These Colors Don't Run

[Jace]

Madara only nodded in response to Raine's comment, acknowledging that he understood. He honestly hadn't expected them to have found them so soon, but he hadn't made much of an effort to hide his Force presence. He sat there quietly for a few moments, his only movement was ruffling his shaggy brown hair.

"Open confrontation here would not be in our best interest Raine" He said as he finally stood up.

He walked over to the table, grabbed his lightsaber, and clasped it to his belt. Madara wasn't all that fond of the idea of running away, but fighting in such close quarters would only hinder him.

"Let us go" Madara stated quietly.

The door to the apartment slid open and he made sure that there was no one in the hallway. He went towards the elevators but turned to the right and proceeded down the hallway away from them. He wasn't stupid enough to use the main elevators, but there were the service elevators. They arrived at the service elevators moments later, and waited for Raine to enter.

He then hit the bottom most button....basement.

[sparrow]

Raine was no master of Force camouflage. However, with a bit of concentration she was able to reduce her presence in the Force slightly, and in middle of such a bustling city, with the Force being projected from millions of living beings, it was enough. She did this as the elevator descended towards the basement.

"True, an open confrontation would not be the most favorable course at this point," she said softly. "Yet, if we do nothing, they will continue to search for us. And I can sense the approach of another. A master. It would be best if they could be made to leave sooner rather than later."

The elevator lurched to a stop, and she stepped through the sliding doors into the dark dank basement of the building. The Jedi searches were above. They were making no effort to hide, and she could sense them each distinctly. "We will have to deal with them soon," the corner of her lips curled upwards in a slight smile, "But there is no need to get our own hands dirty just yet."


(( Is River still in this? ))

[Eternal Skies]

Velos heard the response of Tuljima on the intercom and relaxed himself. Whilst worry had swept through him he hadn't let it breach his outer person just yet. Listening to Luxa much more clam also relaxed him as he knew his Master was back under her own control. Catching the intercom Velos merely nodded and walked north of the Cantina.

As he walked he kept all his force focused on the two more distinct force sources on the higher floor of the building. He could sense one was becoming weaker; had something happened between the two runaway Jedi? He stood against a wall in plain view of the Cantina should anything happen. His eyes followed the Jedi as they began to descend down the building but they ended up getting lost in the much greater collection of force as they reached the ground floor.

”Tuljima. The two Jedi have left the higher floor. They descended towards your floor but I lost their force shortly after their descent. Be careful.” Velos spoke to the intercom hoping it had been kept on.

[Karl the Unfettered]

"Basemen'," Tuljima said to himself when he heard Velos. It was what he would do, anyway, if he were on the run (and what he had done, in fact, pretending to be on the run). He looked to the side and saw Luxa striding towards him. "They's on th' move," he explained. "C'mon," and he walked to the bartender again. "Izzere a way t' get t' th' basemen' o' tha' 'par'men' buildin' from 'ere? I'se gots a meetin' ter get ta, quick-like."

"Of course," the bartender replied helpfully, "we occasionally provide services for them. Behind the bar here, through the kitchen, you'll see an elevator; go down, and the corridor will take you straight there."

"Thankee!" Tuljima said, already on the move, throwing a credit chip over his shoulder to the bar. "C'mon! Get yer Borg fella an' let's go!" he said to Luxa, shoving his way through the people and to the space behind the bar.

Beyond was the indicated kitchen, a busy place full of cooks and waitresses of all sorts. "Outta th' way!" Tuljima shouted, threatening them with his heavy blaster; a lane opened before him and he dashed to the back, spying the elevator and mashing the button. It opened immediately, and he leaped inside, mashing the button for the basement. In his rush he realized he'd forgotten to wait for the others.

"Velos, you'n Manga c'mon after; th' helevat'r's quick," he said into his comm unit, just as the doors slid open for the basement. It was empty, so he pulled his lightsaber from his pack and dashed down, using the Force to increase his speed, his lightsaber held out for a quick activation in case the rogue Jedi were around the corner.

[starwarsgirl008]

Luxa nodded. She was surprised at how easy a solution had come, and how little thinking it required. However, she knew a solution would eventually show itself.

She rushed out of the cantina, heading north to where she pointed Velos to. Eventually catching up with her Padawan, she explained the situation. "Change of plans. We have found an entrance to their hiding spot. Another lesson is to be learned here, and so I wish for you to come." Luxa didn't really know what to say next. The relationship between herself and Velos was strictly professional, but as most Jedi find, there is a special bond between Padawan and Master.

"Velos, do what you can. But understand your powers are not fully developed, and these two are different from the traders on Ryloth. These two share the gift that you have, and it is more developed in them." Luxa believed that Velos understood.

Then it hit her. Although a Jedi, Tuljima was known for "agressive negotiation" when this mission could be solved with pure diplomacy. Luxa turned, signaling Velos to follow and sprinted back to the cantina, hoping it wasn't too late.

[Eternal Skies]

Velos hadn't heard any of the discussion in the bar. He wanted to know what had occurred and looked around using his limited power of the force. The bodies of energy surging from Luxa and Tuljima were much more prominent than the normal citizen so they were easier to keep track of. Or would be had they remained together.

One of the sources of force began to separate and with the large amount of less force abled citizens they too became lost in the crowd. Velos grunted wondering what this meant. Had something happened to Luxa or...

Velos' first fear was cleared when Luxa closed the distance between them. He looked at her puzzled wondering what had separated her from Tuljima. Listening to her familiar voice he nodded acknowledging that the mission might be drawing to a close. Whilst he longed to be back at Coruscant he was enjoying visiting other worlds regardless of the reason.

”Don't worry Master. Although I am confident in my abilities for my age I am not overly confident and will act with caution with what is sure to come.” Velos said hopefully reassuring his Master that he wouldn't be in too much danger in the upcoming confrontation. He looked at the apartment tower and then looked at her as she began to run back towards the Cantina.

”Don't tell me...You let Tuljima go ahead...” Velos muttered. Luxa wouldn't hear him but the partial accusation was there. Even he, a Padawan, had noticed that Tuljima spoke with his violence rather than his voice. Having hoped to end this without violence it sort of worried Velos that it could end with bloodshed. He tried to empty his mind free of this fear as he sped towards the Cantina following Luxa.

[River Moonflow]

*Sorry this is so late, but I was preoccupied. Hope it's okay.*

Jedi High Council Member, River Moonflow was in his starfighter, in the skies above Empress Teta. The message he recieved from the Jedi Hogh Council via holopad was still ringing in his mind. Jedi Masters Madara and Raine have killed a fellow member of the Order, and are suspected of having turned to the dark side. Last known reports show them fleeing to the Deep Core to Empress Teta. Your mission is to find the two and convince them to return to Coruscant. Should they resist, your may defend yourself at your own discretion. He was also supposed to find a certain Jedi Master named Luxa Magna, and her apprentice Velos Borgmen.

River wondered how he were to find these Jedi on Empress Teta, but as he was assigned this mission, he had to at least try to complete it. He launched his starfighter towards the surface of the planet, and docked it at some sleazy but vacant looking landing pad. After he made the dock master assure his ship was safe, River took off to look for his partners in this mission. He scanned the faces, but felt nothing. No strong Force prescence and it appeared that he didn't recognize anyone he saw, and they didn't recognize him.

Eventually, River decided on a place to look. The cantina. It was probably one of the only places on the planet where someone who wished to remain anonymous could hide out, and have very few questions asked. Also, it was a good place to get information. He entered the cantina, and then to make it appear as if he had only entered the cantina for a drink, River bought a small drink, and continued to wait. Eventually, he would feel the familiar feeling of a Force user, and hopefully that Force user was one on his side.

[starwarsgirl008]

Luxa began running toward the canitna. Something was off about her that day, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Something about the entire mission didn't feel right. But Luxa knew there was no choice but to ignore the feeling, and remain strong.

Approaching the door, Luxa halted. She just needed a second to regain her thoughts. With a deep breath she opened the door, and headed toward were Tuljima had been. Then she felt something. Another presence in the Force, a strong one.

Luxa faced the holder of the great power. It was Master River. Luxa knew all the Council Members by face, but barely worked with them. "Velos, catch up with Tuljima." Luxa called back to her Padawan, having deep faith in him. "Be smart." she told him, as a final boost.

With that, Luxa approached her fellow Master. She walked rather quickly. There was no time. Tuljima would need all the help he could get, and if he had chosen a violent negotiation, Velos would only be able to stall for so long.

"Well, if it isn't Master River..." Luxa said, with a smirk on her face.

[Karl the Unfettered]

Tuljima ran down the hall, meeting no one but a few mindless cleaning drones. He came to another elevator, and a quick glance told him it was coming down. "Uh huh," he said, nodding; if this was them, he and the other Jedi had a good shot at ending all this before it began. He looked around for some sort of cover, spying another hallway going at a perpendicular angle to this one. "Haf'ta do," he muttered, ducking behind the corner and drawing his pistol. He held it up and sighted through the scope, zeroing in on the controls; as soon as the doors opened with the rogue Jedi inside, he would blast the panel, disabling the elevator and creating a small explosion; the shower of sparks and smoke would distract and hopefully disorient the rogues.

Quick steps from behind and an approaching Force presense alerted him to Velos' approach. "Overe 'ere, kid!" he whispered harshly, not taking his eye from the scope of his blaster. "Stan' out 'ere an' distrac' 'em when they come ou', yeah? I'se gonna shoot th' h'eleva'or."

[River Moonflow]

River looked up from his drink and saw Master Magna standing in front of him. River smiled and said "Master Magna, it seems I have found you, or rather, you found me. I have come to aid you on your mission. Tell me, how does it fair so far?"

*Short I know, but oh well, it gets to the point.*

[starwarsgirl008]

"Why tell you when I can show you?" Luxa asked. She had to finish this introduction as fast as she could. There would be time for chat later.

"Come on! There is no time." Luxa stated calmly. She directed Master River to the spot Tuljima and Velos had gone. "You are a Council Member, you can handle yourself...all the action is down there." Luxa said pointing down the passage.

With that, it was time for her to activate her strategy. Dhe could sense the many Force users below her, and she did not want to interrupt Tuljima if he had chosen diplomacy over violence. Luxa turned to the one thing that had helped her throughout her life, the Force. She closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath. The light around seemed to bend, as she disappeared into thin air. She had activated a Force cloak.

Now Luxa could make a stealthy entrance, and made her way through the passage.

[Jace]

Madara could sense them as he exited the elevator, atleast one of them was very close. He knew that Raine could sense them too, they needed to move fast. The problem was that the Jedi seemed to be approaching from Madara's planned escape exit.

Madara remained quiet but he had a plan in mind, and began to get things in motion.

"Raine go off to the right and see if you can flank whoever comes..remember to hide your presence well"

Madara quickly ran back to the elevator and hit the stop button to make sure it stayed at the basement. He then closed the door using the Force and sprinted off to the left side of the basement. He made sure to minimized his presence in the Force. Only a Master or someone right next to him would be able to sense his position.

Madara quickly sensed someone coming from the other side, and sank back into the shadows. This Jedi seemed different, he was using a blaster. A few moments later another one came and approached him. They seemed to be waiting for them to exit the elevator.

With a slight application of the Force, Madara made the elevator doors open....

[Karl the Unfettered]

Tuljima watched carefully through the scope, waiting for the elevator to open. When it did he tensed, ready to open fire... but no one was in it! "Wha...?" he muttered, frowning in irritation. Carefully he scanned the area, especially the shadowy parts; the scope didn't have light-enhancing optics, but he still was able to make out someone lurking back out of view, to the left. "Gotcha," he muttered, adjusting his aim to above the form's head.

He squeezed the trigger very slightly, then all the way down; the weapon jumped in his hands as a large bolt of energy streaked out, slamming into the wall above Madara's head, creating a loud explosion and a shower of duracrete and sparking wires. Dust and sparks flew everywhere as smoke billowed briefly; before it dissipated he swung his aim around and shot out the elevator control panel anyway, resulting in another explosion as the wiring violently shorted out and spurted streams of sparks from both ends of the controls, inside the elevator and out. More smoke and dust billowed outward as well, from the exploding electronics.

That done, he stepped out into the open, putting his blaster away and drawing his lightsaber, ready to snap it on at a split second's notice; the dragon tooth construction was most distinctive, a surer way of identifyng Tuljima than any other. He cleared his throat and screwed up his face, wanting to speak relatively clearly. "Madara Teal and Raine Aylar," he called out, "show yerselves and come quiet-like. We outnumber ya two-on-one, ya don't stand no chance in a fight. If'n ya resist or fight back, we'se authorized to defend ourselves however we need."

He looked carefully around the room; there was no other way out of this room aside from the now-defunct elevator and the passageway he was standing in front of. "Ye're blocked in, no way out. Let's do this peaceful-like, a'ight?"

[sparrow]

Raine dropped her camouflage as the young man with the blaster opened fire. She had been sneaking behind a wall of small neatly stacked storage containers, trying to avoid the notice of their pursuers. She had not wanted a fight, not so soon. But it was apparent that they did, so she would give it to them.

She reached out for the Force, and it answered her call as she stood and spun around, sending one of the containers hurtling through the air at high speed at the young man. The rest of the containers tumbled down with a crash. With one leap, Raine jumped over the disorganized pile into the open, as one of her two lightsabers flew from her belt to her hand.

"Give it up, boy scout," she whispered softly. "Your friends can't come down to save you now that you've sealed the exits. You just trapped yourself in here with us. So how about you put away your weapon before you end up hurting yourself?"

[Karl the Unfettered]

Tuljima just rolled his eyes as he easily ducked the barrel sent his way. "No wunner y' left us, dumb as y' seem t' be," he said, reverting to his usual mode of talk. "'ere's ano'er h'el'va'or 'ahin' me thar," and he indicated the passage behind him; the second elevator, leading from the cantina, was at the far end, some distance away. Velos was still there too, no doubt waiting for his chance. Tuljima could feel the others rushing their way; they were already in the hallway, no doubt, and would be there any second.

"Y' got no chance agin' a Knigh' an two Mas'ers fr'm th' Counc'l, s' why don' you put yer weap'ns away, eh?" he finished.

[sparrow]

Raine smirked slightly, and flicked her wrist idly in the direction of the second elevator. "Oh? Say that again." The last word had barely left her lips when the sparks began flying from the control panel of the second elevator, increasingly steadily in rate, finally culminating in a flash of light and cloud of smoke. As the panel let out one final pitiful puff of smoke before dying, she looked the young man in the eye. "Against a wet-behind-the-ears Knight and a padawan who still looks he has his baby teeth, I'd say I've got plenty of chance."

[starwarsgirl008]

The Lost Jedi sealed off the exit as soon as Luxa had entered the room. She was still invisible thanks to her Force Cloak, and now needed to think of a plan, fast.

She had the element of surprise, and planned to use it. As one of the Lost Jedi spoke, Luxa waved her hands, again bending light with the Force. She was now visible. She opened her eyes, and then pressed her hands forward, realising a massive wave of the Force.

Not paying attention to the damage it caused, Luxa grabbed the hilt of her lightsaber. She ignited the yellow blade. The reflection left a small beam of light on her face. The thin chance of diplomacy her allies had were gone. Now she could only fight.

Or perhaps there was another way. Afterall, behind the sealed exit there was a Jedi Council memeber. If given time, he could definetly make his way through.

Time. Time was the key word. Time needed to be created. And so, Luxa had to stall. “Masters Madara and Raine” Luxa’s voice was a confident as it had ever been. "Come peacefully, or be dealt with by force.”

[Eternal Skies]

Velos looked up at Luxa as she suddenly stopped. They had been heading towards the kitchen area when she had halted her advancements. Confusion washed over Velos but his thoughts were quickly broken when Luxa told him to head to Tuljima without her. Nodding once he quickly began to run towards the back elevator shaft where Tuljima was sure to be waiting.

“Be smart” Velos heard Luxa call to him and he nodded. This filled him with more confidence but not enough to be cocky. He was still a Padawan and knew that the two rogue Jedi were Masters. It would be difficult and Luxa, nor Tuljima, needed any source of distraction.

”Down we go I guess” Velos muttered as Tuljima simply dashed down the empty elevator shaft. The elevator must have been on a higher level as looking down he could see in the dim light of the kitchen the bottom. No metal in sight. With a deep breath Velos leaped down the shaft quickly reaching the bottom. The silence was eerie and set a sense of discomfort about the basement.

Glancing around briefly Velos watched as Tuljima took his position just out of sight of the elevator's initial view. Looking around Velos crouched behind a pile of dysfunctional cleaning drones that had once been of great working order, he guessed. Listening to the metallic sound of the elevator opening Velos placed his hand on his right hip feeling the familiar cold material of his lightsaber grip.

Explosion rocked his ear drums as he sighed. Tuljima had acted offensively without thought possibly leading to something unnecessary; confrontation. Diplomacy obviously wasn't Tuljima's strongest trait. Velos didn't want this mission to end with any confrontation so he planned on speaking out to the two rogue masters.

The shattering of wood broke his train of thoughts as he watched from the pile of drones as a wooden crate smashed against the opposite wall. Listening to Tuljima speaking with one of the opposing Jedi Velos suddenly realised he'd stood up without thinking. He stepped forwards as his existence was noted and he stood just behind Tuljima. He moved his hand away from his hip and looked at the female before him.

His mouth opened to speak; speech which would have included words of peace and non-violence. Yet before he had time to speak he found himself knocked against the wall with great force. Looking at the direction of the impulse he noticed that in his focus on the female rogue Jedi he'd forgotten about the fact that his Master had been above them in the Cantina.

With his body aching slightly from the powerful impact he staggered forwards, trying to regain his composure. He looked around him carefully trying to pinpoint the location of the second Jedi they had been sent to search for. He couldn't sense anyone else nearby on this floor but didn't have time to browse alternate floors. He had to keep his attention focused on Raine. He was now positioned slightly behind Tuljima and Luxa.

Despite his knowledge that both Tuljima and Luxa were skilled Jedi, fear still crept into his system. Using some mental willpower he kept his fear concealed within him knowing he had to keep a clear mind for anything that could possibly happen. He kept silent now listening out for whatever the female's response would be to Luxa's declaration.

[Jace]

Madara had been a little sloppy, he hadn't expected a Jedi sharpshooter. He had almost gotten his head blown off, but the shot narrowly missed. Luckily Raine had taken advantage of the opportunity and surprised the Jedi. He took advantage of the situation and continued his flank. He made sure to hide his presence well, as he skirted along the walls.

No other escape eh? that boy should think a little more before he comes to such conclusions

Madara then felt a surge in the Force and there was a large explosion of dust and debris. He could this was a Jedi they needed to be weary of, but she didn't seem to have noticed Madara yet. It looked as if her padawan had been shaken by the blast. He had placed himself behind his master instead of in front of her.

Foolish child

He quietly moved until he was against the wall, directly behind him. Then with a surge of Force flowing though him, he burst from his position in a blur, due to his Force augmented speed. He pulled out his blade quickly, igniting it as he did. The tip of his lightsaber was only centimeters away from the padawan's neck.

"I think you will find that the situation has changed...I would advise you to stand down unless you want to be picking a new padawan"

There was a coldness in his voice which made it clear, that he would do it if necessary. Madara waited patiently, working out their exit strategy as he waited for a response.

[River Moonflow]

*I know it's short, but I'm kind of not supposed to be on the computer as I'm at work, but I snuck on for a few minutes to type this up.*

River heard the explosion and saw dust and debris spread out everywhere. Suddenly a voice rang out, and it caused River to whirl around looking for the source of it. Then he saw it. It was Madara. River calmed himself and eyed Raine carefully, holding his lightsaber at the ready. He would kill Madara if he had too, but he wouldn't attack until Madara attacked. After all, they were told to peacefully end the mission, and River would at least try to end it like that.