Feriae Junction: Cat and Mouse

[Aran Finn]

Junction City | Feriae Junction​

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@[member="Tallia Farn"]​

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It had been an interesting voyage to say the least. It had been a long time since Aran Finn had experienced an adventure quite like that, and the moving bodies had been a new one. Safe to say, he was happy enough to come to the relative peace and quiet of Feriae Junction. It was an Outer Rim trading world with Hutt links, so peace and quiet was not exactly a literal term, but compared to the voyage and other Outer Rim trading worlds it was a wonderful world filled with sunshine, happiness and cheap bourbon. Speaking of bourbon, Aran had himself a hankering for a drink ... it was not custom for Speakers to drink much, though technically he wasn't actually a Speaker. Though he was pretending to be, but dressing in a way that suggested he was not, which suggested that he was lying about not being a Speaker when he was in fact lying about being a Speaker. See, confusing, that was a good thing when you were playing a part. No one really looked too much into things after the first sign of complication. He was relying on that.

Now the bearded "Speaker" wound his way through an outdoor street market. Clothes, sheets and rugs were the main source of income, though there were a few stalls selling all manner of consumables. There were a few places selling stock that wasn't exactly legal, though Junction never really turned its nose up at that sort of thing. It was an odd mix of smells, sights and sounds, this place ... an Outer Rim trading world to a tee. There were even armed thugs on every street corner sizing everyone up with an sure, jocky sense of misplaced arrogance. Yep, there were those Hutt links that he'd been thinking about earlier. This was the perfect place to lie low. All sorts of scum everywhere. If any authorities actually came to this world, the chances that they would be here for him would be almost non-existent. It was the perfect place to lie low and find the man who could clear his name. The man with his family's blood on his hands. Two months and it hadn't really sunk in yet. Aran Finn knew all manner of pain, and he knew that this should hurt worse than all of the other ills that had befallen him. But it didn't. Not yet, at least.

That's when he sensed it, a glimmer in the Force that told him he was not alone on this world. His Force signature was masked, but that might not be enough. If this Force user in Junction City was a Jedi, and if this Jedi was the Jedi he thought she was, he'd be known on site. A perfect place to lie low indeed ... All he could do was Mask his signature, lie low and not to anything stupid. And be mindful. There was a chance it wasn't her. And there was a chance it wasn't him she was looking for.

Head down, Aran moved off into the crowd. He needed to get out of Junction City before trouble found him with his pants down. Not literally, of course.

 

[Tallia Farn]

A figure cloaked in black, stood silently in the busy marketplace. The teen-aged girl moved slowly, yet deliberately, watching the streets. Tallia sensed her target was close. It would only be a matter of time before she caught up with him. Weeks had passed without a good lead, but she had finally tracked Aran Finn to Feriae Junction, a backwater trading planet owned indirectly by the Hutts. It was an easy environment to blend in and avoid detection, but it also made it harder to find her man. The Republic didn't have an amazing amount of information on him, but they had never had reason to monitor his actions. That all changed when there was a report of multiple murders on Ruusan, all closely linked. There were killings all across the capital, Olmondo. When Jedi investigators searched each site, they found lightsabers on most of the corpses. It was suspected that they were rogue or dark Jedi, but there were other possibilities as well.

In every location, there had been no evidence pertaining to a killer. The victims had been impaled by a lightsaber, but no finger prints or dropped items were found anywhere, except in one case. A woman was found in an apartment, and had been identified as Jedi who had been missing for over twenty years. She had been instantaneously killed by the same blade as the other victims. Fingerprints were found on her body, the fingerprints of the same man Tallia was tracking now.

It was then, as she turned to look at the other side of the marketplace, that Tallia caught her first glimpse of him in person. He didn't appear to see her yet, but he was moving steadily away from her. She began to slowly make her way towards him, weaving her way between carts and stalls, and she was preparing to cut him off in the road.

@[member="Aran Finn"]

 

[Aran Finn]

@[member="Tallia Farn"]​

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So strange ... the Jedi had found him on this god-forsaken rock of all places, and so much sooner than he had expected. She, for he could feel through the Force that she was not male or androgynous, had a strong will and confidence about her. That, but not that alone, had helped her find him. Now she would pursue him. And if she caught him, even if he told her the truth of the matter, she would take him in for questioning. All the way to the Core worlds, most likely. Too far out of his way, and too far away from his life's current purpose. He had no doubt he would be exonerated of his perceived crime, but he doubted that his dark heart would be ignored. Someone who was so full of hate would always be perceived as a danger to the galaxy by the Jedi. They were strong, followed a doctrine of renouncing fear and hate, and yet their actions always spoke of fear and a lack of understanding. He had met Jedi before who had truly understood him, who had that level of empathetic genius that brought them to the point of loving Aran Finn for who he was. They were true Jedi, and they were few. Aran thought he would like to be one if he could, but he couldn't. There was no forgiveness in his heart anymore. It was full of hate. How tragic ... a man who could easily have been the best of the Jedi, and yet life got in the way,and so he was to be hunted by pretenders to the title ... does that seem right to you?

Aran had not seen her yet, but he could feel her presence. She made no effort to disguise it and so he threw his Mask aside, so she could feel his Darkness. How would she react, he wondered? That action alone would put her to the test. To see if she could be reasoned with, or if not, if she had to be taken into the nether, her life force extinguished and her soul to return to the embrace of the Force. Then he moved on, cutting through the crowd. He didn't know Junction City so well as yet, but he knew to trust his instincts. Finn could lose her, he just had to put faith into the idea that the world and its energy would work for him. He was righteous in this case, the Jedi probably no less, but she still remained blind to his true nature. So the Force would work for him. The man ducked through the crowd and cut left at the corner, entering a crowded cantina. It was a day of mass, which meant a day of no work for those with a full-time job. And as was the case on most border worlds, that meant it was a day for drinking, carrying on and good or bad times, depending on the cantina. Time would tell as to which type of cantina this was. Aran took an open seat at a table in the middle of the room ... and then he waited.

 

[Tallia Farn]

.Tallia felt a sudden surge of strong dark-side energy that made her skin crawl. If her target was trying to send a "back off" signal, it wasn't going to work. Whoever this man really was, dark jedi, sith, or just a maligned force-user, he was certainly powerful. She doubted she could bring him in on her own, but she would do her best to collect what information she could for the council. She quickly shed her cloak to reveal a skin tight pilot jumpsuit underneath, complete with a pair of goggles and a red scarf around her neck, a new style that was considered flashy amongst spacers on the rim. She blocked herself from the force, making her now appear to be just another smuggler passing through the system.

She followed her target out to a cantina that was packed, and everyone seemed to be lively and spirited. Tallia sat down in a booth two down from where @[member="Aran Finn"] sat, who was still radiating the dark side of the force. She ordered some alcohol that was weak and fruity, and they didn't ask for identification. Tallia was glad she looked older than she really was. She took a few sips, decided she didn't like the taste, and set it back down on the table. She decided to wait for her target to make thhe first move. She didnt want to fight in the cantina unless she was forced to.

 

[Aran Finn]

@[member="Tallia Farn"]​

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And then her presence in the Force was gone, leaving the bearded darksider blind to her presence. So that was how she reacted, seeking to reverse polarity regarding the situation. Aran could respect that willingness to change tact in her, and so he modified his strategy accordingly. The man, sitting in the middle of the cantina, surveyed the beings that populated the surrounding room. Could he match the aura he remembered to a face? He was looking for a woman, humanoid probably ... a feminine personality ... unfortunately, there were a few people matching that description. So he tried something else. Everyone had an aura in the Force, because the Force flowed through everybody. Some, a tiny percentage, could make use of their higher Force potential but for the majority of the galactic population it merely sustained their essence. As such, Aran would find the woman in this room without any aura at all. She would either be Vong (there were none) or his elusive Jedi. But that was not going to work either. Too many bodies, too many auras in the room. The bearded man was powerful, but not enough to distinguish every single aura in every single being in a crowded room. He would have to try something else.

The seat across from him slid out, seemingly of its own accord. She would sense his use of the Force, and hopefully she would accept it as an initiation of a parlay.

 

[Tallia Farn]

Tallia was more than relived when the chair slid out at @[member="Aran Finn"]'s table. It was good that he was at least open to trying to talk this out. She still didn't let her guard down though. There was a possibility this man had committed a mass murder, she wasn't going to take any unnecessary risks or expose herself and allow him to find a weakness. She fiddled with the controls on her wrist comm and set it to record her conversation. If she didn't walk away from the table, hopefully the local police would still get some information.

She slid out of her booth and walked over to Aran Finn's table. "I am putting a lot on the line for this." She thought nervously to herself as she stopped in front of him and looked him in the eye. Tallia wasn't carrying her lightsaber, but she had a blaster pistol on her hip. She drew it from it's holster and set it down in front of Aran.

"You know, running from a crime looks awfully incriminating." She said while taking a seat. She kept a blank face, but tried to look tough and older than her age of sixteen. "But I'll try to give you the benefit of the doubt if you try to explain."

 

[Aran Finn]

"The very nature of my aura could be considered incriminating.." The older man took his first good look at his pursuer as she sat down across from him. She was young, very young considering her not inconsiderable power. Pretty, determined and capable ... she reminded him of another young girl, gone but not forgotten. The pain welled up at that thought and so he crushed it down into his stomach like a ball of paper. It wouldn't do well to get emotional, not here and not now. Because when he got emotional, the inner rage inside him manifested itself in destructive ways. And that would truly seem incriminating ... it seemed the law had finally caught up to him. But she was here for the wrong reasons, for the wrong crime. A crime he was in no way guilty of. A crime he sought to avenge. So he gazed at the young Jedi Knight calmly, controlling his maelstrom of emotion. He missed his wife, he missed his son and daughter, and he would never get them back. "Especially to a Jedi. Forgive any offence caused, but I have often found Jedi to be closed minded after I reveal the nature of my connection of the Force."

The bearded man sat back for a moment, his brow creased in thought. He was not finished talking, but he found that he needed to take moments to contemplate on his thoughts and words before he continued. Otherwise, who knew what he was likely to say or do? Particularly now, with his mind so unstable. Still in grief, mired in tragedy. He did not lack control, but its hold was ... tenuous.

"I will not be accompanying you back to your Temple, child." He spoke again, his tone deep and in some way soothing. "I have neither the time nor the patience to bear a miscarriage of justice. I do not trust you or your people, but I can assure you that you are chasing the wrong man for the wrong crime."

@[member="Tallia Farn"]

 

[Tallia Farn]

"Then tell me here. Who do you think is behind this, if not you, and why?" She shot back. "We need your testimony as evidence." She ignored that he had called her child. "Your helping the killer by not telling us what you know. Among those killed were a missing Jedi, and we found your fingerprints on her body. Explain that." Tallia crossed her arms. She had put every bit of her Force presence into what she said, cushioning her words and trying to coax the information out of him. The Jedi were completely in the dark with what was going on, and they needed this man's information.

Something dark had been happening in the shadows, and it had backfired on the group of people. The murderer didn't seem to have been acting out of justice though.

@[member="Aran Finn"]

 

[Aran Finn]

Spoiler

Apologies regarding the delay! No more two week waits, I promise!

"That was my wife." The Dark Jedi let that statement settle for a bit. How could he truly explain the situation to the young Jedi Knight? Every part of this story defied all sense of belief. Time lapses, worm holes, spacetime folding onto itself to perpetuate a situation that had climaxed over eight hundred years ago? Not even the man himself would deign to believe that if it came from the lips of another. Besides, he was a darksider. Darksiders were famed for lying, and to be honest with himself, he was no different. His entire existence for eleven years had been an elaborate lie, shrouded in mystery as he worked to influence the galaxy from the shadows. He had even worn a wooden mask to hide his features more often than not. Strider, he had been called, a pseudonym of a pseudonym, arrogant in its obvious untruth. Strider had been feared by those who knew him, but of Aran Finn, or Alen Na'Varro, or even Corran Kallio, no one had known a thing. So who would believe him now? Certainly not a Jedi. If there was anything he had learned from his time living in the galaxy, Jedi were by their nature suspicious and prone to acting in fear. They could not be trusted.

"I am not helping the killer. In fact, it would be to his benefit if I told you where to find him.." He sat back. "I seek justice. No half measures. If you were to bring him back to life, and not destroy him, there is no telling what you would be unleashing on the galaxy. He is stronger than you, Jedi. Perhaps even stronger than me, considering what happened last time we came to blows."

@[member="Tallia Farn"]

 

[Tallia Farn]

(Sorry I'm late )
"Justice? Or revenge? Those are two very different things." She crossed her arms. "I wont pretend to know your wife, but she obviously saw something in you that she admired." She smiled at him sympathetically. "Don't let your personal vendetta cause more destruction than has already been done." Tallia didn't understand everything that @[member="Alen Na'Varro"] was saying, but if what she thought she heard was accurate, she may have stumbled upon something a whole lot bigger than a murder case.

His story seemed to confirm what they had found at the scene of the crime, but that still didn't entirely rule him out either. "Why did any being do this? What could they have possibly gained?" She questioned.

 

[Aran Finn]

"I would ... disagree. In some cases." It was Alen's opinion that at some times, justice and revenge could be married to each other. Intertwined in definitive action, made beautiful by a sense of finality in that action. Revenge, if acted on rationally, could bring justice. If acted on irrationally, it would just serve to exacerbate the problem, and create the need for resulting justice upon the actor. But Alen Na'Varro was a rational man, excepting the times he found himself in one of his deep, powerful rages. Now was not one of those times ... in his life, the Dark Jedi had come to know the difference between the world-weary anger he always carried with him and the uncontrollable fury that surfaced now and again, causing him to acts in ways he regretted. At the moment he was just tired ... tired, angry and searching for finality.

"My wife was a Jedi, once. Eight hundred years ago, one of the Jedi of Yavin VIII. She thought a lot like you when I met her. But she came to see things as I see them, in time ..." Alen absentmindedly fumbled for a cigarette and lit it, taking a draw. Eva had been the best and worst thing that ever happened to him. The best and the worst. In the end, he had realised that her death had been the best thing to happen to both of them. Taking the smoke into his lungs and blowing it into the air, away from @[member="Tallia Farn"]'s direction, he knew how that would sound if he verbalised that thought to the Jedi Knight. Like an admission of guilt ... truly, her death at the hands of his greatest foe had destroyed him. But Eva had been bad for him, and in the end she had been bad for herself. Her death had released her, and him, from something that hadn't made them happy in some time. Life itself ... "I'm sorry ... sometimes I tend to drift ... It's why I spend most of my time alone.."

Alen smiled at the Jedi Knight absently and brought his cigarette back up to his mouth, took another draw, then eyed the cigarette with a fond distaste. Terrible habit, but the memory of his long-lost wife was enough to bring it back up. It soothed him where nothing else would.

"The question is not why he did it, but what kind of man he was. His gain was revenge, but that aim was misguided. Much like the man himself." Alen stood now, eyeing the Jedi Knight. "There's something you should see, half a galaxy away ... Unless you have plans."

The Dark Jedi smiled, and there was a glint of appreciation in his eyes. Even after all this time, the dry humour still surfaced occasionally. It even made him feel like he was part of the galaxy again, however briefly.

 

[Tallia Farn]

Tallia's eye brows raised. By "..came to see things as I see them.." It seemed to be an obvious conclusion that @[member="Alen Na'Varro"]'s wife had gone dark. That didn't settle very well with her considering that she was being haunted by the ancient Jedi's spirit. Haunted wasn't quite the word, but recently the woman's voice wouldn't get out of her head. At first it had only came occasionally at night, and she would dismiss it as a dream. It slowly began to happen more often though, as cryptic details popped into her head. At first she ignored it and continued about her duties, but it had become too much to bear. Something had to be done to put the Jedi's presence to rest. She began to receive the elements of the crime piece by piece, but not all the answers came. That is why the spirit had lead her to Alen, so she could figure out the puzzle. Justice would definitely be served.

Most recently though, the spirit had begun to speak to her more freely, and it seemed to Tallia as if both their essences were conjoining. She would argue back and forth in her head when the spirit would butt into her thoughts. It was very concerning for Tallia and often quite uncomfortable as well. Having to battle for control of one body made her extremely uneasy, though she maintained control for the time being.

She leaned back in her chair and narrowed her eyes. "I still don't trust him. He's probably lying. It's what dark-siders do best." She thought, and sure enough, Eva, the name of the ancient Jedi, spoke up in her head. "Well I do trust him. Besides, without him, your not going to be any closer to righting this wrong." It seemed like revenge to her.

Then Tallia heard herself saying. "Half way across the galaxy huh? Ok, you lead, I follow." Why did she have to get involved in this?