I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure

[Taeli Raaf]

"Excited to begin?" Taeli asked, bringing the ship into a landing. "Now remember, we are here as just students from Lorrd working on a project for our professors about the history of the planet. We must strive not to do anything to arouse suspicions towards us."

This journey was going have to be handled very carefully so no one actually realized why they were in the system. Awkward questions might arise if word reached the local authorities that someone was investigating two Sith Lords from the distant past that had lived on the planet at one time.

"In that regard," she continued, handing her apprentice a concealed comlink and untraceable credits that would have no links to either of them, "we are going to split up for a time. The capital is known to have a rich bazaar like market, along with a penchant for information brokers. We will use that to our advantage, keep the comlink open at all times though and keep your Force presence suppressed just in case."

Getting up, she focused on her own seed until her Force presence had shrunk to almost nothing. It would require constant concentration to maintain this, but if it would make sure they avoided any observes looking for Force users, they would do so.

[member="Sophie Gustav"]

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Hearing her master explain their motive and their reasons for splinting up Sophie nodding in understand. She knew that something like this would mean needing to stay out of contact for a while, but at least she'd been giving a comm link, which she instantly up in her ear, and credits to use. When she was set she looked towards the general area where the bizzare might be, nodding again as she understood. As they began to walk off again Sophie concentrated on her Vong seed, supressing her force presence as low as possible while keeing her mind open to what she needed to do. Eventually, when she split away from [member="Darth Arcanix"] she began to browse set bizzare and tried seeing if there was anyone around who looked as if they would have what they were seeking.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Moving through the bazaar in an opposite direction from her apprentice, she allowed herself to be swallowed up by the bustling crowd. Snatches of conversation flowed all around her, and several security officers patrolled the area, the insignia of one of the Mandalorian clans on their uniforms. They weren't armored, but she suspected real Mandalorian commandos could be deployed quickly if a situation arose that required such intervention.

"Excuse me, but do you know where someone is that deals in antiquities?" she asked a stand owner, slipping back into the mannerisms from her university days, deference and manners were key.

"Depends on the antiquities," the man answered gruffly. "Velon deals with local stuff, Argayl deals with off-world stuff that ends up here."

"I'd like to meet both actually," she replied, jotting down the names in her datapad. She had been careful and selected on that had the crest of the University of Lorrd on it. "I'm doing a major project for my graduate research, and asking both some questions would definitely help."

"Velon is down a few blocks, you can't miss his shop," the stand owner replied. "Argayl is a little harder to find as he likes to move around, but the local cantina should have a way to contact him."

"Why does he moved around?" she asked, letting her curiosity slip into her tone. She already had a suspicion why.

"Doesn't like the Mandalorian security forces," the man said. "Now if you aren't buying anything, move along. I've got customers."

"Of course, thank you for your time," she said, handing him some credits for his time and moving off to meet this Velon first. She wondered how her apprentice's search was going.

[member="Sophie Gustav"]

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Sophie, being her usual self, was less than upfront with her reasoning for browing. She continued to window shop as she tried thinking of the best way to ask the vendors, everything that she thought of didn't sound any better than just saying she was an undercover sith looking for information. She wasn't used to working this way. She wanted to just drop it and force choke everyone until they either gave information of their lives. It was a little irritating. But, for now, Sophie was just waiting to hear from her master. If it meant waiting out for hours she didn't mind. This was her master's plan anyway. She wanted to follow [member="Darth Arcanix"] and her example before actually taking on any of her own, hopefully by the time she became a knight herself.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"Sophie, I have a lead I want you to find. Name is Argayl, and he has a contact at the local cantina," Taeli muttered into her concealed comlink. "Ask the cantina that your professor wants to approach Argayl about purchasing an artifact from Somov Rit, that should direct you to the contact. Get the information on where he is anyway you deem fit, just don't do anything overt that will alert security. I'll be after a different lead."

Closing her comlink, she made her way to where an extremely gaudy sign hung into front of a small antiquities store. Velon's shop was everything she abhorred about treasure hunters and dealers, he didn't understand that knowledge like this shouldn't be available to the common masses so he simply put out priceless artifacts from this planet's history at prices that a tourist on Coruscant would trip over themselves to purchase something here.

"How can I help you?" the shop's owner, a local human asked. She could smell sleaze from him a mile away, and he had two metal teeth in his smile that gave off a gold sheen.

"Yes, I was told you have many artifacts from this planet's history and that I should check out what you have," she replied, casually observing a small statuette that should have been behind several inches of transparisteel and lasers. She might just kill this man just to make sure these artifacts went where they should have gone.

"Of course, what era are you looking for?" Velon asked eagerly.

"From around 980 BBY," she replied. "I'm a scholar on the time period and I'm trying to put together an accurate timeline of major events and people from this sector."

[member="Sophie Gustav"]

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Taking her master's advice Sophie made her way to the local cantina to try and find this Argayl. Though, as she made her way to it, she realized how dangerous this could be. A lone girl in a hostile place like a cantina with bad music, a lot of drinks and drunken patrons that could easily look to her for a "good time". Sophie was ready if it came to needing to defend herself but she knew the risks if she let herself be exposed. Entering she apporched the owner, needing to manuver her way through the crowd of people already at the bar. She of course gave her same excusing story to him while asking if she could directed to Argayl's contact in the hopes of her professor wanting to me with him about the artifacts. The plus side was that iven Sophie's demanor the catina owner was more willing to belive that she was a student than anything else. With a quick point with his head the owner directed her to the rodian at the corner booth named Freegal.

Approching him she asked "Mr. Freegal? I was told I could talk to you about speaking with someone named Argayl."

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"You have refined tastes, ma'am," Velon chuckled. "Come with me, I'll show you what I've got from that time."

Following Velon through the small opening behind the sales counter, she started growing suspicious. This seemed too easy of a set up for an ambush or mugging or whatever he had in mind. The small back room was littered with priceless treasures, and lounging around the room were two burly Nikto guards. Large vibroswords were close at hand. Velon himself had whirled around with a blaster in his hand.

"No one asks for anything from that time period with asking about the Omaks," he hissed.

'Omaks?" she asked, feigning confusion.

"Sepp and Allia Omak, otherwise known as Darth Bane and Darth Zannah," the man spat and his guards got up and hefted their weapons. "We hoard knowledge of those two, we collectors of treasures, and no one can take that from us."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, backing up slowly in a feigned sense of fear. Apparently she had come to the right place, but from his statement, she was sure her apprentice would probably have equal success.

"Argayl sent you didn't he?" Velon accused. "He's been trying to steal my half of the coordinates for years now."

"Coordinates?" she asked, allowing herself to be grabbed by the Nikto guards as they came forward and grasped her arms.

"To the supposed resting place of one of Darth Zannah's holocrons," Velon stated, not sensing the danger he was in. Subtly looking around the room, she could see several artifacts that had ties to the Sith. It seemed the black market for Sith artifacts was still thriving, even in this day and age. "Well, he's karking out of luck, there's no way I'm letting him or you or anyone into my safe."

"A pity, we could have worked out a price," she sighed, and confusion ran across his and his guards faces. She might have told her apprentice not to do anything that draw attention, but in the back room of some establishment that was off the beaten path . . . well no one would know. Letting Force presence swell for a moment as she unfocused on the seed in her, she gripped all three men with the Force and started choking them to death.

"Thank you for keeping that information safe," she said politely, even as she increased her Force Choke. "The Sith will certainly make use of it."

A moment later, three corpses hit the floor and she started searching for the safe.

[member="Sophie Gustav"]

 

[Zion Mirtis]

Freegal, looking at the girl, asked "You want to see Argayl? What for?" After Sophie gave her false story he nodded and said "Follow me out back. Not safe with so many ears present."

Agreeing to tis Sophie walked out back with him through the doors of the cantina. However, upon arrival, they were met by a gang of five men, different speices, armed with blasters and other weapons. At first Sophie thought they were thugs but, as it turned out, Freegal was with them as he turned and had a blaster pointed right at her.

"Think I'm stupid or something. I know what you're up to. You and Velon are trying to take my half of the coordinates. Thinks I'll give up anything on the Omaks, well he's as stupid as your are young girly."

It took a moment for Sophie to realize before saying "You're Argayl."

He scoffed and said "They never realize before it's too late. Never think a rodian would be interested in Sith artifacts. But then they never live to tell anyone, do they?"

He aimed his blaster at her again, ready to fire, before Sophue used the force to push his blaster to the side so he'd wind up hitting one of his men instead. The other jumped on her before she, in a swift motion, activated her saber and lashed out at all of them. In a moment all of them fell to the ground dead with only Argayl left. She grabbed him by the throat via the force before slowly choking him.

"Now tell me where your information is, before I get bored with you." she threatned. From his pocket the rodian handed her a datachip before she said "Thank you." squeezing the last life out of him anyway. As she walked out of the ally she used her comm to say "Master, I think I've found something interesting."

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"That is excellent to hear," Taeli said into the intercom while she was busy discharging the blaster Velon had tried to threaten her with into her victims. "I assume you made contact with this Argayl and obtained the information we came looking for?"

Dropping the blaster and crushing it with the Force before placing it under the fallen Nikto so there was no evidence on the gun. Looking around the back room, she sensed where the safe and wrenched it out of the wall with a powerful Force Grip. Using that grip, she broke the internal mechanisms of the lock and the safe popped open. Retrieving the datachip inside, she smiled and placed several of the small statuettes of important Sith figures into her bag.

"I have half of the coordinates to our ultimate destination, and some artifacts that will look lovely in our collection," she replied, moving about the shop and gathering other small trinkets including a small black pyramid with lock symbols on it. Such things contained saber crystals if she remembered correctly. "What did you find, Sophie?"

[member="Sophie Gustav"]

 

[Zion Mirtis]

"More or less." she said in answer to her first question.

As she waited to hear from [member="Darth Arcanix"] again Sophie made her way back to the bizarre before finding a spot to wait for her master's return. A little spot next to a fountian that had a grand statue of a Mandalorian warrior fighting against what looked like a sith with water spraying from his blaster and eyes. Looking at it Sophie wanted to crush it with the force but, again, knew better than that. She just sat there until her master has asked exaclty what she'd found.

"The other half of the coordinates." she answered. "Argayl wasn't so willing to part with them, but I managed to make a convincing argument. I'll be waiting at the fountian in the bizzare for you should you need me."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"On my way," Taeli said, making one last addition to throw suspicion off that a Force user killed Velon. She had retrieved the last of the Sith artifacts that actually meant anything and placed them in her satchel. Leaving the building, she clicked her datapad and sent a signal to the small batch of grenades the Niktos had. They had been an easily hackable and modifiable model so she had rigged them into a bomb and now the back room exploded, destroying and charring everything within it.

Already sirens from the emergency services could be heard, but she didn't care as she made her way to the fountain.

"Excellent work, apprentice," she mumbled, sitting down next to Sophie. Reaching into her satchel, she handed the small pyramid to her and waved her hand over it. A red saber crystal sat within a cushioned setting. "Consider that your reward for a job well done."

[member="Sophie Gustav"]

 

[Zion Mirtis]

When [member="Darth Arcanix"] Sophie had stood, giving a small bow, only to sit again. She handed her master the datachip with the other half of the information they needed before she was presented with the saber crystal in the black pyramid. Sophie looked astounded by the sight of it. Her first saber crystal, and it was all hers. Slowly she reached in and took it between her fingers, holding it up to the light of the sun as it's coloring actually reflected in her eyes. To think this was the first step in constructing her very own lightsaber.

"Thank you, master." she said while putting it away in her pocket.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"We shall return to Coruscant so we can decipher this information and make sure it is useful," Taeli said, standing up , her satchel clinking a little from the artifacts within. "And once I finish doing that, I think it's high time you build your own lightsaber before we continue on our quest. We can't have you using that Jedi trophy forever, can we?"

Leading the way back to the shuttle, the security forces seemed a bit preoccupied about something and she suspect her little distraction had spread or sparked a riot to try and gain what was once Velon's hoard. It didn't matter to her as she lowered the ramp to the shuttle and ascended.

[member="Sophie Gustav"]