Invasion A.D.

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

He shook his head slowly and moved to the door himself, hand traced the various runes and the brush of the metal awoke the black tattoos on his arm. Beneath the coat, beneath the shirt they started to move of their own volition and magics hummed in the air.

Things hadn’t been the same since Alderaan.

Then suddenly a clicking sound and the door flew open inwards, giving them a wide berth to enter the new domain. Khal stepped aside, giving a mocking bow and with his arm waved her in.

‘After you, my Lady.’

There was only a hint of a smile noticeable on Khaleel’s smile as he waited for her to step through, he was enjoying this far too much for anyone’s liking. But Kana probably liked him for his ways.

What other reason was there that he was still alive?

 

[Kana Truden]

“You are ever so kind, Knight Malvern.” Kana strutted into the safehouse. “Well, this certainly was nice.”

The small hints of dust in the air lingered. It would seem this room hadn’t been used for a while, or if it had the inhabitant hadn’t been doing a very good job at keeping it clean. A single solitary whiskey glass atop of a table along with a magazine. A quick lean in to check gave no visible clues to what it was about. Focusing was still a slight uphill struggle, but from the cornerstones of her mind she wanted to associate the image with a blaster.

Curious look shot out at [member="Khaleel Malvern"]. He seemed to take these things seriously.

“What’s with the obsession of guns anyway?” She had to ask. “Lightsabers too good for you? Afraid of a little superheated plasma capable of cutting your limbs off as if they were made of cheese paper, Blasto?”

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

He walked in behind her, closing the door firmly before ending up entering the room proper. Khal hadn’t been here for a long while, hadn’t been necessary, besides the room was only here when it was necessary.

Don’t ask, magics stuff. He had tried to find it a few days ago, but no luck whatsoever. It seemed to be linked to the need of the moment and apparently a beautiful drunk woman in the middle of Nar Shaddaa was a moment of need.

Figures.

‘Ain’t no obsession, love.’ he said, walking to the table and cleaning out the glass with a spare piece of fabric in his coat. Slow and deliberated movements poured the whiskey in and he settled himself down again. ‘They are just helpful to solve a problem before it starts.’

How cryptic.

He wasn’t going to explain to her that a lightsaber was no equal to a sniper rifle at two thousand meters. Slightly off angle, silenced and the enemy was eliminated before he even realized he had been one.

Lightsabers were messy, but a clean bullet? Solves all problems.

 

[Kana Truden]

The room was small, compact living at it’s finest but it had the bare necessities. Bed, place for food as well as the regular room for ‘other services’ or ‘powdering your nose.’ There was little else you really needed and in a sense it felt like the temple except more tight and cozy. Like a little cave, a square metal cave that had room for a small squad of people to hide out in.

“A drink? Before a scouting mission, Khal?” She sat down on the bed. “I mean I would have at least kept it for when I got back. Unless it’s Corellian, then knock yourself out. Literally. Rare and/or good stuff are the best stuffs for such things.”

Feet shuffling up on the covers she found herself in a half-sitting, half-lying position. Very comfy.

“So what are you drinking to?” A yawn parted her system. “Most people have a reason to drink.”

“What is your reason?”

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

What’s your reason, Khal.

Ain’t that the million dollar question, he settled himself into the seat, boots landing on the table with a thunk, another cigarette lighting up. Smoke poured out of the tip and Khaleel wasn’t sure what kind of answer he should be giving.

‘It blunts the edge outta things.’

It came outta his mouth before he even knew it, immediately regretted it. Too real, too close to home and the truth of the matter. Folks might think him a cowboy, but that wasn’t the truth.

He tried to fix it with a shrug, moving his shoulders as if it would blow off the previous statement.

‘or maybe I just like to drink.’

Blunting the statement further, irony intended. In truth living on Nar Shaddaa took a toll from a guy, having to witness daily atrocities, feeling ‘em and knowing ya can’t fix it all.

Shet’s fethed up.

 

[Kana Truden]

“I like the last one.” Kana nodded. “Or at least old me did.”

Yeah, old her who would rather drink and rather we wasted than remember what a waste of space she was. She may not have been the most perfect fit for the jedi, but they certainly knew how to make a woman find purpose. Perhaps that’s why she stayed as long as she did. There were probably other reasons, friendships and such, but in the end it was the sense of purpose that did it. Probably.

“Drinking to dull it all out, to forget. The two really go hand in hand, yet they never work. At least not the way you want them to. In the end reality still kicks you in the butt and head when you wake up the following morning.”

“Used to be I could handle it but I lost the touch, haven’t it?”

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

‘I ain’t sure, love.’ Khal replied with a shrug. ‘I would have to talk to ya in the early morning to figure that one out.’

Either Khaleel was the smoothest operator in town, or he was clueless. But looking at the rugged looks, the cigarette protruding from his lips and the glass dangling from the hand probably meant he was the former more so than the later.

She’s just a friend.

Khal leaned back in his seat, eyes slowly making a circular motion, tracing the trajectory of the ventilator doing its work and pondering at the meanwhile. Would he ask? Did he even want to know?

Or was this just the alcohol smoothing up his tongue.

‘Tell me, mouse.’ a sigh followed. ‘Ever been in love?’

 

[Kana Truden]

“Yeah.” Her lips formed a crooked smile as they once again discussed the past. “Long time ago. Didn’t work out.”

It never did, and all because she was afraid to let go. It wasn’t like she was unaware of it. She had been told several times, by friends, by colleagues and by love yet she had not once been able to listen. She still had the same issue. Being overprotective of friends, emotional and at times too ‘clingy.’ It was the word that she had been described with before.

Clingy, as if she held onto the person of her affection just a bit too much. It was hard for some to realize exactly how terrified the idea of losing someone made Kana. She had never had anyone as a kid, not even her parents. The idea of just being able to let go of someone was alien to her, it was what her parents had done and look how that had affected her. Deep down she was still a mess, a hole burned inside of her that she had no idea how to fix. She had tried to fill it in different ways. Drinking, working, friends, meditation and even a temporary exile to Hoth.

Nothing really worked.

“What about you? Ever been in love, Blasto?”

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

‘Yeah…’ It brought him back to the old days, when he had been a padawan for only a few weeks and had been allowed to stay on Ossus. Not with the Jedi Temple, but with the Ysanna who had roamed the woods of the world, it had been… extraordinary. An experience you couldn’t get anywhere else, an experience… you could only have once.

He had met her there, five foot nothing, barely weighing anything. But the fire coming from her, ah now that had been a thing. Almost had married her too, but marriage hadn’t ever been for him.

She had known that from the beginning.

‘Ever tell ya about my time with the Ysanna?’

He had never told her about the Ysanna, had never told anyone about his time there, Khal had thought it a sacred experience. But whatever it was about tonight, he was more willing to discuss shet.

Wasn’t the alcohol, wasn’t the cigarettes or the prospect of going outta town and start killing those druggies. No, this was something else.

It was magics.

 

[Kana Truden]

The Ysanna, as weird as it was, unappreciative even for someone who had lived on Ossus for as many years as she had she had never interacted with them. She had heard of them, their marksmanship something to truly behold. She slowly shook her head, there was little else she could give for an answer.

“I know of them, but no, you have not told me about it.”

“Feel like sharing?” She sat up straight on the bed with her back against the wall. Smile on her lips she gave the man as much of a smile as her fatigue would allow. “Come on, I shared my clinginess.”

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Feel like sharing? C’mon I shared my clinginess.”[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The words somehow echoed back to him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Across time and space, as he sat in a simple chair on one of the boulevards on Fondor. There was a stim caf waiting on the table for him, wisps of steam letting go of the surface and wavering away into the distance. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He had known Kana for many years now, felt like forever when they had first met. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Mouse & Blasto.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But it couldn’t have been more than a few years, could it?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They were supposed to meet in a few minutes, catch up, get a drink and talk about what they had been up to in the meanwhile. She was a Jedi Master now, a member of the High Council even and Khaleel… well, heh. He had never been good at the Jedi’ing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]There were ulterior motives for him being here, of course.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]There always was.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The Rimma Trade Route was one of the most important routes in the business, cutting through Sluis Van and connecting Fondor to the backlands. These days the Sanctuary Pipe wasn’t exactly all that, broken down and stolen by outlaws.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But that wouldn’t hold up for long, business was business and Khal doubted one of the big corporations in the world would let the situation go on for much longer before interfering.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Point was, the SEDC- or the Hermes Exchange Corporation; as Khal liked to call it- was slowly increasing its influence over the Rimma Route. Warehouses here and there, private units in the starports of the various planets.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The Exchange had spread its influence to the Fringe’s side during the Netherworld, but the Protectorate hadn’t been that important back then.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Things change though.[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

How long ago was it since they actually saw each other? It felt like years, but had it really been that long? Nar Shaddaa was a faded memory at this point, at least to Kana. She could remember having met with Khaleel, she remembered having drinks with him and she most certainly remembered the headache she had the following morning. From what she had been told she passed out not long after having asked the man a question but what it was about had long since escaped her.

So here she was on Fondor after being sent here at the request of the Order to overlook an old friend to the Order who was all but counting their days until the inevitable end. It was tragic if anything, but a job was a job. Even if the job meant long days away from the clinic that had become her home on Ruusan.

At least she had time for Blasto, at least for a little while. The man was meeting her at a café somewhere around the district. Fancy, not overly so, but fancy nonetheless. Damian was not with her on this one, he had better uses elsewhere such as patrolling the Order’s tiniest enclave around Onderon. Boring as ever, but Kana always aimed for patience and discomfort over, well, any kind of comfort, really. Nothing about the business was very enjoyable and letting her student think so wouldn’t do him any good in the long run.

With a new look to her the jedi master set herself out to find her friend. No longer in the league of supermodels the woman had taken to a bit more of a mature look. She was over thirty, for all things considered she had already departed a majority of all ‘hot list’ years ago. Besides, it was a position she was more than willing to let up in favor of other more younger people.

“This seat taken?” She crept up on [member="Khaleel Malvern"]. “I am supposed to meet a friend here, but I am afraid I can’t seem to find him.”

She took the seat anyway. “Last I saw him he had a rugged stubble as well as this lonesome ranger attitude and stare to him.”

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khal leaned back in the seat, eyes briefly leaving his caf and resting on the figure creeping up on him, and the only thing the Underlord could do was blink. He blinked again, before blinking one final third time and then coughing a bit awkwardly. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Sounds like a complete dirtbag.” he would finally reply, watching as she decided to take a seat in front of him. “Why would a nice girl such as yourself interact with a hooligan like that?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A smile appeared then, lighting up his features and general expression.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It was only after meeting Kana again after all these years that he realized he had really missed her. It was something about her [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]genuinity[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] and way she carried herself, or maybe Khal was just grasping at straws here. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Good seeing ya again, Kana. How ya holding up?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He gestured towards one of the keepers, so she could order something for herself.[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

“Total scumbag, but he’s nice enough.” Kana smiled. “I don’t know, the guy was kind enough not to abuse a drunk jedi master, it’s gotta count for something.”

Then she chuckled “It’s all the same. Doing healer duty, living off of Ruusan keeping the boys out of my clinic and the younglings fed with sugary treats.”

There was no need to mention all the boys that faked illness so that they would be sent her way. The numbers were high at first, but Kana had a way to scare them off. Bonesaws and talks of amputation turned most people into “emergencies only” mode fairly quick. If only they knew that things such as colds and cooties were nothing serious nor real. Then again, they probably knew that in the first place.

“Really, just things a regular doctor would do.”

“What about you? Still chugging drinks at Jimmy’s?”

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Nah, got burned down a few years back.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He wasn’t all that sad about it anymore, not really at least. Kana probably wouldn’t even notice the barest twitches of the jaw when he mentioned it, the tightening of the posture as Khal realized that the place was gone. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]One more reminder of the costs of being me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But the Underlord managed to retain his cool fairly quickly, giving her a shrug and a smile. That’s the way things were being operated on Nar Shaddaa, at least if you were dealing with the Ravens and so it wasn’t a surprise that nobody really liked those Ravens. People didn’t really have any respect anymore these days, so… [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]uncivilized.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khal took another sip from his caf, pondering to himself.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“How long has it been?”[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

Kana shook her head. “Just another reason for you to get off that blasted rock.”

“Years?” She perked her brow. “I want to say at least six, but frankly I’ve been busy enough with my patients to keep proper track of it all.”

It was before the Netherworld Crisis anyway. One could hardly call irregular messages over the months up until now as something that would count as ‘seeing’ each other. Besides, the man was busy whatever it was he was doing in his own little personal hellhole. No, Kana would never truly appreciate that planet ever. There was just something about the way it worked. Everyone preying on those their weaker, it was not a way to live.

Oh yes, she was still blissfully unaware.

“I am serious, I can’t even understand why you would stay in that shi- hellhole.”

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“There is beauty there too, Kana.” Khaleel would answer quite wistfully.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Another scratch of the chin partnered by the sip of his caf, before pondering. She had changed a lot of the years it seemed, still that same [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]genuine[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] personality, but she looked- it wasn’t older, she was still just as beautiful as he remembered her in the past.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But different.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Perhaps more mature, dignified even. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]That’s what being a Jedi Master and Councilor would do to a person, the Underlord would surmise. But he didn’t envy her and her responsibilities, presiding over a dead institution that was only turning into itself instead of trying to reach out to the outside world?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]No, that wasn’t a thing Khal would be interested in.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Could ask the same about you.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Little smile came, as the same old discussion started to wake up again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Why don’t you leave?[/SIZE]

 

[Kana Truden]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

The comment on beauty was disregarded, there were things to take offense at.

“You are not comparing Ruusan to Nar Shaddaa.” Kana said as she crossed her arms. “That’s like comparing grapes and nerf patty, Khaleel.”

“For one, I don’t have to worry about being shot here.” Her thumb thrust itself into the palm of her hand. “I don’t have to worry about being robbed.” Kana’s hand moved to envelop her index finger. “I always have someone here for me and I don’t have to spend my days second guessing if my neighbor is being nice because of pleasantries or because he wants something from me.”

“That whole planet is a haven for people looking to exert power over those that can’t fight back. What has the Red Ravens, Black Suns or even the Hutt Cartel ever done for those that truly need the help? You never hear about the Red Ravens even trying to improve life for anyone. All they do is blow up ships and leave you in the dirt afterwards.”

“So don’t try to tell me Ruusan is even remotely similar to Nar Shaddaa.”

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Kana Truden"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I was talking about the Jedi Order and the Republic, dear.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khal was all gruff, steel and duster these days, except when it came to those that he loved. Kana was included in that stipulation, as a friend and perhaps as something more - but that would have to be a discussion for a different time.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The fact was that he [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]cared[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px].[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I heard what happened on Telti.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She didn’t even have to bother to ask how he had found out, a man such as Khaleel had his ways and she would know better than to ask, she wouldn’t get any answers back besides a knowing grin and that infuriating shrug of the shoulders that told so many tales without saying anything at all.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The Underlord sighed, rubbing his jaw. “They are sending children to do a grown-up’s duty, Kana. Padawans that haven’t even completed their rites, that can’t even [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]wield a lightsaber[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] properly. They are losing the war and pushing those that are expendable to the front lines.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“A Jedi Healer shouldn’t be fighting against a fecking Voice of the Dark Lord, you could have been killed.” [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]or worse, because Khal was one of the few who knew that death could be a welcome relief in comparison to some things that could happen.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]His temper was flaring up, heat rising as he spoke.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Do they care though? No, instead of trying to save as many people as possible, they are planning a [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]counter-attack[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], I don’t even know which knucklehead is in charge there right now. But you have to get out, before they get you and the padawans you are trying to protect killed.”[/SIZE]

 

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The Rimma Trade Route.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]From Kinooine to Yag’Dhul, and from Duro to Coruscant.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Worlds of importance, worlds that facilitated trade, manufacturing, prosperity in a nutshell of the entire word. These worlds were important to Khal, because they could also facilitate the expansion of his own influence across the worlds themselves.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Porchello, Bespin, Javin, Karfeddion, Eriadu, Sluis Van, Val’Halla.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Six worlds that the Exchange had expanded to, using the upheaval of the Netherworld as a silky smooth way to gain their influence there; whilst the Fringe was trying to assume their own control. But that only gave them access to the Sanctuary Pipeline and the southern portion of the Rimma Trade Route. They needed more than that.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They needed to expand to the worlds that were currently still protected by Omega… to a degree.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]From Sluis Van to Yag’Dhul, warehouses, private landing pads and stellar-class space ports had been bought up and reserved for their own utilities. Manufacturing facilities, refineries and the sort were also all the more prevalent these days.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Business was booming.[/SIZE]