Fateful Encounter

[Josh Dragovalor]

[member="Lirka Ka"]

A cantina on Nar Shadda was the last place that Josh would like to find himself, but here he was. He had been here trailing someone, who had escaped to try to hide in the crowds of Nar Shadda. He had managed to catch them, and had them placed under arrest. So why was he here? Honestly, he was just waiting for his ship to be re-fueled. With a hood up, his Force signature hidden, and a drink in hand, Josh kept his head low as he watched the patrons in the cantina drink, make merry, argue and... Well... Make merry.

Though he could admit he felt a little uneasy. Not because of Nar Shadda itself, but because he had the feeling that something was coming.

 

[Lirka Ka]

Lirka never hid her signature in the force, well that was simply because she couldn't effectively. Not without those drugs she had been given as a child, but she hadn't touched those things in well over 80 years. Of course, even with just being a small beacon of force energy among the crowd, she simply stood out. Quite tall and clad in her somewhat bulky but regardless highly distinctive armor she stepped inside.

Lirka only ever came to Nar Shadda for work, she hated the place. Hated Nal Hutta too, so it all worked well when mixed. Moving her way along without a word, merely a few venomous glances at patrons who looked at her too much. Eventually going to the bounties and nestling her way in, it was almost funny to look at her. It was hard to tell just what she even was when in full plate, even mistakable for an advanced droid. Every single physical feature was hidden away within the suit.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He could sense her, the presence of a Force user. It was curious, on Nar Shadda, those generally attracted attention, either from being sensed, or because they used their powers. And the attention attracted was generally not very good on Nar Shadda. The people on this planet were wary of Force users, Jedi especially.

For Josh, he would turn his head from within his cloak to look toward the woman checking out the bounties... Curious of her intentions.

(Ha! You have 69 posts!)

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

Lirka could, for what little it was worth, hope with him for some actual intentions that were worth attention. But, that was not quite the case. It was basic work at best, she was no Boba Fett of the era or any Bounty Hunter who had gained much notoriety. Truly, all she was doing was browsing away at the bounties. Mainly those that had a nice price on the “kill” option. She was always the best at those.

She could sense the man too, her erratic and untrained five powers could do something like that with relative ease. It made her tense up, she never trusted the cultists of the Galaxy. Too many trying to reach out and use her abilities, her “gift”.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

In trying to sense the other, it seemed he had outed himself. He could sense that from her, seeing as she was untrained. From under the cloak, he would peer over, and the woman would be able to see a playful smirk cross his lips as he stuck his tongue out at her lightly, just a little tease for the road. With that, he returned to his drink once he had finished de-toxing it from the usual babble they put in this stuff. What was this, Zeltros?

He had come seeking information while waiting for his ship preparation, but thus far... Nothing.

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

That was....unwise. Lirka was a hot-tempered pit-fighter at heart now, no longer some polite little princess like she had been in her youth. And one like her didn't take quite so kindly to being teased by some random strange in a lowly little scumdump like Nar Shadda. A reputation to uphold. Like half a blur she spun on her heels, approaching the man with an obvious air of quite great displeasure.

"You got something you wanna say, little punk?"

She could've used much more flowery insults, but not yet. Of course, with insults she also could've throw out one of those metal fists. She'd hurt they hit like an angry Gundark.

 

[Lirka Ka]

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He wasn't surprised that it had set her off. Most people who generally came to Nar Shadda had short fuses. So he watched as the woman approached like a little ball of fire, his expression not changing even as she spoke. Instead, he would stand to his full 6'5 height, and greet her with a warm smile. Of course his response might be something that one may not expect in this situation.

"Hi!"

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

What came from Lirka was just a scoff, she was far from intimidated even if he was a bit taller than her. Size matters not, as they say. Of course, Lirka was clad in thick armor plating and her heavily masking helmet. When she spoke it had that hardy muffle of technobabble that distorted her still notable accent.

“Don’t play funny with me.”

He was absolutely right in his assumption on the short fuses of the Nar Shadda population. Lirka was a special case in that regard, her limited but present Dark Side Powers fed off that short fuse and the anger it so readily gave off.

 

[Lirka Ka]

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"Funny? Me? Noooo. Never!"

Josh only seemed amused by her remarks, as if she were trying to be threatening. Not that he was dismissing her as a threat, but he also wasn't too worried either. He doubted she would try to start a fight in the confines of a cantina where there was way too much attention. Speaking of attention, his attention would be caught by a shouting match that had been started over... Something. He was pretty sure it was over the sale of slaves, something that made him frown.

"Is Mr. Grumpy over in the corner yours? It sounds like he could use your company" He joked.

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

Well. He was asking for it. And Lirka has a reputation to uphold, she was a pit-fighter and pit-fighters took nothing.

With a burst of force speed her fist flew out towards the man, her usual sucker punch was the plan. Using her already quite impressive base strength and the heavy metal of her gauntlet to make sure she had a nice and hardy punch. She didn't plan for a full brawl with the man, but just a good hit to show dominance.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Expecting it, the Jedi would raise a hand. Two precisely moved fingers would clasp against her fist in the right places, stopping her in her tracks. He would stare at her then, as he would appraise her, looking her up and down. Well, wasn't she the generic Nar Shadda sort? "It's kind of sad that I expected that" He would admit with a light smile. "Good punch though" He spoke as he would shove her hand back a bit, not too roughly but enough.

"Feel free to come sit down, we'll have a few drinks and you can tell me what you're doing here."

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

Lirka snarled for a few moments, before actually sitting herself down. It was rare to find people who could block a punch like that, he had peeked her interest. For better or wose.

"You have quite the mouth on you, kid."

Lirka had her own strange way of adding venom to her words, she used "kid" as an insult. Degrade the human for his age, nothing said she didn't keep a chip on her shoulder.

"You seem pretty smart, yeah? I think you know why I'm here."

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"Odds are I'm older than you think. Maybe even older than you are" He teased back, smirking lightly under his hood. He knew she was insulting him, he could tell. But he didn't let it bother him. It was typical trash from the usual suspects on Nar Shadda.

"The bounty board, I saw. I suppose you're satisfied with your lot in life, killing for thrills and credits?" He teased back. "Must be fairly stress-free though, only having to care about yourself."

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

"127, and you?"

Truth be told, Lirka wouldn't have minded meeting someone her age. It was strange talking with the usual young ones, she had outlived practically a whole generation of humanity. Of course, she barely looked it. Maybe in her early to mid thirties at best, such were the joys of being a Sephi.

"You can cut the passive aggressive questions. I did the whole "caring about others" thing before."

She might as well play with it, he was one of the cultists. A few good looks at him gave her that, and that accursed attitude."

"-it becomes short lived once you reach about 80."

Age had made Lirka extra unpleasant, a fine mix with the Dark Side, and her occupations to make the "lovely" woman before him.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He chuckled lightly. "Alright, you win on that count."

He didn't seem stunned by it. He'd met plenty of people that age and older. It wasn't a new thing for him. Though he smiled a bit when she would immediately tell him to cut the "passive aggressiveness".

"You set the tone, darling. I'm just following it."

Though she said that it became "short-lived" after 80. Interesting.

"And how does it become short-lived exactly, if you'll indulge my curiosity?"

A genuine question. No harm meant here.

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

“If I’m not to be shot or stabbed to death I shall live around 400 to 500 years old, the vast majority of races within the Galaxy barely make it to a 100 and beyond. I will outlived the vast majority of people I meet, there is no need to grow attached, nor a need to get connected to them. So, why bother caring?”

Was this some deep seated dislike of her own species coming out? No, it wasn’t. It was a cold cynicism and something Lirka had learned, it made some sense, 80 was a ripe age and near that last stretch of life for many races. Lirka simply gave up caring during those times.

Was around the time she took out Bounty Hunting too.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"Hmm, well... By my race, combined with light side force sensitivity, and a weird case of just strange genetics... I could probably live to 150. 200 if I don't die in battle" He joked with a cheeky grin, a little playful confidence on his part. It was a rough approximation. He didn't know for sure how long he would live. "There are ways to extend life though, seen people do it. Just have to wonder if it's worth whatever the cost might be."

He shrugged his shoulders. "The question is... I mean, yeah, those people will die eventually, that's just life... But why take away that capacity to care? Sure, you'll outlive them, but... Are you really living if you're taking parts of said life away?" Josh would ask, curious about her perspective. "It sounds more like you're just surviving.

And besides... Just because it won't be forever doesn't mean it's not worth caring about."

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

"If biologically incapable, the benefits of trying to forcibly extend your life are far smaller than the many negatives that come with it."

She held a fairly strong opinion that trying to copy the long lived races was a poor idea, there wasn't much of anything good to come from it. Their bodies would be ravaged with age and they can experience the tiny hells that formed over a century for those that lived long enough.

"Why stop caring? Because I know how the story ends. The rest is just filler, happy nothingness that fades to time. I'm just a realist...you don't strike me as someone who's lived in the Underworld much. I recommend a few decades, it teaches you something."

Lirka took in another pause, bemusing one more final bit.

"Of course I'm trying to survive. Who isn't, except those corporate dotkohu?"

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]