Coruscant: Walk Softly

[Darron Wraith]

"You really think a ship has any bearing on my lightsaber blades going through your chest?"

Darron took another drink of his coffee, while laughing briefly at Ashin's humor. Though they were on two different sides of the fence as far as who they worked for, it seemed they shared the exact same sense of humor. Oh how you would have been a joy to work with if you were part of the Order me and your grandfather served. The Jedi Master took another sip of his coffee before briefly glancing at the man seated in the balcony above them. I"ll look into that later, he thought to himself.

Turning back to Ashin he spoke, "if you want to punt him be my guest. After all he is one of your runts."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin sipped her hot chocolate. "At the moment I'm tempted to punt both of you. It's that kind of a day."

She stood from her chair slowly, and hooked her thumbs into her belt. "Vandin, what I'm hearing from you is remarkably close to lack of faith. And I find your lack of faith...disturbing."

She raised one hand and focused. It was far more difficult to Force Choke a Sith than a normal person, but the differentials in their power helped with that considerably. Her will settled around Vandin, attempting to choke him.

 

[Darth Vandin]

Vandin smiled wryly. He had said that exact sort of thing once before choking someone else.
They seemed to think he was bluffing. He repelled the choke with a blast of the Force to both Ashin and Darron, then ignited his two lightsaber blades. "Queen of the Night, this is Lord Vandin. Fire."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin set her feet and focused, and the Apprentice's blast washed over her like a gale. A long purposeful sidestep put Vandin between her and the window that looked out over the Jedi Temple.

She summoned the Dark Side, and the restaurant shivered with the force of her power. The Republic police and military forces, and the Jedi right next door, were Darron's affair. Ashin's affair was the business of putting this apprentice through the tall building's window.

The Force blast she unleashed turned the entire window to shards like powder, and Vandis was directly in its arc of fire. The blast ripped away the unoccupied window seats around the presumptuous Apprentice and sent them spiralling across the gap to smash into the sloped side of the Jedi Temple.

 

[Zev Stargo]

Zev watched intently as the newcomer used the force to throw the two others to the ground. Well, this was certainly getting interesting. Most of the customers ran scared as soon as sabers came out, but Zev just took a calm stance and strode to the ledge where he proceeded to lean over and watch the action. He watched as the female stood up and unleashed a furry of her own force strength against her opponent. Bringing the cigar up to his mouth, he let another puff of smoke fill his mouth with a rich sweetness unlike any other. He turned to his old friend, who was watching with shock drawn across his face

"Leave, we can't be seen together, you and I." Zev said calmly as he turned back to the scene below with another split second grin "This will be most...entertaining."

 

[Darth Vandin]

Vandin flew through the air, stabilizing himself with the Force high above the street before he hit the Jedi Temple. But now, he had no way to go but down. He fell instantly, slowing his descent with the Force. "Queen of the Night, I ordered you to fire on that restaurant!"

 

[Darron Wraith]

Darron felt something about to happen, and without even thinking the Force flowed through him and he willed himself to stand strong. In his mind, he and the floor became one for just a second as the apprentice's Force push flowed over and around him. When will the darksiders learn that everything doesn't have to be a fight? "Well Ashin, I take my leave to let you deal with this wayward runt of yours. I'm sure you will deal with him accordingly for his lack of manners." The Jedi Master bowed slightly to the Dark Jedi Master and got up and took his leave from the pair that were about to duel in the lower part of the restaurant. Noticing that most of the other's within the establishment had left, the Force showed him one person who hadn't even dared to move yet. In most situations like this, not a soul would remain, yet this man was still here intently watching Ashin and the boy that were about to fight.

Well isn't that just curious...

With that thought in mind, Darron decided to head upstairs and at the edge of the balcony he saw an older man sitting alone. Yes, very curious indeed to be sitting alone watching a fight like this intently. If there was one thing he had learned in all his years of serving the Order it was there was no such thing as accidents, coincidences, or plain blind luck. In his mind's eye he could see his former Master lecturing him on the very subject all those years ago. Even after all these years Master Techu, you're still in my head with those same lessons. The Jedi quickly strode to the table and pulled out a chair and sat down as if he had known the man his whole life, he appeared at ease and he even leaned back in the chair a little. On the inside though, Darron was ready for anything and he was quickly pulling the Force to him should he need to be ready for anything.

For now though, he would keep pleasantries up. "So, mind explaining why you are so interested in what is going on down stairs? Also, mind explaining to a Master of the Council why you keep trying to hide your face...as if your identity shouldn't be known?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin had only moments of prescience in order to react to the turbolaser fire that filled her mind with heat and light. She leaped out the window after Vandin as part of the restaurant disintegrated. Instantly, sirens wailed -- pretty much everywhere -- Dopplering as she fell. She struck the side of the Jedi temple, bent her knees to absorb the impact, and kicked off gently to land on the street beside Vandin.

"I wish you every consequence of your actions, boy," she said, backing away. The sirens became louder. "Enjoy."

 

[Zev Stargo]

Zev watched as the jedi pulled up a chair and lend back, his eyes studying the elderly man intently, yet he seemed to be very calm. He liked that, he didn't mind things getting heated but it was so much simpler when it was nice and conversational.

"So, mind explaining why you are so interested in what is going on down stairs? Also, mind explaining to a Master of the Council why you keep trying to hide your face...as if your identity shouldn't be known?" The Jedi asked in a rather pleasant tone

Zev let out a short chuckle in the back of his throat as he put his cigar in his mouth, holding it between his lips as he reached into his pocket and grabbed another to offer the Jedi "Master of the council?" Zev commented, his voice back to the eerie calmness he was so accustomed to "A very prestigious title, I have no doubt you have earned that pose for your wisdom." Setting the extra cigar on the table for the Jedi if he so chose to take it, Zev blew a series of smoke rings into the masters direction "However, you are incorrect about my intentions Master Jedi. I had no such intent to hide my face, that would be quite difficult for a man in a high caliber of infamy such as myself. I simply was interested in a fight between force-users, it is not everyday that one gets to experience such matters. Unfortunately, this battle was quite uneventful but still intriguing nonetheless." taking another puff of sweet smoke, Zev let a pause hold over the table, savoring the sweet tastes of the luxury Tabac before blowing it into the air like a steam engine

"What i'm more interested in Master Jedi is why you, a member of the Jedi council, is working so close with a Sith who, apparently, is a high point of interest for your intelligence community." Zev just starred down the Jedi, his eyes and voice as calm as ever as the mist of succulent nectar wafted around him.

 

[Darth Vandin]

Vandin hit the ground harder than he should have, hearing the sirens wailing. He heard Ashin say something as she left. "Consequences of my actions? My actions!?" Vandin whirled around to see the Police speeders landing on the walkway. He growled. "This is the problem with the Sith. We all think we're infallible." He sheathed his left blade, then lifted one of the police speeders, piece by piece dismantling it, then blasted them in every direction, slicing through the other speeders and and police that exited them. He didn't originally have a quarrel with anyone, but now there was a Dark Jedi who needed a talking to.

 

[Darron Wraith]

Great...

A flicker of doubt crossed Darron's face as the elderly man had just gone straight to the crux of the issue. "You don't play many games Mr..." Darron let the sentence in the air as he didn't yet presently know the man's name, whoever he was he was as sharp as they came apparently. "Where were my manners? I am Jedi Master Darron Wraith." His senses extended down towards the bar and he wrapped them around two tumblers, and a bottle of fine ale. Slowly they made their way up and landed softly between the two men as they sat there. Taking the initiative, the Jedi opened the bottle and poured them both a drink and for a moment he just stared into the glass considering his next words very carefully.

"I won't try and lie to you because it seems you are an information broker. So in the interest of keeping this quiet you can know why, as my code doesn't permit me to kill you as you have done me no wrong." He paused for a moment as he took a drink of the strong liquor, letting it burn its way down his throat and warm his belly for a moment. It had been years since he had partaken in any kind of beverage not by rule, but by choice. Blue eyes scanned the now demolished window, and he could hear sirens growing nearer to the deserted establishment.

"I was once best friends with that Dark Jedi's grandfather, I was frozen in carbonite for two decades. I awoke, her grandfather is gone from this galaxy, and she has no means of accessing what we call the lightside of the Force. So she has to work for the Sith, there is no choice for her, and in the interest of galactic security we have agreed to not get in each others way and to help each other out should a larger threat like the Vong or the Mandolorians decide to rise up against the innocent peoples of this galaxy." Darron took another drink before steeling his gaze deep into the man's eyes. "So, do you think you can sit on that information? Or will that be a problem?" There was no threat to his words, merely curiosity.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin grimaced as the Apprentice showed off, expending far more power than someone at his level could afford to waste. She continued to take a step back.

"Of course your actions. Everything would have stayed between us if you hadn't ordered a starship to fire turbolasers right next to the Jedi Temple, you idiot."

 

[Zev Stargo]

"It is a pleasure Mr. Wraith, you may now me as Zev Stargo, CEO of Stargo enterprise." Zev had no worries of exposing his publicly used alias, even if the Jedi truly did not know of him at the moment it would not be hard for him to find out later as the Jedi no doubt had reports of his unproven criminal activities. Plus, with the information he now had he could pressure this Jedi into a few things and get the Republic and the Jedi off his tail. His cigar reached the end of it's life and Stargo placed it in the ashtray on the table to let it burn out, with his only afternoon cigar gone he turned his attention to the drink. He took a sip before continuing

"Information is not my business, I am simply a man trying to make his living on spices and public transportation. However, this information is interesting nonetheless." Zev leaned in towards the Jedi, his voice not changing one note from what it was at the birth of the conversation "I have little interest in your motives for dealing with this..dark jedi, is it? Mandolorians, Sith Empire, Jedi, Republic, I have no concern for what damage or benifit your relationship could do to or for any of them. What my concern is, Mr Wraith, is what it is worth to you."

 

[Rosa Gunn]

Rosa dispersed from the group of Padawan's she had returned with. The field trip was not meant to be an action packed event but even she, after years of dealing with politicians talk over the same topic in different ways found the history lesson dull. She caught site of Darron's ship her mood lifting considerably though there was darkness in the air not far from the temple. Moving as fast as she could to her quarter she dropped her bag and changed into casual clothing. She felt more comfortable out and about in Coruscant in causal clothes than the garb of a Jedi. It drew less questions for the former politician.

Once stepping outside the temple she extended her empathy and quickly located her Master, as expected, not far from trouble. using her speed she found the chaos as the two dark siders dropped from the rooftop and watched in horror as he ripped apart the police speeder. With her empathy extended in the bubble it was she felt every inch of their pain, and let out a gasp as she rapidly retreated from the centre of pain and released it from her own mind. She couldn't take on board what wasn't hers. She could not however let him get away with it either, but without a weapon she was powerless.

She looked up, finding Darron more with the force than her eyes and began jumping form balcony to balcony to reach him and his companion, her eyes narrowing when she saw how uncaring he seemed to be about the speeder that had been torn apart. "What's going on?" she asked folding her arms, wondering if he would try to lie to her to cover up his nonchalance.

 

[Darth Vandin]

"You underestimate my powers, Ashin." Said Vandin. He could not see her; that made him nervous. He reignited his curved, silver lightsaber, just to be safe. But she did have a point; the Jedi Temple was right there. If he could change the appearance of what had happened... A transport passed by over head. He reached out with the Force, and crushed the engines, letting the transport fall. Redirecting it, he aimed the transport towards the restaurant.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin continued to step backward.

"There are eyes on us already, and this is the rich part of Coruscant. Do you know how many security cameras are here? For example, in the other police speeders right over there? I seriously doubt you personally destroyed every dashboard cam, or every watchful eye both physical, metaphysical and organic in the Jedi Temple...

"You've made your bed, boy. Lie in it. When I rule the Empire, there will be consequences."

She reached up and channelled the Dark Side of the Force. The falling speeder, its engines sparking, slowed considerably. Steel grated on steel as it slid down the side of the building, but it continued to slow. Her fingers hooked into claws as she carefully brought it down and set it on the ground.

"And you'll understand that, even if it means I have to play the hero for once."

 

[Elara Hulis]

@[member="Darth Vandin"] @[member="Ashin Varanin"]

The dark side clouded the Force on this day. Elara could sense an uneasy unbalance due to it. She felt compelled to exit the Jedi Temple, drawn by the Force (or particularly, the dark side) toward the restaurant where Ashin, Darron, and others had gathered. She had the need to satiate her curiosity by investigating the matter, which would have surely shocked her if she had ever got to the resturant.

Not having gone far at the time, Elara could see from a street, with her Force vision, several blasts from the sky strike the restaurant. Then, she noticed two people fall from the building. Sirens bellowed all around her. She picked up her speed to a sprint toward the building.

Yet, Elara eventually passed by the street that both Darth Vandin and Ashin had landed in. Due to the tremendous size of Coruscant, the distance she had to run was large enough so that considerable time had passed since Vandin and Ashin fell. She had arrived at the moment that Vandin had caused a transport to fall, and then Ashin to safely guide the vehicle to the ground.

Without a doubt, Elara knew through both her Force vision and the sensation that Vandin and Ashin gave thorugh the Force that they were dark side users. Her body tensed up at the moment she made the realization. Even if Vandin and Ashin would not know who she was, her Padawan braid trailing down the left side of her head along with the rest of her red hair would be an obvious sign of her allegiance and rank. She felt that her duty as a Jedi was to stop these two dark siders from causing more destruction, yet all she had as a weapon beyond the Force was a single practice lightsaber clipped to her belt.

Still, Elara knew that sacrifice was a virtue that Jedi had been taught to embrace. She pulled out a small comm-link from a utility pouch on her belt and brought it to her face.

"This is Padawan Hulis," she began as she broadcasted on an emergency frequency for Jedi, "There are two individuals I believe are Sith at my location. They are fighting and causing chaos. Lives are in danger. Requesting assistance."

The comm-link would have also sent the coordinates for her location at the time her message was sent. Elara then pocketing the device and drew her practice saber's hilt. She gripped it tightly in her right hand, turning her head toward it for a moment as if she glanced at it.

With resolve, Elara then rushed toward Vandin, the closest of the two dark siders to her. Once she was withing speaking distance, she stopped and took a stand. Her head faced Vandin. While she wore a headband, Elara would have definitely been giving the Sith Apprentice a stern look.

Wondering what to say, Elara tried to think of the words that a Jedi would use in this situation. It was a new experience for her and she wished to emulate the supposed best of Jedi Masters - perhaps in doing so the dark side users would make the mistake in thinking she had more experience under her belt.

In the end, Elara chose the only words she believed were right for this situation and declared with a resolute voice, "Lay down your weapons and surrender in peace, and your life can be spared!"

 

[Darth Vandin]

Vandin heard the Padawan call him to surrender. "Queen of the Night, bomb this whole street, then leave. I'll find another way off world and meet you on Location X." For once, Vandin's paranoia may have paid off. Only he knew the name of the secret location; all the ship had was coordinates. He turned to the Padawan. "Did you honestly expect a Sith to surrender?"

 

[Darron Wraith]

"Whats the information worth to me Mr. Stargo? Try your life and my ear.."

His voice was nothing but calm as he regarded the man before him, now revealed to be the CEO of Stargo Enterprises. Darron had yet to threaten the man, nor would he begin to, there was no need to at this juncture. He momentarily racked his brain as he tried to remember every intelligence brief that had come across his desk in the past four months since he had returned to the galaxy. He pushed his memory even further as he went down the winding road that was every memory before he had been frozen and now in his mind's eye he could see the name briefly. This man before him owned his own company and was also a career criminal, although he had aged since the last holo Darron had seen of him. Looks like life has been good to someone, he thought as noted how wealthy and in good healthy the elderly man before him appeared.

Darron's eyes once more fell to the tumbler in his hand, his senses briefly fell to the battle going on down below. Ashin, you need to reel in your wayward Sith before I have to get involved. The Council won't allow me to differentiate between you and him, I will have to fight you both. He amplified the thought with the Force and sent it to the Dark Jedi below, allowing it to become corporeal, a message in simpler terms. Their agreement for mutual survival could only work if they stayed far the hell away from each other and right now it was being stressed. It took every ounce of will the Jedi Master had not to throw off his robes and spring into action down on the ground level and do his duty as a Jedi. It wasn't that he was neglecting it, it was that he was trusting Ashin to reel him in, the woman was capable after all.

A ripple in the Force and a beautiful voice he knew all too well shook his reverie, he didn't look to her to address her like he longed to. Instead, he simply nodded and continued eyeing Mr. Stargo. "Mr. Stargo, my Padawan learner, Rosa Mazhar...Rosa, Mr. Stargo. Please Rosa come sit and have a drink with us." Darron quickly poured her a drink as well while trying his best to not look at her with the longing that had become their trademark. Nothing had happened between them besides flirting, but he wasn't about to let that information slip to this man as well. The Jedi was already in a precarious position, he just hoped that deep in his heart Rosa understood why he seemed so cold at the moment. Please, Rosa know I'm not being cold because of anything you did I promise. He once more amplified the thought and hoped she could read it in the Force like they had practiced so many times before.

"So Mr. Stargo, by your life I mean protection from those who would do you harm. I can talk to the Republic about your many outstanding warrants should you try and lay low. Also, by my ear I mean should you be troubled by a mutual enemy, I will make it a priority to help you out." Darron took one last sip of his drink before setting it down, eyes still fixed on Zev. "Also, you should read up on me. I am the Jedi that is sent to fight the monsters that keep the Council up at night. All the Sith, Dark Jedi, and despot Warlords that you hear about going missing? That's me, I'm the one who goes toe to toe with the monsters of this galaxy. I'm sure you would rather have me as an ally, and pass along information I need, rather than as an enemy." Once more there was no threats or tone of hostility, he was just being frank and honest as he had been from the start.
Darron finally looked at Rosa, and in that same detached voice he spoke to her.

"Listen, I have an agreement with that Dark Jedi battling the impetuous Apprentice. Yes, if it escalates I will detain or kill them both. You should know though, that Dark Jedi Master was the one who freed me. Her grandfather was Je'gan Olraen, a dear friend of mine and without either of them I wouldn't be here. Me and Ashin, have an agreement to stay away from each other and aid each other should larger galactic threats arise. I know it's not ideal, but its making the best of a bad decision. I hope you can understand and respect my decision on the matter."

 

[Zev Stargo]

Zev took a final sip of his drink, thinking over the Jedi's proposition with his eyes still intrenched in Darren's. With his same neutral tone he answered "You speak as if you are protecting me, as if I should assist you because you are fighting an evil much greater than I could fathom. While it is a touching story that you and your friend share such a close bond, it does not change my track of thought." Zev leaned in, his voice nonthreatening but his tone trailing off into a dryness "Mr. Wraith, I would not assist you out of some delusion that you keep me guarded from the tyrants of the galaxy. You and the Sith are much alike, you say and maybe even believe you are different...but you are only so in very small ways. The Sith embrace the fact that they are oppressive, they want power and do not attempt to hide that ambition. They make it well known that they will kill and slaughter millions to get what they want and do not make it a question that they are to be feared. The Jedi...your kind...you claim to keep order and peace and claim to be independent from any one government. Yet, you police the laws of the Republic and get involved in disputes where no one has asked for your assistance. You all live like worshiped gods while billions live in poverty and heartbreak and your council does nothing to stop it, but people are blind to this because you hide behind a banner of peace. What you do is not giving freedom, what you do is enforcing oppression" Zev closed in even more, his eyes cold green stones as they gazed at the Jedi "The only thing worse than a tyrant, Mr. Wraith, is a tyrant who will not admit his true intentions...not even to himself."

With that, Zev sat slowly back into his chair and grabbed the cigar he had left on the table for the Jedi. He stuck it in his mouth, disregarding his two cigar rule, and lit it with a lighter from his pocket. Taking a long puff, he blew the smoke into the air "Instead of trying to convince me to help you by trying to find a fear in me" Zev began, his voice back to the stormy calmness "You should be trying to get me to help you by offering something I require, the original proposal was a agreeable start."