Private The Ghost and The Jedi

[Cadere]

Zeltros

​

Cas was so over this. This is not how he wanted to spend his birthday, chasing some lousy arms dealer through the trashy neighbourhoods of Zeltros. But alas, here he was. The Padawan had been sent to Zeltros to apprehend some low-level street thug trying to hit the big time with some experimental weapons that could be dangerous if sold to the wrong people, yeah the whole shtick. After tracking this guy down, Risk Haditin, and busting one of his arms deals - Cas managed to apprehend the buyers but the slippery little womp rat managed to make a break for it before he could get to him.

So now, he was giving chase. Hot on Risk's tail, Cas chased him through the grimy alley way where the deal was taking place and out into the open streets - Cas bumped through the heavy crowd, trying not to lose sight of the arms dealer. "Stop! You damn nerfherder, you're only making it harder on yourself!" he called out to him, growing increasingly annoyed and frustrated with how this situation went downhill so fast. Seemed this always happens whenever he's without Master Sakadi. As the crowd grew smaller, Risk made a quick turn into another alley way which Cas followed suit - using a grapple gun, Risk traversed on top of a building and continued to make his escape. With an annoyed exhale, Cas used the Force to propel his jump as he used parkour to climb the rest of the small building.

As Cas continued the pursuit, Risk, still fleeing, turned and pulled out a repeating blaster on the Padawan and began shooting in his direction. The teen swiftly pulled out his cyan lightsaber and began deflecting the blaster bolts, managing to redirect one into Risk's leg. Risk then pulled out his grappling gun and leapt from the building and onto street level below, reaching the end of the building, Cas looked down and noticed that Risk was nowhere to be seen "Where'd go? Where did he go?! No, seriously!" he called out to nowhere. Facepalming, he groaned and jumped down to street level.

"Hey, any of you see a human? Dressed like a smuggler, smells like a bantha, probably has a blaster wound on his calve?" he asked, referring to everyone in the street. Luckily for him, they all collectively pointed at a casino across the street from where they were "Wow. Uh... thanks." shocked at how they were so easily willing to squeal on some random guy. Whatever, didn't bother him. With that, Cas made his way toward the casino.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Tess loved jobs like this. She gets a chance to dress up and look nice, enjoy herself and then get some action out of the evening...a few bolts flying around made any situation interesting. Her job this time was simple, though it wouldn't be quick nor easy. If she was going to get into the offices, she was going to have to be patient and work her magic.

Dressed in an elegant dress, Tess was walking through the casino with her pale white eyes scanning over anything and everything. It was just another night in a casino. Rich men were entering then leaving as poor men. Poor men entered and left as rich men. One Zabrak was by a table, having a pair of very beautiful Twi'leks blow on the dice in his hand. By the slot machines she watched as a lady freaked out like there was no tomorrow while her machine was spewing out chips with no end in site. It was fascinating to simply sit back and watch as these things happened around her. She accepted a glass of champagne a scantily clad Zeltron offered her and kept walking.

Things took an interesting turn when she saw a sketchy figure limp into the casino, frantically looking behind him. She stopped to watch him with curiosity, noting where he was heading. He disappeared into the crowd but she kept her eyes on him...at least until she spotted a young man entering as well. Just like the other man, he stood out like a sore thumb. But unlike the other man, it wasn't because he was out of breath, limping and looking ready to have a heart attack. No, what made this man interesting was the rather vibrant clothing, tattoos and lightsaber on his hip. A Jedi. Now that was someone who would be making this job a lot easier. No need to mess with locks, no need to worry about security. If she could get him to work with her, she would be sorted.

Her eyes moved over to the other man, most likely the Jedi's prey, who was bribing a security guard to let him into the VIP areas...and a few plans were forming. With a soft smile she wandered over to the jedi, creeping up from behind him. Once she was behind him she took a long sip of her glass. "Now this is a rather odd place for a Jedi to be visiting." she spoke up with an amused smile. "I am curious. Would using the Force on dice count as cheating or divine intervention?" she joked, finishing off her glass and leaving it on a table. "My apologies for troubling you, master Jedi. But you seem to be looking for someone and I couldn't help my curiosity." she explained with a calm voice, looking up at him.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas stopped in front of a Dowutin bouncer, who had placed their arm out to stop the teen from progressing any further. The Dowutin's eyes scanned Cas' features for a moment before scoffing "Identification?" his deep voice demanded, Cas rolled his eyes "I'm eighteen, let me pass." he stated, attempting to pass only to be stopped with the Dowutin's large arm. The Padawan then pointed to the lightsaber at his hip "Jedi business. I need to get inside, guy." although the Dowutin refused to budge.

Sighing, Cas closed his eyes and waved his left hand in front of the bouncer's face "You will let me inside." he commanded, "I will let you inside." the Dowutin repeated before stepping aside. With a cocky smile and nod, Cas entered the casino and upon entering his tattooed face lit up with excitement and wonder. This being his first time inside a casino, he was mesmerised by the flashing neon lights, the extravagant music, and the high energy he could feel through the Force.

Cas shook his head and then realised that he was here for a reason; Risk Haditin. He needed to find him before he could slip away again... seemed simple enough right? The Padawan wandered the casino with an expression of determination, looking for any hints or signs of Risk but to no avail. Suddenly, he heard a long sip of a drink being taken right behind him, prompting him to startle slightly but he played it off with an awkward chuckle as he turned to face... a very attractive woman with white-hair. The woman broke the ice by making a joke about the Force and gambling, Cas crossed his arms and smirked "Well, if it's for the greater good it's definitely 'divine intervention'." he retorted.

Watching as she placed her glass on a nearby table, Cas' arms remained crossed and pondered what she could possibly want with him... regardless, he assumed it had something to do with his Jedi 'expertise'. However, he couldn't lie, being called 'master Jedi' was appealing to his ego. "Can't say much, I'm looking for a criminal. Really bad guy. If I lose him, well..." he shrugged, trying to keep things as confidential as possible. He paused for another moment and returned his gaze at the slightly taller woman "What's a pretty girl like you doing here anyway? Lemme guess, you're a bored housewife married to a rich Zeltron with a secret gambling addiction on the side?" he joked, shooting her an inquisitive glance.

Tess

 

[Tess]

She chuckled softly at his joke, resting her hands on her stomach. He continued to talk, explaining why he was there to begin with. She was indeed correct over his reasons. "Oh I can imagine. Top brass chews you out, you never hear the end of it, all that noise. Or is the Jedi different in that regard?" she quipped, shooting him a smirk.

He tried to take a guess over her reasons for being there which made her laugh gently. "Something like that. I'm a Sector Ranger. Currently investigating alleged cases of this casino being involved in some rather nasty drug dealings, though evidence is still nowhere to be found." she spoke with not even a hint of a lie. She knew she was going to have to play it extra careful with a Jedi. Though this one was starting to appear somewhat easier to work on. "I might have spotted your man entering the staff rooms leading to the offices. He's a sketchy-looking guy, right? Got a bad limp about him, looks like he just crawled out of a gutter?" she described, turning to face Cas slightly.

She nodded to the bar, then led him. "Let's get a drink while we decide on what to do." she suggested. "I need to get into those offices. You probably have to get in there too. How about we help each other out, huh?" she spoke as she reached the bar. "Whatever the Jedi Master wants, please. And a glass of champagne for me, please." she said to the bartender then turned to face Cas again. "Oh, pardon my manners. Name's Tess. And what might I call you, Master Jedi?" she introduced herself, though her tone took a rather sultry turn as she scooted closer to him.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas watched the woman intently as she quipped back to him - she was keeping him on his toes in the best way possible "Oh, the Jedi are way worse. Philosophical metaphors about how we 'learn from failure' blah blah, I'd rather be chewed out in retrospect." he winked, followed by a lighthearted chuckle.

She answered his joke more seriously, revealing she was a Sector Ranger and here for business rather than pleasure. Cool. She definitely looked the undercover type, attractive, dressed elegantly but equipped with a deadly ferocity in her white eyes. When the Ranger described a man fitting the description of Risk, a look of determination fell on his face once more "Sounds about right, thanks Miss Sector Ranger." he quipped as he prepared to make his move, but he stopped in his tracks when her attention turned toward the bar.

Cas shrugged as he followed her to the bar, "I'll have..." Cas placed a finger on his chin as he pondered for a moment "I'll have a Bespin Fizz, thanks." he said, coupled with a smile and a nod at the bartender. The Kiffar leaned at the bar counter and locked eyes with the Sector Ranger as she introduced herself as Tess "No last name, Tess? Mysterious." he said with a smirk "Guess, I'm 'just' Cas then. Although, between me and you... I'm still a Padawan." he revealed, not wanting to pose as a full-fledged Jedi and potentially make a fool of himself. Although he sighed and hung his head slightly, realising he was nowhere near as impressive as she probably thought.

After a few moments, the bartender presented the two with their drinks - Cas examined his glass before taking a sip of his Bespin Fizz, being his first alcoholic drink it didn't live up to the hype as he smacked his lips together in distaste, scrunching his face in discomfort. An idea formed in the Padawan's head, he looked toward the offices and then back to Tess for a moment "My guy went into the staff room, right? You think our two cases could be linked together? Maybe we were meant to meet each other." he proposed, a weak smirk forming on his face. Whether it was his natural impulsivity or the alcohol, Cas was ready to get started - leaning up from the counter, he took a few steps forward before turning to Tess "You coming? I got a few tricks on how to get inside the offices."

Tess

 

[Tess]

He introduced himself as well, but admitted to not being a Jedi master. He wasn't even a knight, either. But she suspected that much with his age. "Well that's not an issue. A Jedi's still a Jedi." she leaned a little closer to him. "You're still more than capable of helping a poor girl out." she gave him a wink before taking a sip of her glass. She giggled as his face contorted. "Yeah I'm not big on that one either." she confessed as she nodded at the drink.

Cas went on to suggest that they work together to get both what she was after and his target. "Either way, I'm not minding this meeting one bit." she spoke with a smirk as she walked beside him. "I do believe they are connected, though. It's way too much of a coincidence." she continued with a more serious tone. In all honesty, she didn't know if they were connected. Neither did she care. His target could have escaped through a backdoor by now for all she knew. She would only care about his target if he actually was connected in a significant way. But for the sake of the job she had to keep this Jedi on her side as long as possible.

"Lead the way, handsome." she quipped as she followed him. "I've always wanted to see a Jedi in action." she continued, finishing off her drink and leaving behind the glass on a table.

In no time at all they reached the door that lead to the staff rooms hidden from view. The door was locked with a keypad next to the frame. A few meters away stood a guard complete with fancy suit and earpiece. "Heads up. Got a guard keeping an eye out over there..." she slowly looked up at a camera also on the door. "And up top. Camera's watching." she spoke to Cas, looking at him to see if he had any ideas.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas turned to look at Tess, grinning at her compliment "Thanks, made it myself." he winked, joking about his facial features "And today's your lucky day then, prepare to be impressed" he arrogantly remarked before cringing at himself, if Sakadi or any other Jedi heard him right now, he'd sure have his ear chewed off.

Reaching the door to the staff rooms, Tess had warned him of the guard a few meters away from them as well as the camera on the door. Cas' expression went into deep thought as he hooked his thumb and finger to his chin, squinting at the ground. Then his eyes widened and confidence returned - the Padawan scanned the guard, noticing a key card hanging from his hip. "Can you distract him for a second?" he whispered, hoping she would oblige, Cas closed his eyes and raised his hand slightly - using the Force, he removed the key card from the guard and slowly summoned it to him.

Now for the camera, Cas scanned the casino for more ideas. Stepping out of view of the security camera, he wandered for a second before stepping on an abandoned tie on the ground - whoever it belonged to must have been having a hell of a party. Still, that'd do. Cas crouched down and picked it up before approaching the door once more just outside of the security camera's view. Cas opened his palm and used the Force to levitate the tie from his palm and placed it over the camera lens.

The teen then turned his attention to Tess, giving her a thumbs up and toothy grin. Cas, still using the Force to aim the tie over the camera lens, opened the door with the key card and waited for the Sector Ranger to return.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Cas suggested distracting the guard and Tess gave a nod. "With pleasure." she remarked as she wandered over to the guard. By the time she reached the guard, she had a bit of a sway in her step as if she were a bit tipsy. With a giggle she reached the guard and placed a hand on his arm. "Excuse me, sir, but could you please tell me where I might find the restrooms in this place?" she asked, dropping her hand when he looked like he wanted to swat her hand away. He did indeed point her in the right directions, but she kept asking questions that were starting to make the guard look a little uncomfortable with the situation. Whatever she was asking, it surely kept his eyes on her.

She kept Cas in the corner of her eye. When he signalled her, she gave a quick thumbs up and broke off, rather perfectly timed with the guard politely refusing her advances. She took a longer route to lose the guard's stare then made her way back to Cas. "Sorry, had to take the scenic route. His eyes were practically glued onto me." she spoke as she reached him. She smiled and nodded at the door. "Come on, let's go." she quipped. "...and so far I'm impressed." she gave him a mischievous smile before continuing on.

The sound of the casino cut out as the door closed behind them. Tess kept a sharp eye out for any surprises, though she hoped that Cas would be able to spot someone quicker than her. She looked at some signs and then looked around them, figuring out where to go. "The more serious stuff should be this way." she said softly. Though as she rounded a corner, she spotted some people down the hallway. She quickly backed up and shoved Cas into a room before following and closing the door behind them softly. It appeared to be a janitor's storage room. She was pressed tightly against him, her face blankly staring at the door as she kept one hand over his mouth and another against her right upper leg. She kept deadly still, not even breathing, as she listened to the people walking past. She looked at him and removed her hand, lowering it to his chest. The smirk appeared again as she looked him over. "Is that your lightsaber against my leg or are you just happy to see me?" she teased him before making her way towards the door. She poked her head out to make sure the coast was clear, then opened the door to keep moving.

"We need to find the offices. Your man might be there as well as the evidence I need. If he isn't, we might be able to find out where he is." she explained as she moved down the hallways. She stopped by one and pointed up. Looking at the entrance of the hallway was another camera. "Any other tricks, master Jedi?" she asked him, leaning against the wall to see what he had in mind for the camera. He was certainly making her life easier...

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

"Thanks, gorgeous." Cas grinned and jokingly bowed at her compliment, motioning for her to enter first - following after her, Cas dropped the tie and shut the door behind him. The Padawan would let Tess take the lead from here as he wasn't well experienced in the art of sneaking around and espionage... 'cept if you could call that mess on Ojom a few months back 'espionage'.

Cas followed closely behind Tess but as they reached a corner, she backed away and shoved him into a.... janitor's closet? "What the--?" he started but was quickly interrupted when Tess pressed a hand against his mouth. The Padawan quickly put two and two together, realising she must have spotted a guard or something around the corner. Cas' heart started to beat rapidly and his breathing sped up once he realised how close the two were... he'd never been this close to a woman before and he didn't know how to handle it. Once she removed her hand and placed it on his chest a coy smile formed on his face but quickly faded into embarrassment when she made an innuendo - "D-definitely my lightsaber!" he lied "My-my actual lightsaber and not an innuendo!" he elaborated through a loud hush.

After Tess stepped out of the closet, Cas remained inside for a moment - groaning quietly while whispering "Why?" to himself as he rested his head in his hands at how much he had just embarrassed himself. Finally, he exited the janitor's closet and continued following Tess, nodding along to what she was saying. There was another security camera at the entrance of a hallway they needed to pass through, the teen playfully rolled his eyes at Tess' 'master Jedi' comment before closing them. Leaning against the wall, Cas raised his right arm and envisioned all of the electrical components inside of the camera before using the Force to deactivate the security camera by breaking it.

The Padawan watched as smoke emitted from the broken security camera before returning his gaze to Tess "Hope that wasn't expensive." he quipped. This time Cas would lead the way, motioning for her to follow as they wandered a few more corridors, avoiding more guards and then finally coming upon a highly secure - but fancy - door. Whether this was the right door, there was only one way to find out. The Padawan ran his hands across the door. Locked. Taking out his lightsaber, Cas aimed its emitter at the door's hinge and activated the cyan blade, beginning to cut through the door with it.

Tess

 

[Tess]

His flustered and embarrassed state was hilarious to watch. Tess' grin widened at his confession as she decided to play with him even further. "What a shame." she muttered to him as she left the room.

By the camera, she watched as Cas focused and literally worked his magic. He looked ad her and made a joke that earned a light snort from her. "Luckily not our problem." she quipped back as she followed him. He did a good job of avoiding being spotted, weaving through the hallways and dodging guards like a professional. She had to admit that this Jedi was certainly doing a fine job at almost impressing her. They finally reached a door and he took out his lightsaber. "Alright then." she spoke and slid her hand in under her dress, pulling her DC-17 free from the holster against her leg hidden underneath the skimpy dress. She took up a position close to a corner, keeping an eye out for him as he cut the lock out for them. "Better make it quick, the sound and smell will definitely attract attention." she spoke with a hushed voice over her shoulder.

Every now and then she glanced behind her to check up on his progress. When he was almost done, she moved backwards towards him but still keeping her pistol at the ready. "On your mark." she said, glancing at him. She took a small step to make room for if he needed to move...though it also made room in case there was a nasty surprise waiting for them on the other side.

She held her position, waiting on the Jedi to see what she could expect on the other side of the door...

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

As he neared the end of cutting through the locked door, he mentally and physically prepared for what was on the other side. From looking at Tess, she looked prepared too and deadly, he was glad she was on his side to say the least. With the entire hinge glowing orange from the lightsaber's burns, Cas raised his knee and proceeded to kick the door down with his foot and hopped inside, standing in his preferred Form V stance only to see...

..."Nobody's home?" Cas uttered while scratching the side of his head. Upon realising he was at a dead-end, the teen slouched his shoulders, threw his head back and groaned loudly as he switched off his lightsaber. Rubbing his face in his gloved palm, he turned to Tess "This was my only lead. Now I'm at a karkin' dead end!" he exclaimed, running his hand through his dreaded hair. He really screwed the pooch, if Risk was able to sell off those experimental weapons, it could spell big problems for this sector - and not only that, he didn't want to earn the scorn of his Master.

However, inside the empty conference room there was a few consoles located at the far end of the room. It was possible that this could be some sort of database as well as a conference room... although he had no way of accessing it right now, he wasn't a slicer or anything. Maybe Tess could do something about it? "Hey, Sector Ranger." he called out to her without facing her "You any good at slicing?" he asked, placing his hands on his hips as he motioned his head toward the computer console, though she probably had already seen it.

Tess

 

[Tess]

Cas kicked the door in and Tess moved in right after him, aiming around the room. But it was empty, to both their surprise. She fully expected the owner or someone else to be present. This was one hell of a lucky break for them. Cas seemed to be annoyed over it for some reason. Perhaps he thought his target would be hiding in here. "Giving up that easily?" she chirped as she walked over to the desk. She picked up a datapad and casually paged through it to see what was up.

Cas seemed to catch onto the amount of opportunities they had and asked about her slicing skills. She looked up from the datapad and flashed a grin. "How good do you want me to be?" she teased before walking over to one of the consoles. "This type of thing is what I do best. Just give me a moment, I should be able to get into the system easily enough." she explained as she looked the console over. She started to hit a few buttons, open up pages that clearly shouldn't be opened by anyone, and after messing around a bit more she unlocked the console. An eyebrow raised as she looked over the pages that opened. "Oh boy..." she muttered, glancing at Cas. "This is the motherload. Bank statements, beneficiaries, business plans, the works. Does your guy have a name? Because I have a folder here with ell of their outside business partners." she asked over her shoulder as she sifted through some files.

While she waited for an answer, she pulled out a datacard and plugged it into the console. All the information started to copy over and in a few moments it was done. She slipped the datacard into a small sleeve hidden on the inside of her dress. "Well my work here is done. You doing anything after this?" she asked him as she leaned against the conference table. She walked back to the terminal and looked over the files once again. "Of course, that's if your guy is connected. If he is, I'll tag along. Would be bonus points to nab a prime suspect.", she explained. In all honesty, she hoped he wasn't connected. But if he was, she would have to suck it up and chase down a criminal. At least she would be able to study this padawan a little longer which was a highlight.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

"Great!" he exclaimed joyfully, slowly walking behind Tess as she approached the console. He stood behind her, hovering slightly as he peaked at what she was doing on the console. She was good. Really good, actually - well, in all honesty, as far as slicing went... Cas had no idea what would be considered as good or bad slicing...

"His name's Risk. Risk Haditin." he said, crossing his arms. His gaze then followed Tess' movements as she inserted the datacard into the console. At first, he raised an eyebrow but then remembered that her mission involved gathering information about the casino's potential drug dealings - even if he failed his mission today, he was glad that he at least did some good today with Tess' mission. Shutting down this casino would be a good thing.

Cas rubbed the back of his neck, in a defeated manner "Not really. I don't get out much aside from when I'm out doing stuff like these." he revealed, gesturing to the entire room and the context of their situation "And, you don't have to sacrifice the rest of your night for my mission." he said, giving her a smile. However, when glancing at the console screen a second time the Padawan noticed something interesting as she was looking over the files once more. "Hold on..." he said, approaching the console, Cas placed his hands on Tess' shoulders and gently moved her out of the way.

The Padawan had spotted a file named Haditin Trade Deal. Opening the file, Cas would see an exchange between the casino's heads and Risk... he and the Jedi had gotten it all wrong. It was the casino manufacturing these experimental weapons, Risk was just some sleazy middle man. A large, victorious grin formed on the teen's face "Got you, you nerfherder." he then whipped his head around to meet Tess' eyes "You know this place better than me, any idea of where else they could be?" he asked, before continuing "Once you tell me, you can go on your way... live your life, get your promotion, marry that attractive Sector Ranger at the office and have cute babies. Promise." he winked, positivity returning to him once again.

Tess

 

[Tess]

"I won't be sacrificing anything, trust me." she assured him, though he seemed to suddenly notice something. He gently ushered her aside and she moved to make way for him. She stood beside him to look over his shoulder as he looked for a name. Sure enough, they found it. Sure enough, this Risk guy was wholly related...and a great source of information.

He faced her again and asked for her input, but quickly followed with a rather amusing assumption. She giggled with a hand over her mouth before answering with a shake of her head. "I'd rather swallow that lightsaber of yours, half the office has the personality of a cardboard box and the other half is just as sad to look at. I'm finding my present company a lot more interesting." she explained, leaning a little closer to him with a warm smile. "I noticed a door leading to the back part of the building, maybe connecting to whatever they got going here. Whatever the case, it had a guard on it. But we should be able to get to it from here Hopefully the security is more lax." she explained on a more serious note before turning to lead the way. "Hopefully it goes quickly, you don't understand how much I wanna get out of this dress." she muttered over her shoulder as she kept an eye out for guards.

After maneuvering and working around people coming and going through the staff area, they reached a door that didn't lead back to the casino at all. It was in a completely different direction. She took a position next to the door once again, pistol at the ready. "Ready for this?" she asked him. They had no idea what was on the other side of the door...and this time there was a lot more risk involved in breaching. "Can you disengage the lock with your tricks? I'm not comfortable with making our presence so easily known with a lightsaber." she explained, glancing around before looking at him again.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas did a double take on the Sector Ranger's lightsaber comment before realising she probably meant it in a different way. The Padawan really had to sort out his dirty mind. He listened as she revealed where Risk could be located, before he began following her to where he needed to go. What she muttered over her shoulder caused Cas to form a giant, mischievous grin "I'd like to see you out of that dress too." he muttered to himself slyly.

After navigating their way through the staff area, they had finally made it... but it didn't lead into the casino. Cas shrugged and got to one knee, eye level with the door's panel on the wall next to it "Yeah, sure. Master's been advising me to focus on my connection to the Force instead of using my lightsaber to solve problems anyway." and with that, he shut his eyes and took a deep inhale - hovering his hand over the security panel, doing exactly what he did with the security camera earlier he envisioned its internal components. With his mind focused on that, he used the Force to rotate the socket located on the panel.

As the door slid open, Cas quickly removed his lightsaber from his hilt and lo and behold - there they were. All of them. Risk was speaking to a Zeltron, probably informing him of the bust earlier, but once Risk turned to see Cas. The look on his face was golden. Igniting his lightsaber, Cas quipped "There you are, I missed you!" Risk's shock quickly turned to anger "You!" "Me." the Padawan quickly retorted, forming a grin. "What're you waiting for?! Kill them!" the Zeltron ordered.

Then all hell broke loose, a barrage of blaster fire came on the pair's head - Cas quickly began deflecting the bolts, even redirecting some back at their aggressors. "I count about a dozen, how'd you feel about those odds?" he asked Tess in a lighthearted manner, eyes still very much concentrated on the incoming blaster fire.

Tess

 

[Tess]

He might have tried to keep it to himself, but Tess still caught it. she glanced at him over her shoulder with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, before chuckling lightly to herself. "Then maybe you can help me out of it later." she quipped with a sultry voice without looking at him. Her advances might not be considered as professional or proper, but the Agent could definitely see some uses in winning this Padawan over. Besides, he wasn't that bad-looking and some fun now and then didn't hurt.

By the door he did his thing again and the door unlocked. It slid open and he moved in first, followed closely after by Tess who had her pistol at the ready. Waiting on the other side was none other than the owner of the casino talking with Cas' target. Her eyes scanned the entire area, marking each and every person looking like they were packing. As soon as the Zeltron's words left his mouth, Tess lobbed a bolt in two guards' heads and scrammed for cover alongside Cas. She checked her weapon, pulled a knife from the holster around her leg and shifted her spare cell for easy reach. "A good warm-up." she quipped calmly before making her move.

She jumped over the crates she was hiding behind, firing away at a guy's chest and head before sprinting at another. She jumped up and landed with both feet in his chest, driving the sharp heels of her shoes into him and putting a round through his head for good measure. She looked up at the Zeltron with a smile after landing on the body, quickly switching to stun mode and dropping him before scramming for cover from incoming fire. Bolt after bolt smacked into the pillar she hid behind, forcing her to stay in cover. "Cas! A little help?" she called out to him with a voice as calm as ever. She waited patiently for Cas to draw their attention before making any moves to take out the other gunmen.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas continued his blaster deflection, while also watching out for Tess in the corner of his eye. She was like a machine! Her speed and agility... well, he was surprised that she could do all that despite being in that uncomfortable dress - the Sector Ranger was really full of surprises. Returning his gaze to the fight at hand, the Padawan pressed forward while redirecting some bolts to return to their blasters.

While doing so, he scanned the room for any whereabouts for Risk. Damn coward went into hiding instead of shooting at him. His ears would then perk as he heard Tess call for assistance - "My bad, forgot you weren't bullet proof!" he joked. Taking one hand off of the lightsaber's hilt, he used the Force to push a wave of energy in order to knock Tess' attackers down, thus turning their attention on him - "Sorry guys, she's just not that into you!" he quipped immaturely. The teen continued to press forward until they all had to reload or their blasters overheated, Cas would use this as an opportunity to close the distance and take them out for good.

The first, unfortunate soul, Cas elbowed him in the face and sliced his blaster in half before tripping him over with the fall knocking him out. As the other scrambled waiting for his blaster to cool down, he attempted to pistol whip the Padawan although Cas narrowly avoided it and disarmed him with his lightsaber, leaving him for Tess. The third and final guy was put down by a simple Force push from Cas, knocking into a wall put him out cold.

With that over and done with, Cas kept his lightsaber ignited "You didn't have to kill them, y'know." he joked with a serious undertone. Scanning the room for Risk, he saw the outline of the back of his head slightly hovering over the crate - quietly, and cautiously Cas approached the crate. His eyes widened to see that it was a thug's corpse that had been planted there. Whipping his head around, Cas heard the sound of feet shuffling and before he could even react Risk had shoved a taser into his neck. Screaming in pain for a short moment, Cas was unconscious quickly.

Tess

 

[Tess]

She lightly smiled at his joke. Now that would be an augmentation she would accept with open arms. Cas did a great job of disrupting their attacks, opening up a window for Tess to keep moving.

Between the two of them, the thugs didn't stand a chance. Cas destroyed their weapons and Tess finished off the ones he left for her. Pretty soon is was just the two of them left along with the Zeltron and supposedly Cas' guy hiding behind some crates. Cas voiced his issue with her killing the thugs but she didn't express any emotion over it. "They shot first." she answered simply, but a faint look or regret spread on her face. She glanced at him the back at the bodies. "...You're right, though." she said softly, looking at her pistol. "Stun setting would have worked fine." she admitted gently, looking around the place.

While she inspected the area, Cas was ambushed and stunned. She quickly spun and, sure enough, lobbed a stun bolt into the guy. With literally everyone present now subdued, she was left with a bit of an issue. She now had two unimportant targets to deal with along with one very cute unimportant collateral. Plus the shootout would be drawing attention to the place and authorities would likely be responding soon. She had to move.

She snapped some photos of the facility, the thugs, the targets, everything. She then got two empty crates, loaded each party in their respective crate, stole the outfit of one of the thugs, then made her exit. The crates were pushed along on a hoverbed towards a nearby speeder truck, where she loaded the crates in the back and drove off with it. By the time Cas woke up, he was in an apartment somewhere on Zeltros. His lightsaber was on the end table next to the bed along with Tess' own pistol and knife. The sound of the shower running could be heard coming from the bathroom. After a few more minutes the shower went quiet, though steam still spilled out the bathroom.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

*******​

Everything was black, until it wasn't. His eyes fluttered open and the first thing he saw was a blurry ceiling, groaning Cas sat up and rubbed his head. The Padawan's entire body ached as he sat up on an unfamiliar bed - after regaining his bearings, the Kiffar scanned the room he was in and deduced he was still on Zeltros but... whoever's apartment this was was completely foreign to him. Clenching his head and closing his eyes shut, Cas attempted to remember what had transpired.

Remembering that Risk managed to get the drop on him and knocked him out via electrocution, Cas cursed himself for a moment for getting over confident and dropping his guard. However, his mind quickly fell back to what he was doing here - where was Tess? Where was Risk? Was he in Risk's apartment and if so, why didn't he just kill him?

Looking closer to the bed, he saw his lightsaber on the bedside table alongside Tess' blaster and knife. Raising an eyebrow, he questioned if Tess was here too? Or something worse happened to her... as he heard the sound of a shower running, he turned his attention to the bathroom only to see steam spilling out from the bottom of the door. Getting out of the bed, Cas used the Force to summon his lightsaber into his hand and cautiously approached the bathroom door as the sound of the running water stopped.

When he was at the door, the Padawan quickly ignited his lightsaber and slammed his hand on the access panel which caused the door to swing open revealing... TESS?! Cas' eyes widened in both shock and horror "Oh, kriff! Oh, kark! Blast it all!" he exclaimed as he covered his eyes with his free hand. "What the-- what's going on?!" Cas asked as he shut off his lightsaber "I thought Risk killed you and brought me back here!"

Tess

 

[Tess]

The sound of a lightsaber igniting made Tess look up from drying her hair. A second later the door slid open and Cas was looking at the naked, pale woman. She folded her arms and turned to face him fully. "Someone can't hold it in." she teased him, wrapping the towel around herself to cover up. Cas rambled on with apologies and excuses which merely made Tess giggle. "Relax, Cas. Him and his friend are currently frozen in carbonite and stored away in the closet. I figured you want them both alive." she explained casually as she walked towards him. She took hold of his shirt collar and pulled him a little closer. "And I couldn't simply leave you there, now could I?" she muttered, letting go of him and walking to the bedroom with some added sway in her hips.

She quickly dried off, tossed the towel aside and got dressed in a simple pair of shorts and tank top. "This is my apartment. I'm currently staying here until my business is concluded." she explained aloud for him to hear as she dressed. "Given I sent my superiors the evidence, copied it for you and literally closed the case off in a single evening, that business is concluded." she walked back to him again, brushing her messy hair to the back of her head and tucking it in behind her ears. She nodded for him to follow, taking hold of his wrist to gently pull him along. "But we made a deal. After all that, we'd celebrate a job well done. So, master Jedi, care for a drink? Something to eat?" she asked him with a friendly tone. "It is afternoon, by the way. If you feel like something stronger than a cup of caf." she explained, taking a position behind the kitchen counter.

She took out a bottle of cider for herself and popped the cap off against the counter, then took a small sip. If Cas asked for anything, she would quickly get it for him as well. "I must admit, seeing a Jedi in action was a real treat. You guys sure got some nice tricks up your sleeve." she said as she leaned on the counter, flashing him a wink. She walked around and leaned back against it next to him with her bottle in hand, taking another sip. "So, Master Jedi? What'll it be? Go back to your temple already and leave me here to celebrate on my own?" she leaned closer to him with narrowed eyes and a smirk. "Or would you like to celebrate and relax for a day or two?" she muttered with a sultry voice. The bottle of cider came up and was held towards him to take, while her other hand was sneakily creeping up from his leg to his waistline...

Cadere