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Post by Court Baron Butters on Mar 28, 2016 0:07:38 GMT -5
[Approximately 4 days after the invasion of Yavin-4] A sharp fizzling, cracking noise erupts in the cockpit of a brand new Mu-2 Long range shuttle, only recently conscripted for battle after waiting for months in a republic hanger. The comm-link buzzes into the roar of a man with a booming voice. "Corvette A-266, please be advised we are prepared to disengage contact now." With wings, slowly lowering on the shuttle, the two vessels disengaged. With the second shuttle already preparing departure towards a distant green ball. The man continued over comms once more, this time transmitting to the other identical, though slightly more beaten-up shuttle. "Be advised, we are now heading towards the surface of planet Maridun, is the troop transport ready?" Quickly the other shuttle chimed back, "The republic soldiers, are itching to land." "You know they probably won't even see any action today, so long as our special friends don't rouse any public attention." the pilot with the booming voice spoke doubtfully. The other pilot quickly stated back "Just say the words, and my men will be out on the field." The now amused pilot called back to the Corellian corvette, that remained several meters away, "Both shuttles, are prepared to enter low orbit, you folks sure that no ones going to catch wind of the republic in this sector?" A feminine voice came on the comms, signalling from the corvette, "Not a chance, so long as we stay out of sight, your shuttles should be clear to land, and we'll keep this pig far from the planet; remember - all of you - this is supposed to be a discrete mission. If the smugglers so much as smell us - we could compromise this whole thing. Stay safe out there." "will do ma'am!" The two shuttles quickly darted towards the planet. A tall man with a dull white robe covering all of his body stood sullenly near a viewing portal of the shuttle. His white robes served as a sharp contrast to his charcoal-black skin. He kept his face well visible, and new full well people admired it as a prominent feature, with well rounded cheek bones, and a smooth black nose. His hair was the color of the deepest, darkest ash on Mustafar. This got him the much desired attention of many of the girls on his adoptive planet of Coruscant. This attention was much to the disdain of his superiors. These prominent features earned him the nickname of "The suave." The young mans thoughts had left him in a cold depressing phase of boredom, but this was soon to be lifted, and lifted it was after a sharply dressed man by the name of Cress-ondo, he was dressed in the clothes a relatively well-off citizen may adorn. Though the man behind the disguise was far more than average... "So we're all good on the plan then right?" Cress spoke hastily, "You Jedi are here to be detectives, I hope you remember, and as discrete defense personnel, NOTHING ELSE, understand?" Ru looked at him, and nodded slowly understanding calmly, but inside he had become increasingly excited for the mission to come. He looked to his left, noting the other two bomb specialists the republic had conscripted for the mission, as Cress looked at the men, Cress spoke up once more. "This is going to be simple, we know the person delivering the cargo is using a large bronze colored metal container about a quarter of the size of a hyperdrive." The ship loomed precariously, now quickly growing closer to the planet, vast open fields could be seen and in the distance a small, but dense city could be seen. Ru looked over to his master "I don't suppose this mission is going to require us to go in guns blazing, huh?" Adnan, smiled back at Ru, and teased "This is a mission unlike many of your others, listen Ru, I know you as a student, you can read people like no one else, and without the use of the force, its time to utilize this skill, this is going to be a real world training ground for Jedi-espionage, your mind is as strong as your body. I've seen it Ru." Repeating much more deliberately now the old man spoke again "I have seen it." Ru smiled back, it was typical for his master to give him a pep-talk before a mission, but he seemed to cut this one short. "Do we know why these smugglers are bringing the bomb here? I mean I feel like we have so little to go off of." "That's the point Ru" Cress responded, "we're here to gather intelligence, we don't know if this is the last stop for the device, or even if we are dealing with an actual 'bomb' We do know from the encrypted messages, that smugglers are arriving here today, and will likely be at the shuttle access point soon, we know they are dropping the package off, at a facility, but we couldn't find out where in Maridun, that is. Ru looked out one of the windows of the shuttle, and began clearing his head, the cabin of the shuttle was filled with bomb specialists, tech experts, and most importantly for the mission: The three jedi master adnan, knight Darrian, and padawan Ru. Note to anyone who finds the package: There is a Baradium fission device inside |
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Post by Zenios on Dec 14, 2016 23:28:57 GMT -5
Darrian found it only a little ironic that one of his first serious missions since ending his sabbatical saw him somewhere in the outer reaches of the galaxy, dressed in something that was decidedly not standard Jedi attire, doing something hardly suited for a Jedi - especially one of his talents. If nothing else, he supposed as he adjusted the loose jacket he wore, a little cross-training with the military would be a good way to broaden his skillset a little more. Improve the resume he was probably never going to need.
He smiled privately at that, shook his head. There was an apprentice here. It wouldn't do to drown the youth--he was certainly of age by Darrian's estimation, but he was closing in on the point where everyone was a young whippersnapper--in mostly well-intentioned sarcasm or disrupt his Master's attempt at training a boy who was probably pretty headstrong already. He'd had enough experience with such disruptions to want to avoid them desperately: once was enough.
Was his failure with Sena really going to haunt him for the rest of his days? He couldn't even look at another Master and apprentice without letting it get to him. How was he supposed to meaningfully contribute to the growth of the Jedi Order or improve the galaxy if he couldn't even handle a little adversity? Darrian tucked his insecurities away and looked up, grateful that Cress-ondo decided to address the three Jedi just then. He didn't really need the reminder that they weren't here to be heroes nearly as much as they were here to just point the right people in the right direction, but the distraction was certainly welcome. He'd been way too prone to that sort of cyclical thinking lately.
The Jedi Knight kept quiet for the most part as Ru and Adnan interacted. It was a good way to get a feel for their dynamic and a better way to get to know them. Adnan seemed pretty typical as far as Jedi Masters went, based on this limited interaction, but Ru seemed like a little bit of a maverick. He couldn't help but imagine there was just a little bit of clashing there, probably more lighthearted than serious. The best kind.
"So what's our plan?" he finally chimed in, speaking for the first time in at least a brief while. "Stake out the spaceport, do some empathic reading, and trail the smugglers back to their hideaway?" It might not have been the best plan, but he certainly wasn't familiar enough with antiterrorism operations to make a different call.
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Post by Court Baron Butters on Dec 15, 2016 16:11:23 GMT -5
The young man was upset that he likely would not get the battle he had hoped for on this tiny planet. He understood full well the mission briefings mentioned the potential for fatal hazards, though was reminded quite plainly by both his master, and by the bomb-technician Cress that there would most likely be no fight today. He caught himself as he continued thinking about the thrill of combat. This is impure for a jedi Ru! Battle is for the blind... even if it is fun, and often constructive. The young man had constant clashes between his Thyrsian upbringing, and Jedi training. Like the Echani, the Thyrsians were raised on combat, but to them it was never about hatred, it was about expression, communication, and solidarity.
'So what's our plan?' Ru had almost forgotten about their extra companion up until his words came through in response to the briefing. 'Stake out the spaceport, do some empathic reading, and trail the smugglers back to their hideaway?' Ru had essentially never worked with anyone as closely as he would be expected to work with this knight, in his prior missions, other than with his master of course. He was getting quite used to being able to operate in the private manner he saw fit his present circumstances.
Cress chimed back in 'Yes, don't forget to ask around the locals, see if you can determine any suspicious behavior. We're not sure what these smugglers look like themselves, so walk with extreme caution. As far as we know half this damn planet is in cahoots with them.'
The ship neared closer and closer to the docking bay of one of the planets, the size of the settlement in this region was tiny, looking out of the windows of the shuttle would reveal the vast plain-lands surrounding the industrial compounds of the city. As the ship finally landed on the dark grey pad Ru began to check all of the equipment he had brought with him, fairly simple in all. The utility belt along his waste harbored two Lightsabers - one slightly smaller than the other - a commlink, and a small datapad. Reflecting on the cover nation of his mission, Ru bunched his cloak in front of his Jedi fatigues to prevent civilians from seeing his lightsabers.
Cress looked around the docking bay, and moved to the front of the cockpit of the shuttle, while it was faint, some of the individuals in the back of the ship may have been able to hear his words to the pilot. 'greet whoever is in charge at this bay, but make a quick round of the ship. When we leave I want you to maintain a secure perimeter, we don't have a lot of other options for our escape route.'
He moved back into the main area of the shuttle with the rest of the crew and spoke again, as the pilot left the ship, and began approaching a man at a docking terminal near the ship. 'Alright everyone, our Jedi friends will leave first, and we will stay within the landing facility to gain intel, and to monitor any incoming ships which may potentially contain the packaged we're looking for.' He cleared his throat, 'make sure your commlinks that we have provided are prepared and functional. He looked to Adnan, and then Darrian, and then Ru 'be sure to contact the rest of us with any information you uncover. I recommend you three search the central commerce of the planet, just due west of here.
Adnan spoke up now, 'and we're sure that our intelligence suggesting they'll be here today is accurate?' another member of the bomb-technicians spoke up this time, 'of course, that intel is about the most solid information we have regarding these smugglers.' Ru finally spoke up this time, rolling his eyes as he spoke, "That's not exactly the most reassuring notion."
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Post by Zenios on Dec 21, 2016 0:04:06 GMT -5
"Yes, don't forget to ask around the locals, see if you can determine any suspicious behavior. We're not sure what these smugglers look like themselves, so walk with extreme caution. As far as we know half this damn planet is in cahoots with them."
Darrian smiled, gave Cress a halfway-cursory "Well, I certainly hope not," by way of reply. It wouldn't have done to say something haughty about how the Force would identify those possessed of secretive or hostile intent more clearly than any uniform, true though it was.
As the other human left to go confer with the shuttle's pilot, he began the admittedly short process of checking his gear. By his reckoning, it would have been excessively obvious to see a group of people in matching traveling robes with lightsabers at their hips, so he'd taken a few precautions to blend in a little better. His jacket was a much more comfortable fit than he'd first thought - it wasn't as tight as he wanted it to be, but that gave him a little more freedom of movement without it being baggy. It fit his gangly physique somehow, and he'd noticed that there was even a strange little loop in one of the that did a wonderful job of ensuring his lightsaber was hidden up a sleeve. Dare could hardly fathom why a fairly new jacket would have a loop like that in the first place, but all that mattered was that it was there.
That was really about it. He had some loose credit chips in one pants pocket, a datapad and comlink in the other. Darrian had bought in pretty fully to the belief that the only weapon--the only ally--a Jedi ever needed was the Force. That attitude did a fair job of reflecting itself in the equipment he carried around when away from the Temple; he probably wouldn't even have carried a datapad or comlink if it weren't for the conveniences they offered.
Dare ran a hand through his hair, loose and only slightly unkempt, as Cress returned to the passenger compartment and followed up with a few more reminders and directions. He pulled out his comlink, ensuring it was tuned to the right frequency more to give Cress a little peace of mind than anything. He seemed rather tense, and for good reason given the situation; maybe slight gestures on Dare's part would help calm him at least a slight amount.
He couldn't hold back a grin at Ru's quip. The--Tarsian? Thyrsian? He couldn't remember for sure--apprentice really was rather similar to how Dare had been all those years ago. His similarities to Sena, at least based on passing knowledge of his character, were even more striking. Hopefully, at least, without the bit about succumbing to darkness. "Trust in the Force, Ru," Dare replied before Adnan or Cress could jump in, strolling towards the shuttle's boarding ramp. "We'll end up where we need to be and find who we need to find. One way or another." He didn't mean to sound too much like some kind of fatalist, but that really wasn't too far off from how strongly Darrian had felt he could trust in the Force in years past.
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Post by Stelpher on Dec 22, 2016 3:22:34 GMT -5
Maridun, a temperate world of grassy plains and forested meadows. A quiet backwater world with only a few major population centres. A dull and boring world.
Naomi sat, surveying the town from the window of the building, one of the few buildings in the town that stood above three stories tall. As a world controlled by the Hutts, it was no surprise that much of this town was now occupied by smugglers and other lowlifes, and her employers had very little trouble securing this building for the operation she was to oversee. Escort work, not something Naomi regularly participated in. She was to keep her eyes on a package and ensure that it made it to her employers without any trouble. She was nearly tempted to decline the job, but had found herself a little lacking in credits as of late and didn’t have much choice in the matter.
With a sigh, Naomi turned away from the window to gaze upon the room itself, a large conference room filled with, maps, equipment and items things necessary for their operation. Several smugglers hurried about the room, chatting amongst each other and preparing. Only a select few actually knew the details of the package and who it was going to, the rest were simply hired as extra protection to keep everything running smoothly.
'Not that it would be needed.' Naomi thought to herself.
She was more than confident in her own abilities, and she doubted there would be much trouble in such a backwater planet as this anyway.
'Of course, there is always the possibility that the Republic might turn up, those guys seem to have informants everywhere.'
A scowl appeared under Naomi’s helmet. While she never had any particular reason to despise the Republic, they openly allied themselves with the New Jedi Order and that was something she could not forgive.
As Naomi’s thoughts began to darken the room itself seemed to echo her, and one could swear that the light grew dimmer while the air cooled, however Naomi was interrupted from her brooding as a smuggler approached her – leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the window.
The smuggler, a human or sub-human, gazed upon her with sharp green eyes, his sandy blonde hair held back with a grubby bandana. A bulky DL-44 rested on his belt, banging awkwardly against the wall as he adjusted his pose.
“So Miss…Hunter, was it? So what’s your story huh? You don’t look like a smuggler, you some sort of liaison or something? ‘Cause I know none of us hired you.”
The man examined Naomi up and down, although most of her form was hidden from view by her armoured cloak and mask.
“And what’s with all the breathing apparatus?“
As if to emphasize, the man began tapping the visor of her mask.
“You that scared to get a little dust in-“
The man’s comments were cut short as a cybernetic arm whipped out from under Naomi’s cloak, taking hold of the man’s hand a squeezing with a sickening crack as something in the hand broke.
“Too many questions.” Naomi hissed, ignoring the man’s cries and yelps of pain, holding the hand for a few moment’s longer before releasing.
The man pulled back, nursing his injury with his other arm as he began to retreat further into the room.
“Whatever, just don’t get in the way if the shooting starts…crazy bitch…”
As the man left her, Naomi turned back to look towards the window, her throat emitting a savage guttural growl as she thought to herself.
‘Fool, if there is a battle I will be the one to end it.’
Naomi continued watching the window for several more minutes, seeing ships come and go from the nearby space-port, before her attention was drawn back into the room by a voice.
“All right everyone, shut up and listen for a minute. There’s only sixteen hours left until our employers are schedules to arrive and pick up our…’luggage’. We’re on the home stretch folks, but that means now we’ve got to be extra careful. If anyone’s picked up on our activities then their window of opportunity is closing, so they’ll be rushed to make a move. I want anything unusual reported back here immediately. Do I make myself clear?”
Murmurs of agreement echoed throughout the room from the smugglers before crowd dispersed and everyone went back to the jobs. The man who spoke, a tall man who looked as if he had been in the business a fair while due to the rough grey beard shooting from his chin, slowly made his way over to Naomi, stopping at an arm’s length away. The man offered her his hand, although they both knew she wouldn’t take it as he spoke in a hushed tone.
“Craven. It’s good to know that our friends over at Black Sun sent someone competent to watch over us. I don’t think the rest of these guys are really up to par when it comes to protecting a package as…’valuable’ as ours. Seen anything yet?”
Craven nods towards the direction of the space-port.
Naomi shakes her head.
“Nothing so far, but if they arrived in a civilian vessel then they may be here already.”
Craven nods once more.
“Don’t worry, in a couple of hours we’re going to move the package to a safer location closer to the drop-off zone. Until then we just have to hope everything runs smoothly. I have some of my best guys out there combing the streets for anything suspicious, but if you wish to join them then I’m sure we can hold down the fort for a mere two hours.”
Naomi takes that as her opportunity to leave, heading towards the room’s exit. If there was an attack by the Republic planned, she would rather intercept it within the town itself rather than at their last line of defence. With that in mind, Naomi departed the building, making her way towards the town’s markets.
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Post by Court Baron Butters on Dec 22, 2016 16:43:31 GMT -5
'Trust in the Force, Ru,' Ru eyed the tall, spindly, man up and down after speaking. He shifted his head down to reflect on the Jedi knights words. Ru's faith in the force was shaken nearly daily despite his instructors insistent request of him to rely on it.
Ru's master nodded his head upon the middle-aged Knights response to Ru. 'Indeed young one. We have a stiff advantage in the respect, there is much potential for us in this assignment.'
In remarking upon the Jedi's comments, Adnan also noted his attire. It was quite wise indeed for them to maintain a low profile. He proceeded to remove his single lightsaber from its place on his hip, and fit it snugly in his boot. He removed his robe to reveal the common Jedi fatigues in a light beige tone. It was not the most unassuming outfit, but most individuals would not bat an eye unless the master decided to anything in particular to get noticed.
Ru noted the change in outfit, but decided to the most logical conclusion to remain hidden would be to leave the cloak he was wearing as is. Very few jedi chose to wear white, and a cloak was relatively common among locals of many planets, although Ru had never been to the planet of Maridun before.
Adnan spoke up once more, 'perhaps it would be best if we split up, we will be the least conspicuous if we do so.' The Jedi master motioned to one of the mission strategists, and remarked once more. 'Why don't you come with me. Ru, knight Reach. Why don't you two go explore the market place, and our technician friends can scout out the docking area.'
Ru smirked, he barely knew this new Jedi, and would have much preferred to go with his master, whom he knew much better. Something told Ru that his master would not take no for an answer, but his lips moved faster than his mind. "But Master! Would you and I not operate better in a team?" Adnan had known Ru long enough to see through this seemingly reasonable request. His request had nothing to do with better team work. Adnan knew his young pupil despised working in teams, no, this sentiment was about something else...
'Sure we do operate very well together won't we Ru?' He put his hand on Ru's hair, as the boys brow curled. 'Perhaps to strengthen this bond we have though, we should strengthen our teamwork with others?' It was useless for Ru to argue at this point, and as he was just about to speak up again, the pilot opened the bay doors, and spoke up.
'Alright everybody, time to move out!' Adnan, and the strategist were the first to exit, Ru's master chimed just as they strolled off, 'good luck Ru! And master Reach!' they disappeared around a blind corner.
Ru looked up to Knight Reach, "I guess we're working together then." His voice trailed off as he spoke, and stepped off the ship. Ru looked back "Coming... Master?"
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Post by Zenios on Jan 8, 2017 3:06:59 GMT -5
Darrian watched as Adnan and Ru assessed themselves and made a few outfit changes with some approval. It probably wouldn't have done for the three of them to go out dressed in matching robes, but neither would identical sets of street clothes made sense. This was a pretty decent middle ground - not obvious enough to stand out, but not inconspicuous enough to either. His only complaint might have been with Ru's white attire--seeing as white was a bit more memorable than a darker shade--but that was a pretty minor one. The Padawan was certainly allowed to make his own choices, that much was hard to deny, let alone when he had another Master. In his current mental state, Darrian was probably a little too prone to quibble anyway - he wanted to make sure his first serious mission back with the Order went off without a hitch.
It was just nerves, he told himself. He was a tiny bit too concerned about anything going wrong on his watch - probably too large of a bit. Doubt was as much a liability as excessive rust, and Darrian was going to have to do something besides let the two issues eat at him. Something told him that this wasn't going to be as cut and dry as Cress-ondo wanted it to be, though he couldn't have told if it was the Force itself or just a gut feeling. He had a feeling the Jedi were going to be needed for more than just the empathic reading Cress-ondo had suggested - whether that was a fight or something else, he couldn't quite discern. It didn't do much to calm him down, though.
He looked up as Adnan mentioned his name, glancing over briefly at the Padawan he was to be paired up with. Leave it to a Jedi Master to try and teach a lesson at every turn. At least this had the potential to be an interesting one, though - Darrian was kind of looking forward to working with Ru and imparting some of his knowledge. Or exchanging barrages of quips and sarcasm - whichever came first.
"I guess we're working together then. Coming... Master?" came Ru's voice not too long after Adnan and Cress moved off.
Darrian snorted, adding just a bit of hustle to his step to catch up with Ru. He really was similar to Sena: all the confidence in the world and the wit to match. Or, at least, the willingness to try to be witty. Not to suggest it didn't sting to hear a new voice call him Master - that should have been Sena - but it wasn't an especially inventive quip. "Sure looks that way, doesn't it. You Padawans are a lot mouthier than I remember you being, aren't you?" He paused briefly, consulting the map of Maridun on his datapad and allowing Ru a little space for a retort. It wouldn't be too fair to just barrage him nonstop, after all.
"So which way do you suppose the market is?" he asked, more to see how Ru would respond than anything. It wouldn't be any fun if Darrian did all the leading.
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Post by Stelpher on Jan 17, 2017 8:31:48 GMT -5
Naomi quickly made her way through the streets towards the marketplace, weaving through alleys and over small rooftops in what she decided was the shortest route to her destination. She had walked these streets many times during her time on this particular job, and had made sure to memorize as much of them as possible. Within ten minutes she had made it to the edge of the marketplace, a large square space edged with buildings, roughly two hundred meters across and filled with a maze of stalls. Upon quickly scanning the area for anyone looking out of place, she found to both her relief and irritation that if the Republic were already here, they hadn’t made it this far yet. Of course it would be nice if they could get away with everything without a problem, but that would be hopelessly dull and boring. Naomi desired interruption. Interruption from the facades and lies of civility, from greed and the deceiving nature of most of the galaxies intelligent races. Her time on Felucia was no joyride, but they were straightforward. Survive at the cost of all else. There was no pretense of peace; every creature in those forests knew full well that everything else was out to get them.
Naomi sighed, entering the market-place, her cloaked form passing casually between stalls as she continued scanning the area. She knew that not all people were as bad as she made them out to be. Simply looking through the markets revealed countless individuals and families selling their wares and offering their services to get by, just trying to make an honest living. It wasn’t so much people that she desired interruption from, but civilization as a whole, with its politics and economics. Where it wasn’t enough for people to just get by, they had to make sure they gained something from living.
While Naomi silently argued with her thoughts over her feelings, she dipped into the shade of a small, cramped alleyway to escape from the heat of the sun. Within a few short moments a smuggler had found her in the crevice.
“Leave it to smugglers to find me here…” She muttered quietly to herself before beckoning the smuggler over, a young man who couldn’t have been a day over eighteen. Judging by his clothes lightweight and un-restrictive clothing, the boy was a runner, probably relaying messages through the city.
“You are Miss Hunter, yes?” The boy asked in rapid-fire tone, echoing the energy coursing through his body as he constantly shifted in place.
Naomi responded to the man with a brief nod.
“They’ve uh- that is to say…” The boy took a moment to breath and collect himself before clearly relaying the message. “Mister Craven’s suspicions were correct. Republic troops were sighted leaving the space-port several minutes ago, spreading out across the city. Myself and several others are informing as many as we can on our way back to the HQ.”
Naomi nodded once more, contemplating the message. The safest bet would be to head back herself to the building they were using as a base of operations and keep the package safe, but on the other hand she could have a lot more fun dealing with the Republicans herself.
Having delivered his message, the boy began turning to continue on his journey before Naomi shot out an arm to grab his shoulder. She had an idea that could prove quite entertaining.
A menacing chuckle resounded from beneath Naomi’s mask before she spoke to the boy, small streams of air venting from the breathing apparatus that had been fitted in-case she had to work in hazardous environments.
“Before you continue on your way, inform as many people in the marketplace as you can that some Republic agents are in town searching for a rich merchant at the Fireflux bar and that he’ll handsomely reward anyone who deals with his…’problem’.”
The story of the merchant was complete bullshit and Fireflux was a random bar she had passed by on the street a few times, but if story was enough to convince some of the scoundrels wondering the markets and they dealt with any Republicans they came across then that would be good enough. She released her grip on the boy and he quickly left the alleyway, disappearing into the markets.
Several moments later Naomi also exited from the crevice, a small grin hidden behind her mask. Something about manipulating the nature of people to do her bidding satisfied that small twisted corner of her mind that she was ashamed to admit she had, but the sooner this job was over the quicker she could move on to something that was closer to simply killing. Somehow she found killing another to be less evil than manipulation. She had basically grown up with killing as a basic rule of survival, and killing for credits that would be used for both her survival and her goal of hunting the Jedi was easily justifiable within her own mind. She reached the edge of the marketplace closest to the Smugglers’ base of operations, turning down one of the dark alleyways between the buildings and climbing up onto one of their roofs. There she waited, silently surveying the area once more, hidden in the shade of the building beside the one she stood upon. If any Republicans did arrive in the marketplace, she wanted to make sure she got a first row seat to want insured. Crossing the rooftops and enhancing her speed with the force, she knew she could easily make it back to the headquarters if she needed to.
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Post by Court Baron Butters on Feb 3, 2017 0:37:40 GMT -5
'Sure looks that way, doesn't it. You Padawans are a lot mouthier than I remember you being, aren't you?' Ru instantly smirked upon hearing the Jedi knights claim. He decided not to say anything back, but instead merely roll his eyes, in as noticeable a fashion as he could muster. Making sure that Dare would see his distaste. Ru wondered to himself though, of how old Darrian was exactly, what did 'than I remember you being' mean precisely? He wondered. The man didn't seem like the kind of fossil Ru's master was. If anything he seemed to be more around middle aged. In the end Ru realized in inappropriate to ask, and at any rate his train of thought was quickly severed by the Jedi Knights question of where the market was located.
"As luck would have it, I noticed the market as we landed, it's just around this byway." Ru's hand traced the path in front of them which lead from the landing pad to the core of dockyard, although his finger followed a divergent path to the right of the two men, in the opposite direction his master had traveled. In the direction of his prodding finger the distinct sound of clammering feet, and muffled voices could be heard frantically competing over each other in volume. Even some feint music could be heard, perhaps from a local band busking in the market place to earn a spare credit. "they must have put it so close to the landing bay to draw attention from tourists." Ru exclaimed
Ru slowly lead the two of them around the corner, moving in the direction to follow the commotion. What was originally a narrow pathway from the spaceport had quickly transformed into a wide open courtyard with sprawling merchant stalls, the marketplace had everything from high tech automaton displays, to simple wooden benches with assortments of exotic fruits. Ru chimed in again "Now this is my kind of place!" he looked over to the Jedi knight in order to gauge a reaction. However, his eyes quickly darted away to his surroundings once more. The music being played was quickly traced to a group of Kitonaks playing frantically with bizarre instruments. In another direction was an assortment of multi-species thugs, standing proudly against a steel building. The group was wearing vibrant colors, and had large blaster pistols holstered on their thighs, they obviously not afraid in letting their presence be known.
Ru looked back over at Jedi Knight Reach, "So what's our store here? Are we locals, tourists, deep-space traders, or mariners perhaps?"
After presenting his question Ru, made his way over to a small stall with a spindly Paaerduag at the helm of the stand, tending to a piece of Meiloorun fruit. Ru looked the strange creature up, and down. He'd encountered their kind in Coruscant before, although they were somewhat rare. He recalled that the creature in what seemed to be a pouch was usually the talking sort. He looked at the small green creature, as it stared back. It looked at the Jedi Knight, and began speaking 'You there! Human, what can I do for you?'
The larger creature which made up the rest of the symbiotic species began moving its mouth, but no words appeared to come from its mouth. The green creature patted the other half (itself) on the side, and spoke once more 'We believe you humans quite enjoy the taste of Shuura, do you not?' Ru smiled as the creature communicated, he remembered very clearly one of his favorite drinks at Dex's Diner back on Coruscant used this delicious fruit as a core ingredient. He licked his lip, and then laid his elbow on the fruit vendors stall.
"Why don't you hook my friend, and I up with two of your ripest pieces." Ru slid a credit chip close to the Paaerduag, which quickly grasped the trip, and began searching through it's selection of Shurra for a plump pair of fruits.
Much like a crackle of lightning, a blaster bolt streamed through the air, silencing many around it's radius. Directly towards the stand the two Jedi were standing near. The bolt struck a wooden box just adjacent to the vendor. Ru quickly turned around to asses who the shooter was.
Could they have been spotted already? Had Naomi's plan to attract attention to the Republic worked? Or had a goon merely gone trigger happy?
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Post by Zenios on Feb 3, 2017 3:20:26 GMT -5
Well, Darrian supposed as he and Ru backtracked, he was probably going to have to try a little harder to trip up this particular Jedi apprentice. He was a smart kid - and perceptive, too, if his observation was any indication. It definitely made plenty of sense to situate a market near a high-traffic spaceport: tourists tended to be prone to buying mementos, prone to spending more than necessary, or just plain gullible. Darrian continued following without too much complaint, more focused on committing the path they'd taken to memory in case it came to that than he was on verbal sparring.
Darrian hardly spared Ru more than a shrug and a snort as he too took in the marketplace. Nothing he hadn't seen before, though the thugs openly carrying blasters were a hint of a surprise. More than anything, he just wasn't used to people carrying blasters so brazenly. It was an important bit of information to take in, though, especially if the two were going to be wandering around here and using their Force senses; they would have to be on their guard at least a little bit. Bumping into one of these thugs--or just the wrong person in general--was the kind of accident that risked blowing their cover at the very least. A civilian with a blaster was at best a minor threat, but that danger increased significantly with each extra angry blaster wielder. And, more importantly, pulling his lightsaber to defend himself was the exact kind of action that would probably have prompted these smugglers to call the deal off and disappear.
"So what's our store here? Are we locals, tourists, deep-space traders, or mariners perhaps?"
Darrian turned to Ru with a fair bit of a grin, careful not to raise his voice too loudly over the hustle and bustle of the marketplace. "We're whatever you can pull off with a straight face. Maybe not so much locals, though," he replied--then, as an afterthought, added, "Or mariners. I've never been on a boat." He knew how to swim, certainly, but boats were rare enough sights on non-aquatic planets. Dare had never had any real desire to go boating around on Dac (or Mon Calamari, or Mon Cala, or whatever it was called these days) or Glee Anselm, anyway.
A tingling sensation along his spine distracted Darrian as Ru beelined towards one of the bazaar's many stalls. Danger sense. He had the presence of mind to follow the apprentice, but zoned out for the most part as he projected his awareness out and about. He'd been told a lengthy analogy by, ironically enough, a Mon Calamari mariner-turned-Jedi-apprentice once about how spreading his senses was similar to a fisherman of days long past casting a net or something. That had never made any sense to him. He'd always just been able to do it and start picking up on nearby sentients' emotions and thoughts, reach out and just brush their minds with his own.
He almost immediately noticed a surprising lack of feeling coming from Ru, something that almost caught him off guard enough to break his concentration. That wasn't normal at all; Sena had been roughly his age and had always been a veritable font of strong emotion when he caught glimpses of her mind's inner workings doing this. Ru's mind felt... peaceful. He couldn't identify if it was serenity like that of a Jedi Master or something else, but Darrian made sure to tuck that little bit of information away to be brought up later.
Darrian began pushing his focus outwards, sensed the normal chaos of varied emotions that came with doing something like this. The heated anger of the customer arguing with a vendor a few stalls down; the detached, calm demeanor of an armed guard a bit further away; the unbridled elation of someone who thought they'd just haggled themselves into an absolute steal of a deal. Nothing that felt like intent to kill--wait. Someone had sidled up not too far behind the two Jedi, emitting a strange mix of greed and something that wasn't quite bloodlust. The kind of feeling he would have expected to sense rolling off of a hired killer, or someone who was more than happy to commit murder in exchange for a hefty sum of credits. He caught a brief glimpse of some specific kind of hate apparently directed at Ru, but he couldn't have said for sure if it was anti-Republic sentiment. He definitely stuck out even more than the tall, just-shy-of-gangly Jedi Knight did.
That tingling at the base of his neck worsened as Darrian homed in on the man. He couldn't identify anything too specific - but his more general Force senses told him that the man was probably reaching inside his jacket. That arm reached out towards Ru just a moment later--and a quick telekinetic tug on the man's arm as the blaster discharged meant that the first bolt missed wide.
He turned, acting surprised, and followed up with a quick Force stun. The burst of energy scrambled the shooter's brain a bit, and it showed: his jaw slackened and his eyes went blank, wiping the scowl off his face.. "Go on, Ru - hurry," he muttered just loudly enough for the apprentice to hear, pointing out the target with just another hint of telepathy just to be safe. "Go punch him a couple times or something."
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Post by Stelpher on Mar 25, 2017 13:03:13 GMT -5
(Sorry for the hold-up.)
Through the vision enhancement of her mask’s visor, Naomi watched the two figures enter the marketplace. They were easily recognizable in the massive flow of the market, they looked and moved in an unfamiliar fashion that easily brought attention to them. Under normal circumstances the two would be swarmed with traders, women, thieves and whoever else thought they could get something out of the tourists, but Naomi’s ‘news’ had been given time to spread and few were brave enough to risk entering the center of the firing zone if someone decided to take a swing.
Naomi originally thought that they might just be any other Republican agents, but as she watched the two she caught a glimpse of something far more pleasing. It was only for the briefest moment, a window between the many passers-by, that she saw a familiar shape on the younger-looking man’s belt. Naomi’s hand went to her own belt, gripping down on the shaft of one of her lightsabers, and her grin widened. No longer were her features expressing mischief, but anticipation, menace and bloodlust.
A Jedi, likely two. She had originally thought this job dull and boring, but with the possibility of two Jedi before her, Naomi was thankful for taking it. On this planet those two Jedi would die, and she would be one step closer to avenging her master.
Though she desired nothing more than to leap from her shadowed vantage point and tear a bloody path from herself to the Jedi, Naomi restrained herself. There were too many people who would get in the way, and it was foolish to take them both on at once without knowing the extent of their training. The last thing she wanted to do was charge head-on at two Jedi Masters.
And so Naomi waited, and watched. One appeared young, arrogant, stupid. A Padawan most likely. Prey. She wondered how he would scream when she took his life. The other seemed older and wiser, more seasoned. Potentially a Master, although there was the possibility that he may just be an experienced Knight. No matter, she would isolate them first, and then she would kill them. First the Padawan, then the Master. Killing the Padawan would be a simple enough task, and with his loss weighing on the Master he would fall soon enough.
Naomi had the core of her plan laid out and was working on the method. How to isolate the two? She required the confusion and chaos of battle, the marketplace would not be enough. She would have to wait for an opportunity to present itself for now.
Before long it came, Naomi’s opportunity. A single shot rang out from a Blaster pistol and the whole market went silent. A thug had decided to claim pseudo-bounty she had placed on the head of anyone who looked significantly out of place, and the two fit the description perfectly. The silence after that first shot seemed to last minutes, but in reality was over in a flash. As the younger Jedi counter-attacked the aggressor, his fellow thugs joined the fray. Chaos rose as market-stalls defended their wares, civilians panicked to get out of the way and more people joined the fight (whether also trying to claim the kill or attempting to defend the man). Fists clashed and Blaster’s fired, and the fight only seemed to grow larger. Naomi had her chance and she took it, leaving her shadowed perch and descending into the sprawl below.
Ducking and dodging between the masses, Naomi subtly channeled the force through her body to increase her speed. She didn’t push herself too far, she didn’t need the lightning quick movements and reflexes she used in combat, not yet. She just needed a small boost so that her presence had already passed before anyone could react. Closing on her target, Naomi rushed through the fight, little more than a blurred figure in a dark cloak passing by until she approached the younger of the Jedi. She immediately went for his belt, aiming for the lightsaber. She grabbed what she could and kept running, not bothering to check whether she got her mark, before she disappeared into the maze of the narrow streets, hopefully with the young Jedi, and only the young Jedi, in pursuit.
(I assume Ru wouldn't be using his lightsaber in this fight, hence why I did what I did. Let me know if there's any issue.)
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