little more than lip service.
 
“I got another one,” explained the officer that brought Fett. “Name’s Boba Fett. He’s a bounty hunter looking for work.” And without another word, he turned and left.
 
“Ok, Fett. Thanks for joining the class. As I was saying, this is Jackie the Shiv. He runs the Red Death. He looks like he is just a punk-ass kid but has really been taking it to us. He’s cunning. Got that criminal intelligence, you know what I mean?” He wasn’t looking for an answer to the question, which was good, because Fett and Jaixe were busy looking each other over.

---

Half an hour later, the two men stepped back out onto the streets of Coruscant. Jaixe was glad for the change of scenery, but the grey of the buildings that were stacked around them wasn’t that much of an improvement. “Where do you think we should start?” the Heartless asked coolly.
 
“Sounds like most of his activity is on Tier 5. I don’t really have any contacts there though. You know anyone?” Fett asked. Truth was, he didn’t have contacts anywhere, but that wasn’t something he was jumping to share.
 
Jaixe barely managed to not roll his eyes, but the truth was that he was a little short of contacts too. And to be honest, it wouldn’t hurt to have someone watching his back down there either. “I'm a little lacking there as well. I suppose we could look around until something finds us.”
 
“I got no problem with a little old-fashioned leg work,” replied the bounty hunter as he checked the battery pack in his carbine. “I think the lifts are this way…”

[Jaixe Furiael]

Jaixe found it rather easy to reach a nearby lift through the crowd of pedestrians in the city. Of course, many things, he figured, would be easier if one had an armored and well-armed mercenary beside them who stuck out vibrantly against the common sights of Stormtroopers, imperial agents, and various plain-clothed civilians.

The ride down to the lower tier was uneventful, with the Mandalorian occasionally checking his equipment and Jaixe pondering about their strategy moving forward. He had a few theories about what this criminal was like and what his goals were. Jack targeted a multitude of banks, armories, and server nodes, collecting resources and arming his small gang of misfits into something a tad more organized than a run-of-the-mill gang.

The makings of a small crime syndicate, perhaps? Jaixe glowered at the thought of that. An organized insurgency of such a scale would require a greater deal organization and leadership than he thought this “Jack the Shiv” might be capable of.

“This Jack probably has a stake in the local businesses,” Jaixe surmised, “We can probably inspect them, look for hints to his whereabouts, maybe catch one of his thugs. If we posed as Imperial Agents, we’d quite easily become a target for them. Unless you want to do this more stealthily?”

The Mandalorian thought about it for a moment, there was a value to being quiet and subtle after all, but with a lack of any reliable contacts or knowledge, it would be the more difficult method, however, he understood that once you gained their attention, losing it was nigh impossible.

“We should be more cautious, and learn more about the target first.” Fett offered evenly, his expressions hidden behind his helmet. Jaixe frowned, crossing his arms and placing a hand over his mouth as he pondered a moment longer.

“I suppose. Though I doubt we can glean much more from days-old crime scenes and police reports.”

Jaixe weighed the options before them, staring blankly towards the floor.

“If we can get our hands on one of them, we could still learn more about them than any amount of investigation ever could. I suppose we can go about this more traditionally.”

The lift suddenly jerked to a stop and dinged once, the signal of their arrival, and what immediately greeted the two hunters upon the doors opening was the dense, smog-filled air and industrial smell rushing into the cabin of the lift. It was an air that permeated the lower tiers of the world-spanning city, and grew stronger as one neared the expansive factories below. Oddly enough, it was warmer and more humid thanks to being near the sewer systems and the manufactories.

The duo emerged to find a world widely different from the golden cityscape up top. The lower tier had a mute, modern twist with its architecture and layout, with dilapidated stone and concrete buildings and clearly decrepit and unmaintained streets and pathways. The occasional store that were dotted along the roads seemed to be purpose-built to dissuade robbers and burglars with steel bars over the windows and heavy doors as entrances. Neon signs were prevalently utilized, attempting to lure what few customers could be found amongst the poor and undesirables that lingered here.

The poverty that abounded in this place was blatantly conspicuous, thanks to sparse policing by the Empire and a plethora of beggars, thieves, and street gangs to take their place and claim dominion over the shadowed towns and shanties.

“At least down here, we won’t be so obvious.” Jaixe commented, proceeding forth into the cold, unforgiving world that was unmistakably harsher. Boba followed behind, feeling just a tad more at home here.

[Boba Fett]

“How much?” asked Jaixe, his eyes flitting back and forth between the buyer and the various dark alleys all around them. A rat skittered past his foot, and he jumped away without thinking.
 
“Whatcha lookin out for?” the dealer drawled slowly. He had pegged the skinny, black-haired man as some rich guy’s son from level 3, or maybe even 2. He enjoyed pushing them around, reminding them who was in charge down here.
 
“Look, man. I got the Om, just give me the spice,” Jaixe begged, holding out his hand filled with the colorful substance.
 
“Alright, alright,” said the ganger, pulling out two vials from his jacket. “You want red or blue? I can give you a little discount if you want both,” he winked. It wasn’t a friendly wink. It was the wink a cat gives a mouse.
 
Jaixe took the bait. He grabbed the two vials and took off down the nearest alley. The heartless hurtled some empty boxes, and nearly slipped in some black, viscous fluid, before leaping into the fence and pulling himself over. The dealer was only a few steps behind and cursing up a storm. He bulldozed through the boxes and kicked the fence, ripping a hole in it.
 
Jaixe had gained a few seconds by the time he ducked into the next alley, but the thug wasn’t far behind. When the dealer turned the corner, he saw Jaixe facing him, his hand held out and glowing with violet energy and shadowy flames. “Shit,” he muttered, hesitating. He turned to try to escape just in time for the butt of a carbine to crack his cheek bone instead of his skull. The blow put him on his ass and made the world spin, but he wasn’t out yet.
 
“You picked a tough one,” Fett stated as he stood over their victim.
 
“It would be bad for my image to be seen running from a little guy,” smirked Jaixe as he released the blast.
 

---

 
“I think you killed him,” Fett said, trying to feel a pulse on the guy.
 
“I didn’t,” stated Jaixe, only half listening. It had been a half hour since they knocked the guy out. The bounty hunter slapped his face, and he finally started to stir.
 
“Fuck,” he gasped as he tried to struggle free and his bonds bit into him.
 
“Chainsaw blades. They’ll tear your arms and legs to ribbons if you try and get free,” explained Fett. Blood was already dripping down his hands and splattering on the floor. The big man went perfectly still. “There’s a good boy.”
 
“Whaddya want? I ain’t nobody. You can have my Om and drugs,” he scrambled, his cloudy brain trying to grasp onto a familiar narrative.
 
“We’re looking for someone,” continued Fett, stepping closer.
 
He knew this one. “I ain’t no snitch!” he shouted confidently.
 
The bounty hunter calmly pressed on the man’s chest until he toppled over backward, pinning his razor bound arms beneath him. The pool of blood beneath him started to grow quickly. Then, he crouched down and covered the man’s mouth to muffle the screaming. “Tell me where we can find Jackie the Shiv.”
 
“Lucky Dog,” gasp… “Casino,” grunt… “3 blocks,” whimper… “south.” Fett stood and put a three-round burst into the man’s chest.
 
“Let’s go”

[Jaixe Furiael]

The duo stood on a walkway, perched overtop of their destination, the Lucky Dog Casino.

Normally, Jaixe would’ve thought a casino in the fifth tier to be little more than a grander version of an illegal drug store, yet here he was, staring at a sprawling, multistory, neon-lit complex of towers and domes, with blindingly bright spotlights waving in the air constantly, illuminating the lines of traffic and multitude of landing platforms.

“A palace amongst poverty.” Jaixe commented casually, seeming unimpressed and a touch disappointed that their target chose such an obvious location to hide in.

The Mandalorian was indifferent, knowing full well that every criminal had their own special flair.

“It’ll be difficult to find our target. We could split up and scope it out.” The bounty hunter offered.
Jaixe only shook his head,
“We could, but we are fairly conspicuous, and would get picked off one at a time… Let me think…”

Jaixe leaned against the railing, his orange-glowing eyes peering and searching, his thoughts wandering into the distance. Fett glanced at him, and then to the Casino, analyzing the plan of attack, likely locations of the target, potential escape routes and security systems. No doubt it was a fortress on the inside, given how long Jackie has had to set-up his own kingdom in the fifth tier.

“He could either be hiding in a suite or, more likely, using one of the lower levels for his operation. If someone can control such a large casino, odds are likely that they’ll have a plethora of guards. We should be cautious instead, and use two of the limited resources we do have at our disposal.” Jaixe thought aloud, standing up straight and smirking ever so slightly at Fett.

Boba admitted to being the slightest bit curious as to what he meant, peering back at Jaixe, only to see him conjuring some Omnillium in one of his open palms.

The Heartless continued with his suggestion, “The never-ending supply of white Stormtroopers in the Empire’s employ.”

“Gathering that many men for an assault would only make our target aware that we’re tracking him.” Fett countered, somewhat surprised that the Heartless would even suggest that. “He’d run as soon as the transports got near.”

“Yes, he would.” Jaixe admitted with a shrug, still ever smug about his idea. “That’s the point. We know what he looks like, if we can find out where he is, we can track him as he runs in the mayhem and capture him. He doesn’t realize that he’s been tracked, let alone by who.”

Jaixe knelt, holding both hands over an area as the multi-colored bubbles congealed onto the cold metal-grated floor and began flashing in a multitude of colors. The wind kicked up again, and one of the spotlights briefly shone in their general direction, lighting the area up like it was day once more, but quickly passed and returned it to the ever-present night that covered the lower tiers.

“We still have to find him either way. The Stormtroopers will only deal with the hired guards. Not to mention, we could lose him in the confusion.” Fett continued to find holes in the Heartless’s suggestion, curious as to what he was summoning on the floor.

“I have an idea to deal with that, though it may take several minutes more. In the meantime, I should ask if you have a communicator. If we are going to be separated, we need to remain in contact.”

“I made one shortly beforehand.” The Mandalorian replied, grabbing the communicator off of his belt.
“Good, just send me your contact information.”

Jaixe continued his summoning ritual, while developing the plan in his mind.
“I can handle the monitoring systems in the building. From there, I can handle the security systems and door controls. I believe I have someone in mind that can lend assistance with that. Once the assault begins, you can track down the target, with the help of this.”

As Jaixe finished his explanation, the Omnillium bubbles ceased changing color and simply faded away, leaving behind a mass of shadow too small and deformed to be human, but bearing a humanoidal shape all the same. It seemed unrealistic, like an ink splotch in reality, with yellow beady eyes staring unerringly at the Mandalorian, and then at Jaixe.

“What… is that?” Fett asked, confused and unsure of what the creature was that Jaixe summoned.

“A Heartless, a mass of shadow. We can use him to meld into the dark corners of the building, or quite literally become someone’s shadow. I’m certain you understand where I’m going with this, no?” Jaixe inquired of Fett, as if testing him.

“You’re going to use it to track the target, obviously.” The Fett answered, deigning to not voice his irritation with the Heartless for his patronizing tone.

Jaixe simply nodded, “Between the Stormtroopers, the virus that’s going to devastate their systems, and the Heartless tailing Jackie, this should go without much complication. It may take some time to set everything up, however. I will need to summon multiples of these and place tracking devices on them.”

“It will also require the cooperation of the authorities, if they’ll even go for it.” Fett continued with a hum. “It’s risky, but it could work.” The bounty hunter agreed, as the duo set to work.

---

It would be almost an hour before the preparations were complete, slightly longer to convince the local offices to even consider such a raid, though they seemed to already know of suspicious activity within the casino and were monitoring it, but were unaware of the presence of such a high value target.

When all was set, with transports underway and a quick email sent to an acquaintance, the duo set to work. The small Heartless creatures that Jaixe summoned were sent one at a time, hopefully with at least one or two finding their mark. While Jaixe couldn’t issue continuous commands like he normally would be able to, he did command them to not harvest any souls while skulking about. With any luck, the plan would go smoothly.

But the best laid plans are always the first to fail.

[Boba Fett]

As Jaixe worked on getting his plan together, Fett worked on summoning a speeder bike. Chances were that he wouldn’t have a lot of time once Jackie made a break for it. Then he checked his equipment one last time. Everything appeared charged and ready to go. “Testing, check, check,” he said into his comm.
 
“I hear you fine,” replied Jaixe.
 
Good enough. Boba Fett rode his speeder out and around front of the building and parked it near the entrance. The burly bouncer glowered at the heavily armed bounty hunter. “Yoos can’t be parkin’ there and no guns in da casino,” he ordered Fett while showing his pistol in his jacket.
 
Fett returned his carbine to OM and said, “I’m just looking to spend. You know what I am. Don’t go starting trouble.”
 
“Aye, a’right. We ain’t lookin’ for trouble. Enjoy your stay, sir,” he sputtered. Chances are there weren’t a lot of primes rolling into low end casinos and the door man wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. As Fett strolled passed him and into the establishment, he heard the man saying something into his radio. Unsurprisingly, when the bounty hunter got inside, the thugs that passed as security around there were eyeing him. They kept their distance though.
 
He looked around for a Sabacc table, or anything he was familiar with, but no such luck. Definitely not the real Coruscant. Finally, he settled on a high stakes table of a game called blackjack. He had never played, but it looked simple enough since the dealer appeared to be doing all the work. He dropped a few OM down and scanned the room.
 
Nearly a dozen guards walked the floor, but they didn’t look like too much trouble as they were mostly armed with brass knuckles and batons. Above him, in the rafters, was the real security. The problem was that they had attached all kinds of bright blinking lights to the underside of the catwalk. He could tell that there were a number of guards up there, but it was impossible to see much else.
 
It took the better part of half an hour for the raid to start, and Fett was down a little but not more than pocket change. The first sign that trouble was brewing was a lot of people getting called all at once. There were probably look-outs around the block to watch for trouble, and they were all sending their warnings before they took off themselves.
 
The second sign was blaster fire right outside the front door following by it being kicked in. Patrons scattered, and the first two stormtroopers in were mowed down by a machine gun mounted somewhere in the rafters. It was more firepower than they were expecting, but it was too late to pull out now. Fett jumped up on the table and used his jetpack to help him make it the rest of the way into the rafters. As he did so, he summoned his carbine.
 
Fett grabbed the railing and found himself face to face with a thug. As he got his footing, he broke the man’s nose with the butt of his rifle. When he stumbled back, the bounty hunter finished him off with a three-round burst to the chest. A dozen men with various guns turned to Fett in surprise. Ignoring them. he quickly scanned the catwalk and found the gun emplacement.
 
It was fixed to cover the front door and two people were operating it: One to fire and one working the belt. Two more men were standing next to them and covering the front door with rifles. As the rest of the guards opened fire on him, Fett leapt into the air and used a burst from his jetpack to tackle the machine gunner twenty feet away. Both men went sprawling across the catwalk, and the gunner fell to the first floor. He landed on his head with a sickening crunch.
 
Now that the machine gun was offline, the stormtroopers burst into the room, firing indiscriminately. They took up positions behind overturned tables and a firefight broke out between them and the guards in the catwalk. Fett took the opportunity to get behind some cover provided by a large light fixture.
 
*BEEP*BEEP* “Jackie is out. He came out an escape hatch in the ally. My shadow is following him,” came Jaixe’s voice.
 
“I’m a little busy in here,” growled Fett as gunfire ricocheted off the fixture he was hiding behind. He popped out and returned fire, killing the guy. “He is probably going to a hideout. We’ll catch up with him there.” Thunking boots warned Fett that someone was coming around the corner of his cover. He flicked on his flame thrower just as they showed themselves and black, acrid smoke filled the air. The thugs skin popped and bubbled as he fell over the side of the catwalk.
 
Slowly, the blaster fire fell off, and all that remained was the sound of stormtroopers ordering people around. Boba Fett jumped down from the rafters and reported to the nearest one. “Boba Fett, bounty hunter. I’m the one that called you in. The prime is making a run for it. I’m going to pursue,” he explained.
 
“Yes, sir,” replied the soldier, “And good work up there with the machinegun.”
 
Fett just nodded and stroke from the building. He mounted the speeder bike he summoned earlier and contacted his partner. “Alright, let’s finish the job.”

[Jaixe Furiael]

It was just another day on the job, or so Max thought. Guard duty in a casino was dreadfully boring, save for the occasional miscreant and argument gone wrong, there was hardly much to do when you were frequently assigned to guard detail around the surveillance room. The tall, fair skinned man in a dark, albeit simple uniform that essentially little more than a suit, somewhat loose-fitting due to it being a hand-me-down, and his personalized one was still yet to be delivered. He was frequently tasked with bringing coffee to the overcaffeinated and sleep-deprived men, who he swore lived most of their lives staring at camera feeds.

Max was just on his way back when he heard the faint sounds of blaster fire down the corridor, quickly followed by rumbles that shook the whole building. Not even thinking, he dropped the mugs of coffee he was carrying, the metal cups clattering against the floor, and drew his sidearm in one trained, fluid motion, immediately dashing down the hallway to the source of the disturbance.

Sliding into a turn down to the corridor, and then turning once more, he narrowly dodged underneath a man being flung into the wall with a loud thud, blood trailing behind him, splattering onto the floor.

Max initially looked up at what just slammed into the wall with such force, the ceramic walling was shattered and the metal sheeting behind it dented from the impact. The man was slumped over, a crimson red scythe impaling him and holding him up against the wall, blood flowing down its black shaft in small, thin streams and dribbling onto the floor into a small puddle.

Shaky and plenty confused, Max got to his feet and peered down the hallway, blaster at the ready. One of the lights had been shot out, and thus the hallway was dim, at best. Still, he managed to see two more of his coworkers sprawled on the floor in puddles of their own blood, still clenching onto their blasters as if they had yet to realize they were slain.

He also saw the figure of a man, wearing what seemed to be a black and crimson long coat, staring back at him with glowing orange eyes that sent shivers down his back. Next to him was a smaller, all-black silhouette with a bulbous body and no discernable features that Max could see, save for the unblinking beady yellow eyes that seemed to bore into him with an unspoken hunger.

He didn’t bother with the traditional warning, immediately opening fire on the intruder.
Streaks of red shot down the hallway with a high-pitched whine, only to ricochet in a shower of sparks against a hastily constructed shield of purple energy, coalesced into a pattern of hexes and called forth by a simple movement of the man’s arm in front of him. With his other free hand, he reached outward with an open palm.

As if in response, the scythe that impaled the third security guard to the wall began to budge, and then shot out, casting debris and dirt around as it spun around rapidly towards Max.

He barely had time to turn around and react, a shot flying wild into the ceiling and leaving a scorch mark as the blade cut into his neck and the blade embedded into the wall with another, albeit softer thud.
________________________________________

Jaixe sighed, noting the burn marks and holes the blasters left in his coat from the near-misses. Only one of the blasters hit their intended target, scraping Jaixe’s arm and leaving an uncomfortable scorch mark.

”I’ll have to improve my ward if I’m going to keep doing these kinds of things.” Jaixe mused.

The shadow at the side looked up at him quizzically, waiting for a command. Jaixe nodded towards the hallway, and the shadow obliged, melting into a puddle of inky blackness and then bizarrely drifted across the floor, up the wall, and along the ceiling into the hallways beyond.

”I should have checked if the bar had any wine in stock…”
Jaixe began casually walking down the hallway, his boots echoing along the empty hallway with every footstep against the dull-colored tile flooring. He held out his hand as he passed by the body of the decapitated guard, willing his crimson, double-bladed scythe back into his hand with a flourish, then stopped to survey the scene briefly.

“… tch. What a mess…” Jaixe commented with disdain.

“Oh well, it’s the staff’s problem now.” Jaixe shrugged. He held his free hand out and willed the fallen guard’s blaster into it and then continued down the maze of hallways with his scythe laying across his shoulders behind his neck, with one hand holding it in place towards the end of the shaft. The crimson blade shimmered with every overhead light Jaixe walked under, as he hummed softly. The building quaked faintly again as the raid continued in earnest in the distance.
________________________________________

The staff was in a flurry, running to and from and trying to coordinate security. They were expecting an eventual raid by the Empire, that much was true, but not so suddenly. They had been tracking any movements by the Empire, but they had little warning.

In control of it all, for the moment anyway, was the director, a tall middle-aged man standing over everyone, issuing orders and directives that boomed over the hustle and bustle.

“Get a team down to the armory asap, and someone tell me where the hell Jackie is!” He could be heard shouting even through the solid metal walls.

Everyone was too much in a rush to even notice the inky black blob that was the Shadow slink its way underneath the door and into the dark, multi-leveled chamber of hanging monitors, computers, and a sheer mess of papers that was the central security and control room.

It transformed again, coalescing into its small, bulbous body once more and leapt up to grab the handle to the door, opening it for Jaixe to enter. At first, nobody noticed the scythe-wielding man enter the room, until a blaster shot rang out and struck a man dead-center, leaving a deep scorched mark in his chest as his body slumped to the floor with a thud.

A moment of silence followed as Jaixe simply waltzed in and surveyed the room.

“Nice set-up for a bunch of criminals.” He commented with a smug grin. There were thirteen employees, most in their standard uniforms of suits, but some managed to don some measure of armor and heavier weaponry. The rest simply had a sidearm of some sort.

“Oh for… Kill the bounty hunter!” The director shouted, taking a few pot shots with his own blaster before barreling towards the door and escaping in the ensuing chaos.

Jaixe ducked for cover behind a row of desks, shooting out the lights as he went along and narrowly dodging the hail fire of plasma and energy underneath the shower of sparks raining down from above.

”Maybe I should have taken a few Stormtroopers with me. I wasn’t expecting so many to be here…”

“I would be more than willing to accept your surrender!” Jaixe shouted over the firefight, but another volley of defiant blaster fire was their only response. A man rounded the corner with his blaster aimed, but was only met with a crimson red blade that flew into his skull.

With a heavy sigh, Jaixe began returning fire, calmly pondering how he’d approach the situation, estimating the location of the combatants.

”Four in the back with heavier guns, six up front, and two running for the door.”

Jaixe considered his options, leaving the two cowards to flee as he focused on those that were brave enough to stand against him.

Jaixe set the blaster to overload and then jumped out, bringing his shield to bear and throwing the blaster at the quartet at the back, two of which caught on quickly and rolled away from the imminent detonation that blew apart the two that were unfortunate enough to be caught in its radius in a brilliant show of sparks and fiery plasma.

Willing the scythe back to him, Jaixe leapt forward and cut down another of the combatants with ease, sweeping the legs underneath another and ducking under another volley of blaster fire from the survivors, several shots grazing his arms and back in the process.

Rolling behind another row of monitors, the skillful Heartless willed several of them to launch out at the remaining two heavily-armed guards, covering his charge. Though the monitors were easily cut down and dodged, Jaixe still managed to run up to and cut into another of the guards, using him for cover against the blaster fire.

Tossing the charred body aside, Jaixe threw his scythe ahead of him and struck at the legs of the remaining heavy guard. Though the man sidestepped, the scythe rounded back around as Jaixe grabbed it and came down on top of the guard, both blades slicing into his shoulder and cleanly slicing his arm off.

Jaixe rolled again as the heavy-set guard’s body slumped to the floor, bringing his shield up once more to cover against the blaster fire. Jaixe counted himself fortunate that these “professional” criminals were apparently lousy shots as he leapt towards the remaining five that were dispersed across the chamber. He lobbed his scythe at one as he focused energy into one of his hands. His scythe failed to meet its mark, its intended target rolling underneath the dual-bladed weapon and went to fire again at the agile Heartless.

Instead of managing a clean shot, however, a shower of violet shards tore into his chest from the trio of orbs circling around Jaixe’s palm. As he nimbly evaded the blaster fire with liberal use of his dark ward, keeping low and in cover as to maximize his defense, but still managing to take grazing shots and the occasional strike to his arms and chest, but still returning fire with volleys of his own shadowy missiles with more effective accuracy.
Three fell to the counterfire as the firefight gradually switched to a battle of attrition, in which Jaixe had a clear advantage.

One of the remaining two lobbed their pistol at Jaixe as they dived for cover, the other fleeing for the exit across the room. With a thought, Jaixe caught the pistol in midair, sending it back to the man in cover as he spun around and willed his scythe to launch out at the fleeing survivor. In quick succession, one died in a fiery detonation and the last one was cut down by the Heartless’s scythe.

Silence ensued for the time after, as the security room was left in near ruins, exposed wires were sparking, lights were flickering or simply fell as the roof crumbled in places near the two detonations. Corpses were strewn around, either charred or sliced, and the Shadow that followed Jaixe peaked out from behind a shattered monitor in one of the corners, looking curiously at the aftermath and its master, who stood near the middle.

Though Jaixe had taken several blaster hits, none of the injuries were critical or too debilitating, and were instead more irritating to the Heartless than anything else. He calmly walked towards one of the few functional consoles left in the room and quickly got to work.

He accessed and shut down door controls and communication systems as to throw the whole of Jackie’s little army of thugs into disarray.

“At least I learned something from that technophile demon…” Jaixe muttered, switching over to the surveillance systems.

Accessing and sifting through the camera network, he managed to find the target they were looking for. Jackie was weaving his way through a firefight and cutting through stormtroopers with little assistance from his reinforcing, hastily armed bodyguards. The criminal Prime quickly ran off screen down an non-surveilled hallway, while his bodyguards continued their counter-assault. Switching through the camera feeds again, he found Jackie exiting through a hatch on the roof minutes later. He silently swore to himself at the turn of events, but it wasn’t unanticipated.

“Jackie is out,” Jaixe bitterly reported to the bounty hunter over the commlink, “he came out an escape hatch in the ally. My Shadow is following him.”

“I’m a little busy in here,” Fett growled back over the sounds of a firefight in the background.

Jaixe sighed, checking his tracking device. He was still receiving a clear signal, but he knew that they had a limited range, and Jackie had apparently found transportation, because he was quickly fleeing away from the casino. He didn't wait for Fett to respond at that point, quickly skimming through the building layout to find what he needed.

One large room, labeled "garage," was just nearby thankfully, and with that information, Jaixe sprinted for the exit, the small Shadow trailing behind him.

The Heartless wasn't going to let Jackie get away so easily.
________________________________________

Jaixe was shot down the hallways in a full sprint, the bulbous shadow that followed him barely keeping up with the inhuman pace.

”I didn’t come this far to deal with cowards!” Jaixe scowled to himself. Jackie was getting away, and though he had a tracker on the Shadow that was following him and Fett was on his trail, there was no guarantee that they could keep pace. If he got out of range, they’d have to start over completely. He hoped that bounty hunter was all that he claimed to be.

Jaixe skidded around the next corner into another tile and metal-walled hallway with hanging ceiling lights. On either side were several doorways, but no signs of people, just a few metal crates and papers strewn about as evidence of the initial panic when the raid began. He continued sprinting to the door at the end of the hallway.

Ahead of him the door at the end of the hallway flew open and a group of three of the same employees, who were mere criminals in disguise, came through more heavily armed with rifles.

“Tch, I don’t have time for this.”

As they took aim at the black-coated figure, Jaixe slowed and willed three of the crates around him to launch forward down the hallway and at the three gunmen in a haphazard charge. At the same time, he conjured his scythe again, it appearing in a flurry of violet and black flames.

The three gunmen handily dodged the large lumbering crates, but as the middle and largest of the trio brought their weapon to aim once more, they found Jaixe leaping up into the air and coming down in a spin, slicing through the thin armor and the uniform and slicing clear across the thug’s midsection, leaving a look of utter shock as he fell to the floor in a slump.

In a flourish, Jaixe brought his scythe in an upward strike against the man on the left, who had managed to get a wild shot off but accomplished little, only managing to narrowly dodge a lethal strike from the twin crimson blades of the scythe. As the other on the right went to strike at Jaixe’s unguarded back, a black mass shot up and clawed at his face, clinging desperately and ferally to his head as it hissed at him.

The man facing Jaixe went to slam the butt of his rifle into Jaixe, but the Heartless countered with a quick sidestep and parry, his scythe swinging wide and hitting his neck. The man fell in a shower of red.

The last thug standing yelled and tore at the Shadow that clung to his head and whose black claws dug into the man’s skull. In his panic he dropped his rifle, trying desperately to peel the small bulbous mass off of his face. When he managed to finally do so, lobbing the Shadow away, he was met with violet and black chaotic flames swirling around Jaixe’s palm, which was uncomfortably close to the thug’s face.

It was over in but a moment, as the thug’s vision quickly went dark before he could manage to react.

Jaixe kicked open the door the thugs came through to be greeted with a variety of vehicles at his disposal, parked in no particular order across a large, sparsely lit and undecorated chamber of concrete and metal.

He had found a garage, and while several of the speeders and vehicles appeared to have fled in a hurry, there were still a few parked that he could certainly use to catch up to the bounty hunter and Jackie. He didn’t have time to summon a vehicle, and definitely not in the cramped hallways, so finding one was his best option.

He brought out his commlink from his pocket and spoke into it as he ran over to one of the speeders, “I found transportation. I’ll try and catch up with you, so try not to lose him…” He reported to Fett.

After a moment he got a reply over the commlink, the bounty hunter’s voice coming clear over the howling wind, honking horns, and the whine of his speeder engine.

“Understood, I’m closing in on the target now.”

[Jaixe Furiael]

Jaixe couldn’t be sure how far behind he was, but he was dead set on putting the speeder through its paces to catch up. Beside him, the small bulbous Shadow was buckled in and holding on for dear life, its claws dug into the seat, as it was seemingly made more anxious with every near-collision that its master skillfully evaded. He was speeding through, weaving around skyscrapers and off shooting buildings, neon signs that were little more than colorful blurs, and other drivers whom, thanks to how hard he was pressing the speeder forward, he couldn’t hear the insults and honking over the howling wind. It wasn’t long before he at least caught sight of his objective, and unlike his bounty hunter comrade, he wasn’t so bold as to give chase without assistance.

Behind him, managing to keep pace with the heartless driver, was a couple of Imperial transports with their sirens blaring. Ahead he could just barely make out the green-armored Fett following close behind several makeshift armored speeders with thugs and blasters providing reckless fire support, their accuracy questionable thanks to the haphazard maneuvers that brought them uncomfortably close to crashing on more than one occasion. They were escorting a much larger, bus-like vehicle in the front that easily plowed its way through the traffic, knocking obstacles off to the sides as it cut its way forward without any sign of stopping or slowing.

”He’s probably in the armored transport…” Jaixe surmised, pushing the borrowed speeder even harder, and the Shadow passenger anchored itself even more in response. Jaixe took out his comm, continuing to drive with one hand, something that the Shadow found dubious, but could only continue watching in silent horror.

“Take down the escorts if you can, the target is in the bus in the center-front of the formation. Leave Jackie to us.” Jaixe instructed over the commlink to the transports and to Fett, who still managed to cling to his speeder as he darted around the two escorting speeders, narrowly dodging blaster fire in the process and only occasionally able to return fire in kind.

The two imperial transport gunships flew overhead of Jaixe and began laying down suppressive fire, disrupting the enemy and landing a clean barrage on the far-left speeder. As it spun wildly out of control, it caught aflame, thugs leaping off as but masses of fire as they fell to their doom. The out-of-control speeder slammed into a nearby skyscraper, shattering through a window and quickly detonating with resounding force. The other speeder continued to evade the gunships’ fire, as one of the occupants quickly brought out something with more power, a large cannon of some description. The thug hefted the oversized weapon over his shoulder and took aim, as energy built up in front of the barrel and then launched forth.

A beam of verdant energy wholly engulfed one of the gunships with ease, it exploding on the spot as debris from it rained down below. The second gunship narrowly evaded its doomed sister ship, diving down and underneath the firing arc of the thug’s lethal new weapon.

“Useless…” Jaixe swore under his breath, as he weaved ahead, charging violet, spiraling energy into his hand as he did so. As he neared his target, the last remaining speeder, the thugs took notice. One began laying down rapid blaster fire, changing his target from the hard-pressed Fett to the Heartless instead. Some bolts melted through the seats and windshield, narrowly missing their target, others burned the thin metal plating of the speeder, stopping just short of burning through into the engine, while most simply missed altogether due to the high-speed maneuvering. Jaixe was certain, however, with how large of a beam the cannon fired, the other wouldn’t miss.

Jaixe was closing in on the enemy speeder, trying to gauge his own aim. His own beam of energy was considerably smaller and not as quick to fire, a fact that slightly annoyed him given the circumstances. He wasn’t equipped to handle flying car chases.

Holding his palm forward as purple and black energy swirled chaotically around it, he had moments before the cannon would fire and engulf him. Attempting his best to keep the speeder steady, while also not getting hit by the reckless blaster fire, he fired off his beam just as green energy began forming at the barrel of the other thug’s cannon.

The beam of energy surged past the first thug’s shoulder, causing him to flinch for a moment. Seemingly, Jaixe had missed his target, but as the speeder began to lurch and dive down in an uncontrolled spiral, the other thugs had only a moment to realize what had happened as they were thrown from the renegade speeder. The driver was slumped forward, dead at the helm, as it slammed into the façade of one of the buildings and ceased to be a problem in yet another brilliant detonation of debris and fire.

With that, only the armored bus remained, and with one gunship still in pursuit, and the two Primes set to begin procedurally disabling their target, it was only a matter of time before Jackie was in Imperial hands.

But Jackie was a Prime as well, and if anything could be learned from them, it’s that they were resourceful and creative.

As the two Primes closed in on the armored transport, after handily defeating its escorts, the back doors of the transport blew open, and through the heavy smoke, plasma fire began filling the air towards the two Primes. The heavy fire easily sliced through Fett’s speeder first, causing it to go up in flames as the bounty hunter bailed out, leaping for one of the nearby windows and rolling into broken glass as his bike was vaporized.

Jaixe swore under his breath and jerked the controls up, attempting to swerve his car out the cannon’s firing arc. But his reaction was still too slow, as the rapid fire cannon easily tracked his movements at such a close proximity. Its quad barrels lit up and out poured super-heated plasma bolts that cut through the speeder as it began swerving and spiraling out of control. The thug cheered and laughed as he switched over to the gunship, but as he went to pull the trigger, he heard a loud clanging and a large curved blade cut clean into the transport’s wall.

Jaixe held on tightly to the scythe embedded into the side of the van, using it as his anchor against the violent wind force that tried to throw him off, as he watched his speeder crash far down below in a blaze of fire. The Shadow that was his passenger was clinging dearly to his coat trails as his master pondered just how it had come to this. As he struggled to climb up, blaster fire rang out and struck clear into Jaixe’s side, searing through his clothes and burning him, his flesh cauterized from the heat with inky blood oozing from the wounds.

Jaixe clamored and turned to his attacker, the driver at the front with a blaster in hand, trained on him, his attention half-split between negligent driving and killing the Heartless pest that simply wouldn’t die. With a movement of his free hand, he forced the blaster out of his assailant’s hand, and then willed the door open, casting him off-balance and flying into the abyss that awaited him below.

In an immediate flash of hindsight, Jaixe realized just how poor of a course of action that was to take.

The armored van began a sudden twist to the left and started erratically moving out of control, with the passenger attempting to hastily regain control just in time to collide and scrape by an oncoming hover train, metal squealed and caved against the greater force along the side and crushed the passenger side of the driver compartment. The car, now completely driverless, continued onward and downward as the engine sputtered smoke, sparks, and fire. Ahead was a structure, a walkway of stone pillars and concrete, and Jaixe braced himself for an immediate impact.

The van collided with the pillar, as it collapsed from the sudden force into a cloud of rocky debris and dust, followed by skidding along the asphalt road, flipping over and throwing Jaixe and his more unfortunate companion off completely. Jaixe took the fall and rolled to a stop, skid marks and burns adorning his arms and legs with black, inky blood oozing from the wounds.
The van flipped over the Heartless, barely missing from crushing him, and continued rolling until it slammed into another of the pillars and finally stopped, thoroughly dented and battered with the engine now completely aflame and various parts and metal chunks spread about the roadway.

[Jaixe Furiael]

Jaixe slowly got back on his feet, thankful that he didn’t have bones to break from the harsh crash and sudden impact with the ground. His clothes were tattered, stained black from his essence that mimicked blood, with shards of metal and glass sticking out of him, but he seemed determined and focused. His eyes glowed vibrantly as he glared ahead of him towards the wrecked armored transport. For several moments, nothing emerged from the wreckage.
The wind picked up, wafting the flames of the burning wreck, which filled the area with an orange and yellow light, as the scene suddenly became more illuminated from the blindingly bright spotlights of the Imperial transport, having seen the carnage that had just unfolded. Stormtroopers began deploying from either side of the gunship, as its blasters were trained on the ruined vehicle.

A freakishly tall, lean, well-built man, scarred and battered from the fall, emerged from the flames, forcefully launching metal and stone out of his way as he walked forth. He displayed an uncharacteristic strength and fortitude, unlike before when Jaixe managed to catch a glimpse of him in the camera feeds. His eyes, glistening against the fire and white spotlight, bore into Jaixe with fury and hatred. Another, smaller person in a ruined suit, bleeding from a head injury, emerged from behind him, hiding behind the taller man like a mouse.

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that.” The taller man admitted with a touch of respect in his voice, before his rage took hold again, “but you made the grave mistake of going up against me.”

“I presume you’re Jackie then…” Jaixe replied, walking in a half-circle around the man.
“You’re just as tenacious yourself. You’ve made more carnage than I could imagine by simply running away constantly.”

Perhaps those weren’t the best choice of words, but it might just...

Jackie surged forward with thunderous steps, his hulking form growing larger as it loomed closer. The stormtroopers, in their clean white armor, seemed taken aback, backpedaling on reflex, and though he couldn’t tell, Jaixe could swear that he could feel some kind of aura of fear and intimidation.

Jaixe channeled dark energy into his hand once more, a metal bar appearing within the cloud that coalesced in his hands, as it grew and faded away to reveal the scythe he was spinning slowly. He hunkered down, both hands holding his scythe, as the marauder approached with a reckless abandon.

Jackie threw a punch, a wild one, but deadly nonetheless as Jaixe narrowly leapt to the side in time to witness a cyclone of wind and energy shear through the metal, concrete, and stormtroopers unfortunate enough to linger. Their bodies were hurled back and slammed against a nearby wall, it cracking and crumbling under the sudden force. The man straightened and glanced at Jaixe with a sneer.

“I’m not running anymore!” He declared with a booming voice, charging once more, throwing the same left hook, and producing a similar wind-tunnel effect that tore down one of the supports and cast it flying into the abyss below.

Jaixe more easily anticipated this and leapt to the side once more with better timing.

”That’s right, embrace that hubris. I might yet enjoy slicing you apart.” Jaixe thought, returning Jackie’s sneer with a smirk of his own.

He spun the scythe, its blade glowing with energy, and then cast an upward wave at Jackie, charging ahead close behind as he hopped to the left and struck at the marauder at an opposite angle, swinging the curved weapon in a sweeping arc towards the man’s neck.

He didn’t anticipate just how durable his opponent was, however. Though he wasn’t fast, he didn’t need to be, and just stood there as the beam crashed into him, leaving little more than a scar as the energy dissipated on contact. He caught the shaft of Jaixe’s scythe mid-swing, just as the tip of the lower blade made contact with his skin. It drew blood, but did not sink beyond the surface.

Jackie sneered again, growing ever confident in his apparent invincibility, as he spun the scythe around and launched the smaller, black-haired heartless into a nearby wall.

Jaixe wasn’t as dextrous as others he’s fought before, pulling stunts like midair flips and running along walls. He was more practical, he thought, and just endured trifling inconveniences of being thrown or launched into walls and buildings. He began to reconsider his stance on that subject as he was slammed into the metal wall and it dented under his weight and the force that carried him. He gasped on reflex, despite his lack of lungs, and his sight faded for a moment before he regained his senses and landed on his feet again.

”Prime or not, he shouldn’t be that powerful…” Jaixe thought, huffing as he regained his composure. He was perplexed by the hulking man’s sudden spike in size, strength, and resilience from what Jaixe remembered of him in the camera feed. He was definitely shorter and wasn’t running around cleaving his way through troopers and thugs alike.

He just didn’t like playing by the rules, it seemed.

[Jaixe Furiael]

Jackie came charging in again, though whatever spell of intimidation held the stormtroopers at bay seemed to finally wear off and their soldiering instincts took hold. Blaster fire rang out as a torrent of red plasma fell upon the overbuff thug, though even that seemed to be trifling, as he powered through and tried to elbow Jaixe into the dented metal wall.

Jaixe rolled out of the way into a crouch, ready to sprint again if he needed to dodge. The wall took the full impact of Jackie’s attack and caved in, as the ground shook from the impact. Jaixe mentally pulled his scythe to his hand again from where it lay on the ground and tried to formulate a new strategy. He couldn’t fight this beast head on, and going for the neck wasn’t liable to work.

He had two options, he could either use Jackie’s own strength against him or find a way to cripple him. Neither seemed so easy to accomplish.

Jaixe leapt over another strike from Jackie, as the road beneath him crumbled and disintegrated from the attack. He rolled to a crouch again, scythe at the ready, as Jaixe turned to him with an annoyed glare as the stormtroopers pulled back. Blasters were obviously not helping.

So instead, they opted for heavier weapons.

The spotlight from the nearby gunship shone directly onto Jackie, interrupting yet another haphazard charge from him as he reflexively flinched from the sudden blinding white light. Jaixe immediately jumped back a couple times, just in time to watch as the gunship unloaded on the hulking man. Red blaster fire came pouring from the front rotary turret, pelting him with merciless plasma as twin missile launchers opened fire. A firestorm swallowed Jackie whole; swirling smoke and flame melting the metal walls and charring the concrete and the roadway. Heat poured out of the hellfire that the Empire judiciously delivered onto the far-too-resilient criminal, before the gunship finally relented and the smoke began to dissipate.

Jaixe was certain he had to be disintegrated. There was no technique, no method that could-

A cyclone dissipated the smoke and shook the gunship, as bolts of red energy followed close behind and collided with the turbines keeping it afloat. The hovering ship began spiraling, its pilots in a panic, vainly trying to regain control, electricity arcing across the engines sporadically as fire and smoke began erupting and pouring out of them. The gunship crashed into the side of the building, shaking it, as Jaixe looked on, somewhat disbelieving but still calm nonetheless.

He was beginning to understand why the Empire had so much issue with this man. He noted that a shield, a barrier of some sort, formed around him, but he hadn’t seen him make any motion to make one. He didn’t have the time to, either.

And like that, something clicked into place for Jaixe. He had a plan, and it took more self-control than he’d ever admit keeping himself from grinning ear to ear.

He spun his scythe in an arc, energy charging into the blade and then rapidly released. Twice he did this, two waves crashing uselessly into the crouched beast. The Heartless could tell that the shield wasn’t perfect; it did keep him from death, that much was true, but he was scarred and burnt across several places, huffing from exertion as he tried to steady himself again. The shield was only strong enough to keep him alive and in fighting form, but it couldn’t stop the salvo completely.

Jackie glowered at Jaixe and a low, animalistic growl hissed from his mouth. He really was reduced to a beastly state, and like any cornered animal would, he came charging at him again. Jaixe leapt out of the way, reaching his hand out and tugging on something. Prodding it to move.

Jackie swiftly spun in mid-charge, striking out again at Jaixe while he was still in mid-air. Using telekinesis, he threw his scythe into the ground, digging into the road, while keeping a hold of it himself. He used it as an anchor and twisted in midair, using his momentum to swing himself out of the way. He harrowingly dodged the surge of wind and energy that poured out of Jackie’s fist, and could feel and hear the lightning crackling behind him, arcing wildly, setting his hair on edge. He stumbled to the ground after his stunt - though still managed to stay on his feet - and jumped back to a safe distance again, calling the scythe back to his hand. Once more he stretched out, using telekinesis to prod something.

A shadow scuttled along the wall nearby, hidden from view of everyone else but the Heartless that mustered it forth.

“For a single-minded aberration of a man, you learn quicker than I would expect.” Jaixe taunted the hulking abomination.

Jackie quickly turned, letting out a booming, bestial howl of rage. Where it not for having no eardrums to speak of, Jaixe was certain he would be deaf.

“At least you excel at destroying ear drums. But in all other ways, you are simply… lacking.”

Jackie charged, sprinting on all fours now, howling wildly, as he bounded over to Jaixe who merely stood, defiant, goading. The Heartless stood his ground, scythe in hand, his mind outstretched, as Jackie, moving at a blinding pace, was going to trample over him.

Though as he neared, his form diminished, slowly at first, and then quickly, as steam evaporated off of him and his muscles shrunk. His whole body seemed to just lose its incredible mass as a man, barely larger than Jaixe, fell uselessly to the cold ground before his feet.

“And now, you are broken.” Jaixe grinned, as Jackie groaned. No doubt the pain and overexertion has begun to hit him in a wave of anguish, his muscles sore and blazing, his body far beyond simply being spent. Still, though, Jackie was conscious, and grabbed hold of Jaixe’s boot, trying to claw into the leather.

“Oh. You’re still alive. How sad.”

[Jaixe Furiael]

Jaixe kicked Jackie away, turning him over.

“You had a fairly well-thought-out scheme, I must admit. Using your subordinate’s abilities as a Prime to augment your own and resummon you if you were to die. Masking his identity by making yourself the focus. It took some time for me to discover what was truly going on.” He began to revel in his victory, circling around the downed renegade. Satisfaction was rushing through him as he saw Jackie helpless before him, destruction rampant around him, and another life, still cowering in the wreckage, at his mercy.

The real Prime was the other man in the suit, now caught helplessly by Jaixe’s two Shadows and pinned to the ground, with claws digging into his neck and arms.

“However, you made the mistake of relying on another’s power over your own. Placing a life’s value equal to yours is disgustingly common amongst your kind. And now you are both helpless…”

Jaixe looked up towards the man in a suit, raising his scythe, its crimson and ebony curved blades shining against the dancing flames. In one swift motion, he brought the blade down and sliced through Jackie’s neck, the blade slicing into the ground. The man’s eyes went wide, his face, white, and for a moment he stopped struggling as his scream, muted by one of the shadow’s claws over his mouth, still met Jaixe’s ears.

And it was glorious.

He stood for a second or two, taking in the moment, before looking behind him at the stunned Stormtroopers who numbly held onto their rifles still.

“Do feel free to take him into custody at your leisure.” He noted sardonically, motioning them forward.

They hesitated for a moment before three of them moved up to take the suited man into custody, and two others checked up on the headless Jackie. If they were disgusted or afraid, their helmets hid any indication of such. It was a pity, really. Jaixe could do with seeing more revulsion and pain, if only for a moment longer.

Oh well, he would have to contend himself with tormenting the suited man on the way back. Perhaps he will reveal more of his now shattered operation...

Jaixe grinned, stepping over the lifeless corpse of his defeated enemy, and walked towards the suited man, who was paralyzed with horror and fear.

--

The ride back was uneventful, with Jaixe peering out of a passenger window as the transport glided through the sky, escorted by a pair of strange fighters with square panels for wings and a globular cockpit. TIE fighters, he remembered them being called. He idly noted that vehicles quickly yielded before the transport. He was apparently being taken in for some questioning… Ridiculous. They had gotten their prize: one Prime ripe for experiments with a powerful secondary he can summon. What more do they want? A less damaged roadway?

Jaixe sighed, causing a Stormtrooper opposite of him to straighten up at attention. Clearly he intimidated them to some degree with that battle. Good. Let them cower. Perhaps that will garner the attention of those whose rank were more equivalent to his own worth. He leisurely patted one of the two Shadows that scurried over and looked up at him curiously, but ever silently. For such a small creature, they could be rather useful.

”I will have to remember to create more in the future.” The heartless master noted to himself, pondering who would make for good candidates for Heartless.

That Storm Demon might make a rather useful Heartless, though he wasn’t certain how he might go about harvesting darkness, or its consequences. Better to test such on less-valuable persons.

The transport slowed to a stop and began descending, or at least, that’s what Jaixe could see out of one of the small circular windows. These ships were far too cramped for his tastes…

The ship stopped and rocked as it landed, and moments later, the ramp opened up and permitted an exit. Stormtroopers stood at attention while a pair dragged the suited captive down, with Jaixe nonchalantly following behind him. More guards rushed forth as the prisoner exchanged hands from one stormtrooper garrison to another. A man in a more pristine uniform than the traditional officers that presided over the precinct walked past the prisoner exchange towards the Heartless that captured him.

“You are the hunter that caught this man, yes?” The officer spoke with an authority and incisiveness that, at first, took Jaixe off-guard.

Quickly recovering, Jaixe replied in an equal manner.

“I am. I take it that you are here to question me, or whatever it was that your subordinates said?”

“Much as the officers that hired you may want to, I overruled them. It is not uncommon for conflicts between Primes to cause some collateral damage. I am here simply to thank you for your assistance in the capture of this criminal of the Empire, mister…?”

Well that’s a first. Someone treating Jaixe with some measure of respect was certainly a welcome surprise.

“Furiael,” Jaixe continued, noting that the officer’s rank wasn’t too impressive. It figured that the Empire wouldn’t send a higher-ranking individual to greet him, but he couldn’t say he was surprised.

The officer nodded, making a mental note of the name, before continuing.

“Your payment will be delivered within a matter of days. In the meantime, I have authorized a transport to take you to your home or a hostel. It is rather late, after all.”

“Indeed. I shall take you up on that offer,” Jaixe responded with an almost regal tone, though suppressed as it was.

With a nod, the officer signaled one of the Stormtroopers and then departed with a curt bow, following behind the prisoner. The suited man glanced back at Jaixe with a dark, almost murderous glare, made ever darker with the ash and soot smeared across his face. Still, he was far from intimidating to the Heartless.

If anything, it only made Jaixe more eager for a reprisal, so he could finish what was started. But he held himself back. Best not to make such a commotion after placing himself in the good graces of the Empire, after all.

Instead he simply scoffed and spun around, strutting towards the transport, a more luxurious looking speeder, at least by civilian standards, that was called for him. It whisked him away from the hanging platform and into the city proper, its ever immaculate skyline bright against the night sky.

”At least this night wasn't such a complete waste.” Jaixe concluded.