Shadows among the shadows (Jazen)

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

The Winds could guide and surround a person in many things, Talau knew this better than many, but it couldn't do everything. This, too, she had learned in her time with the jedi. Sometimes a person could be given all the correct clues, but if they didn't follow through diligently they would never get anywhere. It was a lesson she had learned thoroughly as a shadow. She had also learned how to follow even the most minute ripples of darkness in the force back toward the source, like replaying the vid of a drop of rain hitting a placid surface of water in reverse.

This was what she had done in this case.

Already the force had surprised her with the knowledge that two of her other intended contacts were also on this forsaken criminal moon. Locke she could understand, his specialization in the Order meant that he would go practically anywhere and everywhere for any number of reasons, but Jazen? Certainly he wasn't still a padawan? Perhaps he and Locke were working together on whatever reason the boy's (well he was a man now, wasn't he...) mentor was here. Thinking she would find both of them together she had followed the threads that linked the three of them as far as possible before realizing the paths diverged.

It wasn't an uncommon thing for knights to part ways during an operation, or even a master and padawan nearing knighthood. It covered more ground, got more things done at once, and was realistic when studying the many facets of a constantly changing situation with varying dynamics. The only thing that had given her pause was which to follow first.

Jazen.

Her link to him was thinner, more tenuous and less easy to follow because of it. She had, after all, been taken into Chronos'....generous care....after only having known him for a relatively short while. So it was that she followed that thread until she lost sight of it among the energy of the force, but that thread had been riding the waves of mal intent, and so when she could no longer track it she followed those ripples into the grungier sections of the smuggler's moon. The more the 'darkness' pressed in upon her the more her own aura filtered outward through intentional cracks in her emotional armor and her suppression, allowing it to flicker and lick at those around her with all the sinister intent of a dark jedi, or at least a very angry normal jedi.

Six to one and half a dozen to the other, really.

It helped to ward off the denizens of this particular den as she flowed along on those ripples, stalking like a predator into the very mouth of the sensation....Her hood covered her hair and shadowed her face, the cloak back over one shoulder to make an intentional show of Talon's hilt, Helluin still hidden at her lower back. She had, for this particular instance, decided to don the few pieces of her feanturi gear she had brought with her...deep blue, black and silver colored armor covering her boots up to the knee and matching gauntlets that seemed...oddly at odds with the dark leather of the rest of her gear.

It could only conjure the notion that the woman had a full set of the stuff ready for battle.

Yet another deterrent, even if it was true.

[Jazen]

That tiny thread that she would be able to follow had led her to a seedy part of town, where bright neon lights listed an array of seedier looking bars and businesses. Anyone with half a brain could see those places for what they were; haunts, haunts for the many different factions and criminals that populated the Smuggler Moon.

Jazen never really cared for these places. That he was in one on this night had nothing to do with a need to be alone, a need to drink his sorrows away or meet shady friends in a place that kept the lights low so you couldn't see the trash all around you. He really had no sorrows he wished to drink away and even if he did, Jazen hated to drink. Dulled him in ways he didn't like, something that hadn't changed at all from his days as a younger man. And aside from Vance, Lidah and some staff at the Blind Eye, Jazen really didn't have friends to seek out on this ill blasted moon. Something he much rather preferred. After all; who could be friends with what he was.

Some days he didn't even know what that was.

Tonight though, without a doubt, he was here for work. The brazen attack by Botto the Hutt on the Blind Eye and Lidah herself, was something she could not tolerate or allow. Worst then the actual attack, which had failed in just about every way it could have, was that they had not seen it coming at all. Not the attack, not the force that it brought to bear and not the hidden snake that had wormed its way among them, only to try striking when they weren't looking. An oversight that could not be allowed to happen twice. So while Vance and Lidah figured out how best to strike back at Botto for his brazenness, Jazen had ventured out on orders to this part of town, where a fair number of different factions were represented. Men and women and aliens of all different groups, from all different criminal factions, grouping here with their fellow members, to gossip, get drunk, do all that kind of stuff.

A good place to gain intel, if you kept your head down and mouth shut. Thankfully, most people tended to avoid him when he was in his armor, keeping a safe distance.

Too bad it was real easy to hide in the shadows and listen, what with his suit's advantages and his Jedi hearing. So he was quiet, an afterthought to most the folks in there, a hand wave away from making them forget they'd seen him if they did. But there was one person that wouldn't have worked on and she had just stepped into the bar. His senses had caught that brief familiar presence and if she was half as good as she was before, she no doubt would be able to pick him out among the chaos inside the bar he was in. Still, he made no motion towards her, made no indication he'd felt her arrive at all. But his eyes tracked now, scanning the crowd for that one person that stood out among the familiars here.

Question is, did he spy her first or would she drop into his table in the back before he did? He might have spotted her additions...but then, it was almost packed to the nines in here after all. Easy to hide among the crowd.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

In the press of emotion and thought, Talau needed to shield herself, dampening her senses a bit more. This didn't particularly bother her, since her affected persona and the darkness she had let ease out from her iron grip warded away most people to some degree, the visual of her saber only helping to keep her from being bothered over much. Keen eyes tracked the tenuous thread, now that she was in the same vicinity of him again. Something darker was attaching itself to her as well, she noticed, making grey eyes shift away from the area Jazen had been in to search the area the new thread was leading as she slowly made her way to the bar and ordered herself a drink.

Nothing stood out to her...currently.

....that didn't mean it wouldn't eventually.

Still, her eyes continued to be drawn to a devaronian male, his selonian friend and their small entourage. She should probably expect trouble from those ones. Paying for her drink, she moved with it back toward the back of the room, weaving her way expertly through the throng and press of bodies as if it were the most natural thing for her to do, her form seeming to fade into the mass of moving, milling, dancing, drunk bodies, never quite vanishing. It would seem as if, perhaps, everyone else simply stood out more than her....even her presence had dimmed, as if both there and not there at once. That is, she seemed that way until she was suddenly at the table beside Jazen's, the woman sliding into one of the chairs at it, those grey eyes (so atypical for her compared to his last interactions with her) settling on him with meaning and recognition in the process.

Once she was in her seat, however, it would seem as if she'd never looked at him...however, something about her had opened, just slightly...perhaps an invitation of some sort? Certainly not physical, as she pulled out a datapad and seemed to focus on that physically, one leg hooking over the other idly as she took the slightest sip from her drink with her free hand. Perhaps it was a mental opening? An invitation for another sort of conversation....

[Jazen]

Jazen eventually caught sight of her, shuffling through the crowd. It was less her that he saw, but rather, the ebb and flow of the crowd, shuffling away from someone moving their way through them. They weren't diving out of the way or anything, but they were moving just enough to allow a person through un-molested, a sign that they wanted nothing to do with whoever was making their way through the crowd. Which meant trouble was coming, or someone they didn't want any business with was coming. Both of which didn't play out well, in his mind.

By the time he actually saw her, she was practically on top of him, sliding into the seat across. Non-chalet, completely at ease with herself, as if this was perfectly normal an encounter. She didn't look at him and through his T-shaped visor, he saw her without his head turning to actually look directly at her either. Silence, compared to the rest of the room, as she appeared to be no more than a woman merely finding a seat to work.

But he felt it, in the air around her. The crack in her aura, that all but screamed "Come in." Jazen considered that for a moment; a large part of him was tempted not to take it, to either leave it and let her decide to speak like a normal person, or get frustrated with his lack of approach and move on. But her and Locke appearing within days of one another and finding him? That was too much of a coincidence for him to take. So very carefully, he took the opening, but only to speak a single question, for now.

WHy are you here Talau?

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Well, that was a good starter question, but it also made her want to reply sarcastically. No, Tal, bad idea.

--Do you mean this dive in particular, or the planet? And...do you want the long or short answer?-- she replied 'quietly'...simply...honestly. After her run in with Vance she was even more wary than with him. Once bitten and twice shy, as the saying went, and Talau was already having enough difficulty being away from Rilia. The last thing she was trying to do was make everything more difficult....though that seemed to be the way things were starting off, if Vance was any indication.

Silently she took another tiny sip of her drink, continuing to scroll through her datapad, a frown forming on her features and a slight ripple of concern and anger coursing through her muted emotions. No doubt that if she hadn't opened up enough to allow that telepathic conversation he wouldn't have felt a thing from her. For a moment she tapped away at the datapad before swiping this way and that to get to a new screen and peering at it studiously. Even from his angle it looked to be more of an image than text....a map, perhaps? It would be hard to say without being closer.

[Jazen]

Again, a heavy part of Jazen wanted to tell her he didn't much care either way, whatever she wanted he doubted it was any of his business, especially if it was Jedi business. But Talau hadn't wronged him in the way the Jedi had and she had been missing for years at the point of his forced departure. He might as well hear her out, whatever coy game she was playing. He also knew that she'd stubbornly stick around otherwise and the arrival of her and Locke on the same planet at the same time was not a very likely coincidence. There was a half grumble under his helmet, masked by its heavy form before he tilted his head her way, just a little, to indicate he was paying attention.

I don't have time for games Talau. But since your clearly here for a reason, best spell it out. And quickly. I have duties I have to attend too. So why are you here, in this bar, clearly looking for me and what do you want?

There was something off about her. She was almost timid in her asking, a contrast to the woman who would have barged in here before and bitten his head off for speaking the way he did. Not that he was a little Padawan anymore either, but she was still his superior in several ways. And unlike Vance, he had no ill will towards her for her disappearance. That was reserved for others.

Her sudden ripple of anger and concern caught his eye, or rather, his feelings and he moved the eyes under his visor to glance at her datapad. Whatever was on it was disturbing her, but he couldn't get a good look at it from where he was sitting, not without visibly moving and he wasn't going to make that move. If she was playing that game, then he was going to wait until she revealed it, not attempt to gark at it like he was a curious young Padawan again. It likely had to do with why she was here and if he waited long enough, he'd find out exactly what it was.

Best not take too long. We're drawing un-wanted attention and I'm supposed to be keeping a low profile.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

Games?

That made her bristle slightly.

--What makes you assume I'm playing games because I ask you a valid question? The answer is different depending on which one you picked. Also, if anyone is drawing attention it's me, not you...and I'm not speaking to you, so if you draw attention to yourself, that's your fault. So let attention come to me.-- His terse words earned him an equally terse reply. --You aren't the only one with no time to be playing.--

Pulling in a breath she paused a moment, her attention seeming to split before it narrowed back down to him, a sense of reserved resignation coalescing in her. --As much as I wish I could say I was here on a house call, I'm not. I know it was a very long time ago now, in the scheme of things, but do you recall the day we first met? When you and Locke found me training and the...vision...? I know you never saw anything, but you felt it, and you heard the conversation Locke and I had about what he saw....well, I've been there. To Rilia, the place of those battles. What you felt, what Locke and I saw, was from generations ago, but that war is still happening....those people still fight for freedom, and I'm bound to help them. Originally I came here, to the planet, drawn by the pull of the Winds...the force...and discovered Vance was here.

I didn't expect you and Locke as well, but since you are here, and we need help...help that the Lords of the planet won't expect or know how to calculate for easily...I chose to search you both out. I found you first, so here I am.--

There was something like a sigh that escaped through her nose as she fiddled a little with her drink glass, then tapped twice and swiped right on her datapad. --Honestly, I wished for more smooth and less...vicious...reunions, but that isn't my lot, it seems. Still, I'm happy to see that at least you're alive and surviving. You and Vance....For whatever that's worth....--

She wasn't sure that was really worth anything at this point. Not any more, anyway, and it was telling in the flicker of pain and sorrow that edged through her...something acknowledged and then shifted aside, though it still lingered beneath that sense of carefully cultivated calm.

[Jazen]

//Sorry for the delay. Work internet was busted.

Her harsh tone via the Force could be felt like a blaster bolt to the chest. Jazen didn't even flinch from it, such was the change the last five years had created in the man, but he felt it. And a part of him, that tiny part that was still that Padawan she had known, registered it and his presence in the Force, the Winds to her, softened, just a bit. I have been here in this kind of world for five years now Talau. I prefer not to dance around a subject. That, is what I meant by games. But...you didn't deserve that. But I don't have a lot of time, so whatever this is, make it quick.

Attention to himself he wasn't worried about. One of the first things Lidah had taught him was how to hide in plain sight and between the Force and those tricks, he was as invisible as a ghost. And they weren't speaking to one another, just whispering across a connection no one else here would have.

Vaguely. A lot has happened since then and the details escape me. Details she was more than happy to provide, in a sense, as he listened to her tell her short tale, his attention perfectly divided between that and the crowd around the room. He was good at that, always had been, better now. No one was eyeing him or her, no whispers in the dark, scuttled men heading outside to make a comm call, nobody looking to them, then whispering in someone's ear. All good, for now. But quiet as well for the information he had come here for. Perhaps it was time to find another dive to lurk. I'm sure he was as thrilled to see you as I was to see Locke today. He said with a taste of bitterness in his voice. But not at her, a feeling that could be felt. For her, he...well, he wasn't mad at her. She hadn't been around at the time.

There are no coincidences in the Force, right?

He felt it coming, had felt it the second she had mentioned how bad the fight was on Rilia. And already his mind had been working, thinking, deciding his answer. He had it, more or less, by the time she quieted and her sorrow and pain, just dangling there on the edge, filled his senses. He sighed into his helmet, masked by the audio filter so that no soul but himself heard it. I would if I could Talau. But my place, my job, is here. I have obligations to fulfill and a contract to my employer. And I can't leave now. We were just attacked...a bold move by a Hutt. She can't afford to spare the knife she wields in the dark...and I'm not to happy with the boldness of the Hutt. It speaks to...other troubles.

However... he said, considering. [/I]I might be able to get you help from somewhere else. It may not be what you want or expect...but its help that I think would be very useful, if a battle is what you intend to fight.[/I]

There. Someone at the door hesitating upon arrival, seeking out someone no doubt and Jazen recognized him from the battle outside the Fork. One of the survivors, one of Botto's crew. And his date...a member of the Falleen crime lord Jalzen's crew. Trouble, possibly. And Talau would sense his attention shifting to the new arrivals, just slightly.

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

--He was probably less thrilled than that, if I can imagine it right...but I'm not the one to ask. You two will have to commiserate about it together later, I suppose-- she mused, almost idly despite the way she locked her emotions down as they tried bubble up again.

...She wasn't always successful at the feanturi way of handling emotion. Sometimes she was still very...jedi.

As Jazen continued the woman could only sigh softly. She didn't like the answer, but she could at least understand it. Contracts weren't things to break...especially when your reputation was important to you. In Hutt space reputation could be everything...sometimes the only thing a person had to live on. His final words, however, had the muscles in her shoulders knotting up. --I need you to be very careful with who, or what, that help is, Jazen...no one on Rilia can afford to have it become a place of contention with another faction even larger than the Morequai.-- Her words were ones of warning, and he may have been able to sense some amount of fear and worry beneath that. Those ran deeply in her, and if he was astute he may notice, but she kept the emotions quiet enough in her mind that perhaps he wouldn't understand how deeply they shot through her.

--I cannot stress enough how important that is, Jazen...-- she impressed upon him as she busied herself with something on the back of her datapad for a moment, a slight frown on her face. Little by little she shifted her manipulation of the force and her own aura, withdrawing from that seemingly hostile and bombastic radiation of energy that would make her appear to be a very surly dark jedi and instead slowly starting to become less and less interesting to the people in the dive as she pulled free a clear bit of flimsy. Sliding it to the edge of the table she idly brushed the little 'card' aside, letting it fall until it floated over to his ankle and then rose up under the table to settle on his leg.

--The flimsy on your leg has my contact codes on it...datapad is easiest. I'll let you get back to your work.--

There didn't seem to be a reason for her to stay around now, though he would be able to sense that she wanted to, that she had missed this part of her life...and that she also felt the disconnect there between her and the few she had been close to. She was choosing, however, to step back and allow him to do what he needed to. Downing her drink in one go, the rilan shut down her datapad and started to stand. --Please contact me as soon as you're free of this so I can get hold of you if I need to.--

[Jazen]

His feelings on the matter are not my concern. But yes...he wasn't too pleased about it either. Something I'll deal with later or not deal with at all. He said via their mental connection with just a tiny shrug of his shoulders.

His emotions seemed to be well in check though, aside from a slight bubble of rage at the mention of Locke, or the Jedi in general. Something he had learned to control over the years away.

It was the only answer he could give. Lidah was not a woman to cross or betray lightly and leaving while he was still contracted, indebted to her, was not something he could consider. Not even to help Talau, no matter how much he might want to on some level. His reputation had taken years to build out here and there was a reason he was considered the blade she used to end trouble that was afar. He sensed her tension and in an odd thing for him lately, he sent a very soft calming sense. You need not worry. He's a Mandalorian that Lidah employs from time to time. Using him won't cause any backlash, for it would be a job he's taken on. Simple as that. And his skills and...unique attributes should come in handy. I'll send his information to you and a place to meet him, if only to judge for yourself.

If Thel died helping her, it would leave no real connection, no backlash, no nothing. But his muscle, his skills, his raw intensity, might serve her well if things were as bad as she was saying.

He didn't move an inch as Tal sent something to him, shifting his leg just slightly and using the Force to pull the flimsy up to him with ease and placing it inside his bracer. Wait. He said softly through their connection as he rose from his table, gaining a few gasps of surprise as people who hadn't noticed him were shocked at his sudden appearance in their senses. I can walk with you out. My work here is done, at least in this rat's nest. Nothing of import or concern here. He walked, calmly, past the bar and dropped the credits on a drink he didn't drink there before making sure she could shift beside him with ease. Which was easy enough as he hit the door; most the folks in the room gave him that extra little space to move without issue.

I take it your going to see Locke for his help as well?

[Talau the Ever-Lurking]

--I'm not so worried about backlash as I am outside influences while the planet tries to recover itself and any pieces of culture that have been lost or corrupted. The last thing they will need is a faction to come in to help and then think they hold a claim.-- she replied as she wove her way through the crowd and out onto the sidewalk where she brought her hood up to cover her hair and shadow her face, her cloak brought over her shoulders once more.

--Still, I'm willing to at least talk to this contact of yours and feel them out for myself. Beggars can't entirely be choosers, after all...As for Locke, yes...that's the idea, at least partially. The Jedi owe us, they may just not remember. I need to try and get the temperature of the Order before I return, however. Anyway, thank you Jazen. I appreciate your attempt to help, even if you can't personally-- she stated, watching the people passing here and there along the opposite sidewalk.

--I understand you're busy, so I won't keep you longer if you need to go.--

[Jazen]

"I can promise you, Thel will make no claim, nor will the others he's with. To him, it will be a job and his honor will make sure he does it or die trying. And don't worry about him in that regard; it would take a fragging moon to stop Thel from what I've seen. He's...quite effective. Should come in handy, considering your kind are as heavy as bricks." He remembered that much about them, what with their denser bone structures. Course, he'd seen Thel lift a Wookie off its feet before so...

He matched her pace easily enough as they stepped out and he paused, briefly, outside the door, waiting for a sense of danger from behind him. When none came, he fell into step with her and headed away from the place, his next destination already in mind. "I'll have him on planet within the next day, maybe two depending on his location. But he's usually fairly close. As for the temperature of the Order, I can't help you there, but I wouldn't count on them. They seem to be...more focused on their own problems lately." He managed, barely, to keep the bitter tone out of his voice. "His help may depend on Lidah as well...he's been working with Lidah and the Exchange more closely lately, for reasons I'm not sure of. Maybe the Order wants him too. But he takes it seriously enough, so I'm told. You might be asking him to chose between two duties and the choice might be harder then you think. But your welcome. I do wish I could do more."

He could easily see his next stop ahead, it wasn't far. Most of these places weren't. "All depends. I'm working in a simple sense...someone attacked us. Someone was quite bold to do that, so right now, I'm testing the temperature to see if anyone else is getting funny ideas." His next words were blunt, cold almost, but there was no malice behind them at all. "And then stomp it dead flat before it can flutter properly to the surface. The Eye doesn't take kindly to being threatened. So if you want to keep talking, your more then welcome to tag along. Its quiet enough stuff."