Ready, Steady, Burn it.

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"A one way radio," Cedric mused. His smile remained as she reached out to touch him, though privately his anxiety blossomed with the contact. There was a reason he spent most of his time in public encased within a sarcophagus of phrik, steel, and electronics. There was something about simple human contact that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Despite himself, he could not fight the instinctual feelings of attack that came with touch.

The rational part of his mind knew that Loske bore him no ill will, and that such contact was a normal part of human communication. The animal part of him, the part that he had worked to keep chained for decades, expected nothing but violence. Despite what he might say, his time on the battlefield had carved deeper scars into his psyche than he was willing to admit.

Even still, he'd long since learned to hide such reactions from anyone that might notice them. Cool confidence was the aura of a leader, and it was one he was intent on projecting at all times. "I'll take the job, but I ain't cheap. Hope you've got some hefty coin stowed away," he fired back, the joke somewhat easing his private discomfort.

Relaxed certainty replaced his panicked thoughts as he drew away. The curtains of the medical tent parted before his outstretched arm, and the distinct scent intersecting scents of chemicals and sanitizer flooded his senses. His nose crinkled up in distaste.

"Hello Agraush," the Jedi Master cracked a pleased smile as he looked upon the bedbound Nikto. The Sith was covered in bandages, and both his arms hung in slings. Agraush stared up at the Jedi with hateful eyes, his lips pulled back in a hateful scowl.

"What do you want?" He snarled.

Cedric shrugged. "Just a bit of information, then you can get back to what you were doing before I came here. You used to be a follower of Maliphant, correct?" The Jedi lofted a brow.

The Nikto did not reply. A pregnant silence hung in the air for several seconds before Cedric spoke again. "I'll ask again," his voice had a dangerous edge to it now, "Did you follow Maliphant?"

The veiled threat was a language Agraush understood intimately. The Nikto nodded, "I was, but he's been gone for years now."

"He has, but he's revealed himself once more. Do you know where I might find him?"

Agraush's brow furrowed. "Last I heard he was at the Wheel. I haven't been in contact with him or his people in a long time."

Another silence fell. Cedric stepped toward the Nikto, each step deliberate and heavy as he took a position at the alien's bedside. Agraush stared up at him with obvious confusion. "It isn't wise to lie to me, Sith." The Jedi's voice was cold and matter of fact.

Agraush's lips parted to speak. Cedric placed his three fingers upon the crown of the alien's head, and Agraush slumped back, his mouth slackening before he could put his thoughts into words. The alien spasmed twice, then grew still.

A quiet sigh fell from Cedric's lips. "Hoth." He mused, "Thank you Agraush. Now, I am going to give you a chance at a better life. One of repentance. You only need to submit."

If the limp alien meant to protest, he was not physically capable of doing so. Cedric smiled. "You lack the responsible mind to use the Force correctly. Rather than killing you, I'll deprive you of your means for tyranny. Your stardom is at an end."

A flash of light flickered where Cedric's fingers touched the Nikto's scalp. The empyrean recoiled instantly, and any force sensitive nearby would feel a sensation akin to a powerful wind suddenly gusting past, and then stillness.

Agraush's eyes flickered shut as he fell back into the bed, unconscious.

"I have what I need now. I appreciate your help in dealing with him," Cedric remarked as he turned around to face Loske.

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

She pointed a thumb toward herself “This transistor sister just won a race, doing the job of disarming your Nikto. My coin is now my business.”

Her smile faded when they entered the alien’s holding, however. Even wrapped up, he radiated something sinister. She chose to poise herself at a distance and let [member="Cedric Grayson"] be the bad cop. And the good cop.

The exchange of words was as hostile as it was brief. What happened next, Loske was not entirely privy to. From her viewpoint, it looked like the Jedi read the Sith’s mind. Then, a chill swept throughout the room and she gave way to a shudder, and rubbed her arms. Of course, she had no clear understanding of what had occurred, just that something devastating had happened. She felt something, like she had felt the Rockrenderer’s naive hunger on Sullust.

Her mouth drew into a thin line, and she fought the urge to step back. It was fear in that moment, fear of the power she supposed she’d just witnessed. “You mean take him out for you?” She gestured flippantly “Anytime.”

Feigned listlessness was replaced with her concerned curiosity “What did you do to him?”

 

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"Yeah, for that," Cedric snickered as he examined the unconscious alien. Other Jedi would have thrown him in prison, or simply killed him. In the past, he would have been one of them, but his time on Ruusan had taught him more than a few tricks to deal with minor Sith. It was a technique he'd put to use during the Great Galactic War more than a few times, and had during that time honed into a practiced craft.

"I severed his connection to the Force. It isn't permanent, only a council of masters could accomplish that, but he'll have to live as a mortal until he relearns how to connect to it. Depending on how strong willed he is, that could be in short order, or it may never happen. Either way, I think the authorities will be able to deal with him safely now." Cedric explained. Others saw disconnecting a force user from the empyrean as barbaric; Cedric saw it as an unfortunate necessity.

"Either way," he waved a hand about dismissively, "He's no threat any longer, and I know where my target is laying low. My mission's finished - I'd ask you to help me on this hunt, but I don't think someone without the Force would stand much a chance against Maliphant."

[member="Loske Matson"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

As serendipity would have it, a vibration bzzzz’d in her pocket and she angled the screen upwards to scan the incoming message’s contents while [member="Cedric Grayson"] explained his actions.

Then explained his next steps. The name meant nothing to her. The snuff at her abilities did. She frowned, taking mild offence “Lucky for you, Mister Grayson, I have a day job.” She secured the data pad in her pocket once more, but not before pressing a button and a thin strip spiralled from the base of the build “And it’s tearing me away now from any attempts to prove you wrong about just how much of a chance I could stand.”

The statement probably didn’t mean to shavit all over her aptitude. “But if you do need a lift ever,” she handed over the thin strip the data pad had created “-this is my number. I prefer the riskier endeavours, otherwise a cabbie or smuggler could do the same tricks.” A bit of pilot cheekiness there.