Red Skin, Green Skin

[Bubák]

After finishing her duties in the Jedi Temple, the young Padawan went to do one last task before spending the rest of the day in meditation. This particular task was nothing else than patrolling in the streets around the Jedi Temple. With most Knights and Masters being too busy with the ongoing war, the it fell upon Padawans to make the citizens of the Republic feels safe and give the Jedi Order a good name. Although most people would not notice a Jedi due to the ordinary cloaks and robes the protectors of peace wore, when something bad happened, the Jedi more often than not revealed themselves and intervened. And so Ane’irna found herself once again pulling the hood of her cloak over her face, tossing her lekku over her shoulders and venturing outside of the safe walls of the Jedi Temple. It always felt so weird, walking through the entrance and suddenly appear among ordinary people who had not suspected her of being a Jedi unless they saw her walking out of the Temple. Although one might argue it was dangerous for a young girl to go alone, she was accompanied by the Force, her loyal ally.

For the first five minutes, she had not witnessed any crime happening. The Force remained silent, not telling her of anything she’d have to deal with, and the teenager took it as a good sign. Perhaps just for this patrol she wouldn’t have to deal with pickpockets… She almost bumped into a large human who suddenly stepped in her way, looking right at her with amusement in his eyes and lit cigarette in his mouth. “Excuse me, young lady. Do you have fire?” In that moment, Ane’irna realized she was being robbed. Not losing her calmness, she looked at the man’s arms, her right hand instinctively touching her most valuable possession, the curved lightsaber resting under her cloak. It was still there, but was the thieves’ hand. His fingers were already touching the metallic object, and upon realizing what it was, his eyes widened. Withdrawing his hand from under Ane’irna’s cloak, luckily without a lightsaber in his fingers, he turned around and started pushing his way through the crowd.

The teenage Twi’lek knew she had to catch him, stop him from robbing someone else. Not even taking off her cloak, she started following the man, her brown robe restraining her movements until the gush of wind tore it off her body, allowing her to spring freely and jumped over the civilians who fell over. The Force made her strides more quick and powerful, bringing her closer to the running thug. The man suddenly turned and entered a dark alley and disappeared. Realizing this was probably a trap, Ane’irna slowed down as she followed, carefully advancing among the dirt and containers. Seeing it was a dead end, she was absolutely sure the thug waited for her somewhere further. To know his exact position, Ane’irna reached out through the Force in an attempt to find him. The inexperienced Padawan could not distinguish individual presences in such a mass of people behind her and in the buildings that stood next to her, meaning she had to focus harder. She closed her eyes and that was the mistake the thug waited for. Quickly running towards her from behind a container with his weapon aimed at her, the teenager did not have time to react as the Force still occupied her mind. As she opened her eyes, wide in shock, she stared into a barrel of a blaster pistol. She raised her hands in surrender. The thug had gotten behind her and made her walk towards the end of the alley. “Surrender,” Ane’irna said, “I do not want to hurt you.” The only response was his hand touching her butt in the most inappropriate manner as he pushed her further to the end. “You won’t get away with this. If you surrender, you will simply be charged with pick pocketing. If you kill me, you’ll become a murderer, earning yourself an execution squad. Put down your weapon.” The Twi’lek tried to sound as calm as possible, hoping the man would listen to reason, but also telekinetically grasped her lightsaber hanging on her belt, ready to summon the weapon and defend herself. It'd be hard to do with a guy pointing at the back of her head, but if she timed it correctly, both of them would survive this situation.

@[member="Siqa"]

 

[Siqa]

I really didn't want to be on this planet of all planets. Courascant had one thing I didn't want to deal with: Jedi. It wasn't because I hated the Jedi or anything like that, after all I wasn't a Sith just a Pureblood, but I had the feeling the Jedi would have a hard time accepting me. I mean here I was, a pureblood who walked away from the rest of the Sith and became a bounty hunter before joining the CIS. Now I'm a Templar in training who still does this sort of bounty work on the side and I end up using dark side powers now-and-then. Yeah, that would make the Jedi understand alright. If I was going to collect on the little slugger who I came here after then I needed to keep myself well hidden. Thankfully a good helmet over my head helped with keeping my face hidden.

The kid I was after was young, too young to have realized what he was doing. He stole from a number of people he ran into, one being an important official with the CIS. I either had to take back what he stole or failing that would just have to kill him. I was really hoping he wasn't as big an idiot to go and sell it off. A day of tracking brought me to where I could finally find him, unfortunately it was a little too close to the Jedi temple. It was better to keep my distance and not get noticed instead of having a bunch of Jedi sense the dark side and come swarming out after me. I used my scopes to finally see the target only t see he was being chased by someone. Couldn't tell who but they obviously saw him steal something from them.

I went down from my perch and followed until I found them in the alley and saw he had a blaster to her head. I needed to be quiet. I pulled out my own blaster as was careful not to make a noise. When I was close enough I pointed my blaster's barrel right at the back of his head just like he did to her. He'd likely known me given my armor, being it was a distinguished design.

"Now that was a stupid thing to do, Lesky." I said, calling him by name. "Pickpocketing from my employer in one thing but to go picking on girls, that's just low." I tapped the back of his head with the blaster to make him drop his. Once he did I said "You took a ring from a very rich Zebrak a week ago. I hope you didn't do something stupid and sell it off." I held out my other hand and indicated for him to hand it over if he still had it. I looked back to the person he'd heled up, seeing it was a woman by the shape of her, and said "It's okay, lady. This is just business."

@Ane'irna

 

[Bubák]

The one pointing a blaster at her head stopped upon hearing the voice that came from behind. Ane'irna did the same, feeling this was a perfect distraction she needed. She did not want the thug to turn around and hurt whoever disturbed him, the telekinetic grep on her traditional Jedi weapons strengthened and just as she was about to quickly call it into her hand and disarm the thief, she heard as something fell to the ground. Glancing down, she saw the thug's blaster pistol lying there. This stopped her from revealing her Jedi identity, though anyone could see her lightsaber anyway. The green skinned Twi'lek exhaled in relief and thanked the Force for watching over her before turning around, looking past the man who wanted to do terrible things to her at the person holding a blaster to his head. Despite not being malicious, Ane'irna felt some sort of satisfaction seeing the thug tasting his own medicine. Kicking his blaster further away from him so he wouldn't get any stupid ideas, the girl then bowed to the one who helped her. "Thank you." Her hands patted the man down, searching for any other weapons in his possession, but she found just six wallets and several jewels. He must have been busy.

Turning her attention back to the mysterious person who came to the rescue, even though the Jedi felt a bit embarassed she was unable to defeat the thug herself, she looked into the visor where she thought the eyes were. "Please, I will take it from here, I am a Jedi," she said softly, " Please put down your weapon and call the police. They'll take care of him." It felt weird, telling the person who had just helped her to stop aiming at the man who attacked her, but Ane'irna believed there was no point at aiming at an unarmed man. Now, the thug used the distraction, suddenly moving forward to take the Twi'lek girl as a hostage, only to receive a kick into stomach in an instant, Ane'irna's booted leg kicking out in a blinding speed enhanced by the Force. This time, the Force warned her of the danger. Slumping on the dirty ground between the containers, the man clutched his belly, unable to catch his breath. He wouldn't do something that stupid again. Looking bakt at the armored figure, the girl spoke again. "I am Padawan Ane'irna. Who are you, if I may ask?"

@[member="Siqa"]

 

[Siqa]

I watched as the girl got what she could out of the thug, she knew what she was doing. That was good. Meant this wasn't her first time or she just wasn't worried. When the ring fell out among the stuff in his possession I quickly picked it up and pocketed it before she said thanks to me. "No worries, girl." I said. When the guy tried to make a break for his, only for the girl to kick him, I waited until he was clutching his stomach before giving a good chop to the back of his neck. That knocked him out but good.

Then the girl told me she was a Jedi. Oh poodoo. Just what I fraking needed. I didn't see it until then but she did have a lightsaber on her. Crud. I turned, trying to hide the one I had on my belt. An old remnant of my life among the sith and something I didn't use unless needed. I avoided answering her question of who I was and said "I, uh, got all I need. So I'll just be going." I said before trying to make a break for it.

@Ane'irna

 

[Bubák]

Ane'irna shook a bit when the mysterious stranger knocked the man unconscious. Granted, he was a thief who attempted to rob her, kill her and Force knows what else, but as she saw him lying in the dirt, defeated and no longer a threat, she felt a bit sorry for him. What must have happened to him that made him choose this path in life? Sighing, she noticed her savior suddenly wanted to leave, but the Twi'lek had a few questions she wanted to ask! Quickly explaining what happened to the first person who came around, the Jedi Padawan instructed them to call the police before catching up with the armored mercenary or whoever that person was. Ane'irna gracefully jumped in front of Siqa, getting in her way and giving her warm smile and bowing. "In the name of the Jedi Order, I...," she stopped, her blue eyes fixed at the cylinder on her belt. There was no doubt, the person in front of her had a lightsaber. Gulping and slowly looking back up, into the mask of the mercenary, Ane'irna's smile disappeared, replaced by a frown. "Where did you get that?" asked the green skinned teenager and crossed her arms. She made no attempt to reach for her weapon, as if the mysterious person wanted to kill her, they would have done it already in that dirty dark alley. Police sirens could be heard in the distance, coming closer. Paying no attention to it, the Twi'lek continued gazing at the emptyness of the mask where Siqa's face was hidden. She felt no fear, she simply wanted an explanation.

@[member="Siqa"]

 

[Siqa]

Aw hell. The girl was cutting me off and now she saw my saber. Why did I have to carry this thing with me? "Look, I'm just someone who's ding her job." I said, taking a step back when she blocked me off. "I don't want any trouble, got it? I just..." I stopped when I heard the sirens sound off in the distance. I knew if they found me they'd lock me up. Either on the bounty hunting or the fact they'd find out I was Sith Pureblood. "Poodoo!" I said before running the other way, towards more dark alleys. I knew the kid would run after me but I just needed to outrun her. I went down one alley after another, turning this way and that, until I found myself at a dead end. Just great, I thought. I looked back for the girl before jumping up trying to climb over the wall, but I didn't have enough time before she would likely pull me back down. Shouldn't have bothered now that I thought about it.

@Ane'irna

 

[Bubák]

The mercenary's answer answered nothing, but her words that she wanted no trouble only to start running immediately after she heard the sirens gave Ane'irna enough reasons to chase this mysterious person. "Just...stop and answer my questions!" called out the teenager as she found herself chasing someone, again. A bit too much excitement for one day. Not daring to use the Force in an attempt to stop the mercenary, afraid of hitting innocent people, the Twi'lek had to put her trust into her speed and agility, dodging people and objects in her way alike as she ran into more dark alleys. This was not a trap though, as she heard the mercemary running away, occasionally seeing a glimpse of her. Although young, the Padawan had a bit of advantage, as her outfit consisted of the typical Jedi tunic, while the mercenary was weighted down by her armor, or at least Ane'irna hoped so. The two had soon gotten far away from the sirens. Rounding a corner, the Twi'lek saw the running mercenary was trapped between her and a wall. Not doing the same mistake again, the teenager took her lightsaber into her right hand, not igniting it yet, and attempted to telekinetically pull the mercenary from the wall. While doing so, Ane'irna slowly and carefully paced towards her, prepared to defend herself. "Please," she said between breaths, "I don't want to hurt you. I just need to know where did you get that lightsaber!" Attempting to calm the mercenary down, Ane'irna reached out through the Force and gently touched Siqa's presence. In that moment, she realized the woman in front of her was Force sensitive. Quickly ending the connection, she looked at the woman with a frown. Just who was she?

@[member="Siqa"]

 

[Siqa]

I landed on my rear with the girl pointing the saber right at me. Maybe she didn't want to fight, maybe not. But I wasn't in a position to make any arguments for now. "It's mine!" I said bluntly. "You happy now?" I stood up, dusted myself off for a second, before saying "You must be a padawan. I can tell my the amount of force I'm getting off you. Not a lot but strong none the less. Look, you don't have to do anything we'll both regret. I just wanted to get the ring back. That's all. Didn't want to go to war with you or anything." I wondered if the girl could tell she had a connection to the dark side yet. If she did then it'd be all over from her.

@Ane'irna

 

[Bubák]

Taken back by the woman suddenly speaking to her, Ane'irna clipped her weapon back to her belt. The woman claimed it belonger to her, and Ane'irna had no reason not to believe her. Well, except the fact she just tried to run away, but the teenager did not feel lie in her words, maybe because of her inexperience to feel these things. Either way, the Twi'lek realized she could have been a Jedi hunter, explaining the lightsaber in her possession. If that was the case, she'd have to make a run for it, she stood no chance against an experienced killer. "I apologize. I did not know a member of another Force sensitive order operated in the area. You should have explained yourself instead of running though, it looked like you had a good reason to run away from me." The girl offered her an apologetic bow and turned on her heels, ready to get away as soon as she realized where she actually stood. She did not have time to look around when chasing the mercenary, but the Force would surely help her find her way back.

@[member="Siqa"]

 

[Siqa]

"Well technically I'm with the CIS." I said, trying to make her understand. I could at least be honest about that. I just needed to keep the one BIG detail under wraps as long as I could. "That guy who had the blaster at your head stole from one of the higher officials. So this was CIS business. But then again I'm getting a price for bringing this ring back so you could call it claiming a bounty. Either way I was within my rights. I just don't think the police....or the Jedi, would understand as well as you did." I just kept telling myself to keep giving the run-around so she wouldn't ask the obvious question of taking off my helmet.

@Ane'irna

 

[Bubák]

The woman's words made her stop and turn her head, listening to what she had to say. She revealed her alignment to the CIS and that she was after a stolen ring. Ane'irna had no problem with that. While she did not know much about the faction the mercenary worked for, the woman had not attacked her, only acted suspiciously and ran when she had no real reason to. "I never said you have done the wrong thing," said the green skinned Twi'lek and turned around to face the mercenary, walking closer to her, "What do you mean that the police or Jedi wouldn't understand? Please, explain. You have my word that I won't attack you, unless you strike me first, of course." The teenage Jedi promised. Always honoring her word, Ane'irna hoped the mysterious woman would finally share her secret that was the reason she ran away. Of course, many claimed Jedi to be the greatest liars in the galaxy, so the woman had to decide what to believe. Honestly, she hoped this wouldn't end in a fight, as no pedestrians walked through those dark alleys. It'd take time to discover a body there...

@[member="Siqa"]

 

[Siqa]

"Well...I mean because.....damn!" I said, realize I just backed myself into a bigger corner and dug a bigger hole for myself. Guess there was no way to hide it now. She wanted to know who I was then fine. She'd see. I had my connections and if she tried anything the CIS would be all over it. I would have to take that risk. I reached up and clipped off the helmet. After that I wasted no time in lifting it and revealing my face. I looked at her and asked "Now do you get it?" wondering if this was the first time the girl had seen a Sith Pureblood.

@Ane'irna

 

[Bubák]

Watching the mercenary take off her helmet, Ane'irna did not even flinch as the Sith pureblood finally revealed her face. When the woman started removing her helmet, the Twi'lek expected to see one of the Republic's most wanted criminals, not a Sith Pureblood woman with red skin, red eyes, red hair in a wave fashion pulled to the left side of her head. While the fact she stood with a Sith Pureblood the entire time came as a surprise, the young girl honestly did not understand why the woman wanted to hide herself so much. "I have to admit, I don't. Why would anyone want to hurt you because of what, your race? People in the Republic are modern, educated, free-thinking and tolerant beings of all beliefs and species. While your kind is most often associated with the Sith Order, the fact you have helped me and made no attempt at my life makes you a person like any other. It is not your race, age or gender that matters, what matters are your actions. Even if you were a member of the Sith Order, I actually have no reason to fight you. Maybe I'd have to attempt to arrest you though," said the girl and gave the Sith Pureblood a reassuring, warm smile.

@[member="Siqa"]

 

[Siqa]

I had to give the girl credit, she did know how to make you feel better about something. But just because she thought that way didn't mean everyone else did. "Look you seem real nice, girl. And you're really cute too. But let's be honest, just because you feel that way doesn't mean everyone else would. You know how often I see people staring at me like I'm going to crack their heads open or something when I'm sitting in a cantina? And do you really think if you might've been some other Jedi who hated the Sith with a passion that they wouldn't try to take me to jail or take my head? Come on, don't tell me that's what you really think." I was really hoping she wouldn't.

@Ane'irna

 

[Bubák]

Hearing the woman's words, Ane'irna's cheeks blushed when the Pureblood said she was cute, that came and hit the Twi'lek completely unprepared. The rest of the Sith's speech left her feeling ashamed though. Not of herself or her actions, but of where the Jedi Order headed. Even such a naive girl as Ane'irna was had to admit some members of the Jedi Order sought their personal fame and glory in this war instead of fighting for their ideal, as ultimately, invading planets of a legitimate government went against what the Jedi stood for. The Sith might have been tyrannical dictators, but wasting millions of lives on both sides couldn't have been the right answer. While it has proven to be an effective tactic, such a huge loss of life made the Dark Side stronger and more dangerous. Every single death created a void in the Force, and with nothing else to fill the void, the emotions of the ones who lived filled it with hate, anger, pain, despair. Even though the Jedi and the Republic would soon emerge victorious from the bloody conflict, the Dark Side had already won this war a long time ago.

"I admit, your words carry some truth to them," Ane'irna replied, her soft voice almost sad, no trace of its usual warmth, "There are people who would want to make you feel pain and even kill you if they knew of your race. Vast numbers of Republic soldiers are being slaughtered by the Sith, and mind of many Jedi is clouded by their crusade against the Sith. There are good and bad people on both sides," sighed the teenager, her eyes looking up, staring somewhere into the distance, "Unfortunately, the good people are usually the ones to die first... The Sith have to be stopped, but why are millions of innocent and good people dying because of it?" She then looked back at the Sith Pureblood, her blue eyes having no expression in them.

@[member="Siqa"]

 

[Siqa]

@Ane'irna

"Because the Sith won't go down without a fight." I answered her. "They care about power and keeping it as much as possible. They'll kill ayone and everyone if it means they still get to hold on to power." I stopped and looked down at my own hands before saying "Believe me I know...." For a moment I remembered everything I was taught while among my people. All the harsh training and lessons given to me in order to make me stronger. I looked back to her and said "That a good enough answer for you?" I didn't like being harsh with her but all this talk was bringing up bad feelings.

 

[Bubák]

"Then why do we fight them? By making millions of widows and orphans? Destroying the Sith might give us the result we wish, but it will ultimately lead to even more hate and anger. The current generation of the people living in the Empire will hate the Republic and all it stands for. They already don't like us thanks to the Sith propaganda, but once we invade their planets, rip families apart and destroy much of what they have built, we will actually prove the propaganda right. For them, we are imperialistic aggressors who want to destroy what they stand for. This will cause us plenty of trouble in the future, because a new Sith will emergy and start looking for those who hate the Republic and the Jedi Order. Instead of being dismissed as a madman, he will get millions of recruits and launch another war on us. The entire cycle will repeat, it does not matter who wins because there will always be losers." The teenage Padawan said, her words filled with passion. I t was more than obvious she did not believe the end justifies the means, since the whole situation would repeat in a few years as she explained in her speech. She did not like the Sith, but there had to be a better way of fighting them than this mindless slaughter.

@[member="Siqa"]

 

[Siqa]

This girl really cared about what she said. I had to give her that. It was clear she'd thought about this before, not that I ever really did. I was only trained to hate Jedi not wonder why I hated them. Obviously she was the type to talk things out instead of fight, something I actually admired. "I....I really don't know what to say, girl." I finally said awkwardly. "I just....don't know." I was silent for a bit before saying "You're name's @Ane'irna you said before, right?" When she confirmed it I nodded before holding my hand out and saying "I'm Siqa."

 

[Bubák]

Ane'irna smiled when she saw the woman at loss of words. Upong being asked to confirm her name, the Twi'lek Padawan simply nodded and stepped closer to take the extended hand, firmly grasping it in her own. "Nice to meet you, Siqa. I don't expect you to suddenly have a change of heart, but please remember that violence might sometimes be the only answer, but it never is the right one." The teenager said in her typical warm voice, hoping the Sith Pureblood would remember her words as something she could think of instead of dismissing them as nonsense coming from a sixteen year old Jedi. obviously, the girl knew she would not make a difference in the ways the galaxy worked, but that would not stop her from trying. Her blue eyes met the Pureblood's red, staring into them for a while. "I...what will you do now?" The Sith Pureblood surely looked like a woman who could take care of herself, yet she also seemed as another lost soul hoping to find her place in this galaxy and someone to guide her.

@[member="Siqa"]

 

[Siqa]

In response to the first thing she said, about violence never being the answer, I nodded and said "I used to say the same thing.....my parents beat me for it." I had to say it at least. She had to know I wasn't raised to believe like she did but I chose to. I made the choices that lead me to where I am, something I accepted a long time ago. When she asked what to do now I could tell the was feeling awkward by this little event. She was looking at me in THAT way. I'm not one for tooting my own horn anyways, but even I had to say the girl was cute. A lot better than most twi'lek' I'd run into. And there had been plenty. But she was young. I me too young for me.....right? "I guess we could;d always grab a bite." I finally said., trying not to show I felt awkward too. "I don't need to be back right away or anything. I know a decent spot not too far from here." After that I looked down and saw she was still holding my hand. I looked back up and smiled, trying to indicate the fact.

@Ane'irna