The Grass Was Greener (dreadmike)

[Poludnica]

Theme

The filthy moon was riddled with all manner of twisting backstreets, winding and carving into each tier like an ants nest. Derelict alleyways tucked away behind shapeless buildings, left to rot alone in urban decay. These countless passageways were infested with the worst the Hutt space had to offer. The smugglers, thieves, killers, gangbangers, spice dealers, slavers and wh*res swarmed on the streets giving life to the Nar Shaddaa underbelly. It flowed with alcohol, drugs and pain of the weakest leeched on by the stronger. In there was no laws to keep someone's safe – Hutts didn't care about it, occasionally making raids to take slaves.

A not entirely forgotten, but certainly ill-used, alleyway lined one of the minor service entrances of the nightspot Blastoh. The corridor, lined with an exuberance of garbage, was painted with the same dull orange light that blanketed most of the station. A thoroughly unexceptional example of Nar Shaddaa roadway, but Anushka didn't need it to be special, she just needed it to be quiet, which it was. Quiet, away from the incessant throbbing of the club it bordered. It allowed the girl a chance to hear herself think. Inside a crowd of patrons squeezed on a dance floor and near a large bar. Despie early evening, there were already bodies lying in the front entrance. A victims to one of the countless brawls. A group of criminals that owned this place didn't bother with cleaning them – it served as a warning, though many wouldn't even glance at the spread bodies. Stepping over the dead as if they were a simple garbage.

Anushka didn't really feel overly disgusted by this; she had seen enough death across the Galaxy to have her responses dulled. A terrifying example of habituation. The grey jedi pulled out a cigarette, glancing at the opposite wall where proud graffiti proclaimed big swears in Huttese. Huh The fiery haired woman mused, waiting for a solid plan to form before moving into the club to steal the precious tea the man harbored in the main office. Her contact claimed it was certainly there and its amazing qualities amplified the spice kick. No wonder the collector that hired the grey knight wanted it so badly.

A woman passed the dainty redhead, briskly and with haste. In her hands two bags, already packed and after her a man trying to stop this escape. ”Leave me alone!” The female demanded, snapping at her pursuer. ”I won't stay in this sh*ithole!” She drawled, only to turn away. At this sight, a sudden wave of nostalgia bubbled in the pit of Anushka's stomach – the grey knight felt strangely unmotivated and subdued as of late, easily slipping into a state of daydreaming memories. World around her blurred and sounds became distant – the hum of the music morphed into a soft rush of air in the Jedi Temple. Giving one last glance to the fleeting woman, Anushka leaned against a wall behind her.

Leaving was never easy.

”Go suck a bag of dongs!” Anushka stormed out of the Council's chambers and toward the knight living quarters. Echo of the rushed steps carried through the hallways. Padawans, knight and masters turning their heads after a trail of cold fury the ginger haired woman left in the Force. Obscenely bright light coming from large, open windows only added to her tightly leashed anger. Pale Jedi robes swooshed and billowed in the soft breeze and from the rapid half-run.

Her quarters were as usually messy, filled with various trinkets and clothes spread on the floor. Anushka could never really adhere to Jedi standards when it came to many things, basic neatness included. 'Ones that have mess in their homes, have mess in their hearts' Ocraadi used to say but this he could never teach Ana.

With a huff of anger, the woman pulled out a large bag and began randomly throw in whatever she could find on the floor. Freckled features were soon moistened by droplets of sweat from the burning emotions and hasty movements. Some clothes, cosmetics, a crimson lipstick she grew fond of that matched her hair, few souvenirs and datapads with books. It was almost pitiful how little a knight of the Order owned.

Just as she was about to snatch few credits from the desk, her hand caught a large glass of water, spilling it all over the floor. Anushka cursed heinously, like a drunk Corellian smuggler – seeing a large stain forming on the carpet. Faint smell of alcohol the water was imbued with reached her nostrils as she tried to step the thing into the carpet to somehow dry it. Of course it only made matters worse. Giving up, Anushka downed what was left from the spiked water, before resuming the packing. Soon she wouldn't have to worry about hiding her drinking habit...

The acrid taste of the cig pulled her out from the melancholic slumber. With insouciant gesture, Anushka pulled it from between crimson streaked lips. Leaving smudges of red on the butt of the cigarette. For a moment Ana let herself to enjoy the fugacious pleasure it offered, before stomping it on the street. It's glow immediately vanished under the former jedi's boot. It was time to move in. She looked over simple pants and leather belt where her saber rested. Black tank top wasn't anything fancy but no one in this district expected opulent clothes. Hair pinned high in a messy bun didn't add elegance but no one really cared.

Once assured everything was in order, the grey jedi began a slow walk toward the main entrance.

[DreadPirateMike]

Nar Shadaa. A Sage could perhaps be forgiven for suspecting that places like this had been placed out among the stars for the benefit of the Jedi. Placed in their path so that path might be better tested.

Jaidan hated this place, in other words. Truthfully, he had at times since his arrival felt neutral at best toward the SIS who had seen him dispatched here. But he had to credit their expertise, and he understood their perspective. In the intelligence world, subtlety was key, and a Jedi Knight combined the offensive capability of an entire well armed squad into a single individual, easier by far to deliver into position without the asset being spotted. At least, that was the theory; in reality, most Jedi blended in about as well outside the Temple as a tactical nuke. But there were exceptions, and if you had one of them at your disposal - And being on hand to serve the Republic was, essentially, the whole point of being a Blade - then you made use of that asset. Now, Jaidan was no Shadow, nor was cloak and dagger his specialty. Well... maybe the dagger part. But he HAD logged more hours in places like this than most Jedi he knew of, he'd made a study of tools more subtle than a lightsaber, and he'd been the closest one available when SIS made the call. So here he was, keeping a weather eye out for a Colonel Selvan of the Sith Navy and a one Doctor Grax, noted molecular biologist. His SIS contact had offered a step by step breakdown of the information chain that had made the discovery possible, but he'd been content to take their conclusions as they stood. Both these persons of interest had recently been spotted and identified in this very establishment, the owners of which were known to have their hands in a number of minor smuggling operations. Small time stuff, but all the better for evading serious attention. Their fear, all these factors taken together, was that the Sith meant to try and sneak some sort of bioweapon into the Core or Inner Rim. Likely not Coruscant itself. Its security was too tight, and a standard quarantine procedure would render such a weapon ineffective. But if they were to strike at a softer target, such as a farming world like Uphrades, the results could be nearly as devastating. And this, Jaidan would avert by any means necessary.

But in the meantime, he had to just SIT here, in the middle of all this...evil. He was at a loss for a more measured word, but he wasn't entirely certain anything less harsh would describe it adequately. Granted, Coruscant had places not too different from this, at least at a glance. Travel far enough down - And it wouldn't need to be as far as most people might think, either, depending on the neighborhood. - and one could find the corruption, the forgotten, the weak living at the mercy of the strong. And Jaidan had been known to actively seek out such places on occasion so as to introduce a little bit of chaos into an otherwise overly ordered life. But all the same, it was different on Coruscant. The very feel of it was different, like...like an overly cluttered office, poorly kept by one of those well meaning but overwhelmed Senators who governed the place. There had never been any street he'd walked on Coruscant where he could not see signs that benign civilization was trying to get in, that there were people who truly wanted it all to be the gleaming jewel of the galaxy it was billed as, that if someone wanted badly enough to find kindness and a helping hand, then they could find it. The injustice would wither away, if the light was only shone on it. But this...here, it was like this because someone WANTED it like this, and nobody cared enough to stop them. And for as long as anyone could remember, this is how it had always been. Everybody knew it, and yet nothing ever came of it. A small part of him almost wanted to cheer for those Pius Dea lunatics of a thankfully bygone age. At least they'd gone out and actively upset the Hutts' self-absorbed vision of the universe.

It was a ridiculous sentiment, met with minor irritation on his part even for thinking it. He was, after all, born to yet another one of the filthy lesser races that would have been in their cross-hairs back then. It was just...guardians of justice. Wasn't that what people called the Jedi, how they thought of themselves, even if they were concerned it sounded too arrogant to say aloud? All around him were people who needed such a thing, and he would be that, if he could. He had no idea what one man, even with the Force at his back, could do to change this place, but he could not deny, there was a temptation burning somewhere in the back of his mind. To ignite his foils, seek out the scumbags he knew of by name, and commence some long overdue cleaning. Even if he'd never act on it, there it was. But even putting aside for a moment the more obvious reasons that would be unacceptable, the question would have to be asked: What then? Where did the problem begin, or end? With the Hutts who lorded over this colossal den of iniquity? Would he need to devote the remainder of his span to punishing every bloody-minded thug who might now or in the future haunt this moon? Or would he need to cast the net still wider, to the rank and file dwellers of Nar Shadaa, their sense of decency so far buried - If it even yet lived. - that they could actually just ignore the corpse at the entryway and resume drinking juma juice until they could dance without regard for whether they did it well?

That was the problem with violence, really, one which any conscientious practitioner in its application needed to understand. It was not malignant in and of itself, as some believed, but if it served as your solution once, it would almost certainly have to serve as such again, and if one was not very careful, it might become apparent far too late that nothing had ever truly been solved. That, he had long since come to believe, was the true mark of a warrior. Not simply knowing how to wield a weapon, but truly understanding what that weapon could and could not do. He'd labored too long and hard as a warrior to let himself be less, and as much as anything else, that was his proof against those more destructive impulses which every Jedi had to contend with in their own way. Even so, he was forced to wonder at times. Of all the Jedi who had fallen into darkness throughout their long history, how many had been led astray not by arrogance or lust for power, as was commonly believed, but by a frustrated yearning to do some real GOOD?

Well...time for another drink.

Things had not gone well, he gathered. And it seemed he had his pick as far as HOW to gather this intelligence. As he got closer to the room in question, he could feel the essentially unrestrained fury emanating through what was normally a place of calm, like ripples on a pond, or...whatever simile one wished to employ. Somebody was fit to be tied, basically. At one time, this might actually have been some decent basic training in Force techniques outside his specialty. As it was, reaching out to find the source of all this would be a little like completing a jigsaw puzzle someone had been forced to walk away from with a few pieces left to go. And generally speaking, even for a Jedi, it was better to simply use your ears. So he instead confirmed his guess by following the faintly muttered swears, and knocked on Anushka's door. After a moment's thought, he pushed it open softly, though he remained at the threshold. Even this was straying too far on the rude side for his ordinary comfort, but it seemed an extraordinary circumstance. Though some years ahead of her, he'd known this woman in a passing sense, and had made an effort to reach out to her somewhat more directly since the departure of her master. It had been a very different sort of thing when Han resigned his post, granted, but all the same, he knew something of the awkwardness that came with suddenly being a minor celebrity among the Temple's ranks through no action of his own.

He also knew something of her temper, and he reckoned it entirely possible he'd simply be instructed to go somewhere unpleasant if he tried observing all the usual social niceties. And he had no intention of conducting the conversation he meant to try through a door. So his other senses kicked in, and showed him the steadily disappearing mess about the place. It definitely had not gone well, then. Well, she HAD been a Jedi. It wasn't as though she was in any danger of running out of time to pack. His nose picked up and wrinkled slightly a moment later, catching the faint whiff of alcohol coming from the puddle on the floor. Unusually faint, actually. Had she been diluting the stuff? That was either a waste of perfectly good liquor, or a waste of time in bothering with the cheap stuff.

"Got any more of that?" he offered by way of greeting after a moment. "Or shall I buy?"

He made it some really bright, fruity mixed drink, the sort that no self-respecting tough guy would ever be caught with. As he reasoned, if someone was on the lookout for an intruder awaiting his moment to strike, they'd be looking for someone studiously avoiding anything that might draw attention to themselves. So, he'd not try TOO hard. Besides, it took a little longer to prepare, gave his hypothetical adversary more of a chance to slip some particularly unpleasant additive in there. Weren't people always talking about how much you could learn at a cantina? Well, if someone bothered to try poisoning him, then that would certainly tell him he needed to make his approach substantially more direct. As it happened, of course, none of his speculative musing bore fruit, at least not on this round.

Good, though.

In time, however, patience was rewarded as it usually was, when one of the owners on site made an appearance at the far end of the club. From his particular vantage point, he didn't get a good look at whoever he was talking to - They must have made their way in from some other entrance. Perhaps he'd need to reconsider waiting at the bar next time. - but there stood Dreyos Vak, middle of the pack usurer, spice purveyor, and most every other legal synonym for low life. He restrained the urge to finish off his drink in a hurry; it seemed like a waste, but he'd have to leave the thing half finished and his return doubtful. He gave that a minute though, taking what seemed a reasonable interval to savor the concoction before he pushed his stool away, crossed over the dance floor, and made a last minute detour from the refreshers. And all the while, understandable under the circumstances, he didn't make much of his brief glimpse of fiery red hair along the way.

[Poludnica]

The club opened to her in eerie stroboscopic lights and plumes of acrid smoke. Music boomed from the hidden speakers, a mixture of bass and weird wailing of a Twi'lek singer. Nar Shaddaa in a small, club pill. The place wasn't the shadiest of places Ana had been to but enough to put her on edge almost immediately. Especially after what she had witnessed for the past few days – it wasn't the first time the former Jedi tried to muster courage to sneak into the backrooms and the office. One of the things that years ago had made leaving the Order was her cowardice – Anushka could be stupidly daring at times but never in a way a proper warrior should be. It more stemmed from rather detached nature of a random drifter than any fighting spirit. Kleptomania and harmless acts of lifting were much different than breaking into well guarded criminal's office. To steal this damn tea but if this gig panned out, she wouldn't have to work for months to come. That was a powerful incentive.

This was a third time in a row so maybe third time was a charm. The stage with pole dancers, the less than clean counter of the bar and the dance floor didn't change. Even the layer of filth on the floor remained vaguely the same if not a bit thicker. Half-conscious patrons, high on spice and blood diluted with alcohol swayed to the music without matching rhythm. The small crowd looked like a disorganized mass lost in some primal religious ritual. Most of them humanoids, humans and near humans but also flying Toydarians, large furry creatures, snakelike beings. As her eyes idly glided over the group, she noticed few guards strolling about. Probably one of the few sober. She spread her senses, releasing the Force to lightly touch mingled thoughts. It would certainly betray the gift to other Force users but Ana didn't really sense any of those. Granted, her senses weren't much hones, nothing aside of telepathy had ever been.

Ana needed to take that risk now and let the strands of the Force to flow, picking up mingled batch of thoughts. Most of them dulled with drugs and disconnected. Too many people caused a white noise that gave her more headache than solid information.

I need a drink.

Where's that b*tch?

I think it's dead, is it really dead?

The grey knight moved through the crowd but didn't reach bar, instead stepped toward the VIP rooms and lifted a lone drink that waited for some other patron. She sniffed it's content and quickly recognized the mushroom aroma. It smelled like a petrichor mud fished from a random Nal Hutta puddle. After first sip Anushka recognized it. A cheap, Ryloth moonshine.

The knock on the doors was registered bu ignored. Ana could sense a familiar presence but couldn't really put a face to it. Not when her own emotions were raging. Lack of answer didn't stop them from coming in thought and the young woman turned rapidly, angry scowl marring her features. Hazel eyes narrowed before Anushka could register the new arrival didn't belong to any of the masters. They said all Echani looked the same but Jaidan stood out from the pack of white haired beings that filled the temple.

For once, she tolerated him and maybe even liked though to this weakness Anushka would never admit. There was an unruly, roguish charm that marked him as a drifter among strongly collectivist Jedi. He didn't blindly followed the code or didn't seem like someone who would. For this alone, for his own strong opinions Ana at least respected the taller man.

The human followed his gaze to the stain on the carpet, freezing mid motion. A stark green jacket was trapped in her small palm, read to be thrown carelessly into a large bag. ”What do you want Jaidan?” She unceremoniously asked the fellow knight, they were only few years apart but the age difference was barely noticeable with Echani features that often seemed oddly ageless.

The jacket had been finally discarded and Anushka dug under the thick mattress, after a moment pulling out a half-empty bottle of the cheap moonshine. She handed it to the Echani in a brash throw, hoping he would catch it. ”Take it, I am going to resupply today anyway.” Ana informed him coldly, chilled, barely controlled fury rang in ever word.

”Watch where you're going.” A voice with harsh Hutt accent followed by an inelegant shove caused Ana to spill her stolen drink. The woman scoffed at the guard and this time around risked a rude gesture to which the man responded with a vile insult. It made her to stop strolling around and simply find a free table just outside of the VIP section. Inside clearly someone important in the Nar Shaddaa underbelly spread a large bags filled with spice on the table. Surrounded by armed hirelings. Maybe the deal there would leave the main office empty? Briefly her eyes scanned the crowd fishing out a patch of white hair. An Echani. Huh.

[DreadPirateMike]

(I decided you had a good idea, with the marking dialogue and differentiating past or present with the color.  I can't seem to re-create that olive drab you're using though, so...Jaidan was apparently blue in the past!)

He was still probing the club's darker corners, seeking the best and least observable path away from the dance floor, considering even whether he might try leaving the building and making his way to the roof when he felt it. It took a moment to consciously recognize the significance of the sensation, a bit like something had just brushed up against him, yet far more unsettlingly intimate than chance contact with some random drunk. His clothes provided no barrier...no, it went further than that, moving right past his physical shell to seek the animus beyond it. Instinct worked a little faster than conscious awareness, though, and his mind was already recoiling, distancing itself from this new presence that sought it out. The rest of the Jedi caught up in time to halt the path of his hands under the long coat he wore, to where his foils were hidden.

There was another Force user here. Had the Sith come indeed, and with added muscle? It was not entirely unheard of for those with the aptitude and some training to serve as high end mercenaries to the powerful and disreputable, but there was no way the crooks who ran this place had that kind of clout! It didn't matter, really. There was a threat, and so he took a few moments to shore up the wall between himself and that threat. Jaidan was, frankly, a middling telepath at best, but his training had focused almost entirely on shielding himself just like this, a task aided by mastery of the Echani disciplines. In any case, he didn't think he'd been discovered, but until and unless it became time for direct confrontation, he'd have to be careful about calling on the Force here.

But there was usually another way, if one was inclined to seek it. And presently, he found it in the form of a burly Weequay who seemed to stand apart from the general revelry. And after a moment's remote inspection, he noted the tell tale bulge of a heavy blaster pistol under his jacket. An enforcer, then. Time to get in trouble.

He did, in fact, catch the bottle, stepping forward into the room as he did so and nudging the door shut behind him. It seemed reasonable enough to take the gift as an invitation; he hadn't resigned his own post, after all. And while Anushka was not wrong about his tendency to take certain liberties with the Jedi code, even liberties that some might consider somewhat drastic, he confined them to his moments of relative privacy for a reason. Treating himself to a personal bender in the middle of the Temple didn't seem the brightest career move. But now, he was evidently the only Jedi in the room, so he now pulled the stopper free, and took an experimental swig of the contraband hooch. Once the initial grimace had subsided, the look he gave the bottle's former owner was caught somewhere between amusement and disbelief.

"Ugh. Sheer bantha piss!"

After a moment, he shrugged and took a second swig. That was, after all, one virtue of spirits that vile, but that strong. After the first swig, maybe the second if your taste buds were made of sterner stuff, the flavor was more or less irrelevant. But it seemed about time to actually answer Anushka's question before his nonchalance just inflamed her already problematic ill humor worse, and so he replaced the stopper, and put the bottle aside atop her now emptied dresser.

"Sorry. I suppose my flippancy WOULD make it seem a joke. But I was sincere when I asked about the buying. I came here to propose a night on the town, as they say." Pausing here a moment, he simply gestured to her packing by way of explanation. "You met with the High Council not one standard hour ago, and now this, after twenty years and more spent within these walls. I suspect this decision did not simply come out of nowhere, but even so, your swoop bike could use a better braking system. So, if the Temple holds no calm for you, let's go try alcohol, volume and anonymity. And if you STILL believe this course change both desirable and irreversible, then you can at least be secure in knowing nothing too disastrous will result from your first night of freedom. So, what say you?"

Step two of this plan of his called for a degree of subtlety. Step one called for a distinct lack of it. Identifying a sturdy looking door some ten feet behind the man with a dim red light signifying locked status, he presumed that was the guard's post, and so he made a beeline for it, moving at an unhurried pace that he maintained even as he approached the guard. As anticipated, this did not go unnoticed.

"Wrong way, snowflake."

Snowflake? Ah, of course. The hair. Privately, he conceded that was about as clever as men of this profession typically got in his experience, but his rhetorical skills were sadly irrelevant, as Jaidan gave no indication he'd even heard the jibe, and kept walking. He didn't get far, of course. The Echani counted off three steps before his shoulder was gripped hard enough to more than likely leave a bruise, and he was spun back around to face his irate captor.

"You deaf, or just-oof!"

An odd query, but not to be held against the man. Even as the leathery face came into view, Jaidan firmly planted his left foot against the floor to arrest his spin, and with his balance secured, executed a close in punch to the base of the guard's ribs. Given their close proximity, and the dim lighting, the Weequay's sizable frame would conceal the strike from onlookers, yet it proved enough to knock the wind out of him. And as he crumpled, Jaidan seized his throat, avoiding the windpipe, but applying pressure to the arteries at either side of the neck instead. Fortunately, for all the physiological diversity present among the galaxy's various sentient races, this particular weakness was fairly common among most humanoids. If you had blood, and you carried your brain in the cranium, then one needed the other, and it had to travel up via the neck. Disrupt that sequence of events, as Jaidan was doing now, and loss of consciousness was imminent. With a soft grunt, he braced to take the weight of a frame at least sixty pounds in excess of his own, and considered step three.

A bit of backtracking, and a lot of hope that the noise and obstruction of the club had cloaked his efforts thus far. Making certain not to appear in any huge hurry - not that he could move all that fast anyway with the Weequay in tow - he made his way back to the bathrooms. Keeping careful, and carefully not obvious track of the suspected plain clothed guards in his peripheral vision, he gambled none of the patrons would notice his "buddy's" footsteps were nonexistent rather than simply stumbling, and the face hidden by his slumped head would do the rest.

He taken more chances than he'd have wished, perhaps, and almost certainly more than was strictly wise. And while he couldn't help but wonder how a Shadow might have done it, it seemed his independent studies of the untethered night life had served him well enough. He made it to the refresher without being followed by armed company, and made for the nearest vacant stall. Once the door had slid shut behind him, Jaidan gently lowered the guard to the floor, and with a brief word of apology for this indignity, as well as those past and hence, he began a methodical search of the man's pockets. It didn't take long to spot the object of his search: a pass card in the inner breast pocket, and the holocom unit secured around his wrist. So, he had his key. Now, he just had to keep his trail covered for a time.

He reached into his jacket, and this time, it did come away clutching the hilt of his shoto, the short blade for the precision work. The rank, enclosed space was soon illuminated in a brilliant jade light as he lightly dragged the superheated plasma along the line where door met frame. He took care not to inadvertently shove his lightfoil through the thin metal door. Wouldn't that be a joy to explain to a witness? When he was satisfied with the work, he hid the weapon, exited the stall, and shut the door again behind him. By the time the guard awoke or someone noticed the facilities were being monopolized, the metal would have cooled and fused together.  That would be enough, he imagined, to keep the newly created gap in security open long enough for...whatever came next.

"What?" He asked of a slightly glassy eyed Twi'lek staring his way. "You think I should hold his head up as well? It's not like he was buying."

"You smell something burning?" came the retort, the Twi'lek either oblivious or apathetic as to the Weequay's condition.

"I'd just as soon not dwell on any of the smells here, thank you."

Brushing past his interrogator, Jaidan made his way back out onto the club floor, and made his way back to the security door, just the same as before. Unhurried, but direct. He was somewhat torn between the cautious impulse to work his way there by degrees, maybe pretending to schmooze with some of the dancers as a sort of improvised cover, and picking his pace up further. Either way presented with it certain risks, for he needed to get out of sight before the Weequay's absence was noticed by his fellow thugs. So, as in so many things, he sought the balance, and soon enough, the card was slid through the reader, he was through, and it was time to begin the hunt.

[Poludnica]

((He he , it's darkolivegreen but blue fits him better imo :3 ))

There it was – a weak whisper in the Force. Barely noticeable for someone like her. It carried above the crowd, pulling at strings of every living being. Anushka looked away from the white haired man whose thick, fair mane vanished in the mass of people. The woman focused on this tiny, flickering flame but to her senses it appeared spread out, coming from various corners of the club which made it unable for her to peg the source. This was worrying – she didn't suspect another Force user. What if they were guards? The echo it left betrayed someone experienced. A fleeting thought crossed Ana's mind to flee, leave it behind and wait until the club is closed. A coward. The grey jedi sighed, counting how many times she already ditched the idea of stealing this damn tea. Something else bugged her though, something that pushed away temporary fear.

The Force user responded to her telepathic call, immediately shielding himself which betrayed that they knew. An odd sensation of familiarity overtook Anushka – a rush of unwarranted nostalgia. It was paralyzing in its intensity and the woman left her seat, pushed toward to find this mysterious presence that disturbed her. A sudden need to get a strong drink directed her first steps toward the bar though. Just before she decided to order something a warning in the Force still her tongue. ”Nevermind.” She waved dismissively at a Toydarian bartender who cursed her out for wasting his time during such busy night. Used by now to be called various invectives, Ana ignored it. What happened in the club that rose above the zombified crowd interested her much more.

The Force thickened with tension, swelled filled with worrisome emotions she couldn't quite name. Fear...Anger? Both? None? Anushka frowned and leaned against the bar with her back, scanning the people that mindlessly swayed to the music. The grey knight closed her eyes, droplets of sweat formed above the neatly colored eyelids. It was one of very few vices she enjoyed – make up. Completely useless unless feeding one's vanity was the purpose. Jedi didn't like it, Anushka reveled in it since puberty. So many things the Order servants missed on, sacrificing everything in the name of some Galactic martyrdom. Anushka had never regretted leaving them, even if paid the price of eternal loneliness. An abandoned child with no home, no parents to get back to.

Nothing.

Of course he would catch the bottle. Most of the self-respecting Jedi could and when it came to physical attributes Jaidan was one of the skilled. Anushka on the other hand seemed painfully uncoordinated and unfocused. Often losing her footing in an awkward stumble. With envy she watched fellow knights, especially Echani moving with unachievable grace. Yet another reason to simply walk away. ”Hey” Ana protested huffily when Jaidan complained about the shady shroom moonshine. ”Better than anything you can get around the Temple.” She added and returned to packing. There weren't many possessions a Jedi knight could really call their own. Even her saber was taken away. What was left? Clothes, few cosmetics hidden away under a pillow.

”Aren't you a nosy parker?” Anushka snorted uneasy laugh, a bit taken aback how quickly people around would know about her ill temper. Many of them really preferred her out of the Order. Happy with the final outcome. She didn't have many friends there, only people like Jaidan who seemed to get along with most of the world managed to put up with Ana's cold, mocking attitude. Though the former Jedi had never imagined the Echani proposing a night out, especially at times like this. She wasn't a part of the Order anymore, would it get him in troubles?

Would Jaidan even care? She froze with a devilishly crimson lipstick in one hand and black mascara in the other. ”I can take care of myself on the first night out just fine.” Anushka quickly replied, too quickly and immediately regretted it. Her hazel eyes traveled to Jaidan: his lean frame and unruly white mane that somehow gave him an air of boyish confidence. ”But...You can tag along so you can see for yourself.” The young human added as if in an afterthought, desperately trying to cover how much she really wanted him to go. Even a lone wolf like her needed company, despite the elaborate rationalizations about how useless such emotional weight was in the end.

Finally gathering the last of her things, the woman walked to Jaiden. He was much taller and Anushka had to pull her head back to find his gaze. She smiled cheekily before throwing the bag on her shoulder. ”There is a small bar near the Docks. Call's.” Ana clicked the doors open and stepped outside. Her step lacked any hesitation, as if she wasn't leaving more than two decades of life behind.

”Meet me there around eight.” Anushka half-expected Jaidan not to show up. Somehow it would be more fitting in how she viewed herself and relations with others. Nobody liked Debbie downers.


Though this presence felt like a familiar, yet distant echo. So many people she had met during her travels. Maybe it was one of them – a prospect that scared her more than unknown guard that kept watch over the fabled tea . Ah crap, they knew by now anyway. Anushka focused, forming her thoughts into one clear message, leaving it out in the Force ether to be picked up by those skilled in the Force. It floated there, strengthened by the telepathic wave.

I know you are there. Over in over in a loop until Ana could be sure even the dullest senses could pick it up. It would form in others brain as if it was their thought, but strangely alien, intrusive. Clutching at the edge of their consciousness, clawing and refusing to let go. This odd familiarity however...Something unsettling about it.

[DreadPirateMike]

What Jaidan initially found beyond the security door was about what he'd expected, which was to say nothing particularly exciting.  Just a bare hallway along the shorter side of the building's periphery, containing what he imagined to be store rooms and the like.  Certainly, he didn't see anything that stood out as a likely place for the king of his particular hill to set up his throne.  This was a multi-story building, after all; elevation would be sought after, if not necessarily much ornamentation.  Still, after performing a cursory visual sweep for security devices - Not that failing to spot one ensured it wasn't there, but he wasn't about to start tip toeing through the entire building for fear of being discovered.  He'd be careful, but deal with any complications as he must. - he began his survey.

It proved exceedingly brief, as it happened.  Soon after he emerged into the hallway, a low conversation in Huttese drew his attention to the one open door in sight.  Risking a quick glance around the corner, he found a pair of Rodians within, nursing cups of stimcaf as they sat and watched a bank of security monitors.  Seeing that neither of them was actually looking his way, he allowed his own gaze to linger a bit longer, and thus confirm he was not showing up on any of the screens.  Perhaps someone had figured if an intruder had made it this close to the security control center, it was too late for a camera feed to do any good?  It seemed to him a somewhat lazy rationale, if that was the case, but this wasn't exactly the Senate building he was breaking into.

I know you are there.

He'd just pulled back around the corner a bit to ensure the sensitive Rodian nose didn't pick up where diligence left off when he felt it.  Again, the presence of the Other, and more insistent this time.  And again, the unsettling tingle as the other mind looked for purchase, yet there was something confusing about it as well.  It was hard to put in words, but for a consciousness that didn't belong, it didn't feel quite as alien as it should have.


"I know it, I think."

In point of fact, he was fairly certain of it, even if he had not frequented the establishment himself.  Yet that was all Anushka would hear from him on the matter before her departure, for was this not sparring of a sort?  And it was important to be mindful of your sparring partner's style and pace, such that it could be matched for a sustainable rhythm.  So let her wonder until...oh, ten after eight, after which point he would indeed make an appearance, having traded the robes for a pair of black slacks and a close-fitting light blue button up shirt.  This "dressing down" was an increasingly uncommon occurrence; as much as the anonymity had thrilled him in the first few years after he'd earned his Knighthood, as much as he made a point not to adhere to ALL the rules, he was mostly content with the path his life had taken, and saw little point in hiding it these days.  And if the robes set some people on edge, this was soon put to rest by the appearance of credits and the revelation he wasn't there to stick his nose into business not his own.

But of course, this evening was not about him.  And in this particular case, as he caught sight of her, he found himself glad that they'd BOTH left the Order behind for a time.

It was somewhat ironic, he mused as he made his way over.  The Order preached much about letting go of the physical world around them, of realizing it for the window dressing it was and looking past it to the illuminated reality behind it.  And yet, those simple but very physical robes, what they represented, meant quite a bit.  And it seemed their capacity to color impressions was not just limited to outsiders.  He'd known this Jedi well enough for some time now, yet now, with the trappings of the Order removed, it appeared there'd been a woman there all this time.  Perhaps not a holovid actress; her attire, even more casual than his own, hardly screamed "glamor", yet the way her pinned up hair showed off her neck line, the way her greenish gold makeup (Makeup!) accentuated the look...well, he still meant to ask at some point tonight if this was truly the direction she wished to go.  But privately, he would admit that if this was her choice, it might suit her well after all.

"To new paths.  New worlds."

The opening toast, having slid into the stool next to her and ordered a lum ale and Menkooro, he remembered clearly.  And he was fairly certain he'd remembered to ask the question he intended at some point.  Yet she seemed set in her course, and if he couldn't be certain she was content as well...well, then that was natural when beginning a period of great transition.  Peace, he'd have to hope, would come in time.  But, having resolved to trust her judgement, he had begun to grow less concerned with his role as an unsolicited chaperone.  There came a point when he noted he didn't usually drink this much, of course, but it WAS a special occasion.  And he really DID like what she'd done with her hair...  

His next categorically clear moment of awareness involved the sensation of awaking in an unfamiliar room.  So, not quite categorically, head filled with cotton and all.  Even so, he spent the next full minute taking in details of his surroundings, such as his clothes laying scattered about the room, the fading depression of another head on the pillow next to his own, the smell of dried...sweat on the sheets, and so on.  And then, calling to mind his Jedi training not to rush to rash acts or conclusions, he took the next five minutes trying to fill in the blanks from the previous night, compare them to the evidence at hand, and calmly deliberate on all this before rendering his final conclusion.

"Oh, karkin' hell."

Oh, to Hell with it.  If this confrontation was to happen, then let it be.  Patience was certainly a Jedi quality, but this mission might well require expedience as well.  It would already be slow going, making his way through this place without setting off an alarm and trying to fight his way past every thug in the place before Dreyos and company made their escape.  And if this Force user DID work for the owners, then he'd be dealing with that threat anyway.  So, as he came back around the corner, he answered the challenge.  He didn't drop his shields entirely.  He still wasn't taking that chance against a telepath of unknown capability.  But he'd been taught how to make it...porous, he supposed would be the most apt description.  He simply formed the thought, and allowed it to bleed out past the wall around his consciousness with some delay.

Very good.  But what's my favorite color?

And with that, he went to work, a waggle of his finger knocking over one of the stim cups and spilling its contents directly into the lap of the Rodian sitting to the left.  His partner, rising to his feet in response to the shout of pain and alarm, soon proved entirely unable to render assistance.  Focused as he was on the offending caf, he never noticed the Echani stepping silently up behind him to apply a deft nerve pinch.  The first guard DID notice both the second one crumpling to the ground, as well as the immediate cause, but he never got a chance to act on it.  Fumbling for the blaster holstered at his hip, his gun hand was immediately restrained, and the rigid edge of Jaidan's right hand driven into the side of his neck.

As the second Rodian slumped in his chair, Jaidan moved over to the entryway and shut the door before taking up the job that the duo had just ceased.  He made a careful and deliberate study of the screens before him.  After all, he wanted a clear image in his mind of the view these cameras had, so that he could deduce where they may be housed if hidden.  He still wanted to avoid them, after all, just in case there was anywhere else in this club where one might be able to view these feeds.  And more importantly, there was the view from camera number 7, of Dreyos Vak chatting with the new arrival in a room with a window overlooking the dance floor.  A new arrival of note.

"Hello, Colonel Selvan."

[Poludnica]

Very good. But what's my favorite color?

The lonely thought tugged at the edge of her conscience and another wave of unsettling familiarity rushed through her. The woman looked through the lost memories, trying to find this eluding key to the presence in the bar. For a moment Anushka's gaze grew unfocused as last few years flew by. Leaving the order, countless days of loneliness filled with menial jobs . The emptiness such life brought, the hollow existence with passing relationships that dwindled and died. Nothing fitted the pattern of feelings she had just experienced. She couldn't locate the second Force user, too many life signs around that clouded the image. It was there though - light rather than dark but not bright. Bordering on grey hue of her own path.

It's not a dark one. Ana hummed inwardly in a reply, the silver string of thought seeking its target wherever it might have been. Like a programmed automaton, the woman walked away from the bar and followed it, hoping it to found the source of this strange disturbance. The telepathic link felt like a shiny, clairvoyant thread that swirled overhead. She pulled at it, unable to help herself and ill curiosity. Who are you, little bird? The path led her toward the security doors but no guards could be seen around. There the trail vanished and Anushka blinked away the shock when the connection had been torn away.

Slowly, with a bit of healthy hesitation, the woman opened the doors and stepped in, leaving behind the bursting club noises. The presence had to been lurking there, even her dull sense could pick it up. Bright and light, giving an impression of the gently azure halo.

I know you... The woman focused once more on the telepathic stream, like a fisherman looking for the best bait.

It was quiet a sight to see the tall, athletic Echani in the form fitting shirt that nicely hugged the enticing musculature. Anushka had never really seen Jaidan out of those large Jedi robes that symbolized unity, free from any vanity. The new look fitted the silver haired near human - this roguish handsomeness of the good hearted bad boy he was trying to pull. She wasn’t a woman easily smitten, on the contrary - a rather indifferent creature with void emotionality. Locking feelings away in a personal strongbox. Something akin to admiration though awoken at the sight of the handsome Echani discarding his Jedi robes even for the one evening

To new paths. New worlds." Anushka replied like an echo, filled with excitement for what awaited her in the wide Galaxy. Where there was no code to abide, no Council to listen. One drink turned into a sea of them as she celebrated the new life. Between bold gestures and unconscious flirt, the inhibitions vanished, crushed by the lingering attraction. Before Anushka could stop the train wreck of passion, the two had shared more than friendly words. The entire night passed and she still couldn't take reigns over those shattering feelings that pushed her into Jaidan arms. Forcing him to break the same code Anushka had so recently rejected.

The hungover woke her up after dawn, with wide hazel eyes she watched sleeping Jaidan, Listened to his calm breath that carried warm scent of the sweet drinks from the night before. Of normally indifferent, reluctant attitude Anushka rarely fell a victim to remorse or guilt. This time around though those wretched emotions came crushing down. Drowning her. It wasn't enough to bring down her own career in the Order but she just had to take someone with her. Typical and terrifying in its predictability. Especially when a dark, small part of her relished what had happened as it had been delightful oblivion, searing her nerves.

So that was how it felt? To be physically with someone? So much she had been losing all this time, yet somehow knew Jaidan had discovered it before this strange night occurred. Still, the guilt and fear of the Echani’s reaction pushed her up and away from the small hotel room. Vanishing like a guilty thief in the night - getting lost like a warm breath in the blizzard.

When the influx of memories finally let go the answer blossomed just as quickly. Even before Anushka left behind the doors , even before she stepped into a room with two unconscious aliens, she knew. Whether but simple feminine intuition or how her body remembered the pattern his fingers had left on her skin. The woman didn't bother to hide, knowing Jaidan by now had to be fully aware of who appeared in the doorway.

It's fuchsia.... A clear voice with Coruscanti accent filled the interior, seemingly emotionless though hiding a storm under the surface. A storm of lost memories, aching past and heavy burden of guilt.

[DreadPirateMike]

Following the initial discovery that his target, or at least one of them, was in fact on site, his perusal of the screens failed to immediately yield further good news.  Security was evidently more formidable on the upper floors, or at the very least more numerous.  And like it or not, more often than not, those were in fact related concepts.  He yet held out hope that a methodical study of the approaches would show him a quiet way past the guards, but all too soon it became clear that he lacked the time for such things.  In the corridor outside, he heard the soft swish of the security doors he'd come through opening once again.  Instinctively, he looked around the room to assess his chances for hiding or moving on, and quickly found his prospects severely limited.  Only the one exit, no time to hide the two unconscious Rodians, and in any case, there seemed little point in hiding.

It wasn't a guard approaching.  He could have told that simply by the unhurried footsteps, the lack of a voice calling out regarding the guard missing from his post, but he had other senses to call on, of course.  The Force user was here, and no mistake.  This time, he did withdraw his lightfoil, and held the handle at the ready, yet he refrained from igniting the weapon.  He sensed no actual malevolence or imminent aggression, just...curiosity, he supposed, mixed with more than a touch of stubbornness.  And more than that, he was more and more certain with every passing step that he'd felt this presence before.  There were only a handful of individuals who'd ever left such a recognizable trace with him, and generally speaking, those were positive associations.  He was unaware of having any enemies, at least enemies who'd survived their initial meeting.  So why did the approach bring with it this lingering sense of anxiety, of fear, of...

Oh, wait.  No, not fear.  Something far more distressing, and rarer.  This was guilt.

"Oh."

This place had nice carpeting.  Plush.  And so, Jaidan did his best to focus on the feel of that carpeting against his bare feet and not the queasiness of his stomach, the pounding of his head, or the intense desire originating in both the mind AND the body just now to lie back down in that bed, close his eyes, and hope that things seemed less utterly cocked up when he opened them again.  And progress was being made!  A fruitless search had turned up no note, no message on his holo frequency, no clue of any kind; she'd skipped out, plain and simple.  But on the plus side, he'd already managed to get his pants back on, and seemed well on track to repeat this feat for his upper body.  Well, largely.  His shirt seemed to be missing a couple of buttons.

The ghost of a smile was eradicated almost as soon as he became aware of it, but it had been there all the same, hangover or no.  It was doubtful that Anushka's flight signified anything positive, but he did store away the fleeting notion that, especially if he managed to salvage anything about this shipwreck, he might look back on some of it fondly.  Eventually.  Now, judging himself presentable enough to interact in public without making a scene, he made his way into the hallway, and sought out the front desk.

Why just leave like that?  He couldn't imagine she'd been in much better condition than he was to just dash off in a hurry, and if she was that intent on making a clean break from the Order and anyone in it, she could have just told him as much.  He'd have regretted it, of course; she had to seek her own path, but one DID tend to hope when they went to someone in friendship to see the gesture reciprocated...unless she HAD answered the overture she saw him as making.  He stopped short in the hallway at that thought, balancing against the wall with one hand as he suddenly felt ill in a way that could not be blamed on the alcohol lingering in his system.  Anushka, on her way out and all but screaming her rejection of the Jedi code.  Jaidan, proposing a night of drinking and...anonymity, was it?  Could she have awoken thinking that sated desires and an empty bed were exactly what he'd wanted?  Would that even be an unreasonable conclusion?  He could hardly blame it all on the hooch, after all.  One did not simply black out and then rent a hotel room by muscle memory.  Strong drink might have made the notion of finding privacy more likely to come up, and it had certainly inhibited a due consideration of the potential consequences, but once the idea had been established, he'd wanted it.  That much, he remembered clearly enough.

No, no.  He couldn't allow himself to make a determination of Anushka's state of mind in her absence, be it to his benefit or his detriment.  But he couldn't help but form some conclusions for himself.  This was not the first time he'd stepped outside the bounds of the Jedi Code in this manner.  But it was certainly the first time he'd strayed with another Jedi.  And worse, this was the first time he found cause to fear he'd acted dishonorably.

Enough.  One foot in front of the other.  Find the front desk, find out where she'd gone, find her.  And then, explain himself.  If not as a paladin, then at least not as a cad.

That was not to be, of course.  In retrospect, Jaidan was not entirely certain just what he was hoping the poor beleaguered hotel concierge could have done for him, but Anushka had not left any indications at the front desk as to her destination and intentions either.  Several hours later, having gone back to bed to sleep off his condition a bit better, he'd gone back and checked her former quarters at the Temple, only to find the space cleared out.  It was only as he sat in front of a holonet terminal, trying to explain to a bewildered transit official just what Jedi inquiry required giving him access to outgoing passenger manifests that the disturbing obsessiveness of his desperate search finally became clear to him, and with a few words of apology to the official in question, killed the link and resolved to let the matter go.

Well, mostly.  That experience had been a rather significant milestone for him, in retrospect, one which had a major impact on his conduct since.  It wasn't that he'd sworn himself off any of the various elements that led to that morning after.  He still enjoyed his drink, he still visited establishments where the drink might be found...and no, he hadn't forbidden himself the physical release either.  But he gave all these indulgences, especially the last one, a good deal more deliberation these days, and he made damn certain that he went into these things clear-headed.  But even if it had helped him to mature as a person, he'd always regretted that one unresolved relationship, and the things left unsaid.

And now, as the woman in question appeared before him almost as if in response to the mental image of her called up out of memory, he was left momentarily at a loss for words.  He was a bit embarrassed to admit that was partly because his first instinct was to give her a proper visual once over.  Remembering her meant remembering the last time he'd actually SEEN her, after all, and she still looked pretty good.  She'd picked up some new bad habits it seemed, if the scent of tabac was anything to go by, but whatever she'd been doing in these subsequent years, it had kept her fit.

"You can call it pink, if you like." he finally offered, returning his lightfoil to its concealed spot.  "I'm entirely at peace with it."

The identity of his telepathic tag partner now revealed, with all the baggage associated, Jaidan took a moment to shift his attention back to his surroundings.  To the two Rodians, the security, and the fact that there was still a mission here.  He took a moment of further indulgence before conceding to himself that sadly, these things probably couldn't simply wait.

"We should talk, I think.  But maybe not now."  He managed to edit out the subsequent 'assuming you can stick around this time'.  "Why are you here, Anushka?"

[Poludnica]

Trapped between fond memories and overbearing guilt Anushka stepped further into the room. Assured that Echani was no one else but Jaidan - the one night stand paramour she had abandoned like anything else related to the Order – she looked around the room discovering two Rodian guards listlessly lying near by. Clean and silent, with a doze of elegance. That was how Jaidan she had remembered worked. No one in the club knew about this infiltration as of yet and the Echani Jedi came really far - the true testament to the clever subtlety. The woman always envied him this patience and grace of a man who knew nuances of own body very well – the small fact she had learned all those years ago. ”Nice...” Anushka commented flatly before turning the hazel gaze on the Echani.

Handsome as ever. The woman silently noted, vague memories stirring some ancient feelings. It wasn't even a clear image in her head, the rational recalling but more something her body remembered on the very basic, primal level. Anushka always wondered why she would even go back to this fateful night as nothing truly came out of it – surely there was a moment of hesitant worry that the consequences would be more dire than she had expected but at the end only the bittersweet memory remained without any bearing on the reality of her new life. Yet way too often Anushka relieved the events from that evening, regardless that few men by then appeared and passed none of them measured up to Jaidan. Probably because the Echani had always been one of the few individuals Ana truly appreciated.

The Jedi seemed shocked into uneasy silence while Anushka already managed to make peace with the fact the fate brought them together once more. Jaidan's surface thoughts that licked the base of her consciousness in the intimacy of the telepathic contact prepared Anushka for this discovery. She wasn't easy to shake emotionally – her emotions running rather flat until this special trigger swayed them off balance with enough force. This detachment served Ana well, dissociating the most difficult, crippling sadness, grief, often fear. Covering by a simple anger. ”Last time was so terrible you want to bash me with your fancy glowing stick?” The fiery haired woman gestured at the lightfoil sword. Everything about the Echani had been eccentric – starting from the weapon, ending on a short, carefully trimmed goatee. Until she saw Jaidan, Ana doubted his kind can grow facial hair at all...

”Good to see you haven't changed.” A ghost of a smile appeared on her crimson streaked lips as eyes adorned in a chartreuse make up trailed off to scan the holo screens behind the Echani. Certainly Jaidan was there on some official business which meant she had stepped into the whole worse after than initially had bargained for. Crossing arms on her chest in a haughty manner, Anushka inhaled deeply feeling creeping, stress induced neck pain settling in. ”It's still fuchsia.” The human recalled their drunk argument about snobby colors the drinks had, thus discovering the Echani actually liked pink.

Who would've thought?

Trying to play it casual as if she hadn't slipped away like a coward few years ago, Anushka nonchalantly shrugged. ”I came for tea.” The grey jedi stated vaguely. Telling truth which Jaidan could sense but also with enough double meaning to disguise any true purpose. ”Remember how talking ended last time?” She added, looking back at the doors, making sure no one was lurking there. ”May not be the best idea.” Anushka locked her gaze on the two creatures talking in one if the holo screens. She couldn't begin to fathom why the Jedi had sent their operatives...unless.

”You are still one of them, aren't you?” Ana asked with a taint of suspicion and a drop of uncertainty.

[DreadPirateMike]

Following Anushka's gaze to where it fell upon his handiwork with the guards, Jaidan answered her assessment of it with a brief affirmative nod. His infiltration so far had essentially been a series of skillfully executed sucker punches, hardly the stuff of song and story. Still, his presence remained almost undetected, no lives had been needlessly lost, and thirty years of training for such results should probably earn him the right to take a compliment. It didn't seem the ex-Jedi planned to be especially generous with them, after all.

Fancy glowing stick, indeed.

Well, it was good to see her again, whatever the circumstances. The rare, grudging smile was especially gratifying, of course. He didn't know precisely where they stood now, and had no idea if he'd know when they parted again either, but if Anushka could make even an acerbic joke about their night together, then maybe it had not created the hostility he'd feared. Certainly, her body language - And that, he generally COULD tell a great deal from. It was why, in spite of his enjoyment of the game, he tended as a point of honor to avoid Sabaac. - lacked the tense, unconscious attack posture of a woman meeting the man who had wronged her, so that was something. But more than this, though it left him feeling a bit silly and he wasn't sure what else, he believed he'd even missed her frown.

There WAS a tension about her, though, something he'd be ill- advised to ignore. He wasn't going to bother trying to suss out anything mentally; he'd always regarded that as a bit rude when in the company of another Jedi, even in cases when said Jedi's superior telepathy rendered the effort pointless. But she WAS hiding something. Hell, he didn't even need the insights enabled by his Echani heritage to tell that. Not when she'd just told him she was prowling around the restricted areas of the criminal underworld for... tea. Whatever that meant, it wasn't any outright lie, not that he found himself overly encouraged by a half-truth. Some euphemism he didn't know, for an illicit substance? Had Anushka become involved in the spice trade? He very much hoped that was the wrong line of thought, but it did explain her presence here, as well as her trepidation.

"Our problem was never in the talking, only the lack of it. A problem I would dearly like to correct. But to your one question I'm sure you truly wish answered, yes. I am not precisely what one would call a darling of the High Council these days, if ever I could claim such a thing, but I remain a Jedi still. You remember Master Took, I assume? He broke with with the Council in heeding the Republic's request for aid against the Sith Empire, and asked who would follow him. I was among those who answered his call, and now here I am. Republic Intelligence believes a biological weapon is to be shipped from here into Republic space, and I am here to stop it."

Jaidan could hardly be ignorant of the risk, perhaps the irresponsible risk he had just taken by telling her all that, but whatever had happened to Anushka in the past few years, he refused to believe she could have fallen so far that such news would not move her. At the very least, if she had not only fallen but found the skill to hide it from him, any further action of his may be irrelevant. So he thought on it a moment longer, and took another risk.

"And if you've maintained your skills as well as our conversation a few minutes ago would suggest, I could use your help. A favor for an old friend, if not the Republic. Afterward, perhaps, there will still be time for this...tea. And for other things long overdue."

[Poludnica]

The careful, vigilant gaze of the silver orbs caused a small shiver to climb up her spine. She didn't understand really what it meant as Anushka had often been blind to the subtle signals emotions sent. There was pleasant warmth pressing against the woman's chest but mixed with odd tension that gathered just below the neck and down in the shoulder blades. For her it had never been typical to ruminate on the past, on the bad choices and losses but Jaidan's memory was always there, always similarly vivid despite years that should wither it down. Maybe because the novelty of the experience or something more primal. Something that dictated most basic instincts and urges. Shamelessly Anushka trailed her gaze along the Echani's frame, discovering she still enjoyed it which raised all the red flags in her consciousness. They weren't friends anymore, not even allies.

With a small tilt to the ginger haired head, the woman casually stepped toward Jaidan, her posture relaxed but dark, hazel eyes expressed interest that reached far beyond mere curiosity. ”Took? Really?” Anushka asked, as usually blatantly honest about everything that happened around even if it was encompassed in a half serious, pugnacious smirk. ”Figures.” She added with a knowing smile, her eyes now finding Jaidan's pale orbs. It strangely fit him, this decision. Unlike many Jedi the Echani liked to be direct, avoiding passive vigil many of her former brethren engaged in. ”Better find it quickly, then, little knight.” Ana said impishly, strangely calm about the gravity of the situation. It stopped being her problem long time ago, his martyrdom Jedi vowed themselves to.

They were not only inches from one another, Anushka moved close, letting only small space between them. As if testing the Exhani's reaction, though nothing in her posture betrayaed any threat. On the contrary – the human's gaze was curious, inquisitive. ”I can't call you my friend.” The grey jedi sighed at Jaidan's proposal, a mischievous grin danced on her lips ” Good lover though.” That was a favorite game Ana was playing when unsure or threatened. When something poked halls in a wall of bloated confidence – to see how far she could push. Distance herself from the source of unpleasant sorrow.

In a sudden, rapid motion the woman turned away from the Echani, stepped gracefully toward the doors. ”Fine, I will help you.” Anushka just said, without indicating if his deal was even acceptable. She could use some assistance though even if Ana wouldn't state it openly. ”But we get the tea first.” The former Jedi leaned against the metal frame of the doors while once more looking directly at Jaidan.

[DreadPirateMike]

Jaidan had certainly started off this meeting a little bit of a disadvantage. He neither possessed, nor desired Anushka's long-standing emotional detachment - Although he had to admit that that to some Jedi he'd known, who held to the Code more strictly than he ever had, it might be considered an admirable quality. - but it had meant that at first, he was a bit more thrown by this sudden encounter than she seemed to be. He still possessed a Jedi's more typical trained reserve, however, and more importantly the capacity to know when he was being baited. He had no idea WHY she was acting like this, of course, but regardless, he was not in the habit of making such a thing easy.

So, as Anushka made a show of infringing on his personal space without so much as a 'by your leave', he held both his ground and his composure. His BODY reacted in all the predictable ways, of course, as actively caught up in old memories as his mind. The acceleration of his breathing was subtle, but it was there, as he assumed were the dilated pupils. He even felt some relief that his erstwhile lover was not a fellow Echani - telepathic shielding or no, none of his kind could have missed the significance of the sudden tension in his right arm and hand, as his mind once again intervened in time to over-ride instinct, this time to reach out and take hold of not his weapon, but the woman's bicep.

"Thanks. But you should see me when I'm sober."

He just didn't over-react to any of that. He had, years ago, set out upon a personal quest to demystify these and other natural urges...at length. And while his liberal interpretation of the Order's strictures likely lay, at least in part, at the root of his present dilemma, he nevertheless believed it generally served him well. And so, even as she stood literally close enough to kiss, that was the furthest he'd rise to her provocation...though admittedly, calm or not, that was still probably well more than advisable. And she DID get more of a reaction moments later.

He actually felt as though he was breaking a promise. Nothing he had ever put into so many words, granted, but the really important things usually weren't directly spoken aloud. And when he had walked into Call's that night, when he'd chosen to come as a friend and not a Jedi Knight, when he'd made that toast, was that not a promise that he did not hold her departure against her? More, that wherever her path led from there, most certainly not the path of a Jedi, that he would understand her choice, respect it, think well of her? And yet, just as he'd felt his heart beat a little faster as she stood close, he felt the frown twist his lips as she turned away and delivered her terms.

No, the galaxy's problems were no longer hers to bear. He knew that. Even when they were, this detachment had still been a part of her. He knew that too. He even conceded within the privacy of his own thoughts that if this knowledge did not seem to excuse her attitude, that was not entirely her fault. Objectivity was a Jedi virtue he DID aspire too, yet he had not been objective about Anushka Faddei in years. Was there some reason to think that disability would somehow recede now, running into the one woman he'd truly feared he'd treated dishonorably in the middle of Hutt space, and unable to rule himself out as a contributing factor to the direction her life had taken? Of course not.

And yet, he'd just informed her that what happened here tonight could have dire, even fatal consequences for billions, literally billions of lives. What private agenda of hers could possibly take precedence over that? He very nearly told her that never mind, he'd do this on his own, and she could go choke on her tea. But the three second count was a wonderful thing, and he soon concluded that acting on his initial irritation in such a way would be no less selfish on his part.  Anushka WOULD be an asset on this mission; at the very least, having a separate intruder running around while he made his way upstairs would be a liability. And however far they'd grown apart, this remained a tenuous connection he did not wish to sever entirely. So, he resolved to...consider her terms.

"What, where and how heavily guarded is this stuff?"

[Poludnica]

The subtle threads of social interaction weren't really lost on her – she wasn't detached because of inability to learn it but to protect herself. Suffering through repeated abandonment as a child, Anushka grew to a very guarded woman who clung to her emotional independence with ferocity of a scared lioness. She had fled from him not because of shame, certainly not because of the code, all but forsaken that night. No, it was because the Echani broke through those barriers and a silver streak called attachment began to built once the physical bliss ended. The intimacy of the act scared her to the point of panic. Deep down part of the girl mourned this night and leaving Jaidan behind and even this small pain was unbearable. What if it grew along with emotional bond? No, she didn't need a hassle and yet couldn't simply let go after all those years.

”I will take you up on that.” Anushka said impishly, her head tilting lightly to the side. Fiery dyed hair followed the movement, catching artificial light in it's auburn glow. For someone so detached, the woman didn't mind attention that came with the color of her hair or evening make up that stood in contrast with rather plain clothes. Hazel eyes carefully moved from the Echani's posture and frame to seemingly neutral expression, catching faint glimpses of reaction in his features but nothing else. Damn Echani – so controlled, so motivated and disciplined. All things she lacked. The emotions Anushka so willingly cut off didn't vanish but piled up instead, building a base for a volcano to explode later. Those acting outs came in various things, from drunk nights out to reckless missions and acts. Maybe Jaidan was one of them.

Then why there was stirring in the pit of her stomach. This annoying flutter caused by discovering the Echani in this gods forsaken club. She harbored no ill will against him for what had happened between them, maybe even felt a bit guilty over it. Leaving him without a word or even a card. Ah, to touch him once more, only once to recall those sweet moments after years of loneliness came. Anushka even moved her hand to do it, fingers raising to the waist before the woman turned away. No, not here. He wouldn't agree anyway. After all she presented the terms in a way that screamed for rejection to protect own independence at any cost. As usually, Jaidan couldn't be predicted. An infuriating and alluring quality all the same.

A gleam of surprise showed in the woman's soft, oval features. Small, button nose wrinkled lightly when she considered all the options. It made her distraught but also pleased, a mixture of emotions Anushka hadn't experienced in years. ”You are full of surprises , Jaidan Shatani.” She smiled lightly, wondering what he was up to. ”It's a small bag of leaf tea, probably kept in the boss' office upstairs. In a safe I will blow up.” Anushka explained slowly, a Delphic grin crossing her lips. "Why?" The woman asked suddenly. Unable to stand slowly building tension only the Echani could cause with his strange ways and unpredictable choices. "What game are you playing here, Jaidan? Certainly my tea can't be more important than the fate of your precious Republic." Anushka continued, lazily leaning against the frame. Despite the grey hue of her force, the woman had almost no tolerance for uncertainty. It scared her, not to know. Not to see the outcomes. The Echani was a wild card bringing in a new factor into the play. Every little emotion with it.

[DreadPirateMike]

Yes, he'd definitely risen to her bait more than he should have. A consequence of his heritage, he supposed, and his choice to embrace it as fully as he had. Verbal sparring wasn't his specialty, but even so, a good fight was hard to pass up. Not very Jedi-like, he'd always acknowledged, but most any truly important choice involved such trade-offs. Choosing differently likely would have meant he'd still be back on Coruscant right now, passing on technically perfect but largely untested saber techniques amid the Temple's pristine air of serenity, and not skulking around some lowlife's bar in the middle of Hutt space. There were times he wondered if he'd made a mistake, a couple in the time since he landed on this moon, but they were short-lived. He'd not have had this reunion on Coruscant.

Everything happened for a reason. That didn't mean it was always a GOOD reason, certainly not from the perspective of the people caught up in course of these events, but the overall saying was one he'd always held to.

In any case, he found himself more generally perplexed than irritated as the exchange continued. Well, he felt more than that, of course, but the rest he put out of his mind for now. Wrong time, wrong place. But if Anushka wasn't simply trying to make him uncomfortable, if part of her harbored some legitimate interest in...extra-curricular activity, then that didn't seem like someone who'd wrestled with feeling used, or betrayed, or any of the other feelings of hurt and outrage he'd let his imagination conjure. Meaning his unique talents of perception stopped short of understanding why she'd felt the need to run off in the first place. And he might even have put his confusion into words, were it not so immediately compounded.

"Wait. So by tea, you meant...tea?"

It wasn't that this revelation necessarily made anything BETTER, exactly. But it did, once again, demonstrate the dependable fallibility of his imagination. Not a drug deal, at least. She was still here to steal, sure, but upholding the law wasn't technically his job. Certainly not what passed for the law on Nar Shadaa, anyway. Besides, he was here to, in all likelihood, do far worse unless his quarry did the smart thing and surrendered at the first sight of an ignited lightsaber. And that DID happen sometimes. It had gone like that the first time he ever drew his weapon alongside Arik Han out in the field.

The second time he had tried it, it had produced precisely the opposite effect. Also far from an uncommon reaction.

"There's no game, Anushka. The moment I learn where the Imperial operation is headquartered, a heavily armed SIS strike force stands ready to obliterate it. The man in the uniform?" At this, he pointed to the security feed showing both Colonel Selvan and, presumably, the owner of the sought after tea sat in conference. "He possesses that intelligence. You may be uniquely suited to help me learn it from him. In exchange for that help, I promise you, I don't care whether you wish to sell, snort, or yes, even blow these tea leaves to the far corners of this moon. Just so long as it does not put everyone here on alert, and thus facilitate Colonel Selvan's escape."

And at this point, since he'd already let himself be drawn into the sparring a bit, it seemed time to give back. So this time, as he continued into his counter-proposal, it was he who crossed over into Anushka's personal space, his smile somewhere between amiable and predatory as he loomed over her.

"So, what say we just let this play out organically? If we find your safe first, then my lightsaber will open it faster and more easily than any explosive, and at far less risk to your...bounty. If we find what I'm looking for, then we deal with whatever obstacles stand in our way. And once we have some privacy, things become easier still, hmm?"

[Poludnica]

It was somewhat rewarding to see Jaidan genuinely confused, even if it was a faint flicker. She liked pushing buttons in hopes to wake up more than simply indifference. Anushka had no other means to garner attention. The girl was too proud to ask for help and too scared of rejection to openly talk about what had happened between them. What of he held grudge about it? What the Echani regretted every moment of it? And why in the Force's name she cared enough to ponder on it..? Attachment felt like a trap; once Ana already had fallen into it. A wise fox never stepped twice into the same river yet red haired woman couldn't simply walk away now. Leaving Jaidan and his mission behind. It's not your business anymore. A little voice whispered in the back of her head. The same that brought up painful memories of all those abandonments. First her father, then mother, master....Anushka reached for a rationalization to ease the inner dissonance: it would be easier with him. Safer.

”Of course its tea, what else could it be?” The grey jedi asked with an impish smile, knowing fully well what Jaidan's imagination could come up with. Drugs, biological weapon, corporation espionage... It almost hurt that Jaidan would so easily suspected her of terrible things. Almost. The part of the young woman that demanded indifference took it as another proof for avoiding any deals with the Echani. Heart was no servant though and Anushka looked to take note of the military official. The tea owner! She didn't know what to expect from someone who herd expensive beverage in his safe but certainly not an officer's uniform. Well built, handsome man, confident. Ana saw more a skinny, neurotic collector fitting the role.

So Jaidan wouldn't let her win so easily...Anushka's brow rose a bit, betraying skeptical curiosity when the Echani stepped closer. The woman's body reacted instantly as adrenaline and endorphins woke up silent longing. She met his gaze without backing down, enjoying the little game they had. After all those years it remembered, engraving Jaidan's touch in the depths of the primal, emotional processing and no amount of rational thought could ease this quiet arousal. Ana swallowed, hoping those bodily reactions weren't written all over her features. ”I am going after tea, you can tag along.” The grey knight smiled bashfully. ”If we find Selvan along the way, I can try to pluck the information from his head.” She agreed, shortening the distance between them, their bodies almost touching now. Anushka could feel warmth caught between them, like an electrical current. ”If you ask nicely.” The human teased with a content smile, tilting her head lightly. Seeking this pale grey gaze, almost silver in this light.

Once more she had to fight the urge to touch him. To recall that night with every detail. Instead Ana just raised her hand that hovered over Jaidan's shoulder only to have it press the doors open. The corridor was empty but they couldn't be sure if it would stay like this for longer. They had to move but the woman found herself unwilling to move away. Don't be stupid... The warning in her soul chanted but something else dulled it, something that hadn't been a part of her existence for a long, long time. Grab tea and run. Run where? To next dull task, another night lost in cheap drinks? Anushka didn't live for future as she believed there was none for her and willingly indulged simple carpe diem philosophy.

[DreadPirateMike]

If Anushka chose to see what happened next as a victory of sorts, then she was welcome to it, for ultimately it was Jaidan who chose to ignore his better judgment.  Perhaps it was some instinct ingrained into him by years of Makashi drills, seeing the other fencer attempting to retreat along the line and moving in to score a hit while the opening existed.  Maybe it was as simple as losing patience with this little game.  Most certainly, part of it was simpler still, that he simply wanted to.  Honestly, not a great deal of thought went into the action.  As the doors slid open to reveal the hallway behind, his hand had reached out and taken hold of her arm before he began to think much on why he'd done it, certainly not hard enough to hurt, but insistent enough to stall her progress unless she should deliberately shrug him off.  To some gratification, he found her immediately inclined to do no such thing.

There were certainly still SOME barriers between them.  The mission.  The uncertainty.  And the gloves, of course.  He'd not been wearing those at the cantina, and even this far from Coruscant, without the all important robes, these were a physical symbol of his ongoing life as a Jedi.  Just black synthleather, the palms roughened against harsh stones for better contact and a reduced likelihood of his foils ever being knocked from his grasp.  But it was still distance enough that a frown deepened almost into a snarl as he looked down at the point of contact, and a part of him began wishing them gone.  But to what end?  Certainly, so that his bare fingertips could trace their way up her neck, and from there to tangle themselves in her hair.  Then...?

What in the hell was WRONG with him?  He'd gotten a far better hold on his libido than this, and long ago.  Was this that other peril, then, the one that the Order had always cautioned against even more sternly?  Was this love?

He...didn't think so.  One could hardly pick up a book without being informed that there was nothing logical or sensible about that condition, and yet how well did he even know this woman?  He'd specifically been trying to reach out, to know her BETTER at the time when things took that unexpected turn.  He'd been aware of her emotional detachment, for instance, been trying to gain a better understanding of the causes behind it and whether he was in a position to help with it, but Anushka had said it herself.  One could hardly even really have called them friends at the time she took off.  But there was enough of a connection between them that it had stung to hear that from her.  

So...there was a sense of obligation to this woman lingering from the night they had spent together.  And yes, whether he was proud of it or not, there was undeniably a desire to see that outing repeated.  He'd have to reconcile those two impulses when there was time.  But wherever they'd been headed, even if that was nowhere, he would see that journey continued.

"Anushka." he said after a moment, aware that the silence had gone on a moment too long.  "I'm sorry.  Precisely for what...I'll confess, these past ten minutes have left me a little confused on that score.  But come what may, I want you to know, I WILL do what I can to make it right.  Once your tea is in hand."

At that, he closed his eyes a moment, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, it was purely by habit, for he saw her not.  Or, more precisely, he saw not the shade of her hair or the paleness of her skin, but rather her reflection in the Force.  The same...greyness, for lack of a a more precise term that she has sensed about him earlier.  The confusion, the lack of direction, the resignation...he could not have said precisely HOW, but somehow, he was glimpsing a bit of that now.  Such was the nature of the Force Sight he had spent that year in darkness mastering.  And at that moment, a sad smile replaced the frown, and the pressure on her arm tightened a bit before it was released, and before he broke out into the hallway past her, his steps fast but silent.

There was work to be done.  But there would be an afterward.  And he WOULD keep his promise.

[Poludnica]

When a gloved hand rest on her arm Anushka didn't shy away as she would normally do. Obsessed with own independence to the point of madness, the woman never liked breaching her personal space that firmly put the border onto physical contact. Her body remembered, despite years, despite anger, despite disillusionment with the Jedi. It could recall every small touch, the senses asleep for so many years now flared up and she had to bit down on her lip to calm this storm. Despite own better judgment Anushka leaned in the touch, melted with it as the muscles lost their guarded tension. That night was still alive among shattered fragmented memories, had always been no matter how much Ana tried to stomp out those feelings with alcohol, variety of drugs, reckless nights. She let her fingers to caress the silky material, moving through it with deliberate slowness. Her honed senses picked on something that stretched between them in the heavy silence. The more emotions flowed through one's mind, the less controlled and erratic thoughts became. They weren't solid, like a coherent sentence or even an image. More a fleeting feeling.

”You want them gone, don't you?” Anushka asked, pointedly pulling at the tips of the ebony black gloves. A sigh escaped her, sorrowful and distant. She didn't want to wallow in all those emotions. For years Anushka fought to escape such dilemmas, to care only about own self interest but it would always come back. No matter the destructive amounts of shady booze or gnawing loneliness she imposed on herself. Foolish Echani – Anushka hadn't ran off that night due to ill placed shame or hurt feelings but because something had appeared between them. Something the now grey jedi feared the most: a cage called attachment. That Jaidan could be a man who would tame her, make her his own and that would bring doom to both of them. It was enough she was marked a pariah, the weak link.

Even before Jaidan spoke up she senses the uneasiness and discomfort without any use of Force. It was clear in the way he looked at her, from small gestures. Anushka let out a tired chuckle but did nothing to push him away. ”You have nothing to be sorry for, foolish Echani.” She said before finally freeing herself from the grasp, albeit unhurriedly. Despite deceitful calm, her heart was racing. Hollow thud filled the woman's ears along with quiet hum of machinery gathered in the room. Ana said nothing more to explain what the vague statement truly meant, instead stepped through doors. Putting an actual physical distance between them almost hurt though and Anushka had to bit down on her tongue to get a grip of herself. She could be so stupid sometimes...And yet didn't mind this time.

”Let's go to the main office.” Her hushed words drowned in a background noise. Anushka looked around, wondering. ”Where exactly is the main office?” The girl asked suddenly, remembering about forgetting to actually find out this important bit of information. See what men do to you? She huffed at own failure, feeling a bit embarrassed. Something that didn't happen often.

Tsk! A noise of building frustration ghosted in her breath as the grey jedi pondered what to do next.

[DreadPirateMike]

(I'll probably be tinkering with this a little over the next few days, thinking how I could have described this or that move better.  Just my way.  But the post's up, and Anushka has her goon to fight.  Go get 'em!   )


"Two floors up, and fifty feet off to our left."

Jaidan's best guess, based on the largest concentration of stationary life signs he could pick out, was not delivered entirely free of strain, but still, having something else to concentrate on was a small blessing in itself. At least his words didn't come out in a growl, which was more than he could have been confident of mere moments ago. Wanted them gone...he supposed he owed her thanks for at least being discreet in her own phrasing. He knew not whether he was galled more by her knowledge of it or the near certainty that it would not have required a telepath of her ability to suss it out, but she clearly knew exactly what he wanted. About the only thing yet to be determined was against which wall.

But as much practice as he'd had with the technique, and he did make a point of carrying out some of his training with a blindfold whenever his duties these days left time for such things, it did take a degree of concentration to maintain this marvelously useful second sight against which walls were no barrier. And so, if only just for a little bit, he would pretend that he was, in fact a Jedi Knight. That he had, as such, been well trained in the ways of discipline and forbearance for even longer than he'd been out among the stars, wilfully ignoring half those lessons. And besides, it wasn't as though he had to rely exclusively on focus and resolve to banish this disquiet. As he scanned the way ahead, it seemed more than likely that a very productive outlet lay between him and night's end. Several dozen, in fact.

"I mean to do this with a minimum of bloodshed." he continued after a few moments, his initial plan of attack decided upon as he neared the top of the stairwell leading out onto the next floor up. "If possible, none. If that's not how you're used to operating these days, I'll understand if you wish to hang back and offer support. But regardless, I suggest you ready yourself."

At that, his lightfoil came back out from the concealing depths of his long grey coat, and this time, it was immediately ignited, and without the careful finesse he had cultivated in the refresher downstairs. Which wasn't to say that his movements were without grace; he liked to think it was all a relatively fluid motion as he stepped out into the corridor, turned to the closed doorway -Another storeroom, perhaps, but this was just a guess, for he wasn't planning to ever peruse the inside with his unaided eye.- on his right where he'd spotted a pair of Vak's workers lingering inside, and thrust the weapon right through the control panel meant to open and close the passage. The surprise within was entirely audible, but as hoped, was kicked up a few decibals when Jaidan took a few more steps forward, dragging the lightfoil's blade with him and carving a glowing horizontal trench in the door. And then, suddenly, the weapon was deactivated and holstered as the Jedi Knight swiftly crossed over to the opposite side of the corridor, positioning himself just shy of the corner around which the three guards in immediate earshot were about to come running.

Only one of them would actually make it that far, and the progress was not to his benefit. Unlike the situation with the Weequay from earlier, Jaidan was of a height with with the human man that came bolting in the direction of the yells, and and that WAS to the benefit of them both, even if he'd be the only one to realize it. It gave him considerably more control over how he wished to stop the man, and made it easier to ensure his opening strike was debilitating but not fatal. As Jaidan's tensed arm shot out around the corner to intercept the hired tough at neck level, the Jedi met him with the crook of his elbow, allowing him to distribute the impact against his hapless adversary's throat somewhat. As his momentum carried his lower body forward, sending him crashing, flat on his back to the floor, he'd still find himself too busy struggling for breath to be any further imminent threat. Still, a man could get himself medical attention with a merely bruised trachea.

He couldn't say he was surprised, however, when his caution failed to earn him any consideration from the first guard's considerably burlier friend, and the considerably burlier fist now flying at his face.

He allowed himself to give a few steps of ground as he met the punch with an open palm against his attacker's forearm, calmly pushing the punch off to the side and away from his head before breaking off contact for a fast counter in the form of a backhanded slap against the face. There was no great force behind the strike, best described, if anything, as a light swat with barely more than a flick of the wrist behind it. And yet, while it inflicted no actual harm, it nevertheless did its job. Purely out of instinctive surprise, the guard recoiled. Only for a moment, of course, but long enough for the strike to be followed up by an Echani knee to the groin. That would buy Jaidan a moment of safety as the larger man crumpled to worry about the last assailant, and a good thing too. The tell tale hum of a vibroblade warned him of the coming thrust in time for him to sidestep and seize the knife-wielder's wrist. A wrist he proceeded to twist harshly until the blade clattered to the ground with a pained howl from its former owner.

He'd give the big one credit, whether his resilience came more from adrenaline or a natural pain tolerance; he shrugged off a shot to the balls fast. And with a sudden and slightly impish smile, Jaidan decided he knew exactly what he had planned for the tough guy. Without releasing his hold on his present opponent, the Echani Jedi let himself cheat a bit. He met the rising thug with a deliberately weak force push, and sent him stumbling right toward Anushka with a wink to his former lover. Granted, he felt a LITTLE bad about it. The guy did have nearly a foot on her, after all, and this wasn't exactly the support from the back option that he'd just given her. But it wasn't like she didn't have advantages of her own, and he was curious to see what she could do. After all, if she had a vested interest in the outcome of this mission, surely she should have a direct hand in its success?

Yes, he believed this was precisely the outlet he needed.

[Poludnica]

"Two floors up, and fifty feet off to our left." Anushka sighed, softly and barely above the level of faint whisper. She didn't ask how Jaidan knew, something else caught the grey jedi's attention. The discomfort in his reaction to the suggestion. An enigmatic smile crossed her lips, aimed to cover whatever stirred beneath the surface. Anger, yes. No. Maybe impatience? The Exhani was a fascinating man like that, Anushka could never truly guess what was going on behind this strict, mental shield built from cheeky confidence. Even the Force didn't tell her much aside from vague blue that swirled around the pale male. Discipline – that was what she always lacked, barely making it to the knight not because of small ability in the Force itself; the woman was average at best but not the worst. Limiting sacrifices they all had to endure were always an issue. When away from the Order Anushka had thrown herself in a hedonistic life with no rules or regulations. Cheating at cards, mind reading her opponents only to be chased away like a cheat she in fact was. Jaidan, even with all his rebel nature seemed flawless in comparison. They had sinned in the eyes of the Order. Both of them but only one consciously pulled the other away. Anushka had nothing to lose back then but the Echani had broken the vows. Did it make her a villain? An enemy? Because the woman had no regrets and would do it again. And again. No guilt, no remorse and no regrets after they had both fallen on this night.

So he wanted to play a good knight this time around, Anushka didn't feel overly hurt nor rejected. Over years, unwanted child from the beginning, the young woman built around her soul a tight shell that allowed no attachments. After her master's death she felt sorrow and relief – the last person Anushka cared about, that could pry the thick, heavy doors opened was gone. If she wouldn't let anyone else into her life, there would be no more abandonment.”I care not for what happens to local goons.” The grey jedi shrugged, giving room to simple do as you please. They could live, they could die, Anushka wanted her tea. Nothing more...Her gaze idly indifferent, followed the Echani graceful movements – elegant, controlled. Well..Maybe one more thing aside from tea. She noticed the weapon in his hands but didn't prepare own blade. Simply walked after the Echani. Even from the way they walked it was clear who took own job much more seriously. Anushka let out a playful, yet quiet whistle when the male opened the passage that led into another storeroom.

”Maybe you could knock instead.” The woman sighed, wondering if Jaidan was simply showing off. Like a proud peacock – without even knowing it or realizing. Maybe he wanted the guards to come running, maybe there was a bigger plot behind making so much noise with his little toy, Anushka didn't care. One might have expected the grey jedi would do the same – valiantly charge at the incoming guards. Burly, large bodyguards, almost cliché in their movements and reactions. No, Anushka stepped away, leaning against the opposite law with a mixture of interest in amusement in her hazel gaze. Letting Jaidan to do all the work as he looked rather eager and preferred to keep them alive. The grey jedi couldn't make such promise so simply stayed away. Enjoying the display of disciplined power the pale man presented. It was...beautiful. And even this word seemed like an insult when describing the graceful dance with which the Echani engaged his opponents. A deadly ballet, not a single gesture seemed wasteful. Envy and awe in equal amounts stirred the woman's being.

With a roguish wink Jaidan pushed one of the goons her way to which Anushka responded with a single gesture of her hand, throwing the man against the wall but of course it wasn't enough to stop the burly muscle mass. Anushka stepped forward and in an odd, gesture that had no other meaning but to garner attention, blew a kiss his way. With it a strong telepathic command that would send the man's brain into uncontrollable seizure. The human fall down, foaming at mouth, losing consciousness. With a bit of luck he would have no lasting damage. Maybe more than a bit. As the man went into a deep coma Anushka pondered joining Jaidan but the blow did took toll on her powers. Wasting so much of it on one blow. Maybe the Echani wasn't the only one showing off.

Let him be a knight in a shining armor... Anushka thought idly, still vigilantly watching if the goons overwhelmed the Echani who tried to hard not to kill them. They certainly didn't appreciate that fact.