Friction

[Cassius Droma]

Chasin City, Commenor

Bars. It was always a bar or cantina. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d met a contact in a place like this, and it always going south. Granted, that was always in the seedier of areas, where blaster marks pocked the wall like it was a decoration. This was a bit more of a higher class establishment. It had slick curves and lines to the interior design, with a large, floor-to-ceiling window that wrapped around the entire area. There was a very sleek, transpirasteel vibe to the whole place.

Cassius sat where he could see the entire bar from where he was, and far enough from the stage where he could hear himself think. Not that the live music was loud – on the contrary, it was a bit of a soothing, jazzy kind of sound, with a band playing instruments he’d never even seen before, and a singer intoning in a language he’d yet to understand.

With a glass of non-alcoholic meiloorun nectar in hand, Cassius waited for his contact, who was absolutely late. He was hoping to get said contact to look at a holo-scan of a statuette he’d recovered from a recent archaeological dig, but at his point, it was starting to look as if they wouldn’t show up. It was disappointing, because it had been a local professor that was apparently familiar with some of the inscriptions he’d sent over.

Granted, a lot of weird things had been happening since he’d been looking into the small statuette from the dig site. A few professors and archaeologists that he knew had either disappeared or cut off all contact with him. One had even recently had a deadly ‘speeder accident’. A dark cloud hanged over this entire thing, which was why Cassius had to get to the bottom of it.

He sighed, scanning the bar again. At least the music was nice, as was the view.

[member="Kelsie Sylvan"]

 

[Kelsie Sylvan]

It was another one of Kelsie's off days. Not even a glimpse from the Force -- it happened sometimes. She'd been thinking about her son, her past... and it made her feel a little sick. Apparently curing said sickness involved drinking copious amounts of alcohol.

In her rather lucid state her presence flicked on and off like a lightbulb, as if blinding any Force users who were nearby. Perhaps it was lucid state that caused her a moment of true clarity -- and her drunkenness faded away. She blinked several times, then studied her surroundings.

A bar, yes, she was at a bar. Last she could remember she'd landed at Commenor and come to a bar. Surprisingly she hadn't been dragged out and thrown out onto the street -- she probably hadn't been out that long. She rubbed her eyes, looked at her glass, and sighed as she noticed it was empty. That sucked... and she'd probably spent far too much credits on Corellian Whiskey. High-end bars always had those slightly higher markups... she hadn't come to look at some nicely-designed transparisteel buildings, she'd come to drink.

There she was, looking awful and yet oddly in her element as she sat at the bar, a slight headache still plaguing her mind -- but she noticed something. She could feel the Force again -- and the Force could feel her. She must've dropped her Taozin amulet somewhere, it was probably on the floor. She found it on the ground a few feet away and picked it up, but then her eyes settled on a blonde man across the room with a bit of a presence about him.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

There had been a woman sitting at the bar since Cassius had gotten here, her presence in the Force flickering in and out, like a fire in danger of being extinguished. She was attractive, but… out of sorts, it seemed. Inebriation would do that to a person. He didn’t think much of it, but did watch with curiosity as she picked up some sort of jewelry off of the floor.

She looked up at him, and he gave her a slight nod, lifting his drink ever so slightly. A sign of recognition, saying that she wasn’t exactly alone in the room. The galaxy was absolutely filled with Force users, but coming across one that you could possibly relate to was still a nice occurrence.

A couple of tall men, muscles apparent even from under their well-fitted suits, walked past the young woman, one even roughly bumping her along the way. The music stopped, and an eerie silence began to fill the air. Glasses clinked back onto tables and the bar – a few patrons began to slowly make their way out. The group of enforcers made a bee line for Cassius, who remained calm in his seated position by the window.

“The statue,” the lead man, a Devaronian, spoke, his hands clasped in front of him, “please relinquish it to us.”

“Don’t have it with me,” Cassius said, his curiosity stoked more than anything. Now he was getting somewhere with this. Someone with some clout – presumably whoever owned this establishment, and had set up the meeting in the first place – was making some moves.

“On your ship, then? We’ll just have to take it.”

The slightly bemused expression on Cassius’s face fell. “Over my dead body.”

“That’s the idea,” the Devaronian nodded to one of his human associates, who quickly pulled out a blaster and leveled it at Cassius’s chest. Before his finger could even slip onto the trigger, a wave of invisible energy pushed him back, sending him reeling.

Not expecting this kind of resistance, the rest of the guards each took a step back, retrieving a myriad of different retractable vibroblade weapons from their jackets. The rest of the bar came to life as well – guards, previously thought to be patrons, had drawn their weapons, too.

[member="Kelsie Sylvan"]

 

[Kelsie Sylvan]

Kelsie blinked, then gave a small nod to him. She was debating going over and striking up a conversation when one bumped into her and she dropped her Taozin amulet again. Her presence flared again, and once they passed she leaned over to pick it up again. As her eyes scanned the room again she felt her senses heighten -- it was like seeing, hearing, smelling for the first time in years. She'd been locked away in herself for so long, and now her power had decided to come out for once.

But it was a bit much -- along with the rising tension in the room Kelsie felt a little bit of panic set in. Her head was throbbing uncontrollably, and every movement by every person in the bar was like it was screaming out at her. She put a hand on her forehead as her breathing rate mounted rapidly, and then...

Breathe.

Did she hear that right?

Kelsie, breathe.

Suddenly her panic subsided and her breathing became regular again. She straightened up and closed her eyes -- all of these 'patrons' had their attention on the other man, so she doubted anyone would notice what she was doing.

Breathe.

In, out, in, out. Her mind drifted -- and she felt her body being guided by the Force.

Kelsie's form flickered for a moment -- there was a rather loud pop of most of the patrons' ears; every one who had drawn a weapon against Cassius found themselves disarmed, aside from the suited-up men just in front of him. Their blasters thunked onto the ground in front of the young woman, and her eyes opened as she realized what she'd just done. She looked at her hands and her face broke into the biggest grin imaginable -- not only did she feel it again, she'd felt someone else step into her shoes for a moment, meaning she had the power of more than just one. Did she ever want to do a little more butt-kicking, but first she'd let the other Force user have his fun. She was already tired after that little stunt, and that was a little inconvenient considering the now unarmed patrons were realizing where all their weapons went.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

Cassius was standing at the ready by now, his hand hovering over the hilt of his lightsaber. There was a moment of tension, the split second where each side waited for the first one to strike… but suddenly, most of the other guards in the bar found themselves weaponless. There was a second of confusion, Cassius included. Then, however, he saw the weaponry lying at the foot of the Force sensitive woman he spotted earlier. He gave her a brief nod again, a small smile on his face.

The smile quickly faded as the first enforcer made their opening move, making an upwards stabbing motion at Cassius’s midsection. Cassius’s green lightsaber blasted to life as the Jedi countered with an upwards swipe, essentially batting the vibroblade away. Another came in with a slice towards his throat, hoping to end the conflict quickly, but Cassius bent at the waist, moving his body around. He sliced at the guard who’d just attacked, the non-lethal setting on his lightsaber ensuring that he left only minor burns and major welts.

Using the Force, Cassius flipped over one of the guards and landed square on his feet facing them, getting himself out of the corner where he’d been sitting. Now, the playing field was a little more open, and he was no longer surrounded, instead having the armed men in front of him.

They all began to attack with hacks, slashes, and stabs, but Cassius and the Force proved too much for them. The young Jedi moved as though perfectly choreographed, his lightsaber going exactly where it needed to in order to either parry or incapacitate. Despite Cassius’s skill, these men and women put up quite a fight – they were well trained. Any group of normal ruffians or scoundrels wouldn’t have stood as long against a Jedi Knight.

Slowly, he began to work his way over to the woman who’d helped by evening the odds, not wanting her assistance to go unanswered.

[member="Kelsie Sylvan"]

 

[Kelsie Sylvan]

Kelsie watched as the Jedi skillfully knocked down enemy after enemy. It was an art form, really. Kelsie was an artist in that sense. It seemed this man was as well. She didn't move all the while, the other patrons too terrified to even attempt to approach her to get their weapons back. The bar had been subdued...

And Kelsie had been too. As the Jedi began to approach her vision began to swim, and she collapsed onto the floor.

That little Force Speed stunt had been more taxing than she'd thought. After all, it'd been far too long since she'd done something of that level with the Force. Even when she'd been training, working hard to develop her skills in the Force, she hadn't been able to move that fast.

It was her mentor.

It made sense -- surely he must've found a way to cheat death all those years ago. Perhaps he'd been waiting... and yet the very thought shook her to the core. Her presence in the Force began to flicker again and she groaned, beginning to struggle to her feet again.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

He continued to bat them away, going on the defensive for a little bit before offering powerful counter attacks. These enforcers were incredibly skilled, but with Force-enhanced reflexes and speed, as well as some well-placed hits, Cassius was gaining the upper hand. Soon enough, the number of unconscious foes in the bar began to pile up. Those that had their weapons taken away by the woman with the quick feet began to merely leave, knowing that it was not worth it to stick around and get battered by a Jedi.

With the last enforcer falling onto the floor, doubled over in pain, the lime-green blade of Cassius’s lightsaber retreated back into the hilt. He took a deep breath – the fight had taken a little more out of him than he thought. Clipping the weapon onto his belt, Cassius looked over to the woman who’d helped him before, and saw that she was lying on the ground, but conscious. Her presence in the Force felt like it had before, strobing in and out, only weaker this time.

Stepping over to her, he knelt down, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, you alright?” he asked. With the physical contact, he began to use his connection to the Force to strengthen hers. “I’ve never seen anyone do that before… whatever you did,” he admitted. Either she moved, or made the weapons move so fast that it was nearly imperceptible.

“We should probably get out of here…” Cassius said, beckoning her towards the exit. “Whoever sent those guys are bound to send more.” Before he did anything else, though, he grabbed the vibroblade of one of the enforcers. It would be useful later.

[member="Kelsie Sylvan"]

 

[Kelsie Sylvan]

By the time the Jedi had reached the young woman, her connection to the Force was once more nonexistent. She muttered something vulgar and slowly pushed herself onto her knees, then got to her feet, holding a hand out to balance on the man if she needed to. After a few deep breaths she was fully aware again, her gaze once more sweeping the room to assess what she'd really done.

It'd really, really been a while.

She took another deep breath and nodded affirmatively to the Jedi, giving a shrug to his next comment. "You're a Force user, aren't you? I'm sure you've seen people much more powerful than me," she said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she prepared her body to start moving again. Her muscles already felt tired. It was an odd feeling... she wondered if her mentor often felt this way, or how long it'd taken him to get used to it.

"Yeah. Uh, sorry for interfering and all," she said as she started towards the exit of the bar.

[member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

He placed a comforting hand on the woman’s shoulder as she recovered before taking a small step back to give her some space. “I’m a Jedi, yeah,” he nodded. “Don’t sell yourself short, though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do… exactly what it is you did.” Had she moved, or did she will the weapons to her at such a speed that it was imperceptible to the humanoid eye? Whatever the case, it had been a big help.

As the two of them started for the door, the woman apologized for her part in the conflict. “Are you kidding me?” he asked. “If it weren’t for you, I’d have couple of more orifices than a normal humanoid should have.” He walked along beside her, exiting the establishment. He kept his head on a swivel – whoever owned the bar could have had surveillance, and the authorities could well be on their way… or perhaps, more goons would be on their way.

Subconsciously, he thought about the holographic scan of the little statuette that the men had wanted. Even that would be valuable information to whoever this enemy was – as such, he needed to make sure he didn’t get it. The vibroblade would certainly help in figuring out just who these people were. For now, though…

“Listen, do you need any medical attention or anything? Whatever you did back there seemed to take a lot out of you.”

[member="Kelsie Sylvan"]

 

[Kelsie Sylvan]

"Force speed," she explained. "I let the Force guide my actions." She was relatively sure it was called that... but she didn't really remember. Kelsie wasn't too keen on sticking around anymore -- this man was a Jedi and she didn't exactly like Jedi. Perhaps they'd changed, but Kelsie wouldn't know, she'd avoided reading about anything to do with them since she'd arrived in this place.

Kelsie chuckled softly at his comment, keeping a half step ahead of him as she left the bar. Her mind wasn't as sharp as it normally was -- where Cassius was being attentive and aware, she was falling deeper and deeper into her thoughts. It had been so long, and in those moments she'd felt so alive... but it wasn't the same now. "Yeah, good thing," she muttered.

She had no goal here now, whatever the Jedi wanted to do he could do. "I... I just need to rest." She took a deep breath, then looked around, finding her bearings and beginning to head towards the spaceport. "I need to get to my ship."

[member="Cassius Droma"]