Blood Needs to Trickle [Invite Only]

[Scherezade deWinter]

Wearing: Armor | Leather Pants | Honey Boo Prototype Combat Boots | The Forgemaster's Ring | Ring of Stasis
Wielding: 10 Czerka knives, Fire and Smoke (lightsabers), 4 Glitter Bullets

Nar Shaddaa. A desolate place of flashy lights, sweaty bodies, and a good amount of people who wouldn't give a krak's butt if they found a body on the streets. People came here to gamble, to drink, to do the horizontal mambo (usually vertically in public restrooms), and to do other sorts of nasty things. The air was littered with the odor of creatures human and not, many of which were in dire need of deodorant, almost all of which filling up positions that could be easily titled as "galaxy's filth".

And for the first time in her short life, Madalena was loving it.

Things had been too careful lately. All the fights, all the missions, all of it too… Too calculated, too neat. It was almost too sterile of an environment. She needed something dirty and gritty, and she needed it before she lost her mind. The rules were sort of strict though. Training sessions didn't count, she wasn't allowed to randomly kill people in Confederate space, Josh wouldn't forgive her if she broke the allies' treaties because she was bored so the Silvers were out of the question too, and Tatooine involved too much sand that ended up in the wrong cavities.

So Nar Shaddaa it was.

The Sithling was armed to the teeth as she entered one of the lower level's night clubs, the music pounding in her ears. Her emerald eyes offered a glow in the dim light, and she looked around. A place like this? Someone was bound to give her good enough of a reason to later be able to say "but sir, I'm not the one who started it" while she batted her eyelashes.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Getting onto Nar Shaddaa was always a treat. Coren had a bit of a past on this world. Before he was Jedi Master he had worked on exploring his past, and his father’s life. That had him going around Hutt space and flying his freighter between so many worlds, moons, and organizations. Getting back to Nar Shaddaa today though had the man on some official business. Jedi business as it were. But with the shattering of the Galactic Alliance, the Merchant Fleet had been tossed asunder and many of the pilots started going back to their old tasks. And that meant trying to scare them up again.

Looking nothing like a Jedi Master ever had a chance to look, Starchaser was making his way into some of the more seedier aspects, knowing just how easy it was to spend money, or swindle money from these establishments. Leather jacket, jeans, and a black Henley really made up his outfit, a pistol on his hip, another under his jacket, at his chest, and his lightsaber in a sling on his right, under his jacket still. The jacket wasn’t too special, just a little light imbuement to give him some blaster and kinetic protection.

Making his way up to the bar, he knew that there was one of the Rodian pilots in here. He saw him but knew there was something else here, something a bit darker that he was going to have to watch out for. But he couldn’tpinpoint it. So many bodies in a place like this. He waited for the drink to arrive, tapping the table with his credit chip.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Something darker was there indeed. Madalena moved among the crowds, the amount of flexibility her armor gave her making it more than easy to move her body in a way that moved fluently with the crowds rather than against them. The music coursed through her body, and more than once she found herself leaning momentarily against another patron, her form moving along with his or hers until she slowly made her way to the bar as well.

The smile displayed on her face was sweet and soft, and she motioned for the bartender to come to her. The people who were nearby ceased their shoving in their attempt to get to him first and she smiled kindly as she neared her head to him, whispering her order in his ear, knowing that despite the loud music, he heard every single word.

Turning around, Madalena leaned with her back against the bar, the smile of a predator now decorating her face. She wanted to hunt. It was just going to be a matter of time before someone worth of chasing entered her field of vision.


[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Jedi were being law keepers and balancers of the galaxy. Coren was a soldier, but he had his start as a Sentinel, and still would remind any Jedi he met that he was such. He knew how to chase down the criminals in the galaxy, and those areas of the galaxy that fed darkness, that showed the galaxy it wasn’t as safe as they thought. He knew what he was, and that was a crusader, and a Jedi watchman, keeping the galaxy safe. This world? The smuggler moon didn’t have any bulletins out that concerned him, and he was here for gathering more help for the Alliance.

Starchaser was sitting at the bar, and he could feel the Force, around the bar, and around the newcomer. Eyeing the woman up from where he sat, he sipped his Corellian whiskey and looking around a few more moments. No Rodians yet. But the dark side was here. And if he wasn’t going to appear, there was a problem with keeping Coren from egging on the other.

As she turned to survey the bar, he spoke without looking up. “After someone, huh?”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Her eyes had been going over the crowd, desperately searching for someone to give her a reason to show them what the pointy end of a knife felt like when it was lodged between two ribs. So far though, it was a huge disappointment. The galaxy was usually filled with scum that deserved to be injured like that and more, and who’d have thunk that this rando’ club on Nar Shaddaa would be so… So… clean! It was mind boggling.

Madalena turned around to grab another glass of water when someone spoke to her.

Emerald eyes snapped to look at the person, her senses jumping to attention that up until then had been focused on the crowd rather than on the bar. It wasn’t too hard to know he was a Jedi; after all, he wasn’t trying to hide it in any way. Other Sithlings might have had a bad reaction to that, but not Madalena. One of her best friends was a Jedi. In her min there was no reason for light and dark to fight unless one side was being really stupid.

She offered the man a wide grin. “After something,” she explained, “but this place is filled with too many goodie two-shoes. I've surveyed so many of them and not even one here so far is thinking about putting their hands where they don't belong.”


[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The woman nearby to him at the bar was definitely an odd one. He knew that she was not who he was looking for, but the Paladin of Light did get the feeling this one was more than he felt she would be. Leather clad people always seemed to be a bit darker, but this girl was just dripping dark side power. And she was here, looking for people? Without a word to her, he shrugged for a moment, sipping and finishing his drink off.

He wasn’t good at covering his tracks in the Force. He just kind of bled the light side into the ether. Even in space, Coren’s favorite arena, was he sending off the light side to anyone who was remotely looking. Still, he let her speak and gave a listen.

“And you’re looking for that because…?” He took a sip of the water that was delivered, before surveying the dance floor. “Probably because they haven’t seen you in action. Or they haven’t cared to look enough at your intention. Anyone on this damned world is a roughneck, but its still an early hour.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“Isn’t it always late at night on Nar Shaddaa?” Madalena asked back with a grin. Water. Water would be good. She signaled to the bartender to bring her some of that. Alcohol was bad, or at least, bad enough that she didn’t touch the stuff these days. T had been a promise she’d made to herself almost two months ago after a bad night had ended in memory gaps. She relied on her brain functioning too much to let that happen again.

“I’m looking for that because it’s a great way to get into a fight without getting into trouble with superiors later on,” she admitted openly. They were both Force Users and she saw no reason to hide what she was after. There were enough instances in which even Jedi permitted bloodshed.

She nodded to the bartender as he brought her the water, sipping from the straw and emptying it within seconds. She licked her upper lip and looked at the Jedi again. Now that she was more focusing on him, he seemed to stick out to her like a sore thumb, though there was nothing about his external appearance to set that off. “The Hutts also deserve a small vacation from me,” she laughed, and almost told him about her Hutt Breeding Program. Almost.


[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

“Suppose it is, depending where you’re standing.” It was like that thing he learned in the holo. It may have been a cheesy flick about bootlegging, but there was that discussion of points of view. Could be smart on one world, dumb on another, could be a world of eternal night life, or a world of chastity. But Nar Shaddaa was a smugglers moon, a world of crime and vice and excess. If the dark sider before him was looking for a fight, this would be where it could occur.

Shaking his head, he looked her over. Not a bad looker, too bad she was seeping dark side energy. And y’know, Romi was around. “Pretty sure there are clubs where you can enter yourself into a fight, hell, earn credits too.” Underhanded, as a Force user, but he wasn’t going to be trying to discuss semantics with someone like her. Rough and stereotyping? You bet.

“Hutts, huh? So part of the fight circuit already?” The Jedi had considered it, but fighting in that? It didn’t help anyone, and the droids at the various temples were more than a match at the right setting. But if he wanted to use the Force and have it used against him? That meant partners. But still, he needed to not forget why he was here.

Though this woman had his attention.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“No,” she laughed, “last time I did that I ended up being chased half a galaxy by Trandoshians who wanted to settle a blood debt because apparently using the Force to kill their ugly butt female was considered cheating.” She gave the Lightsider one of her most charming smiles, pretending an innocent exterior.

Not to mention that if she got into an illegal pit and word got back to the Knights Obsidian, it might color her record in ways that she did not want it to, and that was a bad thing considering she was on a very direct path to a much desired promotion. She had thought it would be at last a year before she got there, but then after only a month and a half, an offer had been made and… Well, the rest would soon enough be history, if she didn’t ruin it.

“And another no,” Madalena laughed again, “they took something that was mine and tried to turn me into one of their dancing girls. So I showed them how to really dance. It was grand.”

Turning now to face him on fully, Madalena tossed a lock of hair behind her shoulder. “So as you can see, mister Jedi,” she said, “I’m a model citizen.”


[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Once he thought he had this woman figured out, she’d come from around the corner and completely throw him off his guard. Shaking his head, the man was doing his best to pay attention. “So, you want a fight, but only on your terms.” He smirked, as he understood not wanting to be chased to the edge of the galaxy by some pirates and hunters. “And not using the Force does make these fights a bit more… interesting. I can see why spectators might be against it.” Not that Coren was going to go to that level. If he was in a fight, he was going to use all that he had.

He had no clue where this woman was really working for, he thought Confederacy, but that was just a matter of having seen her around a few places where CIS reps were.

“Model something, that’s for sure. And I mean, you can’t be all that bad, not picking fights with someone who hasn’t deserved it. Teacher is loose on what they’re telling you, huh?”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“Fighting on your own terms is always the best way to fight,” Madalena laughed, “don’t they teach you at Jedi School that this way the odds are in your favor?”

The bit about the pit fights had come out wrong though. “Not really,” she tried to explain, “see, you can use whatever you want in the illegal pits. But if some buttholes decide that they don’t like what you did, there’s nothing official like that can protect you when they come after you after the fight.” That was really the only reason they’d gone after her at all. And since the fight had been illegal to begin with, there was no option of involving anything official to help with resolving the situation. So Madalena had just killed them all. It was good practice for her anyway.

The compliment had not gone over her head, but for now, Madalena elected to let it go by anyway. Instead, she simply offered mister Jedi another one of her smiles. “I’m the best when I’m bad, mister,” she purred at him before taking another sip from her drink.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

“Jedi fight to protect. We’re a wall to the galaxy against the dark side.” The man nodded. He knew that certain aspects of Jedi dogma were not what people needed to hear. But the New Jedi Order had created an adjustment to this discussion. Jedi defended those who couldn’t defend themselves, and that meant taking the hard fights. The ones not on his turf. If he wans’t there to defend someone, he wasn’t going to dive in.

Unless it was to slow the dark side.

Or hit them when they were obvious and weak.

Today, though, it was a discussion of dogma and approaches. The man looked at the woman and nodded. “I bet you are. That’s how everyone thinks. But your best isn’t always when you’re bad. I’ve been there.” He had seen the dark side for nearly as long as he’d seen the light.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena rolled her eyes hard. There were reasons that she disliked a lot of "Darksiders" and "Lightsiders" and that pure belief in stupid dogmas was top reason. Any side that set out to stop or eliminate the other one was doomed to fail in advance, and she couldn't understand why thousands of years later, both sides seemed to still try to do the same and expect different results.

It was a good thing too that the Jedi next to her didn't mention that whole turf thing. Madalena rarely fought on her own turf. Her way of defending it included expanding the borders to keep potential invaders far away. Not since the flattening of Coruscant had a home of hers been in any danger, direct or indirect.

"Oh, I disagree," Madalena said with a snug smile as she looked over mister Jedi, "the pirates we had to fight who couldn't because someone contaminated their drinking supply and locked the doors to the bathroom certainly didn't think so either when they couldn't fight Confederacy troops because they were literally poodoo'ing their pants with hot brown liquids."

She was practically beaming as she spoke of one of the earliest highlights in her career as a saboteur. With a careless shrug, she offered mister Jedi her arm, "I'm Madalena."

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

There was a lot of work to be done in this galaxy. And for Coren, calling himself a representative of the light side. He was, after all a Jedi Master. Maybe his life wasn’t the most romantic story of the Force. From the dark, slowly making his way back to fighting for the good, dropping his emotions and destructive tendencies, and becoming someone who worked to protect others. Barriers and the light, the power of this side was different, but no less effective.

He knew that in order to hold ground, the Jedi needed to be able to fight, and the Galactic Alliance had been able to do that. The military and the Jedi Marshalls knew what was at stake and how to enforce the peace with help from each world. It was what they had done, and then it was a matter of helping those who wanted to fight for it. Inspiring and taking on the other ones waving lightsabers.

“You, dear, bring about the absolute best bar talk.” He took another drink and looked around. Military tactics and just the fact that he’d never fight a soldier in distress was one thing. “So, Confederates accepted surrender, right?”

Madalena… He didn’t recognize that from when he was in discussions with the Confederacy. Not that he paid attention to many of the names, but with the CIS taking in Alliance refugees? He needed to make sure his people were cared for. “Name’s Coren.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena gave a little bounce as the Jedi said she brought out the absolute best bar talk. She was good at what she did; applying chaos while fighting her enemies was what she did best. The liquid poodoo was just one example among many that she could offer, but she'd learned long enough ago that it was the one that tended to impress people the most. Well, either impress or send them laughing until their own bowels started to hurt, but she'd take either of them.

"The Confederacy did," she said with a sigh. She had gone directly against orders after that and killed some of their leaders but… Nah, the Jedi didn't need to know about that. She'd been younger, much less experienced, and had given into her rage. T was b luck that no one actually punished her for what she'd done after the pirates surrendered.

"Heya Coren," she grinned from ear to ear, and ordered another drink as well. Again, one without alcohol. "So what's a Jedi looking for in a place like this?"


[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Was it meant to be a compliment? Only a little bit. The Jedi was more just pointing out a flaw in the way she handled decent, public conversation. It didn’t matter too much though. He was merely making an observation. What he needed to do was probably be a bit more straight forward. And while he could sense the darkness, there wasn’t much he could do about it at the moment. A crowded bar, and she wasn’t exactly striking at anyone. He was the wall, and he’d be there to prevent the violence, but without the mentioned violence? Where was he?

At least the CIS wasn’t in the business of killing people who surrendered, or at least not at that junction. Who knew when this was? “Guess the government isn’t a total loss.” Truth be told, he didn’t mind how the CIS ran their worlds, what he was against, though, was their use of dark siders in the controlling interests.

“A pleasure.” He smirked. “And in this place? A drink. And a contact. But it seems something has chased him into a rabbit hole again. He’ll pop up in a few weeks. But without any location to be at tomorrow, this felt as good a place as any to post up.” And observe.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"Our government is bloody awesome," Madalena said and stuck her tongue out at the Jedi. Playful, bubbly, chaotic. She wasn't one to be all dark and sister and oooh look at me darkside mwha ha ha ha. By the Force, pink was her favorite color.

"Boo on your contact," she sympathized before shrugging. Turning around, Madalena leaned against the bar and extended her back in a mini-stretch, drawing attention from some of the surrounding people. She grinned at them all, but did not invite any of them to get any closer, her powers working subtly yet quickly, checking minds and thoughts.

And getting disappointed.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get over the fact that there's not a single mind here thinking about doing things that are wrong," she took them back to the previous subject, "at this rate I really am going to have to go look for a fighting pit."

Emptying her drink, glowing emerald eyes turned to look at the Jedi again. "Do you dance?"

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Starchaser was always happy to be around somewhere that he could be doing some good. But here? He was waiting for his contact and the bar was a bit more relaxed than they were typically on this world. But he could handle this for now. But for the talk on governments? Coren looked at the woman and shrugged. “Y’all ain’t so bad. Helped the Alliance out of a hard spot.” He grinned as he took another grin at her.

She was something different, wasn’t she? Dark and… full of chaos.

But who knew how that’d end up going. He shrugged. “Not my doing. I am not one who can control that sort of thing.” Hough some Jedi just moved with an air of calm around them. Coren was a Watchman and a battle-master in training. He took the fight wherever he found it, so long as he was fighting for the right side.

Then she approached with a question he wasn’t ready for. “Dancing? I’m not opposed.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"We ain't bad at all," she replied with a grin. Well, some people probably thought they were. Like that silly empire that no longer exited, "we're just very efficient."

She noticed the surprise she'd taken off of him when she offered the dance. Still, he accepted in a silly awkward crooked way. Madalena couldn't help but wonder if it was a Jedi thing, not to be able to just say yes, let's dance. Certainly, all those that she knew behaved that way. It was so silly.

"Come on," she said as she laughed and took his hand, leading them both to the dance floor. The music was hot so there would be very little slow movement, but still Madalena danced, her hips going with the rhythm. At least this way the Jedi had no reason to press against her and realize just how many knives she was carrying beneath her clothes.

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Not all bad? That’d remain to be seen. He’s seen what people who follow the Sith could accomplish, and from his first hand accounts? It was all pretty terrible. But he wasn’t going to quite be saying that aloud right now. Not quite. There might still be some use for this woman before him. Getting the attention to her, and being around her may prove useful.

Coren wasn’t always a Jedi, and even as a Jedi he wasn’t opposed to a few moments of fun. Well, y’know with Romi, but today? He was on Nar Shaddaa and what was a dance going to ruin. He wasn’t a monk-Jedi, that was for sure, never had been, didn’t think he could ever be. But dealing with this woman? He knew he’d be coming across almost as a prude.

When she grabbed at his hand, he finished his drink before allowing himself to be dragged out there. Taking a second, the man was going to kind of throw the awkward card into high gear. He didn’t know this woman, and well, was entertaining himself for the evening. Slowly finding rhythm, his eyes were tracking the entire gathering. “Finding anyone looking to start a fight?”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]