When Time Slows Down

[Romeo Sin]

Tables were littered with plates, and sat species of all kind in the large bar somewhere in the sub levels of Nar Shaddaa. It was here, Romeo also found himself reading up on the latest report from the..business he was involved with. The report consisted of a payout, a recorded time, names of people and the ship, and various freight.

Cargo Run #3658
900 credits received as told
estimated time taken: 15 minutes
Associates:
(&%*^*&^*&(*&90
*&$**&^%*^@$#@%$&^
()*)*()&^^^%
)80((*)*&(&()
Ship:
()(*%&^%*&(*(
Cargo:
5 boxes of various meats​

The reports never had names, they were all coded to be given in gibberish, and the cargo was given codenames. Meat was spice. If it was low quality spice it as just meat, but named meat depended on what kind of spice it was. The more exotic, or expensive the meat , the more the spice was worth. This had to be taken into consideration because it had to do with paper work, and all that pencil pusher stuff. Stuff Romeo could care less about.

A waitress stopped by his table, a Twi'lek with orange skin, and real pretty, bright green eyes. Her lekku were wrapped around her neck, which complimented the young complexion she already possessed.
"Here's the usual darling, with the sweetener, and cream. Enjoy love." She smiled with a wink, and continued what her job entitled. Romeo nodded, and said thank you as he began to mix the cream into the black caf. After pouring the sweet liquid next, he took a sip, and smiled with closed eyes. Romeo was unsure if this was what he wanted in life, the force beckoned there was more for him than just thug life, and gang wars, but he did enjoy the small reputation he had. Locals around his area knew him, and they knew not to mess with him. This allowed him to live a somewhat peaceful life, and the Twi'lek waitress, to whom he still hadn't asked the name of, made his mornings worth it. He sipped the caf again, and leaned back in his booth, stretching a arm across the back of the seat he sat on.

 

[Fez]

Nar Shaddaa a place Tor'Vani the young Acolyte visited never to often. He didn't know much about the hustle and bustle of the life here only that it was mid rim, Hutt space and it was in the Y'Toub system. After all that had happened to him back on Felucia he needed to just get away. Felucia was meant to be a meditation trip and then search for a Jedi and exterminate her. One part was more easily done than the other, but it was over now so there was no need for him to dwell on its past.

Thinking to himself Tor'Vani thought about if it was good or bad to be here, "Its the city, a place that a bounty hunter may come to search. On the other hand its dense populous allows me to blend. Whatever."

Tor'Vani walked into a large sub level bar. Things were everywhere, in the sense of items across tables and species of all kinds at every corner of the place. There was one empty table across from a booth occupied by a man. That's where Tor'Vani would sit and hope for low interaction by those inside. Sitting down, facing the man directly across from the table. Tor'Vani's empty and dark eyes met his and he stared at him with no malice intent or any true intent at all, he just did. A waitress came to his table, a Twi'lek with orange skin, very pretty as that was what he first noticed. She asked him what he would like. Almost in an instant he raised his hand and clenched his fist, the waitress' tray in her hand shattered and she pushed back about a foot from the pressure of the force, bumping into the table behind her. "Nothing. I'll have... nothing." Tor'Vani replied.

He removed his micro-medical bot from its pouch and placed it on his shoulder. "Do as you were designed." Tor'Vani muttered. He then grabbed his lightsaber from his back and began to work on it. He removed the white kotor crystal and crushed it within his palm, a white dull light came from within his fist and he wiped the dust to the ground. The commotion he had with the waitress caught the attention of the man in the booth in front of him, he was reading some kind of reports. Tor'Vani was staring at him while blindly working on his lightsaber, he noticed his eyes peer across the booth to the table every so often to check on his actions. Tor'Vani looked away and continued on his work.

 

[Kari Hadron]

Grey eyes peered across the cantina at the curious stranger that dismissed her little orange Twi'lek friend a bit abrasively. Despite intuition screaming in her head to ignore the man and go on about her business, which at the moment was being a pretty and practically nude object resting on a podium as she waited to be needed, she couldn't ignore the fascination, particularly as he toyed with his glowstick. She'd seen them before but innate curiosity kept prodding at her to probe for more. Her mother had taught her to read at a very young age, and that'd been her escape for two decades; no lost manuscript in this bar had gone unnoticed, and she'd learned her fair share of technology from it, if only the theory behind things she'd never actually seen.

With a soft grunt she pushed herself upright and slid off the podium, gently smoothing out the blazingly red and whorish satin of her outfit, paying special attention to the two longer strips that hung in front and behind to cover her more private areas. She glanced around to see if anyone would object, but the Renauld family was busy with their business as usual, and couldn't seem to care less what she was doing. Slowly she strode over to the man's table, twisting the long braid of her hair between a few fingers and flashing the man a smile before disappearing below, trying to seem like some innocent cleaning lady, slowly picking up the the crushed and destroyed fragments of the tray on the floor.

After about thirty seconds of wasted and faked innocence, her voice finally rose up. Soft and inviting, with a hint of warmth that only barely masked her curiosities, she tried giving him a soft smile, maybe enthrall him like she did the rest with her charm. "You know, sir, a simple no would've sufficed. While nobody's going to fault you for abusing a slave around here, we do still have feelings."

 

[Romeo Sin]

Attention rose at his booth as a man, whom Romeo could already feel the darkness pouring off him, sat down in front of him. Seconds went by as Romeo watched this man begin openly work on the weapon of the Jedi, and rudely reject his favorite waitress. With this, another person, a female of some sorts, came over with her own two cents to speak. Romeo watched this all play out in front of him. Romeo placed the datapad down, pressed a button on it which deleted all data on it, and stood up from his booth.

"Listen, you have three seconds to remove yourself from my presence." Romeo spoke softly but with cold seeping behind it. His icy blue eyes looked over to the lady, and then back at what Romeo knew for a fact was a dangerous person to have around here, though what his disposition was was unclear. Romeo's arms didn't move, nor did his body. He stood absolutely still like a statue. "I do speak to the man, you may stay madam." Romeo clarified to whom his words were meant for as he slightly bowed before her. "One...."

Romeo had no love for the Sith, Jedi, and whatever else there maybe. He didn't want that attention from others, and with this man here, surely that would start being the case.

 

[Fez]

Content with his work Tor'Vani blocked out all else from the cantina. He mind as well been in a room of nothing, but himself and his lightsaber. He occasionally looked around to see who was where and what was going on, but it was merely all trash to him. All except for two patrons, the man he sat in front of who continued to watch him and a ... the words broke in his mind as he hadn't said such things in a long time, but a beautiful woman who sat on a slavers pedestal draped in red satin. Tor'Vani noticed it all, he just didn't bother with the affairs of others unless they got to him or he had personal gain from it, that being the Sith way. He put his lightsaber atop the table for a moment and removed his micro-medical bot that had finished repairing the wounds he obtained from Felucia. He pocketed the bot into its respective pouch on his belt and resumed work on his lightsaber.

He had a keen eye on the beautiful woman. He watched her get up and move toward him with her watchful gaze on what was more than likely her slavers. She fixed herself and twirled her long braid into her fingers like a school girl tempting a naive young lad to his first kiss. Tor'Vani thought to himself, "Does she think I'm some common fool that can be taken in awe by a beautiful woman? Surely she can't feel the force." He continued to tinker with his lightsaber. She finally made it over to him and she got to her knees rather close to him, he stopped and nearly blushed, but before he knew it she was on the ground picking up pieces of the tray he smashed. He listened to her talk and her voice chilled his bones. He didn't answer, he reached into his pocket and grabbed the two red kotor crystals he collected from the dead Jedi on Felucia. He fixed them into his lightsaber and began to reassemble it. He muttered under his breath, "You are beautiful. You remind me of someone." In all honesty he hoped she didn't hear, and if she did that she wouldn't answer. He continued about his business and kept his attention to what he needed.

A few moments went by and Tor'Vani heard the datapad of the man in front of him hit the table. He listened more as the man stood up. He looked up into his cold blue eyes as he was told he had only three seconds to leave. Tor'Vani calculated as the man clarified to the girl on the floor that he spoke toward him not her and then he finally got it. On the count of one Tor'Vani subtly swept the girls knee out from under her. As she fell toward the ground he caught her and brought her to his level. He looked her in the eyes and did what no man should ever attempt, but he cracked a broken smile and kissed her. He pulled away and brought them closer with a hugging embrace. While close he quickly whispered to her, "If you don't calm this man down or take me to another room things will end badly for all in this cantina. Everyone. Even the young Twi'lek that seems to have a long life ahead of her." Hoping she would comply he pulled away and looked into her eyes and smirked again. He couldn't hide the blush on his cheeks this time.

 

[MandoMania]

Black Mask walked into the bar just as Tor'Vani Began shouting. He looked in torVani's direction and spoke. "Ah so I see you have moved on. Whatever happened to killing the Jedi named Decki and Cinger?" Black mask then walked up to the bar and took a drink from another customer. and found himself a seat at a private table.

 

[Kari Hadron]

The magical atmosphere of the cantina, perfectly engineered to deprive men of their money, seemed to hang in the balance as everything decided to rest its fate on her shoulders. She stared back at the man blankly. It hadn't been the kiss that startled her so, the girl was a slave in a cantina and she'd been kissed more times than she could count, sometimes leading to things she didn't wish to remember. The entirety of the situation simply caught her off guard. She had never been the decision-making type, usually leaving such activities to those that controlled the collars, not the necks that bore them.

Her mind stood still. She could sense the man was something...else...the same feeling she usually got with anyone playing with a glowing beatstick. Her eyes cocked to the man threatening in what seemed to take years just to focus on him. Something was amiss but she was not to bear the burdens of his problems today. The answer seemed right there, but just out of grasp, because while ideas came naturally to her, implementing, or worse, directing them did not. Her eyes did their slow tug back to the man holding her, her pupils wide with something short of fear, perhaps indecision that she could feel was threatening.

Reality snapped back to her with the same urgency that the situation before her had rushed into being. She blinked once and reached out, breaking every unspoken rule of conduct by actually touching a customer without being directed to, clenching his hand softly and starting to turn. "Come along, sir, we'll see about that private dance." She gave a gentle tug, looking over her shoulder at him, her eyes begging and pleading with the Sith to follow after her.

 

[Fez]

Looking into her eyes and her eyes only. Time crept by slowly, each second felt an hour. Finally after she seemed to come back together she answered him and asked him to come along with her. She grabbed his rough hand and clenched. He reciprocated almost instantly. "Yeah. Whatever you say." Tor'Vani answered now looking at the man with the cold blue eyes he didn't need to say anything to him as the silence and his actions were answer enough. Surely they were bound to meet again. Soon. As she tugged for him to follow, he gave in and did so. As he passed his table he picked up his lightsaber and fastened it to the small of his back on his belt, just where it belonged.

Stopping both of them in their tracks Tor'Vani still holding on to her hand, he faced the room they were to enter but gave acknowledgment to the man who waltzed in with a great presence and an even larger ego. "Black Mask, please. Just leave me to my thoughts. You heard what I planned on Felucia and that should be in complacent enough with you plans to drop Cinger." He tossed a comlink to him. "I'll contact you later, I have a plan."

As the two continued away from the large bar area of the cantina Tor'Vani whispered brokenly to the girl, "I'm... so..rry." It came out butchered as he didn't very often apologize for things. He took his free hand and put his hood on his head then bowed it and followed her steps.

 

[Romeo Sin]

Romeo sat back down, and watched the two leave with something like anger in the back of his skull. "Go back to the usual guys, nothing to see here." Romeo dismissed anyone who would want to know what just happened. The last thing he needed was some idiot to come in, and shake up his peaceful life, but something wasn't right. Quickly motioned to the owner of the bar, who in returned came up to him. Romeo had him lean in so he could whisper an order. "Keep tabs on that man, there's credits in it for you." Then he dismissed this man.

Apparently he also knew the man who had just walked in too, and called him Black Mask, Romeo's eyes darted towards the man, then went back to his caf, and relaxed. The waitress came back, and asked if he would like a refill. He accepted, and watched as he swung her hips back to the bar for his refill. Romeo smirked to himself, and leaned back once more trying to relax. His mind raced with thoughts though, whether or not the Cartel would want to know about this man with the Jedi weapon. Romeo knew of the Jedi, and Sith, and with his professional opinion, the man certainly was no Jedi.

When the Twi'lek returned with his caf, he gratefully thanked her, and added the usual. All the while, the owner of the place was sending a message to the lady that had removed the unwanted man from his table to keep an eye on him, and that plenty of credits would be aimed their way, as Romeo had ordered. His eyes went back to the man named Black Mask, and sipped his caf while watching him. Something just didnt add up here.

 

[Kari Hadron]

She didn't stop to think about what was going on anymore, waiting for him to pull his hood up, before clenching his hand even tighter...which probably felt more like a gentle and needy grasp than any sort of forceful tug...pulling him along to an alcove in the wall, a private booth. She guided him to the seat slowly before easing up on the table. She wouldn't dare sit on the cushioned surface with him, that'd just be presumptuous. Seemingly out of danger, at least for the moment, she brushed a stray hair aside and resumed her pleasant little smile, gently grazing his leg with one of her toes, ever trying to be the little seductress.

"I'm not really sure why you would waste time apologizing in the first place." Her train of thought was broken by an intrusive little messenger girl, whom Kari just deftly motioned away. She didn't need to hear the usual, it was always someone spying on someone else, or there's money in it somewhere that usually isn't paid, and if it was, Kari never saw any of it, she wasn't even allowed to handle money, much less own it. "This sort of thing happens daily. After all, it is Nar Shaddaa, and I'm just a slave girl, so your breath would've been better spent ordering a new drink." Her words had some sort of aloofness to them, as if nothing had really phased her here.

"Now, about that private dance..." She trailed the words off, slowly pulling her lower lip between her teeth and arching an eyebrow at him. "It would seem my Master's bar has done you wrong, and I'd hate to leave you with the wrong impression." Again she trailed her toes, painted red to match her garb, against the inside of his leg.

 

[Fez]

Continuing along matching her every stride still with his head down, Tor'vani eventually felt they were close enough to being away from the bar area and alone. "You don't have to be weary of me. I won't hurt you or force you to do anything." He glanced to the curtain and used his force to close it. He watched as she tried to seduce the young Sith Acolyte. As she grazed the inside of his leg with her foot, he promptly removed it with his force power.

He removed his hood and then completely took of his tight hooded sweatshirt. He let out a brief sigh. "I apologized because I kissed you." Out of the corner of his eye he saw the young messenger appear and disappear just as quickly. "I'm sure you are used to the orderless scum that walk this city. Since you are enslaved here." He stopped talking a moment and could feel another fit of dark energy coming on. He unbuttoned all three buttons on his tunic revealing his near complete tattooed body. He breathed heavy for a minute or two and then opened his eyes. "Look. I realize you are a slave and I know you don't seem to have an issue with it, but please hold your words higher than that, you're a lot more educated than any other Hutt slave temptress I've ever seen." He bowed his head.

"Yes, your masters bar completely annoys me. No I don't need a dance to leave happy. What do you take me for?" Again he used his force power to remove her foot from the inside of his leg.

As in an instant he put his hand behind his back and took out his lightsaber. As soon as it came out, it was on. As soon as it was on, it was at her neck. At that point it had gone away and he was fixing it back to his belt. He watched as her collar slowly fell off. She looked at him. He stared right back. "Listen. There is no option here. You're coming with me once I leave. And I'll be leaving once I deal with that egotistical bounty hunter out there and slip past the man with a problem and something to hide at the booth."

A whisper came into Tor'Vani's ear, "Yes." It cackled. "You will obey our will and you will kill them all. Take the girl and kill the entire populous of the bar." Tor'Vani gulped and muttered, "Your will is my command my lord." All of sudden he tensed up and began to shake. He bowed his head and went silent.

 

[Romeo Sin]

Darkness seeped into the back of Romeo's skull, a tingly feeling rose from his spine, and shook his chest. He sipped his caf once more, and checked his sleeve for his weapon, a light saber he had for when he was still a Jedi. What Romeo felt uttering from somewhere in the bar spoke all the answers to the few questions that littered his mind. Sith, only sith would feel such needs to murder, and follow orders like sheep. He wondered, though, how this would all play out.

Romeo watched the man at the bar, wondering if he was a ally of the man, and knew what he was, and if he was in on whatever may go down. Two against one wasn't something Romeo was prepared for, but he would manage somehow. He sighed and relaxed his mind. Clearing it of all distractions. Letting the dark side guide him, and his actions, letting flow through him like a river, instead of festering inside like a rotting wound. That was what separated him, and Sith.

 

[Mara Jade Brown]

Mara sauntered into the bar with all the confidence in the galaxy; chin raised high, shoulders poised and squared, and her hips swaying to the beat of some long-forgotten song. She had defeated a Jetii—a kriffing Jetii—in single combat. A feat more impressive when considering it was accomplished by a woman who had, until recently, sworn off violence entirely. But now she was vengeance-minded and, though it might pain her to privately admit it, success in combat felt good. She hadn’t achieved her ultimate goal, of course, and she’d unfortunately not even been given the opportunity to put a pair of blaster bolts into Adippos’ fat, bulbous eyes, but vanquishing a Force-wielding, lightsaber-equipped Jedi was still quite the performance. Pacifism or no, it was hard to completely ignore her Mando heritage and feel a swell of pride at her recent win.

It was a minor victory on a galactic scale, but the toxic behavior of most Mandalorians these days rarely cultivated anything more than loss and humiliation, so she’d take it.

Absently chewing on a gob of brightgum, Mara wore a broad grin, well aware of the playful flirtatiousness presented by the seemingly innocuous action. Because that wouldn’t be attention grabbing enough on its own, she was dressed flamboyantly, having abandoned the vaguely more utilitarian white garb she fought in for something far more ostentatious: a red, glossy body glove with black piping down the sides that fit snugly and left little to the imagination paired with platform boots of the same color that raised her at least a dozen centimeters above her normal height.

Her hair, kept in a large ball of tight curls expanding a good forty centimeters out from her head in all directions, didn’t exactly scream subtlety, either; Nor did the pair of DE-10 blaster pistols, their burnished frames glistening where not covered by the faded, well-worn leathris of a gunslinger-style belt holsters hanging above either thigh. Even more menacing was the hilt jutting just above her right shoulder, attached to the broken ersatz songsteel short sword sheathed across her upper back. She’d kept the weapon, and purchased a proper scabbard for it, following her victory, and wore with all the reverence as if it were a true beskad.

Stopping just after crossing the threshold into the seedy cantina, Mara cocked her head to a side. “So,” she announced, making sure her voice rose above the general din. “Which of you motherkriffers wants to buy a lady a drink?” She smiled wickedly, and her dark brown eyes twinkled with absolute mischief as she surveyed the various beings occupying the joint, looking for a willing candidate.

Completely oblivious to the charged atmosphere slowly bubbling in the place, Mara just wanted to manipulate her minor celebrity to obtain a few free drinks and have a good time. She was disappointed she had yet to be approached to take comlink holos with admirers, and hoped the Hutts hadn’t been too overblown in their description of the gladiatorial matches. Given the nature of the slugs and the tepid responses she had garnered, though, it was beginning to feel like they had been.

 

[MandoMania]

Black Mask smiled as he sensed the dark lords asking Tor'Vani to kill every one in the bar. Black Mask then got up and walked out of the bar with it being dark out side he instantly camouflaged in with the background in his black suit and mask.

 

[Kari Hadron]

The brilliant flash of light from the lightsaber caught her off guard, stunning her for a moment before an empty feeling brought her back down to earth. Kari blinked at the man as he muttered and bowed his head, though her thoughts couldn't be further from whatever it was he was saying. A hand reached up and furtively grazed the slightly-lighter ring around her neck where her collar had been moments ago. A deep shudder ran through her spine, almost shrill terror at the idea of a concept she simply could not manage.

As the man sat shaking, she slipped off the table and down to the floor, kneeling with a practiced graced as her fingers gingerly picked at the destroyed pieces of her collar. She stared at them longingly, wishing to feel their embrace again. After a lifetime of wearing it, the idea of going without was simply too much to handle. Her eyes turned to the man, narrowing in anger, though her voice struggled to keep from cracking, sounding as if she were about to break into tears.

"But...but...Why!?"

 

[Romeo Sin]

Romeo stood up slowly from his seat, and made his way to the back of the bar/club. He didn't really care about the others here, nor did he really care for the woman that the Sith was with. All he cared about was the fact that this man was in his territory, he was bluntly coming out with his Sith ways, and Romeo was having none of it. Casually walking up to the door they had entered, Romeo opened it, only to see that the man had already activated his weapon. The Vahla smirked, and breathed something in his own language about 'Stupid Sith, with their red weapons.' Though he doubted this man knew what he said, not many knew how to speak Vahla.

"Miss, I think it's time for you to leave. Now."

Romeo spoke softly, but with a cold tone. He wished he had his mask on, but this man had already seen his face, and this woman had too. He would probably have to kill her to keep his secret safe. That's just what he needed was for the Cartel to know of his heritage. He would show this man how the darkside was properly handled. His eyes glazed from a icy blue, to a blood red as he drew on the force the best way he knew how. Through allowing it to flow through him, and guide his every move, he would take out the sith without the need for his own weapon, hopefully.

 

[Fez]

Tor'Vani rose at the sound of her voice. She seemed to be trembling in the release of her collar. He stood on his feet and fixed his shirt and redressed himself back to his sweatshirt and hood. He looked at the girl broken on the floor. Suddenly he took his hand in the air and pushed her against the wall and held her there with his force power. It seemed to be gaining strength as time was pushing forward. "You want to know why? Because I can. You're coming with me like it or not. I really don't care for your wants, or anyone else's at this point." He thought to himself after he spoke, wondering what the hell he was doing, this wasn't much like him at all. "Girl, you want a master? A true master, someone that's worth serving? You'll heed my words and you'll follow me."

A new presence was at bay. Someone familiar, but still new.

"What the hell do you want?" He spoke to the man now in their presence. He let up on the girl. "Are you the hero of Nar Shaddaa?... As if this ungrateful place deserved one." He redrew his lightsaber. Anger grew deep within him. "Yes, young one. Kill this man. Murder him and harvest your emotions into strength." Tor'Vani as usual heeded his dark lords voice and answered. "You're will is my command master." He stared at the man in front of him, a Vahl. "For a less than pathetic being and the stronger one in this fight you speak in your native language as if to not honor me with your great words. How disrespectful." The young Sith Acolyte had managed control this entire time, but now that was gone. This wasn't like him, but he was changing. With his lightsaber held blade backwards in an unnatural form he lunged at the man. For all hope had left this boy years ago.

 

[Mara Jade Brown]

“Nobody?” She asked with mock disappointment, the same cocky grin still plastered across her features, and spread her hands out to her sides imploringly. She had received a few curious glances, but they had been fleeting, disinterested. But it wasn’t that Mara, with her flamboyant attire and disposition, wasn’t worthy of their attention. In normal circumstances, there would have been at least a handful of drunks willing to take up her initial offer. No, something wasn’t quite right. They weren’t simply ignoring her as much as their focus was drawn elsewhere.

Noting the uniform orientation of their preoccupied gazes, she snorted silently in frustration and moved languidly in that direction. Finally detecting the tense atmosphere that had quieted the establishment, she casually moved a hand to rest on the butt of one of her pistols. The energy was off in the cantina and whatever was holding the patrons’ interest so captivatingly wasn’t the joyous anarchy of a dive bar brawl. Certainly something was building, but there was no anarchistic delight at all beneath it, and the realization caused Mara’s lighthearted expression to fall.

Reaching the far end of the cantina, in what seemed to be another small segment of the building, she caught glimpse of a woman crouched low, a man—who appeared to be shorter than Mara, she noted absently with faint amusement—next to her, and another figure addressing them both. Cocking an eyebrow, she glanced between the three and tried to make sense of the scene. Given the relative state of undress of the woman, a prostitute presumably, and the two men, Mara felt her smile begin to return. Please be this, please be this, she prayed internally to whatever deities would listen, very sincerely hoping the situation was exactly as it appeared. Watching men fight for flesh would be an excellent way to spend an evening.

Moving slowly, as if watching a precarious display of rutting stags about to fight and not wanting to distract them from their violent purpose, she moved near a seated Bith, also staring with rapt attention and carefully folded her arms over her chest. Lips parted slightly in anticipation for what was sure to come, she angled her head towards the Bith and whispered, “Twenty creds on the little one.” He looked sturdier. The tall figure, even when viewed through his clothing, seemed lanky and less substantial.

Unfortunately, her diversion rapidly took a turn for the worse. The short guy gestured with a hand, and suddenly the girl at the center of it all went slamming into a nearby wall. Mara frowned. Jetii. They were spreading like gizka, apparently. Like her Mandalorian compatriots, they didn’t seem especially talented when it came to things like discretion, common sense, or the ability to take a kriffing chill pill. Maybe he was facing down the hooker’s owner or something.

But she raised her eyebrows in casual surprise when the shorter of the two men drew a lightsaber and engaged it. The blade was red, the stereotypical hue of the Sith, and she doubted this particular fellow was some nonconformist Jetii making some profound statement about the inherent neutrality of colors. It would also explain his little bit of unnecessary aggression recently loosed on the girl, who hadn’t seemed to have done anything to warrant it. Her frown fading, but not disappearing, Mara slipped her hands free and placed them firmly on the grips of her pistols as a precaution. She had little interest in participating in this spat, but Forcers weren’t exactly a predictable and sensible bunch.

 

[Undine]

~ Theme Song ~
While various activities occurred around the bar, no one seemed to notice the unconscious pantoran sleeping under one of the tables in a private booth near the left side of the bar. It was the sound of lightsabers that woke her, causing her to sit up violently, hitting her head on the table above her with a dull thud followed by a mumbled curse. Jade took a moment to remember where she was, the empty bottle of wine still in her grasp was clue enough. Crawling out from under table, one hand clutching the bottle, the other reaching out in front of her. Her fingers grazed the ankle of an orange skinned Twi'lek who let out a large gasp, she seemed to be one edge about something. As Jade was being helped up by the waitress, she shook the bottle earning a chuckle from the woman as she took the empty bottle and walked off to retrieve another, and then she walked in.

A tale, powerful looking confident woman in a skin tight outfit and a huge afro atop her head, Jade pointed at the women as if to make she her legs understood where she wanted them to go. It wasn't often that Jade decided to get drunk, despite the amount of alcohol she consumed on a regular basis. Wine was a hobby for the pantoran Jedi, but yesterday was merited more than just one or two bottles of wine. Laona had died, Kai walked back into her life after months of being apart and Laona had died. The cruel trade off had made Jade finally work past what she had seen during the Battle of Naboo, she'd finally been able to ignite her lightsabers without having a panic attack as the sounds, smells, and images of battle torn at her mind. Still though, Laona had been shot full of blaster fire trying to protect her, and while Jade now realized she had just been using the Elomin woman for emotional support, she still missed her.

The man that owned this bar knew Jade as the Blue Devil, her stage name when she fought in the local cage fights. Apparently being undefeated pissed off a few minor thugs who decided to kidnap her, Laona, and Kai. They actually succeeded surprisingly, mostly due to the fact they already had first hand knowledge of the Blue Devil in close quarters combat, instead choosing to drug all three of them while they were smoke exotic tea leaves at the local red lights club down the street. Sadly enough for those thugs who Jade hadn't bothered to learn the names of, both herself and Kai were Jedi Knights and drugs only had short amount of time before they wore off. Sadly enough for Jade though, Elomin have hyperactive metabolisms meaning Laona had woken up first. The thugs attempted to use her against Jade, but she and Kai had just broken out of their chains and Laona attempted to attack one of their captives, getting herself killed in the process.

Jade had managed to stumble halfway to the woman who was now calling out for free drinks as the waitress from earlier showed up with a new bottle of wine on a metal tray. Distracted by the beautiful features of the Twi'lek, Jade smiled and offered her some of the wine. "You know dear, I'm not sure if I'd rather get a private dance from you or offer you one instead." Despite the stumble in her step Jade spoke rather coherently, she was more than capable of cleansing the alcohol from her body with a few moments of meditation, she was after all specialized in the many healing arts of the Force. Sadly enough for both of them though, Jade finally managed to notice the dark presence of the two about to go at each other. She drew in close to the table she had been sleeping under, placing the new bottle of wine on the table and closing her eyes, concentrating on the Force.

Calling out within the Force through their Force Bond, Jade attempted to portray a sense of danger to Kai. He'd had enough of the clubs and bars of nar Shaddaa after yesterday and had gone about his business while she attempted to drown herself in drinks and bar fights as way of mourning the loss of Laona. Already she could feel the Force working throughout her body to cleanse her of the negative effects of the alcohol she'd so far consumed. After a few more moments she'd draw her twin lightsaber guard shotos and demand that the two apparent siths make their way elsewhere. It wouldn't be the first time she'd crossed blades with a sith, but it would be the first time since Naboo and her body was ready to continue morning Laona, fighting a few sith in a bar was still technically a bar fight after all.​

 

[Ral]

"And you're sure that her body will get back to her homeworld?"

"Aye, we should be able to get there in a couple of days if we don't get held up by customs. Gotta tell ya, this ain't the thing we normally do." The voice of the smuggler captain came in over the small comlink the black garbed human male was holding in his palm.

"It's very important that this is done quickly and properly. I'll pay double your fee once we've received confirmation that the body has been delivered. Let me know if there are any complications immediately. Thank you, and let me know when you arrive there." The young knight responded with a sense of finality in his voice. Ever since reuniting with Jade he had been thrown on a bit of a whirlwind ride for him, though it was a good ride despite how tragic a turn it had ended up taking. For one thing, Kai was back with his best friend a girl he had known since she was a young teenager. And now, after Naboo he felt a bit better about being a Jedi, and about life in general. When he got back from this excursion to Nar Shaddaa he would get back out in the field and do missions instead of being holed up teaching like some hermit.

Just as he was about to put his comlink away, Kai felt an odd sensation in the Force. It wasn't unfamiliar, but he wasn't quite sure why he was feeling it at this moment. Reaching out with his feelings, Kai managed to trace the sensation back to Jade inside the bar. Turning around he looked at the entrance of the dump the blue skinned girl had chosen to drown her worries away in. Kai couldn't blame the girl for wanting to drink after the death of her girlfriend, but it did make him rather sad; he wished he could do more for her, to help her.

Frowning a little as he felt a sense of danger coming from Jade through the powerful Force Bond they shared, Kai decided to investigate it for himself. The young dark-haired knight had been using Concealment quite a lot since arriving on the world. He couldn't risk being discovered by a Jedi Hunter on this world; Nar Shaddaa wasn't exactly known for being "friendly" towards Jedi. But now, he was going to have to risk dropping it a little so he could sense what exactly was going on inside the dinky little bar he found himself standing before. As he stretched his senses inside the bar the young man got two equally dark presences radiating from inside, or perhaps they just felt dark; one thing that he was certain of was that Jade felt like star next to whoever else was in there. The darkness went hand in hand with the danger he was feeling from Jade, and so with a scowl on his face he inhaled and walked inside.

The inside was what one might expect of a bar on Nar Shaddaa, one that wasn't dedicated to the ultra poor or the ultra rich. Moving between the tables, Kai waved off the attractive waitresses with their free drinks as well as the exotic dancers. Finding Jade wasn't too hard, even without the Bond and her distinct presence in the Force she stood out quite a bit. Coming up behind her, Kai saw what she was looking at, two men, one of them had drawn a crimson lightsaber and was preparing to strike the other. "Don't tell me... Sith?"

His message was sent telepathically as he came up beside his best friend. With a deep and exaggerated sigh, Kai shook his head. He was hoping to have a quiet night, and getting into a fight with some Force "So, you wanna be a hero or let them duke it out first?"