Nightshade and Nim: Thrown Together

[GM Craig]

Nim moves slowly up the darkened passage, typing quickly on her wristcomp to get Buzz to return.

Suddenly, out of the nowhere, there is a sudden movement and before she can react, a hand closes over her mouth and pulls her down.

A voice barely whispers in her ear, "Be silent."

[Actions?]

[Nim Naja]

Her heart lept in her chest as she was dragged down, and even though Nim complied with the demand, her body stiffened as if priming to strike at any given moment. The woman kept her hands on the rifle in a ready position to either take out her assailant or assist him, not assuming for one second that it was the MIA Nekami.

It probably was him.

But it might be some clever agent trying to sniff him out.

Nah, it was probably the Nekami.

For this guy's sake he'd better karkin' hope he's the Nekami, she was going right for his jewels at point blank range if it wasn't.

[Nightshade]

Nightshade released the woman as he hissed out, 'They could track our comms, we shouldn't use them needlessly.  Now what is your plan?'

[Nim Naja]

Nim turned off her open comm.

?Oh you are so lucky,? she whispered back.

?It wasn?t needless and as far as I can tell the comms were disconnected. They believed him and took him straight to the emperor. But I could tell without trying that it was a ruse, which means we have a good two seconds before le boss figures it out and starts questioning why and what he was hiding back here that he would sacrifice himself for.

The original plan was the find this ?Danny.? But while the girl may trust her, I don?t, but she might prove to be an utterly invaluable asset to getting everyone out of here. So I?m going to go have a little agent heart to heart chat.?

The woman pointed to where the cell is supposed to be.

[Nightshade]

"How did you know it was a ruse?"  Nightshade was curious about the certainty radiating from the women when she spoke.  He really didn't care about the motivations of Collan, but there was something that he had to know about his partner of circumstance, something that just didn't sit right from the way that she had spoken of the situation.

[Nim Naja]

"I risked a peek," she shrugged. "I'm one hundred percent sure. Normally those two humans wouldn't be able to lie their way out of a paper bag. They're easy reads because everything about them just screams: gestures, tics, quirks, vocal tone. But Collan had all of the elements of a good con going right there, including giving up something detrimental to the group in order to be believed. Niil might have believed it too, I didn't get to study long enough. The troopers believed him enough and that's all we needed."

[Nightshade]

The more that Nim talks, the more that she can sense Nightshade recoiling from her, until he actually seems to jump backwards, hissing and drawing his blades. "You are one of those majo, aren't you? Don't look at me, don't read me, leave me alone."  He makes a sign in the air before you and says with disgust, "Lorrdians cannot be trusted."

[Nim Naja]

Nim?s eyes widened and her hands raised, releasing the rifle though it still hung there on the strap.

?What in the kark? Did you just...ward off evil?! Mate, if anything your kind are the.. the majo.?

She then mimicked the gesture he used as if warding off evil too.

[Nightshade]

Nightshade looked about to turn Nim into a popsicle before he noticed her make the same hand gesture he had.  "Don't presume to mock me and call me evil.  Your kind practice mind reading and know nothing of honor...you just sell your unnatural abilities to the highest bidder." 

Nim gets a brief glimpse of pain and loss, anger, and confusion, before the Shinobi tries to resume his normal reserved mask of emotional constipation.

[GM Craig]

[OOC: Just a note - the helmet and mask, combined with the shadowsilk suit and the nekami penchant for subdued nonverbal tells mean Nim would have a difficult time reading Nightshade, so factor that into the RP.]

[Nim Naja]

Ooc: yeah, Ben will have to tell me what if anything actually comes through. Are vocals distorted too? Movements and gestures are likely all she might notice but I don't know just how muted they'd be.

I mean, obviously he doesn't know all that yet xD

[Nim Naja]

Nim had seen that brief glimpse of emotion from Nightshade even though she kind of didn?t want to due to what he?d said, but it wasn?t like she could just turn it off. Most of the time she couldn?t turn off her own outward emotions without trying very hard, a kind of curse of growing up amonst her kind, as evidenced by her own recoil this time, partly in shock, partly actually hurt by the accusations. Normally she could shrug off such racist comments so it was a reaction likely borne to either Nightshade or his culture.

?Reading minds, mate? No, no.. that?s what Jedi do.?

And glitterstim users, but he doesn?t need to hear that.

?I don?t expect you to suddenly believe me, trust me, or even let me live. But it?s just nonverbal communication that technically anyone can learn. I?ll spare you a history lesson, but we had to practice it for the very survival of our people. A millenia later I use my learned skills just as you use yours, and it gives me great pride as a Lorrdian to do so. Especially to fight and die here today, to prevent billions more from suffering the horrendous fate that my people had. That is honorable to my ancestors. Is it not honorable to have saved your life back there, knowing you are on your own gimu, even though I'm sure it has nothing to do with the rebellion??

The nexu was already out of the bag, might as well go feed it.

[Nightshade]

Nightshade was visibly taken aback by the words of the woman in front of him.  She could see personal and culture history struggling with the simple truths of what he was seen and heard in his brief interactions with her.

Finally he makes a shrug that seems to mean reluctant acceptance and simply says, "What is your plan?"

[Nim Naja]

That went better than expected?. Nim knew damned well the Nekami would have turned her into a popsicle right then and there if he felt he needed to.

?My plan is to stay alive long enough to tell you the history of my people, and perhaps earn the honor of hearing some of yours. I am very well-travelled but only know a little of your culture. Not enough to be killed for, anyway.?

She smiled, just a little, and briefly showed him one of the tats on her forearm, an image of a man - or woman - in traditional kabuki dress along with a vivid spring cherry blossom branch forming a background. Both were paintings more than common tattoos and in stark contrast to the other odd assortment of symbols of other races or species going up her arms. They cleverly hid a multitude of scars underneath.

?You probably meant here though. Umm.. finding Danny?s cell, making sure it's actually her and that she's not changed her mind.. Maybe finding out who these other prisoners are. I imagine getting into and out of ?Max is easier than wherever they took the Jedi, which is nuts considering how difficult ?Max is going to be. If we can find or claim an officer?s uniform I might be able to pull off a Collan and get us in; since I don't have a stealth field like you and Buzz it might be easier than me sneaking in. You'd be able to piggyback without leaving or hiding bodies. Either way we'd have to sneak our folks out without sending all of the troops on the 4 or 5 of us again.?

?So, ah, if you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear it??

[Nightshade]

"Perhaps, if this Danny is on our side, then her cell would make a good base of operations...it would be one of the last places they would look for you.  You should be able to get Buzz to remote in to any terminals from there, and then I would be able to move around to look for the others without you having to worry about sneaking or bluffing your way through."