Post by Kei on Apr 27, 2009 16:06:08 GMT -5
Basic Information
Name: Chrysanta (AKA San)
Race: Human
Age: 25
Birthplace: Dathomir
Faction: Dark Jedi
Rank: Dark Jedi Assassin
Height: 5'10" / 178 cm
Weight: 117 lbs / 53 kg
Appearance:
(I take no credit for this picture.)
Biography
It was on a Republic refugee ship that Chrysanta was born to a single mother who had barely managed to escape her civil war-torn home planet, an infant who barely survived childbirth and hyperdrive failure; not only did the Republic ship not have the proper medical equipment to accommodate a pregnant woman, the hyperdrive the ship was on suddenly malfunctioned, and brought them on a crash course as the ship plummeted into the gravity well of Dathomir. Last minute maneuvering managed to prevent the ship from crashing in a completely fatal manner, but it still killed four out of every five passengers on board and successfully killed all members of the Republic crew.
Miraculously, Chrysanta and her mother survived, but the mother wasn't long for the world; as the last adult survivor of the crash, she barely managed to raise Chrysanta to the age of two and a half years, enough for Chrysanta to learn how to speak, before she, too, passed away due to wounds untreated, having survived the last two and a half years through willpower alone. Too young to understand matters of life and death, Chrysanta watched, devoid of sorrow or tears, as her mother's life slowly slipped away before disappearing, and the older children were discreet enough to bury the body, never mentioning to topic to Chrysanta again.
Completely lost in an Outer Rim planet with absolutely no idea of where they were, it was lost on the children that no Republic or local search party would come for them, not when the Republic had no idea where their refugee ship had disappeared in the galaxy, and not when local sensor arrays failed to pick up a ship that had come erroneously close to the planet's gravity well. The children decided that they would establish their own order and society, leading to a small camp of surviving refugee children living on the harsh landscape of Dathomir, somehow managing to get by through hunting and scavenging, using only the salvaged parts of the refugee ship as aid. It was under these horrible conditions that Chrysanta spent the first nine years of her life.
Despite being the youngest child in the group, Chrysanta, by the age of five, showed extreme resilience and tenacity as a child knowing little else other than the treacherous terrain of Dathomir, being no stranger to the steep mountains and oppressive wetlands, and was in excellent physical condition. She followed the rule of the strong, the survival of the fittest, and, despite her age, wasted no time in dominating the softer beings of her age group - and even those a bit older - through brute force. Chrysanta, however, did not command these children through fear alone, but also through example; she never cut herself any slack, never escaped from any of her duties, and took more risks than any other child in the group. When the local wildlife started to dwindle and cut down on the children's food supply, Chrysanta, alone, went out to antagonize a mighty rancor, lure it to the territory of another rancor, hide while watching the two rancors kill each other, then brought the children to feed upon rancor flesh to survive. For many, even those who disliked her, Chrysanta was a fearless figure to be respected.
For all her strength, agility, and cunning, Chrysanta was not without her own attachments. She watched out for the children under her command, never hesitated to fool around with them, and forged close relationships with a few friends. While she acknowledged the rule of the strong, she also believed that the strong should abide by a basic honor code. On the other hand, Chrysanta was driven by the simple desire to be the best; she always tested her limits, always tried something foolhardy and reckless, and always tried to impress. The other children were awed - and sometimes even terrified - by the kind of things she did, pulling off the craziest of stunts such as swinging and jumping from tree branch to tree branch, and navigating dangerous cliff faces with startling alacrity.
Unknown to Chrysanta, her fearless, daring, and seemingly impossible stunts were not attributed completely to her physical strength and speed, but, rather, the fact that Chrysanta was, in fact, very Force-sensitive. Without even knowing of the existence of the Force, she had simply been subconsciously using it, supplementing her performance as an extension of her will without actually thinking about it. With the Force, she managed to accomplish physical feats that would've otherwise been impossible. She did not understand it or even realize its existence, and merely used it as she wished to survive, never realizing that she was actually the only person who could use the Force amongst the children.
Chrysanta's Force sensitivity was eventually discovered when, haunted by restlessness and the desire to push at her limits once more, she left the other children at the age of eight, determined to find out what lay beyond the horizon. It was on her journey that Chrysanta would have a fateful encounter with rogue former Jedi Master, Crovax Nagash, having been exiled by the Jedi Order and now hunted by the Republic. Being an experienced former Jedi himself, having successfully trained two Padawan learners to knighthood, Crovax was immediately intrigued by Chrysanta's extensive Force-sensitivity and the instinctive, subconscious, and almost casual way she utilized it. Having had a horrible falling out with the Jedi Order due to ideological disagreements, Crovax decided that he would take Chrysanta as his third Padawan, and forge her into a tool of revenge against the Jedi Order, teaching Chrysanta the ways of the Force with utter disregard towards Jedi protocol and conservativeness.
While Crovax became a Dark Jedi and weaving his own intrigues in the Outer Rim, traveling from planet to planet, working for his own self-gain and obsession with revenge, Chrysanta's prowess grew exponentially. It wasn't just her sensitivity to the Force, but also her simple desire to be better; she possessed a very simple ambition to become even stronger, her fuel for going on and on with her rigorous training. She was just as eager, if not moreso, as Crovax to test her limits, and she was a very fast learner, never giving up in the face of pain and hardship. Fascinated with the understanding of the Force, she was always looking for new ways to utilize it to the most devastating, powerful effects, clearly aiming to impress. Her master taught her the basics of the Force, but Chrysanta aimed higher, and even began to take deeper forays into the destructive side of the Force, trying to aim for mass effect, seeking ways to dominate the battlefield instantly.
It was also her time as Crovax's student that Chrysanta's personality became a clear contrast to many of the galaxy's Dark Jedi. While a great number of Dark Jedi were angry and furious at something, directing a great amount of hate that formed the Dark Side of the Force, Chrysanta was not motivated by any of those outside spur-of-the-moment temper flares. It was not nearly as much about anger as it was the simple desire to look after herself. Chrysanta retained a rather cheerful and enthusiastic, albeit also calm and confident, personality that was normally unseen for a Dark Jedi, but it was clear that she was at the very top of her list of concerns. The code of honor, of course, was still there, and she retained her decency and dignity, but she spared no heroics and made no needless sacrifices. By no means was Chrysanta evil or conflicted; she was merely a Force-sensitive, lightsaber-wielding warrior who was driven strongly by her feelings.
Master and student eventually relocated to Nar Shaddaa when Chrysanta was thirteen, and the girl quickly picked up a new interest: Flying. Crovax spent his time in Nar Shaddaa forging contacts and relationship in the underworld of the Vertical City, and Chrysanta was given relatively free reign in a city full of crime. Aside from running and jumping her way across the perilous, bottomless cityscape of Nar Shaddaa to work on her physical prowess and Force powers, practically flying across the rooftops of skyscrapers as she did so, she was stealing or hotwiring speedbikes and riding them throughout the city, sometimes aggravating local racing gangs into the chase as a result. Rarely, however, did she ever fail to lose her pursuers, and those who became too persistent met an untimely end at the blade of her lightsaber, or found themselves tumbling down the depths of Nar Shaddaa as a result of well-placed Force powers.
For the most part, however, Chrysanta was largely alone, her master away more often than not, leaving Chrysanta to her own devices. She would eventually come to the rescue of Archer Altmark, the son of a wealthy mechanic on Nar Shaddaa, from racing gangs, and the two became close friends. Chrysanta, not having had contact with anyone her age for years, worked a bit as Archer's bodyguard when the two of them weren't fooling around in the streets of Nar Shaddaa and racing each other. Upon learning that Chrysanta raced in bikes that she would hotwire before meeting him, Archer, as a present, got sixteen-year-old Chrysanta her own speeder bike, which became a bit of a keepsake of hers. The two moved into a romantic relationship as time went by, but, unfortunately, it would not last. When Crovax discovered that the Jedi had been informed of his location on the planet and were searching for him, he quickly took seventeen-year-old Chrysanta and left the planet, leaving her with no chance to ever say goodbye to Archer. Her speeder bike, taken along with her, became a memento of her romance, and it solidified Chrysanta's belief in power through passion.
The next few years saw Crovax and Chrysanta working together in killing the Jedi sent after Crovax, the two of them on the run even as they garnered resources and eluded pursuers. As time went by, however, Crovax soon realized that he had failed to make Chrysanta a tool of his vengeance. While she was indeed far more powerful than any other Padawan learner he had ever trained - Chrysanta fought and utilized the Force far better than any of his Padawans - she was ultimately too indifferent and nonchalant to give into emotions such as hate. This saw a change, however, when Chrysanta turned nineteen; what had been a simple stop to make trade agreements with the Hutts on Tatooine turned into a reunion when Chrysanta, once again, met Archer, who was on Tatooine to make purchase shipments back to Nar Shaddaa, by complete chance. Crovax noticed her frequent outings whenever he left to improve his relations with the Hutts, and eventually chose to follow her one day. It did not take long for Crovax, watching Chrysanta and Archer racing speeder bikes like the old times, to realize that his Padawan was in love.
Intending to bring Chrysanta further into the Dark Side of the Force, Crovax chose one night to bring Chrysanta to Archer's tavern room. To Chrysanta's horror, her master proceeded to wound and disable Archer with his lightsaber, crashing the young man onto the ground. Crovax then ordered Chrysanta to kill Archer to demonstrate her loyalty to her master, or he would kill the young mechanic himself then turn on Chrysanta. Reluctantly, she gave Archer a painless death with a swipe of her lightsaber, and, just as Crovax expected, Chrysanta sunk into sorrow, despair, and hatred. However, Crovax himself was not entirely experienced with the Dark Side, and had never seduced anyone to it before. He failed to realize that the corruption was the most critical moment, and when he had let his guard down as he told Chrysanta that they were leaving, Chrysanta ran her master through with her lightsaber in a fit of murderous rage, killing him.
Now with a dead boyfriend and a dead master on her conscience, Chrysanta was lost with no idea what she could possibly do. She ended up making a living working odd jobs around Tatooine for a year before she caught the attention of a veteran smuggler who, appreciating her strength, diligence, and lack of aversion to work, hired the twenty-year-old as an addition to his smuggling team. With a trained Dark Jedi on the ship, the team became much more effective in their smuggling runs. Chrysanta, with prior experience with speeder bikes and the assistance of the Force, became a very competent starfighter pilot responsible for chasing off Republic starfighters that came after their team, and when dogfighting tactics wouldn't work, her Dark Jedi skills made short work of boarding parties as she destroyed them with either her lightsaber or the Force. Using Republic troops as live practice targets, she often practiced her destructive powers, bolting them with Force Lightning or crushing their windpipes with Force Choke.
For a while, all was right, Chrysanta feeling the camaraderie as she had not since she left Dathomir at the age of eight. Once against, she had a sense of belonging amongst those who respected her talents, and she began to emerge once more from the shell she had tucked herself into ever since the deaths of Archer and Crovax, returning to form as a calm, cocky, confident, witty lady who wasn't afraid to mingle with the men. On one of their smuggling trips, she got herself a cut of the profits and helped herself to a violet crystal which would be the signature color for her lightsaber. Their misadventures took them across many planets and systems, and, for a while, Chrysanta felt truly free.
It was also during her time smuggling, however, that Chrysanta realized a certain lust within her for battle and death. The need to come out superior dominated her, and although she kept enough sense and reason to not attempt to command authority amongst the crew, she sought other ways to quench this thirst. While she had killed other Jedi before along with her master Crovax, she had, at the same time, not felt any particular feelings for it; for all Chrysanta was concerned, she was just killing them because her Master said so, and there was the unspoken realization that they would be a threat to her even if she chose not to engage them in combat. Battling Republic patrols, however, brought her the desire to dominate the battle, to defeat her opponents, if not kill them. The implications disturbed her, but only somewhat - she had long accepted the rule of the strong, and the urges were often quite strong when weapons were bared.
With Chrysanta on the team and repeated successes, however, the team became a bit too daring for their own good, and they attempted to take a faster route with more cargo. They ended up in a shootout with a Republic starship, and although they escaped, two crew members had died, and their captain lost his left arm. Deciding that he had gone too far and lost his touch, the captain decided to call an end to his smuggling career, liquidizing his smuggling assets and dividing the fortune amongst the members of the crew before dissolving the team. Once again, twenty-two-year-old Chrysanta was on her own.
Having inherited a small fortune, Chrysanta decided that it was time to start thinking for herself. Utilizing the contacts and working relationships that her former had left behind, Chrysanta sought out Crovax's old associates, and, claiming to represent him, procured partnerships throughout the Outer Rim to form and invest in her own company, the Starline Trust, a trade organization meant to work out trade agreements between the Core Worlds and the Outer Rims by providing benefits to all parties involved. Utilizing her knowledge of smuggling, legal and illegal trade routes, and human politics, Chrysanta was able to allow the Starline Trust to stay on top of the competition by playing all sides, manipulating one end for another, and yet somehow keeping her clients satisfied. In spite of its few tangible assets and small staff, the Starline Trust grew into a small commercial empire of the Outer Rim, making Chrysanta a relatively wealthy lady. After deciding that she really wasn't cut out for the actual management of a company, Chrysanta eventually resigned from her position as President and CEO of the Starline Trust, and became one of its largest stakeholders instead.
Chrysanta's wealth allowed her to live in relative comfort both in the Core Worlds and the Outer Rim, although she was forced to keep her Jedi training a secret from most. Having consolidated her financial foundation, she instead turned back to her old love for battle and conflict, desiring once more to put her limits to the test. The brewing conflicts in the galaxy, thankfully, provided no shortage of battles for her to participate in, and, taking on the cloaked identity of Kris von Adelle, began to participate in conflicts across the galaxy as a mercenary at twenty-three years of age.
She began to make a living fighting for various sides of the galaxy, regardless of whether they were inter-system wars or planetary civil wars. For the sake of safety, however, she chose to avoid conflicts where there were Jedi present. The reputation of Kris von Adelle accumulated, and, soon, Chrysanta was looking at an alarming number of contracts for her assistance. After a while, deciding that she wasn't going to restrict herself to planetside battles, she utilized a portion of her accumulated fortune to purchase and customize her own personal starfighter to participate in space battles as well. Despite her simple, primal motivations, however, Chrysanta had no idea how far she was going down the rabbit hole, and how the galaxy was beginning to distort the fate around her.
Lightsaber: Single-Blade
Color: Violet
Practiced Lightsaber Forms
Shii-Cho: 5
Ataru: 3
Shien/Djem So: 3
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 6
Telepathic: 3
Body: 6
Sense: 6
Protection: 1
Healing: 2
Destruction: 7
Specialized Skills:
Attributes
Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 6
Leadership: 6
Unarmed: 6
Melee Weapons: 2
Ranged Weapons: 5
Force Attunement: 0
RP Sample
"Chrysanta, have you ever been in love?"
Chrysanta turned onto her side from where she had been lying on her back, resting it on her bed, as she gave a rather perplexed, if not vaguely amused, look at the other person on the other side of the room. That was a question that had come out of the blue, considering Chrysanta had only woke up ten minutes ago and bade Marina a good morning; Chrysanta had continued to lazily loaf in bed, oblivious to the fact that Marina kept herself sitting in front of the bedside on her side of the room. Now that Marina had caught Chrysanta's attention, though, the Dark Jedi centered her eyes on the young twenty-one-year-old Miraluka, and noticed at once that she was wearing a rather nice dress, and seemed to be carefully combing the knots out of her hair. Bottles of cosmetics were carefully laid out before the bedstand before her. Marina was obviously trying hard to pretty herself up.
The Dark Jedi couldn't help but offer a mischievous grin. "Are you sure that's a kind of question you want to ask someone you've known for only two days?" she laughed.
Marina suddenly seemed very embarrassed as she turned around immediately, covering a blush as she bowed her head in what was an apology. "I-I'm sorry!" she stammered, her cheeks below the blindfold that covered her eyeless sockets glowing a dark shade of red as she realized that she had just stepped out of line, "I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay, really!" Chrysanta laughed, now feeling rather awkward herself for making Marina feel guilty like that, finally sitting herself upright on her bed, crossing her legs on the matress as she did so, "I'm just joking, really. It's kind of fun to see you become flustered."
Marina offered Chrysanta a playful pout in return before smiling sweetly and returning her attention to her hair, combing it gently. Even as Chrysanta pondered how to answer the Miraluka's question, she was vaguely reminded of why she was even here. A contract had been put out on two Republic trade officials that had been too overzealous in enforcing tariffs and patrols, making life rather difficult for smugglers. Unfortunately, the two officials seemed to know this fact rather well, and, instead, sought refuge in the safer Core Worlds where the smugglers couldn't touch them. A bounty was put out: Anyone who killed the two trade officials would be rewarded fifty thousand credits.
Chrysanta herself was not actually very concerned about the bounty, not when her majority shares in the Starline Trust was earning her ten times that amount per month without her actually having to do anything, and not when her mercenary contracts were also giving her much more pay. Still, a few of her old smuggling friends had contacted her and called in old favors, so Chrysanta found herself disguised as a young backpacker, traveling the Core Worlds and staying in budget hostels. Her arrival to Svivren was specifically because she had tracked her targets down to Coruscant, the center of the galaxy.
After the first night of her staying over at the hostel, Chrysanta having spent time tracking down the two officials and observing their routine in preparation of the assassination, a young Miraluka girl, rather kind and soft-spoken, having traveled here from the other side of Coruscant, ended up rooming with her. Inherently having Force Sight, Marina immediately recognized that Chrysanta was very Force-sensitive, and cheerfully deduced that Chrysanta was, in fact, a Jedi Knight traveling incognito. Deciding that spinning a new cover story wasn't worth it, Chrysanta simply nodded and played along with the lie, but, contrary to her expectations, the two girls got along rather well, Marina finding Chrysanta "strong" and "cool", all while she emitted an innocent "younger sister" vibe that Chrysanta found rather cute. They had spent the night chatting - Chrysanta claiming to be here for a Jedi pilgrimage, Marina revealing that she was here to meet someone - before Chrysanta finally decided that she was going to try to get some sleep.
And yet, somehow Chrysanta thought, this girl still gets up earlier than I do.
It didn't take her very long to come up with an answer; the truth didn't hurt after all. "Yes," Chrysanta nodded, "I was once in love. A very long time ago."
Marina's head bobbed once in what seemed to be a nod; there was hesitation before she shyly asked the next question. "Do you remember what it felt like?"
"What did it feel like...?" Chrysanta actually had to blink as she processed the question through her head again. That was a good question; what had her romance with Archer felt like? She looked up at the blank, white ceiling above to help clear her mind and think. It wasn't just infatuation with the other. They had shared the same interests, they had understood each other, they had depended on each other for different things just as much as they were independent and didn't burden the other when possible. But that was what the relationship was like, not what it felt like.
"Gosh," Chrysanta finally blew air from her mouth, seemingly giving up at what was otherwise an impossible task, "I...really don't know. I mean..." she paused, as if trying to find another way to put her thoughts in words, then simply shrugged in resignation after a moment, "...it was a really long time ago. And I don't think I would be able to put it in words anyways."
A soft, almost melancholy smile crept onto Marina's lips as she paused she was doing and looked down slightly; it was clear that she had been hoping for a more constructive answer. "I see..." she said quietly.
Chrysanta smiled; she could easily piece two and two together and tell where this was going. "Let me guess," she chuckled, "Boyfriend finally returned?"
Marina trembled just a bit - Chrysanta amused herself with the thought that Marina's heart had fluttered at her words - before she smiled shyly and nodded. "He'll be staying here for a week before going back to his business," she explained eagerly, albeit with a bit of awkward embarrassment, "But we'll be back together in a month when he settles down in his new workplace on Svivren. I'll be joining him there."
"Heh," Chrysanta's smile grew broader, "So it's a date tonight?"
Marina nodded to Chrysanta with a cheerful smile, but that was soon replaced with a worrisome look on her face as she finally put down the comb and ran her long, delicate fingers through her hair. "But I'm really worried about how I should tie my hair..."
"You're not used to making yourself up?" Chrysanta inquired.
It was Marina's turn to grin as she turned around to face Chrysanta, a slightly triumphant look on her face. "Well," she quipped, "I am blind."
The Dark Jedi couldn't help but match that grin. "Touche."
Marina giggled before returning her attention on her hair. "Well," she confessed, "I actually do know how to make my hair, but...it's always difficult to tell when I can't really see myself, or how I really appear..." she pursed her lips, and blushed again, barely managing to finish the rest of her sentence even as she spoke out in a quiet, uncertain voice, "...It sounds silly, but we haven't met very often since he's gone out to work, and I feel our time together should be special, and that I should put more effort into making myself look better, but I don't really know how to do so, or if I'm pretty enough..."
Marina fell silent even as she absentmindedly continued to run her fingers through her hair, clearly troubled by her self-doubt and uncertainty. Chrysanta personally found these traits endearing; she was an innocent little girl who had simple, considerate feelings, thoughtful towards her love and the target of her affections. Under different circumstances, Chrysanta wouldn't have minded having Marina as a little sister at all. Smiling, she slipped off her mattress as she walked over to where Marina was sitting, turning her back around to the bedstand.
"You," Chrysanta assured Marina in a strong, gentle voice, even as the Dark Jedi began to smooth out Marina's hair and collect different strands of hair together in preparation to split them into sections and potentially tie them into a pattern, "are a very sweet and pretty girl. You can trust me on that, so never worry about that. Your boyfriend is lucky to have you. Now don't move; I think I know an old trick that suits the shape of your face. Your hair's just the right length too."
Marina seemed surprised at what Chrysanta was doing. Somehow, she didn't expect the Dark Jedi to be able to do this. It didn't just extend to what Marina thought was Chrysanta's occupation as a Jedi, but also that of the strength the Miraluka managed to feel from the Dark Jedi. Marina did not honestly expect Chrysanta to trouble herself with something such as fixing hair. "Y-You know how to do hairstyles?" she asked. Still, she remained obedient, unmoving even as the older lady toyed with her hair.
"Just a bit," Chrysanta smiled, "It's amazing what traveling can teach you."
Marina giggled. "Did you learn from having your own boyfriend?"
"Very cute," Chrysanta stuck out her tongue and made a point to tap Marina lightly on the head, as if playfully chastising her, even as she began to tie Marina's hair into an elaborate yet simple knot, "but we weren't like that. Trying to make myself up was impractical, considering we spent most of our time racing each other on speeder bikes. I don't think anything I managed would've lasted for thirty seconds..." securing the knot into place with a hairband, Chrysanta finally stepped back, looking at Marina's new hairstyle, satisfied at her handiwork, "...There. All done. I promise I didn't tie your hair into anything silly."
Marina gently touched her hair for a moment, looking at herself with Force Sight even as she felt the gentle, simple knots woven into her hair. "No," she whispered, slightly in awe, "You did...a really great job...t-thank you so much."
"You're welcome," Chrysanta responded and bounced back onto her own bed, sighing and stretching as she sprawled herself across half the mattress, "It's not like I did anything spectacular anyways. I'm sure you could've done a better job if you weren't so anxious about meeting your boyfriend."
"No..." Marina shook her head in disagreement, her voice almost somewhat wistful and dreamy, as if in admiration, "I really think you're really skilled and strong, Chrysanta...it's like you can do anything you wanted to. It makes me wonder what kind of life you must lead..."
Chrysanta was silent for a moment, and she was slightly glad that Marina couldn't actually see; otherwise the Miraluka would've discovered very quickly that the Dark Jedi wasn't smiling anymore. It wasn't anything significant outside the cold, bitter realization that Chrysanta led a very different life from Marina, and the Miraluka was coming close to infringing on very dangerous territory, something that Chrysanta simply could not allow anyone to intrude on now that she, a Dark Jedi, was smack in the middle of the galactic metropolis of Coruscant. One wrong move could send the Jedi after her.
"I think I understand what you're talking about," Chrysanta said finally as she regained her smile, albeit one that was soft, absentminded, and only half-committed, "but I honestly don't think the way I lead my life would appeal to you. In fact, it's probably better that you don't know about the life I lead."
Marina smiled mischievously. "Jedi confidentiality?" she giggled; it was obvious Marina took Chrysanta's previous statement in the wrong direction, but, in hindsight, the Dark Jedi felt it was probably better this way, that Marina forever remain oblivious.
Smiling awkwardly, glad that Marina couldn't actually see her smile, Chrysanta gave a shrug. "Something like that, yes," she lied in agreement, allowed a pause to wedge into her conversation, before she finally kicked herself up from out of bed with an exaggerated sigh, deciding that it was time to stop loafing around and actually get to work, "Okay, I think I'm going to have to go run some errands now. Don't want to seem too lazy."
Marina offered Chrysanta a dazzling smile even as the Dark Jedi picked up her datapad and her lightsaber, moving to the door to their room. "Good luck, Chrysanta," she beamed.
Opening the door, Chrysanta turned around just long enough to give a grin at Marina, saying, "You can call me San. That's what my friends and cute people call me. You have a good time with your date, too. Knock your boyfriend off his feet."
And, with that, closing the door behind her, she was off.
*****
It was nice having people on your payroll.
The wealth accumulated from her time being the founder, president, and CEO of Starline Trust, her current status as the company's largest stockholder, and the contracts she made while acting as mercenary Kris von Adelle definitely made her one of the richer individuals in the Outer Rim, and although she definitely couldn't quite compare to the billionaires of the Core Worlds, those billionaires rarely ever had any interest in investing in Republic intelligence, meaning Chrysanta generally had good intelligence from the same people who were supposed to keep individuals like her from procuring such information.
In this case, Republic intelligence pinpointed the location of her targets to a diner in the middle-class parts of Coruscant; they were apparently meeting there to finalize policy in the Core Worlds' stance on trade and smuggling with the Outer Rim. The chose the diner as opposed to their office due to fear that their offices might be bugged, and because, of course, it was lunchtime and they were hungry.
Intelligence came in twenty minutes into her observing her two targets in the diner, indicating that the two men were being protected by four bodyguards taking up different vantage points on the streets outside. By that time, however, she had already disposed of three of those bodyguards quietly, using the power of the Force to end their lives quickly, quietly. She personally didn't like to make people suffer - killing them was often enough for her - but Force Choke had its uses of making things relatively quiet, and she did not compromise her stealth. By the time the fourth bodyguard was also down, her targets were standing up in the diner, paying for their tab and preparing to walk down onto the crowded street of Coruscant.
Chrysanta was quickly there to meet them, moving fast as she tidied up her robes, making sure she didn't seem too disheveled as she plotted an intercept course. Both targets had barely made ten steps out of the restaurant when Chrysanta was already standing before them.
"Excuse me," she addressed both men, confirming their faces with the picture she had memorized of her targets from the datapad and confirming that these were her targets, "Are you Ryan Hunt and Adrian Keel?"
The two men looked at each other in slight confusion, but nodded in confirmation. "What is it?" the younger man, Adrian, looking to be in his early-twenties, asked.
"My name is Christina Henderson," she said with a bit of a bow - something that she had noticed that many Jedi have done in the past - and revealed the lightsaber under her robes, as if an indicator of proof that she was, indeed, a Jedi Knight, "I was sent by the Temple. The Jedi Council believes that there may be an attempt on your life tonight; they have order that I bring both of you into protective custody until we can apprehend the suspect."
"Thank you for your assistance, Jedi," Ryan cut in, his voice somewhat indifferent, if not laced with a bit of suspicion - the Jedi weren't overwhelmingly popular, after all - and seemed poised to leave, "But I think we'll be fine. We've made arrangements for our own security detail."
Chrysanta tried to put on as troubled and distressed an expression as she possible could. "I'm aware, sirs," she frowned and pursed her lips before speaking. "Unfortunately, the situation is a bit more complicated than you may currently know of." Namely that your bodyguards are down, she added in her mind, but you really don't need to know that.
Ryan frowned. "How so?"
Chrysanta appeared uncertain, almost hesitant, as she deliberately looked around, as if looking for eavesdroppers in the crowd of pedestrians around them. Finally, she looked back uncomfortably at the two men. "I'm not very comfortable divulging this kind of information in the open," she said finally, then motioned to a side alley on the streets, one that led to the employee entrance of a shopping mall that was undergoing renovation, "Could you two please come with me for a moment? It's better if I explain somewhere a bit less crowded."
There was some reluctance, much clearer on the older Ryan than the younger Adrian, but her words, as Chrysanta had expected, had caught their attention, and they followed the "Jedi Knight" dutifully into the side alley. She led them further in, about fifteen meters in, before turning right at an intersection; that, she knew, would prevent anyone on the streets who was bored enough to look into a side alley for no reason from seeing what Chrysanta was about to do to them.
No sooner had Ryan and Adrian turned the intersection that Chrysanta was upon them.
Ryan was the suspicious, prepared one, so he had to go first. With lightning fast speed, Chrysanta ignited her lightsaber while swinging at the older man's neck at the same time; at the same time, her other hand pushed out with the Force, and Adrian was suddenly slammed against the wall, clutching at invisible hands wrapped around his neck as he was held up half a meter above ground, pressed against the alley wall, kicking desperately in an attempt to bring himself back down. The blade of Chrysanta's lightsaber connected just perfectly on its ignition with Ryan's neck, the timing in flawless conjunction, and the man's head flew from his neck, bouncing off the wall once before it fell onto the ground with a spin and a bounce, just as the headless corpse also crashed unceremoniously on the cold, dirty alley.
With Ryan taken care of, Chrysanta returned her attention on Adrian, who was still struggling at the invisible claws of the Force around his neck, trying to desperately pry nothing away, struggling to breathe even as he was held up against the air against the alley wall. Her lightsaber slowly raised into the air, the tip of the blade aimed at the chest of the man even as he tried to struggle, kicking futilely in midair.
"M..." he tried to make out, gagging in desperation of trying to say something with no air going in or out of his throat, "M...M-Ma..."
"Please don't hate me," Chrysanta said, her voice devoid of emotion or stress, the lightsaber hovering just inches from his victim's chest, "It's nothing personal. Just a job."
Ryan did not look particular furious or angry; he merely looked distressed, as if trying to reach or call out for something that was beyond what he or Chrysanta had. "M-M..." he mouthed, his voice barely making out the sound, "M-Ma...M-Ma...ri..."
He never managed to get the word out. Chrysanta plunged the lightsaber right through Adrian's vital organs, aiming for the heart in particular. The young man gasped, convulsing once as his body went tense...then limp as he floated lifelessly, held only by the grip around his neck that Force Choke provided. Chrysanta released the Force's hold on him, and he fell down to the ground, his body sliding down the wall before stopping at a slump against the alley wall.
Chrysanta sighed. She didn't like assassinations; it rarely gave her the thrill that she craved, and it pained her to see herself picking on insignificant, vulnerable targets. Still, it was a favor for an old comrade, so she couldn't really complain.
"A-Adrian...?"
Chrysanta whirled around in alarm as she heard the faltering voice of a girl. Even before she managed to lay her eyes on the intruder at the entrance of the alley intersection, though, she realized, with a bit of a lurch of her heart, that she recognized that voice.
With her Force Sight, a young, twenty-year-old pretty Miraluka girl was standing there, trembling, looking at the corpse of Adrian.
With sudden understanding, enlightenment, striking her like a thunderbolt, Chrysanta realized, perhaps a bit too late, that Adrian, the young man she had just killed, was - or had been - Marina's boyfriend that she was supposed to meet here. That Marina must've seen Adrian disappear into an alley, and followed him in curiosity and worry.
And, with that understanding, Chrysanta, was almost instantly struck with a pang of guilt as she suddenly realized what she must do.
Marina, still trembling, seemingly not accepting the fact that Adrian was actually dead, or perhaps only trying to come to terms with it, finally looked up, bringing her Force Sight on bear of the lady who was standing next to the two corpses, ignited lightsaber in hand. "...S-San...?" Marina whispered with a hiccup, her voice high-pitched and laced with disbelief and distress and betrayal. That voice alone - and the utterly devastated look on Marina's face - only compounded Chrysanta's feeling of guilt.
And to think that she's calling me "San" like I asked her to...
Still, Chrysanta didn't falter. Marina prepared to part her lips and draw breath in what would've otherwise been a scream of terror and anguish.
Chrysanta moved faster.
Her natural speed and reflexes were complimented by Force Speed as Chrysanta, within a blink of an eye, was right behind Marina. Concentrating with all her might, using the Force to supplement her willpower she quickly brought her lightsaber up, carefully aimed it right between the shoulder blades, and surgically inserted the bar of plasma into her spinal cord, cutting off all nerve impulses to and from her brain, sparing Marina any pain that would've otherwise been felt from having a lightsaber in one's vital organs, working her way down to the vital organs just to make sure.
Marina was going to die, that was no question. Chrysanta was just being extremely dedicated, extremely careful; a quick, painless death was the least Chrysanta could offer the Miraluka girl as her organs seared and burned, the pain never making it to her head, as the scream was lost in her punctured lungs.
Chrysanta switched off her lightsaber. Marina's corpse crumpled down to the ground.
A long moment of silence prevailed as Chrysanta stood before Marina's body, looking down at it with an unreadable expression. Finally, after that long moment, she knelt down beside the corpse, and, in a shockingly gentle gesture, began to delicately stroke Marina's pale, cold cheeks. She began to redo Marina's hair; it had fallen in disarray when she dropped to the ground, and, for some reason - perhaps sentimental attachment - Chrysanta felt that it was only fitting that - here, deceased next to her equally dead boyfriend, both of them killed by the same person who did Marina's hair - she fix Marina's hair once last time, "pretty her up" before the Force took care of all the rest.
"You're a good girl, Marina," Chrysanta whispered, her voice quiet but surprisingly firm and stable, finishing the final knot on Marina's hair as she did so, tying it together with a hairband, "This is my fault. You don't deserve this. But this is the life I lead. This is my sin. And I can't let anyone get in the way of that..." she pursed her lips, looked away from Marina's face for a moment, then added quietly, "...I'm sorry."
Looking at Marina one last time, Chrysanta's fingers stroked the Miraluka's cheek one last time, her hand lingering on her smooth skin a bit longer than what was necessary...before, steeling her resolve, she finally stood up from beside Marina, and walked quietly out of the alley, leaving nothing but three corpses to eventually be found.
Name: Chrysanta (AKA San)
Race: Human
Age: 25
Birthplace: Dathomir
Faction: Dark Jedi
Rank: Dark Jedi Assassin
Height: 5'10" / 178 cm
Weight: 117 lbs / 53 kg
Appearance:
(I take no credit for this picture.)
Biography
It was on a Republic refugee ship that Chrysanta was born to a single mother who had barely managed to escape her civil war-torn home planet, an infant who barely survived childbirth and hyperdrive failure; not only did the Republic ship not have the proper medical equipment to accommodate a pregnant woman, the hyperdrive the ship was on suddenly malfunctioned, and brought them on a crash course as the ship plummeted into the gravity well of Dathomir. Last minute maneuvering managed to prevent the ship from crashing in a completely fatal manner, but it still killed four out of every five passengers on board and successfully killed all members of the Republic crew.
Miraculously, Chrysanta and her mother survived, but the mother wasn't long for the world; as the last adult survivor of the crash, she barely managed to raise Chrysanta to the age of two and a half years, enough for Chrysanta to learn how to speak, before she, too, passed away due to wounds untreated, having survived the last two and a half years through willpower alone. Too young to understand matters of life and death, Chrysanta watched, devoid of sorrow or tears, as her mother's life slowly slipped away before disappearing, and the older children were discreet enough to bury the body, never mentioning to topic to Chrysanta again.
Completely lost in an Outer Rim planet with absolutely no idea of where they were, it was lost on the children that no Republic or local search party would come for them, not when the Republic had no idea where their refugee ship had disappeared in the galaxy, and not when local sensor arrays failed to pick up a ship that had come erroneously close to the planet's gravity well. The children decided that they would establish their own order and society, leading to a small camp of surviving refugee children living on the harsh landscape of Dathomir, somehow managing to get by through hunting and scavenging, using only the salvaged parts of the refugee ship as aid. It was under these horrible conditions that Chrysanta spent the first nine years of her life.
Despite being the youngest child in the group, Chrysanta, by the age of five, showed extreme resilience and tenacity as a child knowing little else other than the treacherous terrain of Dathomir, being no stranger to the steep mountains and oppressive wetlands, and was in excellent physical condition. She followed the rule of the strong, the survival of the fittest, and, despite her age, wasted no time in dominating the softer beings of her age group - and even those a bit older - through brute force. Chrysanta, however, did not command these children through fear alone, but also through example; she never cut herself any slack, never escaped from any of her duties, and took more risks than any other child in the group. When the local wildlife started to dwindle and cut down on the children's food supply, Chrysanta, alone, went out to antagonize a mighty rancor, lure it to the territory of another rancor, hide while watching the two rancors kill each other, then brought the children to feed upon rancor flesh to survive. For many, even those who disliked her, Chrysanta was a fearless figure to be respected.
For all her strength, agility, and cunning, Chrysanta was not without her own attachments. She watched out for the children under her command, never hesitated to fool around with them, and forged close relationships with a few friends. While she acknowledged the rule of the strong, she also believed that the strong should abide by a basic honor code. On the other hand, Chrysanta was driven by the simple desire to be the best; she always tested her limits, always tried something foolhardy and reckless, and always tried to impress. The other children were awed - and sometimes even terrified - by the kind of things she did, pulling off the craziest of stunts such as swinging and jumping from tree branch to tree branch, and navigating dangerous cliff faces with startling alacrity.
Unknown to Chrysanta, her fearless, daring, and seemingly impossible stunts were not attributed completely to her physical strength and speed, but, rather, the fact that Chrysanta was, in fact, very Force-sensitive. Without even knowing of the existence of the Force, she had simply been subconsciously using it, supplementing her performance as an extension of her will without actually thinking about it. With the Force, she managed to accomplish physical feats that would've otherwise been impossible. She did not understand it or even realize its existence, and merely used it as she wished to survive, never realizing that she was actually the only person who could use the Force amongst the children.
Chrysanta's Force sensitivity was eventually discovered when, haunted by restlessness and the desire to push at her limits once more, she left the other children at the age of eight, determined to find out what lay beyond the horizon. It was on her journey that Chrysanta would have a fateful encounter with rogue former Jedi Master, Crovax Nagash, having been exiled by the Jedi Order and now hunted by the Republic. Being an experienced former Jedi himself, having successfully trained two Padawan learners to knighthood, Crovax was immediately intrigued by Chrysanta's extensive Force-sensitivity and the instinctive, subconscious, and almost casual way she utilized it. Having had a horrible falling out with the Jedi Order due to ideological disagreements, Crovax decided that he would take Chrysanta as his third Padawan, and forge her into a tool of revenge against the Jedi Order, teaching Chrysanta the ways of the Force with utter disregard towards Jedi protocol and conservativeness.
While Crovax became a Dark Jedi and weaving his own intrigues in the Outer Rim, traveling from planet to planet, working for his own self-gain and obsession with revenge, Chrysanta's prowess grew exponentially. It wasn't just her sensitivity to the Force, but also her simple desire to be better; she possessed a very simple ambition to become even stronger, her fuel for going on and on with her rigorous training. She was just as eager, if not moreso, as Crovax to test her limits, and she was a very fast learner, never giving up in the face of pain and hardship. Fascinated with the understanding of the Force, she was always looking for new ways to utilize it to the most devastating, powerful effects, clearly aiming to impress. Her master taught her the basics of the Force, but Chrysanta aimed higher, and even began to take deeper forays into the destructive side of the Force, trying to aim for mass effect, seeking ways to dominate the battlefield instantly.
It was also her time as Crovax's student that Chrysanta's personality became a clear contrast to many of the galaxy's Dark Jedi. While a great number of Dark Jedi were angry and furious at something, directing a great amount of hate that formed the Dark Side of the Force, Chrysanta was not motivated by any of those outside spur-of-the-moment temper flares. It was not nearly as much about anger as it was the simple desire to look after herself. Chrysanta retained a rather cheerful and enthusiastic, albeit also calm and confident, personality that was normally unseen for a Dark Jedi, but it was clear that she was at the very top of her list of concerns. The code of honor, of course, was still there, and she retained her decency and dignity, but she spared no heroics and made no needless sacrifices. By no means was Chrysanta evil or conflicted; she was merely a Force-sensitive, lightsaber-wielding warrior who was driven strongly by her feelings.
Master and student eventually relocated to Nar Shaddaa when Chrysanta was thirteen, and the girl quickly picked up a new interest: Flying. Crovax spent his time in Nar Shaddaa forging contacts and relationship in the underworld of the Vertical City, and Chrysanta was given relatively free reign in a city full of crime. Aside from running and jumping her way across the perilous, bottomless cityscape of Nar Shaddaa to work on her physical prowess and Force powers, practically flying across the rooftops of skyscrapers as she did so, she was stealing or hotwiring speedbikes and riding them throughout the city, sometimes aggravating local racing gangs into the chase as a result. Rarely, however, did she ever fail to lose her pursuers, and those who became too persistent met an untimely end at the blade of her lightsaber, or found themselves tumbling down the depths of Nar Shaddaa as a result of well-placed Force powers.
For the most part, however, Chrysanta was largely alone, her master away more often than not, leaving Chrysanta to her own devices. She would eventually come to the rescue of Archer Altmark, the son of a wealthy mechanic on Nar Shaddaa, from racing gangs, and the two became close friends. Chrysanta, not having had contact with anyone her age for years, worked a bit as Archer's bodyguard when the two of them weren't fooling around in the streets of Nar Shaddaa and racing each other. Upon learning that Chrysanta raced in bikes that she would hotwire before meeting him, Archer, as a present, got sixteen-year-old Chrysanta her own speeder bike, which became a bit of a keepsake of hers. The two moved into a romantic relationship as time went by, but, unfortunately, it would not last. When Crovax discovered that the Jedi had been informed of his location on the planet and were searching for him, he quickly took seventeen-year-old Chrysanta and left the planet, leaving her with no chance to ever say goodbye to Archer. Her speeder bike, taken along with her, became a memento of her romance, and it solidified Chrysanta's belief in power through passion.
The next few years saw Crovax and Chrysanta working together in killing the Jedi sent after Crovax, the two of them on the run even as they garnered resources and eluded pursuers. As time went by, however, Crovax soon realized that he had failed to make Chrysanta a tool of his vengeance. While she was indeed far more powerful than any other Padawan learner he had ever trained - Chrysanta fought and utilized the Force far better than any of his Padawans - she was ultimately too indifferent and nonchalant to give into emotions such as hate. This saw a change, however, when Chrysanta turned nineteen; what had been a simple stop to make trade agreements with the Hutts on Tatooine turned into a reunion when Chrysanta, once again, met Archer, who was on Tatooine to make purchase shipments back to Nar Shaddaa, by complete chance. Crovax noticed her frequent outings whenever he left to improve his relations with the Hutts, and eventually chose to follow her one day. It did not take long for Crovax, watching Chrysanta and Archer racing speeder bikes like the old times, to realize that his Padawan was in love.
Intending to bring Chrysanta further into the Dark Side of the Force, Crovax chose one night to bring Chrysanta to Archer's tavern room. To Chrysanta's horror, her master proceeded to wound and disable Archer with his lightsaber, crashing the young man onto the ground. Crovax then ordered Chrysanta to kill Archer to demonstrate her loyalty to her master, or he would kill the young mechanic himself then turn on Chrysanta. Reluctantly, she gave Archer a painless death with a swipe of her lightsaber, and, just as Crovax expected, Chrysanta sunk into sorrow, despair, and hatred. However, Crovax himself was not entirely experienced with the Dark Side, and had never seduced anyone to it before. He failed to realize that the corruption was the most critical moment, and when he had let his guard down as he told Chrysanta that they were leaving, Chrysanta ran her master through with her lightsaber in a fit of murderous rage, killing him.
Now with a dead boyfriend and a dead master on her conscience, Chrysanta was lost with no idea what she could possibly do. She ended up making a living working odd jobs around Tatooine for a year before she caught the attention of a veteran smuggler who, appreciating her strength, diligence, and lack of aversion to work, hired the twenty-year-old as an addition to his smuggling team. With a trained Dark Jedi on the ship, the team became much more effective in their smuggling runs. Chrysanta, with prior experience with speeder bikes and the assistance of the Force, became a very competent starfighter pilot responsible for chasing off Republic starfighters that came after their team, and when dogfighting tactics wouldn't work, her Dark Jedi skills made short work of boarding parties as she destroyed them with either her lightsaber or the Force. Using Republic troops as live practice targets, she often practiced her destructive powers, bolting them with Force Lightning or crushing their windpipes with Force Choke.
For a while, all was right, Chrysanta feeling the camaraderie as she had not since she left Dathomir at the age of eight. Once against, she had a sense of belonging amongst those who respected her talents, and she began to emerge once more from the shell she had tucked herself into ever since the deaths of Archer and Crovax, returning to form as a calm, cocky, confident, witty lady who wasn't afraid to mingle with the men. On one of their smuggling trips, she got herself a cut of the profits and helped herself to a violet crystal which would be the signature color for her lightsaber. Their misadventures took them across many planets and systems, and, for a while, Chrysanta felt truly free.
It was also during her time smuggling, however, that Chrysanta realized a certain lust within her for battle and death. The need to come out superior dominated her, and although she kept enough sense and reason to not attempt to command authority amongst the crew, she sought other ways to quench this thirst. While she had killed other Jedi before along with her master Crovax, she had, at the same time, not felt any particular feelings for it; for all Chrysanta was concerned, she was just killing them because her Master said so, and there was the unspoken realization that they would be a threat to her even if she chose not to engage them in combat. Battling Republic patrols, however, brought her the desire to dominate the battle, to defeat her opponents, if not kill them. The implications disturbed her, but only somewhat - she had long accepted the rule of the strong, and the urges were often quite strong when weapons were bared.
With Chrysanta on the team and repeated successes, however, the team became a bit too daring for their own good, and they attempted to take a faster route with more cargo. They ended up in a shootout with a Republic starship, and although they escaped, two crew members had died, and their captain lost his left arm. Deciding that he had gone too far and lost his touch, the captain decided to call an end to his smuggling career, liquidizing his smuggling assets and dividing the fortune amongst the members of the crew before dissolving the team. Once again, twenty-two-year-old Chrysanta was on her own.
Having inherited a small fortune, Chrysanta decided that it was time to start thinking for herself. Utilizing the contacts and working relationships that her former had left behind, Chrysanta sought out Crovax's old associates, and, claiming to represent him, procured partnerships throughout the Outer Rim to form and invest in her own company, the Starline Trust, a trade organization meant to work out trade agreements between the Core Worlds and the Outer Rims by providing benefits to all parties involved. Utilizing her knowledge of smuggling, legal and illegal trade routes, and human politics, Chrysanta was able to allow the Starline Trust to stay on top of the competition by playing all sides, manipulating one end for another, and yet somehow keeping her clients satisfied. In spite of its few tangible assets and small staff, the Starline Trust grew into a small commercial empire of the Outer Rim, making Chrysanta a relatively wealthy lady. After deciding that she really wasn't cut out for the actual management of a company, Chrysanta eventually resigned from her position as President and CEO of the Starline Trust, and became one of its largest stakeholders instead.
Chrysanta's wealth allowed her to live in relative comfort both in the Core Worlds and the Outer Rim, although she was forced to keep her Jedi training a secret from most. Having consolidated her financial foundation, she instead turned back to her old love for battle and conflict, desiring once more to put her limits to the test. The brewing conflicts in the galaxy, thankfully, provided no shortage of battles for her to participate in, and, taking on the cloaked identity of Kris von Adelle, began to participate in conflicts across the galaxy as a mercenary at twenty-three years of age.
She began to make a living fighting for various sides of the galaxy, regardless of whether they were inter-system wars or planetary civil wars. For the sake of safety, however, she chose to avoid conflicts where there were Jedi present. The reputation of Kris von Adelle accumulated, and, soon, Chrysanta was looking at an alarming number of contracts for her assistance. After a while, deciding that she wasn't going to restrict herself to planetside battles, she utilized a portion of her accumulated fortune to purchase and customize her own personal starfighter to participate in space battles as well. Despite her simple, primal motivations, however, Chrysanta had no idea how far she was going down the rabbit hole, and how the galaxy was beginning to distort the fate around her.
Lightsaber: Single-Blade
Color: Violet
Practiced Lightsaber Forms
Shii-Cho: 5
Ataru: 3
Shien/Djem So: 3
Force-Sensitive Abilities or practices:
Telekinetic: 6
Telepathic: 3
Body: 6
Sense: 6
Protection: 1
Healing: 2
Destruction: 7
Specialized Skills:
Attributes
Physical Strength: 6
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 6
Leadership: 6
Unarmed: 6
Melee Weapons: 2
Ranged Weapons: 5
Force Attunement: 0
RP Sample
"Chrysanta, have you ever been in love?"
Chrysanta turned onto her side from where she had been lying on her back, resting it on her bed, as she gave a rather perplexed, if not vaguely amused, look at the other person on the other side of the room. That was a question that had come out of the blue, considering Chrysanta had only woke up ten minutes ago and bade Marina a good morning; Chrysanta had continued to lazily loaf in bed, oblivious to the fact that Marina kept herself sitting in front of the bedside on her side of the room. Now that Marina had caught Chrysanta's attention, though, the Dark Jedi centered her eyes on the young twenty-one-year-old Miraluka, and noticed at once that she was wearing a rather nice dress, and seemed to be carefully combing the knots out of her hair. Bottles of cosmetics were carefully laid out before the bedstand before her. Marina was obviously trying hard to pretty herself up.
The Dark Jedi couldn't help but offer a mischievous grin. "Are you sure that's a kind of question you want to ask someone you've known for only two days?" she laughed.
Marina suddenly seemed very embarrassed as she turned around immediately, covering a blush as she bowed her head in what was an apology. "I-I'm sorry!" she stammered, her cheeks below the blindfold that covered her eyeless sockets glowing a dark shade of red as she realized that she had just stepped out of line, "I didn't mean to..."
"It's okay, really!" Chrysanta laughed, now feeling rather awkward herself for making Marina feel guilty like that, finally sitting herself upright on her bed, crossing her legs on the matress as she did so, "I'm just joking, really. It's kind of fun to see you become flustered."
Marina offered Chrysanta a playful pout in return before smiling sweetly and returning her attention to her hair, combing it gently. Even as Chrysanta pondered how to answer the Miraluka's question, she was vaguely reminded of why she was even here. A contract had been put out on two Republic trade officials that had been too overzealous in enforcing tariffs and patrols, making life rather difficult for smugglers. Unfortunately, the two officials seemed to know this fact rather well, and, instead, sought refuge in the safer Core Worlds where the smugglers couldn't touch them. A bounty was put out: Anyone who killed the two trade officials would be rewarded fifty thousand credits.
Chrysanta herself was not actually very concerned about the bounty, not when her majority shares in the Starline Trust was earning her ten times that amount per month without her actually having to do anything, and not when her mercenary contracts were also giving her much more pay. Still, a few of her old smuggling friends had contacted her and called in old favors, so Chrysanta found herself disguised as a young backpacker, traveling the Core Worlds and staying in budget hostels. Her arrival to Svivren was specifically because she had tracked her targets down to Coruscant, the center of the galaxy.
After the first night of her staying over at the hostel, Chrysanta having spent time tracking down the two officials and observing their routine in preparation of the assassination, a young Miraluka girl, rather kind and soft-spoken, having traveled here from the other side of Coruscant, ended up rooming with her. Inherently having Force Sight, Marina immediately recognized that Chrysanta was very Force-sensitive, and cheerfully deduced that Chrysanta was, in fact, a Jedi Knight traveling incognito. Deciding that spinning a new cover story wasn't worth it, Chrysanta simply nodded and played along with the lie, but, contrary to her expectations, the two girls got along rather well, Marina finding Chrysanta "strong" and "cool", all while she emitted an innocent "younger sister" vibe that Chrysanta found rather cute. They had spent the night chatting - Chrysanta claiming to be here for a Jedi pilgrimage, Marina revealing that she was here to meet someone - before Chrysanta finally decided that she was going to try to get some sleep.
And yet, somehow Chrysanta thought, this girl still gets up earlier than I do.
It didn't take her very long to come up with an answer; the truth didn't hurt after all. "Yes," Chrysanta nodded, "I was once in love. A very long time ago."
Marina's head bobbed once in what seemed to be a nod; there was hesitation before she shyly asked the next question. "Do you remember what it felt like?"
"What did it feel like...?" Chrysanta actually had to blink as she processed the question through her head again. That was a good question; what had her romance with Archer felt like? She looked up at the blank, white ceiling above to help clear her mind and think. It wasn't just infatuation with the other. They had shared the same interests, they had understood each other, they had depended on each other for different things just as much as they were independent and didn't burden the other when possible. But that was what the relationship was like, not what it felt like.
"Gosh," Chrysanta finally blew air from her mouth, seemingly giving up at what was otherwise an impossible task, "I...really don't know. I mean..." she paused, as if trying to find another way to put her thoughts in words, then simply shrugged in resignation after a moment, "...it was a really long time ago. And I don't think I would be able to put it in words anyways."
A soft, almost melancholy smile crept onto Marina's lips as she paused she was doing and looked down slightly; it was clear that she had been hoping for a more constructive answer. "I see..." she said quietly.
Chrysanta smiled; she could easily piece two and two together and tell where this was going. "Let me guess," she chuckled, "Boyfriend finally returned?"
Marina trembled just a bit - Chrysanta amused herself with the thought that Marina's heart had fluttered at her words - before she smiled shyly and nodded. "He'll be staying here for a week before going back to his business," she explained eagerly, albeit with a bit of awkward embarrassment, "But we'll be back together in a month when he settles down in his new workplace on Svivren. I'll be joining him there."
"Heh," Chrysanta's smile grew broader, "So it's a date tonight?"
Marina nodded to Chrysanta with a cheerful smile, but that was soon replaced with a worrisome look on her face as she finally put down the comb and ran her long, delicate fingers through her hair. "But I'm really worried about how I should tie my hair..."
"You're not used to making yourself up?" Chrysanta inquired.
It was Marina's turn to grin as she turned around to face Chrysanta, a slightly triumphant look on her face. "Well," she quipped, "I am blind."
The Dark Jedi couldn't help but match that grin. "Touche."
Marina giggled before returning her attention on her hair. "Well," she confessed, "I actually do know how to make my hair, but...it's always difficult to tell when I can't really see myself, or how I really appear..." she pursed her lips, and blushed again, barely managing to finish the rest of her sentence even as she spoke out in a quiet, uncertain voice, "...It sounds silly, but we haven't met very often since he's gone out to work, and I feel our time together should be special, and that I should put more effort into making myself look better, but I don't really know how to do so, or if I'm pretty enough..."
Marina fell silent even as she absentmindedly continued to run her fingers through her hair, clearly troubled by her self-doubt and uncertainty. Chrysanta personally found these traits endearing; she was an innocent little girl who had simple, considerate feelings, thoughtful towards her love and the target of her affections. Under different circumstances, Chrysanta wouldn't have minded having Marina as a little sister at all. Smiling, she slipped off her mattress as she walked over to where Marina was sitting, turning her back around to the bedstand.
"You," Chrysanta assured Marina in a strong, gentle voice, even as the Dark Jedi began to smooth out Marina's hair and collect different strands of hair together in preparation to split them into sections and potentially tie them into a pattern, "are a very sweet and pretty girl. You can trust me on that, so never worry about that. Your boyfriend is lucky to have you. Now don't move; I think I know an old trick that suits the shape of your face. Your hair's just the right length too."
Marina seemed surprised at what Chrysanta was doing. Somehow, she didn't expect the Dark Jedi to be able to do this. It didn't just extend to what Marina thought was Chrysanta's occupation as a Jedi, but also that of the strength the Miraluka managed to feel from the Dark Jedi. Marina did not honestly expect Chrysanta to trouble herself with something such as fixing hair. "Y-You know how to do hairstyles?" she asked. Still, she remained obedient, unmoving even as the older lady toyed with her hair.
"Just a bit," Chrysanta smiled, "It's amazing what traveling can teach you."
Marina giggled. "Did you learn from having your own boyfriend?"
"Very cute," Chrysanta stuck out her tongue and made a point to tap Marina lightly on the head, as if playfully chastising her, even as she began to tie Marina's hair into an elaborate yet simple knot, "but we weren't like that. Trying to make myself up was impractical, considering we spent most of our time racing each other on speeder bikes. I don't think anything I managed would've lasted for thirty seconds..." securing the knot into place with a hairband, Chrysanta finally stepped back, looking at Marina's new hairstyle, satisfied at her handiwork, "...There. All done. I promise I didn't tie your hair into anything silly."
Marina gently touched her hair for a moment, looking at herself with Force Sight even as she felt the gentle, simple knots woven into her hair. "No," she whispered, slightly in awe, "You did...a really great job...t-thank you so much."
"You're welcome," Chrysanta responded and bounced back onto her own bed, sighing and stretching as she sprawled herself across half the mattress, "It's not like I did anything spectacular anyways. I'm sure you could've done a better job if you weren't so anxious about meeting your boyfriend."
"No..." Marina shook her head in disagreement, her voice almost somewhat wistful and dreamy, as if in admiration, "I really think you're really skilled and strong, Chrysanta...it's like you can do anything you wanted to. It makes me wonder what kind of life you must lead..."
Chrysanta was silent for a moment, and she was slightly glad that Marina couldn't actually see; otherwise the Miraluka would've discovered very quickly that the Dark Jedi wasn't smiling anymore. It wasn't anything significant outside the cold, bitter realization that Chrysanta led a very different life from Marina, and the Miraluka was coming close to infringing on very dangerous territory, something that Chrysanta simply could not allow anyone to intrude on now that she, a Dark Jedi, was smack in the middle of the galactic metropolis of Coruscant. One wrong move could send the Jedi after her.
"I think I understand what you're talking about," Chrysanta said finally as she regained her smile, albeit one that was soft, absentminded, and only half-committed, "but I honestly don't think the way I lead my life would appeal to you. In fact, it's probably better that you don't know about the life I lead."
Marina smiled mischievously. "Jedi confidentiality?" she giggled; it was obvious Marina took Chrysanta's previous statement in the wrong direction, but, in hindsight, the Dark Jedi felt it was probably better this way, that Marina forever remain oblivious.
Smiling awkwardly, glad that Marina couldn't actually see her smile, Chrysanta gave a shrug. "Something like that, yes," she lied in agreement, allowed a pause to wedge into her conversation, before she finally kicked herself up from out of bed with an exaggerated sigh, deciding that it was time to stop loafing around and actually get to work, "Okay, I think I'm going to have to go run some errands now. Don't want to seem too lazy."
Marina offered Chrysanta a dazzling smile even as the Dark Jedi picked up her datapad and her lightsaber, moving to the door to their room. "Good luck, Chrysanta," she beamed.
Opening the door, Chrysanta turned around just long enough to give a grin at Marina, saying, "You can call me San. That's what my friends and cute people call me. You have a good time with your date, too. Knock your boyfriend off his feet."
And, with that, closing the door behind her, she was off.
*****
It was nice having people on your payroll.
The wealth accumulated from her time being the founder, president, and CEO of Starline Trust, her current status as the company's largest stockholder, and the contracts she made while acting as mercenary Kris von Adelle definitely made her one of the richer individuals in the Outer Rim, and although she definitely couldn't quite compare to the billionaires of the Core Worlds, those billionaires rarely ever had any interest in investing in Republic intelligence, meaning Chrysanta generally had good intelligence from the same people who were supposed to keep individuals like her from procuring such information.
In this case, Republic intelligence pinpointed the location of her targets to a diner in the middle-class parts of Coruscant; they were apparently meeting there to finalize policy in the Core Worlds' stance on trade and smuggling with the Outer Rim. The chose the diner as opposed to their office due to fear that their offices might be bugged, and because, of course, it was lunchtime and they were hungry.
Intelligence came in twenty minutes into her observing her two targets in the diner, indicating that the two men were being protected by four bodyguards taking up different vantage points on the streets outside. By that time, however, she had already disposed of three of those bodyguards quietly, using the power of the Force to end their lives quickly, quietly. She personally didn't like to make people suffer - killing them was often enough for her - but Force Choke had its uses of making things relatively quiet, and she did not compromise her stealth. By the time the fourth bodyguard was also down, her targets were standing up in the diner, paying for their tab and preparing to walk down onto the crowded street of Coruscant.
Chrysanta was quickly there to meet them, moving fast as she tidied up her robes, making sure she didn't seem too disheveled as she plotted an intercept course. Both targets had barely made ten steps out of the restaurant when Chrysanta was already standing before them.
"Excuse me," she addressed both men, confirming their faces with the picture she had memorized of her targets from the datapad and confirming that these were her targets, "Are you Ryan Hunt and Adrian Keel?"
The two men looked at each other in slight confusion, but nodded in confirmation. "What is it?" the younger man, Adrian, looking to be in his early-twenties, asked.
"My name is Christina Henderson," she said with a bit of a bow - something that she had noticed that many Jedi have done in the past - and revealed the lightsaber under her robes, as if an indicator of proof that she was, indeed, a Jedi Knight, "I was sent by the Temple. The Jedi Council believes that there may be an attempt on your life tonight; they have order that I bring both of you into protective custody until we can apprehend the suspect."
"Thank you for your assistance, Jedi," Ryan cut in, his voice somewhat indifferent, if not laced with a bit of suspicion - the Jedi weren't overwhelmingly popular, after all - and seemed poised to leave, "But I think we'll be fine. We've made arrangements for our own security detail."
Chrysanta tried to put on as troubled and distressed an expression as she possible could. "I'm aware, sirs," she frowned and pursed her lips before speaking. "Unfortunately, the situation is a bit more complicated than you may currently know of." Namely that your bodyguards are down, she added in her mind, but you really don't need to know that.
Ryan frowned. "How so?"
Chrysanta appeared uncertain, almost hesitant, as she deliberately looked around, as if looking for eavesdroppers in the crowd of pedestrians around them. Finally, she looked back uncomfortably at the two men. "I'm not very comfortable divulging this kind of information in the open," she said finally, then motioned to a side alley on the streets, one that led to the employee entrance of a shopping mall that was undergoing renovation, "Could you two please come with me for a moment? It's better if I explain somewhere a bit less crowded."
There was some reluctance, much clearer on the older Ryan than the younger Adrian, but her words, as Chrysanta had expected, had caught their attention, and they followed the "Jedi Knight" dutifully into the side alley. She led them further in, about fifteen meters in, before turning right at an intersection; that, she knew, would prevent anyone on the streets who was bored enough to look into a side alley for no reason from seeing what Chrysanta was about to do to them.
No sooner had Ryan and Adrian turned the intersection that Chrysanta was upon them.
Ryan was the suspicious, prepared one, so he had to go first. With lightning fast speed, Chrysanta ignited her lightsaber while swinging at the older man's neck at the same time; at the same time, her other hand pushed out with the Force, and Adrian was suddenly slammed against the wall, clutching at invisible hands wrapped around his neck as he was held up half a meter above ground, pressed against the alley wall, kicking desperately in an attempt to bring himself back down. The blade of Chrysanta's lightsaber connected just perfectly on its ignition with Ryan's neck, the timing in flawless conjunction, and the man's head flew from his neck, bouncing off the wall once before it fell onto the ground with a spin and a bounce, just as the headless corpse also crashed unceremoniously on the cold, dirty alley.
With Ryan taken care of, Chrysanta returned her attention on Adrian, who was still struggling at the invisible claws of the Force around his neck, trying to desperately pry nothing away, struggling to breathe even as he was held up against the air against the alley wall. Her lightsaber slowly raised into the air, the tip of the blade aimed at the chest of the man even as he tried to struggle, kicking futilely in midair.
"M..." he tried to make out, gagging in desperation of trying to say something with no air going in or out of his throat, "M...M-Ma..."
"Please don't hate me," Chrysanta said, her voice devoid of emotion or stress, the lightsaber hovering just inches from his victim's chest, "It's nothing personal. Just a job."
Ryan did not look particular furious or angry; he merely looked distressed, as if trying to reach or call out for something that was beyond what he or Chrysanta had. "M-M..." he mouthed, his voice barely making out the sound, "M-Ma...M-Ma...ri..."
He never managed to get the word out. Chrysanta plunged the lightsaber right through Adrian's vital organs, aiming for the heart in particular. The young man gasped, convulsing once as his body went tense...then limp as he floated lifelessly, held only by the grip around his neck that Force Choke provided. Chrysanta released the Force's hold on him, and he fell down to the ground, his body sliding down the wall before stopping at a slump against the alley wall.
Chrysanta sighed. She didn't like assassinations; it rarely gave her the thrill that she craved, and it pained her to see herself picking on insignificant, vulnerable targets. Still, it was a favor for an old comrade, so she couldn't really complain.
"A-Adrian...?"
Chrysanta whirled around in alarm as she heard the faltering voice of a girl. Even before she managed to lay her eyes on the intruder at the entrance of the alley intersection, though, she realized, with a bit of a lurch of her heart, that she recognized that voice.
With her Force Sight, a young, twenty-year-old pretty Miraluka girl was standing there, trembling, looking at the corpse of Adrian.
With sudden understanding, enlightenment, striking her like a thunderbolt, Chrysanta realized, perhaps a bit too late, that Adrian, the young man she had just killed, was - or had been - Marina's boyfriend that she was supposed to meet here. That Marina must've seen Adrian disappear into an alley, and followed him in curiosity and worry.
And, with that understanding, Chrysanta, was almost instantly struck with a pang of guilt as she suddenly realized what she must do.
Marina, still trembling, seemingly not accepting the fact that Adrian was actually dead, or perhaps only trying to come to terms with it, finally looked up, bringing her Force Sight on bear of the lady who was standing next to the two corpses, ignited lightsaber in hand. "...S-San...?" Marina whispered with a hiccup, her voice high-pitched and laced with disbelief and distress and betrayal. That voice alone - and the utterly devastated look on Marina's face - only compounded Chrysanta's feeling of guilt.
And to think that she's calling me "San" like I asked her to...
Still, Chrysanta didn't falter. Marina prepared to part her lips and draw breath in what would've otherwise been a scream of terror and anguish.
Chrysanta moved faster.
Her natural speed and reflexes were complimented by Force Speed as Chrysanta, within a blink of an eye, was right behind Marina. Concentrating with all her might, using the Force to supplement her willpower she quickly brought her lightsaber up, carefully aimed it right between the shoulder blades, and surgically inserted the bar of plasma into her spinal cord, cutting off all nerve impulses to and from her brain, sparing Marina any pain that would've otherwise been felt from having a lightsaber in one's vital organs, working her way down to the vital organs just to make sure.
Marina was going to die, that was no question. Chrysanta was just being extremely dedicated, extremely careful; a quick, painless death was the least Chrysanta could offer the Miraluka girl as her organs seared and burned, the pain never making it to her head, as the scream was lost in her punctured lungs.
Chrysanta switched off her lightsaber. Marina's corpse crumpled down to the ground.
A long moment of silence prevailed as Chrysanta stood before Marina's body, looking down at it with an unreadable expression. Finally, after that long moment, she knelt down beside the corpse, and, in a shockingly gentle gesture, began to delicately stroke Marina's pale, cold cheeks. She began to redo Marina's hair; it had fallen in disarray when she dropped to the ground, and, for some reason - perhaps sentimental attachment - Chrysanta felt that it was only fitting that - here, deceased next to her equally dead boyfriend, both of them killed by the same person who did Marina's hair - she fix Marina's hair once last time, "pretty her up" before the Force took care of all the rest.
"You're a good girl, Marina," Chrysanta whispered, her voice quiet but surprisingly firm and stable, finishing the final knot on Marina's hair as she did so, tying it together with a hairband, "This is my fault. You don't deserve this. But this is the life I lead. This is my sin. And I can't let anyone get in the way of that..." she pursed her lips, looked away from Marina's face for a moment, then added quietly, "...I'm sorry."
Looking at Marina one last time, Chrysanta's fingers stroked the Miraluka's cheek one last time, her hand lingering on her smooth skin a bit longer than what was necessary...before, steeling her resolve, she finally stood up from beside Marina, and walked quietly out of the alley, leaving nothing but three corpses to eventually be found.
shes not going to be fighting at Knight level at 17. So just get rid of that.