Learning to Fly [Raziel]

[Krytu]

With a grunt, I rise up from the seat on the shuttle's seat. A few other disgruntled passengers rise with me as the small vessel settles down on the ground with a clunk. Nar Shadda.​

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​

Another city planet. Havens for beasts like me that dealt with the worst of the worst (and most of the time I was the worst). Taris just hadn't been working out. Our gang had one unlucky run after the other. Things where getting dangerous. I'd already last my eyes, my beak, and whatever that organ is that allows one to breath. I wanted to get out before things got too hot.​

​

Stepping onto the platform I found the nearest pad and got a ride down into the lower levels. A local pointed me to the nearest bar and upon entering I would get a drink and sit in a nice dark corner. I had sat there for a while and that brings us to our current situation. A troop of men walk in, wearing similar clothing. Watching carefully, I can find easily the signs that they belong to the same gang. Apparently I was gonna get lucky today. Now begins the month long process of getting in good with one of the members.​

​

I waited an hour before they finally got upset with the bartender and left (might I say, not before beating the snot out of some bloke in their way). I followed.​

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Into the night we moved - they slowly, myself slower. I used the techniques that Boss Zabrak had taught me. Even when one of them turned around their eyes passed over me without any care. And on and on we went. Then things took a turn for the worse. The gang members turned a corner into a huge crowd; a marketplace. Vendors were yelling and burnt food was a common smell in the air. I lost them as I abandoned my stealthy tactics and plunged into the crowd. Searching frantically. Nothing. I had lost them.​

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[member="Raziel"]​

 

[Raziel]

The Spymaster slid through the crowd with ease. Half his mind focussed on his immediate surroundings, the other turned externally following the paths of several individuals. On the busy marketplace everyone met resistance. It akin to molecules in a liquid, every person was bumped and shoved off their intended course. Everyone but Raziel. The crowd parted smoothly before him and behind him as quickly as he passed, yet none paid him any heed.

Raziel had known these streets for much of his life, and yet he had been away for many years. Nar Shaddaa was an underworld microcosm that represented many conflicts in the galaxy. The Red Ravens and Black Sun battled for the streets, whilst Republic Intelligence tried to maintain order and remove them both. Spynet watched from the shadows, interfering where they dared. The gang landscape had changed since Raziel’s time, and so he was carefully monitoring it. Trying to understand the current state of underworld politics. Who wad influences by the Republic, who swore allegiance to the Ravens or Sun?

This gang members he tracked had not made clear their intentions. Raziel tracked their minds across the courtyard, but something else entirely had caught his attention. They were being followed and he hadn’t even realised at first. A creature from a species he didn’t even recognise, with an instinctive mind. His presence dull in the Force; it wasn’t often that something slipped passed the Jedi Master’s awareness.

A quick scan revealed he was an independent, not part of any faction he knew. Interesting. Reaching out he touched the minds of those around him, as he had been doing already, but manipulated them in a different way. The crowd parted between the Kokku and his prey. The gang members visible for a moment as they headed down a lonely side alley between two buildings that stretched beyond visibility into the skyline.

Raziel would follow, he wanted to see what this new player’s intentions were.


[member="Krytu"]

 

[Krytu]

Krytu kept walking and searching. His sight brought him nothing. His eyes keep adjusting zoom to find his targets, but nothing. Then finally a glimpse. The crowds parted just enough for him to see the group of gang members. The large Kokku dashed through the crowds quickly enough to get a solid eyesight on them. Dropping back to the shadows, Krytu resumed his stalking. All people that had notice his presence dashing through the crowd quickly looked away without a care in the world.​

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The group of men Krytu was tracking turned down an alley just past the market place and Krytu gave it a moment, then followed. A fist shot out of the dark. And slammed into the head of the tall being. His stealth had failed him. He staggered backwards. Another fist. Another. Soon there were hits coming from all sides. His armor took some of the blows that missed vulnerable places, but blows rained from all angles. Soon his vision faded. The assailants finally had their piece and left Krytu unconscious.​

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Before too long, the Kokku woke up and dragged himself to a wall and leaned against it while sitting on the ground. His breath was patchy but his head started clearing. He'd only need a few more minutes now...​

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[member="Raziel"]​

 

[Raziel]

Raziel calmly stepped out of the shadows on the far side of the alley. His hands were on display, and he seemed unarmed. He often did. Dressed in typical civilian clothing, he walked until he was half lit by the dull yellow lamps.

"That didn't go too well for you," he stated flatly. He cocked his head to one side, looking the strange creature up and down. He didn't even recognise the species, and he was fairly well travelled. "I'm interested to know what business you have trailing the d'weedohn?" he asked, carefully pronouncing the rodian name of the gang.

[member="Krytu"]

 

[Krytu]

"Tus," the figure on the grown grunted. "I would say not," he replied, his voice a reptilian accent. Reaching behind his back, he grabbed the thick, rough tube made of heavy duty materials and plugged into his second port on his chest. Immediately the oxygen entered his body and gave him breath and helped his head clear. "Nahi. It did not. No, It went nothing like expected. But that is no matter. A bad run of luck. I must simply try again with another gang." He said, intentionally not giving up his true motives. Standing up, he unplugged the tube again, his head finally clear. "And to whom am I speaking and just why do you have any interest in my goings?" The question was vaguely rude but mostly curious. A general rule Krytu had always kept was to be cautious. The galaxy was never really nice to him...

@Raziel

 

[Raziel]

"I work for a government group. A foreign government group," Raziel replied, half answering the question. "I have an interest in the d'weedohn. I haven't worked out where their loyalties yet lie. I'd ordered a hit on several of their members through a series of contractors to try and stir them up and see which way they lashed out."

Raziel kept his posture neutral, and his hands were still kept on show. He was familiar with many species, but not this one. His sharp eyes darted back and forth taking in every detail. He'd relay all his discovered back to Spynet and find out who they were after this encounter.

"Now, I ask this question with no malice or threat. There is not incorrect answer, as I've explained I am a neutral part in events. Are you Raven, Sun, or neutral?"

 

[Krytu]

The blue glow in his eyes moved not but carefully focused on his face. The eyes moved and covered every portion of the Kokku's body. "You have not seen a Kokku before," he said simply after a moment. Temporarily ignoring the question. "It is not often that we leave our home planet and I do not represent what we look like under normal circumstances either. This eyes," he said, pointing, "are not my original eyes. This beak," a reference to the long black synthetic material hanging off his face, "is not my original. This hose that connects my lungs to where the air enters my body is not normal either. This is one step in answering your question." He noticed the human hands that were held in clear sight. A good thing. At any moment, this man could take out a weapon. There was... "You feel powerful. What are you? There is an...an...aura," he finally said, having found the word, "about you. Why is this?" His bio-mechanical eyes picked up a faint glow. Not a visible one per se. But a noticeable difference between most people.​

 

[Raziel]

Well now that was interesting. He risked reaching out to touch the stranger's mind briefly. It was the truth too, not a bluff. He was ignorant of the Force.

He turned his focus inwards, pulling his presence in the Force back and concealing it until he would appear to a Jedi as a normal creature in the Force. "And that aura you see, did it just change?" he asked.

 

[Krytu]

His eyes perceived the change quicker than he could recognize it as a sentient being. A flaw that sometimes made his calculations happen faster than his brain could execute them. After a moment's hesitation, "Yes..." his voice trailed off. "What is it?" Krytu felt blood rising up, this trickery was not right. Something was amiss here. The robotic eyes quickly scanned the entirety of the man, while not moving an inch. A perk of not using the eyes that sentient beings tend to come with out of the factory. He seemed normal in every way. Yet, that aura...​

 

[Raziel]

Raziel looked back up and down the alley, sharp eyes checking every shadow. He took a slow step forwards. "The Force," he replied. "The very fact you can tell I can use it, shows that you can manipulate it to some extent. However, this is a conversation not to be held out in the open. Do you want to know more? Do you still have business with the gang?"

 

[Krytu]

The Force. Words murmured in secrecy in some of his gangs. The shock hit him quickly. The Force? I can manipulate it? Is that what Boss Zabrak had taught me those many years ago? With a glance around his surroundings, he nodded to the man. "I would like to learn more immediately." Most of his cautions went out the door. But not all. "But I would like to keep things somewhat...public. I think you might understand why, stranger." A pause, then a short breath. "You may call me Krytu, stranger." This time the word stranger had a heavier emphasis.​

 

[Raziel]

"I am generally known as Raziel," he replied with a polite nod of the head. He took a moment to think. Krytu's request was hardly surprising, Raziel would hardly follow a stranger to a quiet location on request. "There is a bar on the far side of town, sonic sealed booths for discrete conversation, yet we'd both be in plain sight," he suggested. Not too many questions were asked in that kind of establishment, it was also considered neutral ground in the current underworld struggles. It had been a long, long time since Raziel had met an untrained Force user. The current wars that raged across the Galaxy were led by powerful Jedi. And so each Faction tended to scour their own worlds for those with talent to be trained. Trained and used, he thought to himself.

 

[Krytu]

Raziel... "Very well then. Lead me to this place. Stick to open areas with people if I may request. This is a dog-eats-dog galaxy and one can never be too careful." With a final brush of his armor, Krytu prepared for the journey to the bar. He was - all at the same time - excited, yet fearful of what this human had to offer. If Boss Zabrak had taught him things that had made him valuable beyond many people in his old gangs, what could this man teach him? Could there be more than the things he had learned back on his home planet?​

 

[Raziel]

It was a short tube ride to the street Raziel was heading towards. The train was fairly well packed and they received some odd glances. Well Krytu received some odd glances, even though Raziel could sense him reaching out and subtly turning attention away. It was delicate work, difficult work. It was strange how many sensitives often developed their abilities to suit their needs without any training. Then again, given how many species that had evolved a few particular Force abilities to suit their environment it perhaps wasn't so surprising.

The bar itself was sparsely populated. A circular bar sat in the centre of the dimly lit room. Quiet music played in the background, behind a gentle murmur of conversation. Around the walls were a number of booths, dull yellow lighting indicating those that were acoustically sealed. Raziel made his way to the bar and passed over a few credit chits quietly, he nodded towards booth seven. It had an excellent view of the doors to the street and back rooms.

He stepped inside and sat down, placing his palm on the switch in the centre. There was a dull thrum and then the background noise was completely cut out. It was an odd sensation. Raziel was so used to the urban jungle that being in utter silence was a very unique experience. Raziel trusted this bar, he knew the staff didn't take payments from any of the gangs. He also knew that the booths were safe and secure. Of course, that was only because Spynet had managed to tamper with them and had been using them to spy on the local gangs during their private meetings, but still...

"So," Raziel said. "What do you know of the Force already? Ah, but my manners, would you care for a drink or any food?"

 

[Krytu]

Having followed Raziel silently, the Kokku kept communication to a minimum besides a curse word from his native tongue when he kicked a doorway on the train. There are so many things I can do with these powers if I learn them correctly. So many more days to kill. Maybe one day, I can finish the mission on my home planet and finally have my vengeance. The looks of people on the train were slightly annoying to Krytu. Without thinking he made people not want to notice him; a skill that over the years he had come to rely on.

The bar was very satisfactory in terms of public, and when the sound was cut off in the small cell, if Krytu would have had eyes, they would have widened. The soundlessness was perplexing. At this point, the tall alien wasted no time. He wanted what he wanted soon. "The Force is something that I've simply heard of in whispers in the 136 years I have been alive," he began, then, realizing that humans had much shorter lives, he offered an explanation, "My people live up to 500 someodd years. Time is very...insignificant to us. But that is besides the point," his low tone, reptilian and vaguely birdlike voice carried on, "Like I said. The Force is very unknown to me. And as for food. I would like any sort of large, raw piece of meat they serve here. I am not picky." He attempted a friendly smile, unsure of how to deal with this man, but the smile ended up looking more like a menacing snarl.​

 

[Raziel]

Raziel tapped a few buttons on the console, sending an order to the bar. That was a long life span indeed. He was twice the power he was ten years ago, imagine having a prime of a hundred years. Idle thoughts anyway. But if this creature had trained as a killer for so long, with the Force...

"There are many interpretations of the Force. Many see it in an almost mystical way. It's an energy field of some kind. I can almost perceive it that way. The current flows strongly through living creatures from my perspective. But to me it is just a tool. To be used as a blaster, a lightsaber, or even people. The Force can be used in powerful ways, there are Jedi who have wiped out fleets of ships with it, rare as they are. I prefer a more subtle touch. You can exert influence on individuals, you can sense the world around you in great detail. Even the future can be opened up with the Force."

He was interrupted by a serving droid and waited patiently as it laid out some food and drinks.

 

[Krytu]

Nodding slightly, Krytu took in the information about the Force. With food in front of him - and the fact that he hadn't eaten in a day - he dug into a large piece of meat, his outer fangs ripping apart the meat that would be eaten in the next bite. The ferocious teeth inside demolished anything he had torn off with ease. Between bites he spoke: "I see. And how does one gain these powers? Where do they come from?"​

 

[Raziel]

"Now there are some that think it's simply a matter of pouring your emotions into the Force and harnessing is power," Raziel said shaking his head with a look of disdain. "But to garner true power, to have a subtle control of the Force requires dedication and training. Hard training. You have the natural ability so that's all it would be. You must learn discipline of both mind and body. There is endless study and pushing your body to the edge of its limits. It takes years to even master the basics. But I suppose a few years isn't much to a Kokku now is it?" he asked, turning the conversation back to Krytu's goals effortlessly.

 

[Krytu]

Hard training...the only real hard training he had ever done was with Boss Zabrak back when he was really young. Now, Krytu was still fit, he made sure of it. But he had never really had intense training. Much less years of it. He grew a little wary. "Very well. But before I learn more, I would like to see a demonstration of what exactly the Force can do..." His voice was tentative. Devouring the last of the bloody meat before him, drained the glass of water, and roughly wiped blood from his face.​

 

[Raziel]

A wry smile crossed Raziel's lips. He took a long drink from his glass, simply to stall for a few moments whilst he reached out and made a mental connection. "Think of a number between... Or just think of a number any size," he said. He planned to recount the number as quickly as the Kokku thought of it.