The Good News Is...

[Anastasia Rade]

She had been told by numerous people to not look into her past and to just focus on her future. Anastasia could understand where they were coming from however there still part of her that wished to know. She wanted to know all the who, what, were why that is of her life. The young woman would then be able to close out that chapter of her life and fully focus on her future.

She didn’t have enough credits to just throw them around on anything. This was important however and she believed that she could strike up a different sort of deal with him as she doubted that what she had was enough for what she wanted.

She had invited him to a face to face meeting to discuss things. It wasn’t that her things were that confidential more that she rather talk to someone in person. Leaning back in her chair she waited for him to show up to the café they agreed upon.

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

Cryax bane had replayed the Hologram of Anastasia Rade a few extra times for good measure because couldn't believe that such a classy-looking woman would be contacting him about anything, much less a slicing job. He was used to dealing with Hutts and Trandoshans, not humans as beautiful as his new client Ms. Rade. He rifled through his closet hoping that a nice suit would magically appear. It didn't. Welp, he just have to wear his signature gear, black threadbare trenchcoat, fingerless gloves, beat up black leather boots.

The Chiss checked the location pinned on his Datapad and ran his fingers through his blue-black hair one more time before striding off to the Cantina on Nar Shaada. He hoped that Ms. Rade wouldn't mind meeting him on such a pisshole of a planet, but this place was part of the bargain when you hired a slicer who was steadily gaining galactic notoriety.

The Cantina wasn't too crowded and he spotted Ms. Rade instantly. The closer he got to her table the more that familiar feeilng of nervousness around any human or near-human who was remotely female crept up on him. So just like ripping off a Bacta patch, he stepped right up to her and introduced himself.

"Ms. Rade I presume? I'm Cryax Bane. I'm here to help you with that, er, special project we discussed."

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

The black dress that she wore had been a gift from a friend. Normally she didn't dress up like this however she was potentially hiring someone to work a job for her that was near and dear to her heart. She wanted to look presentable after all he could reject her offer which was not something done wanted.


“It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Bane,” she smiled standing up and put out her hand for him to shake.
“Thank you for taking the time to meet with me in person.” The fact that he had showed up was a good start to what she was looking for. Hopefully he wouldn't mind her also wishing to be involved in the hunt.
“Can I get you anything to eat or drink?” She questioned as she took a seat sipping at the Caf that was in front of her.

She was never one for small talk but that was because she never understood it. Anastasia had a feeling that he would appreciate this.
“I was hoping you could help me find out whom my parents were. I know they are dead but other than that I'm at a loss. I have had a few visions but I don't have much for you to go on.”


[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

"The pleasure's mine," the slicer said as he gave her hand a firm shake. He gave her a lopsided grin, an unusually warm one for a Chiss who generally didn't like outward displays of emotion. "Nothing for me, thanks." he said nodding towards her drink. The slicer joined her at the table, his eyes looking everywhere but her direction. He studied his hands as he spoke. It was obvious that the Chiss was a bundle of nerves around women.

"Let's get down to business shall we? If there's one thing I'm good at it's finding data. I even have ways of recovering files that most would consider long deleted. But I need a place to start, so here's the catch. I'm going to need alot of private details about you, and I, uh, hope you're going to be ok sharing them with me. Otherwise I have nothing to go on. Are you going to be ok with your privacy being, shall we say invaded?"

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

She nodded as he spoke hoping what little she had to go on was enough. She certainly didn't have a lot but anything she did have she would share with him for the cause. Anastasia had been kept out of most things about herself.
“My life has never been private or my own so I have no issue sharing with you today.” The only thing that bothered her was telling her horrid tale. Opening up was hard for her and trusting people was even harder. People were always out for what they could get for themselves.


“I do have one question before we begin. Payment. I'm not made of credits however I saw you were interested in learning how to defend yourself. I believe I could help you in that area.” As a Mandalorian she had been taught how to use a whole slew of weapons and even hand to hand combat.
“I prepose a trade of sorts. My Mandalorian fighting skills for data?”


[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

Although she put up a good front, he noticed some faint traces of pain and distrust in her eyes. This was going to take a delicate hand. It was hard for the introverted Chiss, but Cryax willed himself to relax a bit so she wouldn’t feed off his anxiety.

So she was a child of Mandalore, eh? Cryax Bane had not originally pegged her as a warrior but he was wrong about so many things having to do with the opposite sex that he was used to surprises like this. Now that he had solidified full time work with the Red Ravens, he didn’t necessarily need the credits. Combat training he could definitely use.

“Sure, that seems like a fair deal.” he chuckled softly. “but I have to warn you I’m pretty uncoordinated in that department. You’re going to have your work cut out for you.” He gave her a sly grin before quickly switching gears, going right into problem-solving mode.

“Ok, let’s get started then. We could get on the Holonet and start finding out some things using names, dates, times, locations. You’ll provide me with as much as I can in that department. Then I have, er...other methods.” He thought it best not to mention “Little Brother” or any of the other slicing software he had written. After all, she could very well be a slicer herself who was posing as a client in order to get some secrets. It seemed he also had trust issues of his own.

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

She was terrible when it came to reading others. Anastasia had spent enough time with the opposite sex or otherwise to really understand body language. He was acting different but honestly it didn't phase her as she was sure others thought her behavior to be weird. She had reasons just as he had his.

“Don't worry, I can work with that. I'll have you wielding a weapon of your choosing with ease in no time.” She grinned at him slightly as she thought of the first time Azrael had given her a weapon. She hadn't been the most coordinated person at first but with practice she learned. Anastasia would be patient with Cryax just the way Az had been with her.

There would be no problem on that front. She was more worried that he wouldn't be able to help due to her having literally no information when it came to her past. It would be a change but what slicer didn't love a challenge.

“I will provide you with what I know which is truthfully not very much. I don't know my parents names. I don't even have the name of an orphanage to give you,” she laughed slightly. It wasn't funny really if anything her past was sad. Most others would have put it as far behind them as they could but here she was digging into it. “I was for as far back as I can remember a slave on Mytus VII. I was kept in a cell by my self mostly but there were also the slave pits whom were run by the Gaurg and the Sith. I know nothing other than this which I know isn't helpful.” Sighing she looked down to her Caf before taking a sip from it.

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

Enslaved by both Gaurg and Sith? And Cryax thought he had had a rough childhood. His nightmare years at the hands of The Collectors seemed to be a walk in the park compared to what Ms. Rade had been through. The edge of pain in her voice as she talked about her past really got him right in the gut. He felt like reaching across the table to hold her hand in his, like a comforting friend. He shook the feeling away. He had a job to do and the last thing she needed was for her slicer to get all "white knight" on her.

He gave her a hopeful look and smiled that lopsided grin, "On the contrary Ms. Rade. It's very helpful. I can probably break right into Mytus VII census records and poke around from there." He shrugged. "It's a decent start actually."

He woke his Datapad out of sleep and with started typing with some determination, his red eyes scanning the information with surprising speed. "It's gonna take me a few minutes to get into the records I need so you might want to get another Caf."

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

“I may need something stronger than Caf for this. You never know maybe I'm a princess of some far off land or I come from money.” she smiled slightly. It wasn't exactly a joke as she was a little on edge with what he may find. It could be that fairy tale story where she is really a princess from a far off land but that wasn't realistic. She needed to prepare herself for the worst even though she didn't want to think that way.

“I was going to go back there and see what I could find but I'm just not ready for that. The planet is also not friendly at the moment.” She believed if they had found anything that they would have told her by now. Nothing probably could be found or they really hadn't looked that much.

“You sure you don't want anything? Perhaps a pastry or something?” She questioned as she stood up to get herself something. She really did like the food out here in this galaxy.


[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

"No thank you, Ms. Rade." He answered her politely and watched her shapely form as she got up. Focus, Cryax. Stay on task. He went back to slicing through all the Mytus VII records that he could. The census bureau turned up nothing on the name Rade. The orphanage, the Slave Pits, the Sith. There was absolutely nothing. He sighed at the thought of disappointing the Mandolorian woman. But then his Datapad pinged.

There was some cryptic information pertaining to Sith, Gaurg and slavers. He blinked as he tried to decipher bits of errant, leftover code. The random scraps of data weren't connected to anything that useful, but there was a word hidden in the string: "Jedi"

It wasn't much, but when she came back to the table, he grinned widely like a cat with a canary. "I think I found something."

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

The café didn't hold the liquid courage that she needed for his news. Anastasia expected to hear something along the lines of your parents sold you into slavery for money. She had always been nothing more than a rag doll to anyone. Used and abused her whole life so why should she expect anything different?

After a few minutes of looking at the goodies they did have she chose a chocolate chip cookie along with another Caf. She always found it hard to choose but if she wanted something else she could always go get it. The chocolate would help somewhat or at least she hoped it would.

Taking a bite from the cookie she slid back into her chair. He had this look on his face as if he had found something.
“Find something?” It wouldn't be surprising if he came up with nothing. One the Slave Pit was closed why would files be kept? It's not like any of them had been any importance to them.

There were plenty of Mando slicers she could have chosen but she didn't want them to know her past. This was something she wanted to keep from those she called family now.


[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

Cryax grinned back at her, blinking and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He couldn't contain his excitement. "So, I'm not entirely sure but I think I might have found your some evidence of your mother." His hands went out in front of him in a gesture that seemed to say "brace yourself."

"So here's the thing. I think she was a Jedi."

He showed her his Datapad, making sure he hid any weird Holosites that he might have been browsing before he arrived. What she saw looked like a strings of number and lines, esoteric symbols, all broken up around the page nonsensically.

"See? Here." He pointed out a word. "The word 'female.' And here." He pointed again. "The word Jedi."

"I don't have much more than that I'm afraid, but it's something right?"

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

She had figured her parents had been Force Users of some kind or at least one of them as Bane and her were both Force Sensitive. It was nice to know that she had been a Jedi and not the Sith she had been worried to hear. There had been no mention of a father but that would come later she assumed. This something was better than nothing at all.

The information he pointed out to her was all a jumbled mess in her opinion. This was why he was the expert and not her. He knew that these words went together one way or another. “You think we could find more about her in the Jedi records? If she had been something to them they certainly would still have something I assume.”

Anastasia had a whole slew of other questions for him as well however decided to keep those to herself for the moment. She didn’t want to bombard him with twenty questions right away. It would be good to give him space to breath.

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

"Exactly, Ms. Rade." he nodded emphatically. "The Jedi Archives are going to have to be our next stop." He paused, then lowered his voice to almost a whisper.

"The problem is, getting access to them. There's no way to get to them from the Holonet obviously." He gestured to his Datapad. "They're usually in some remote location, possibly a well-armed compound. And even if we could get in, which is a big 'if', and I can get on one of their central computers, their code is written with some Force gobbledygook that I don't understand. It's not a problem to slice through it, of course. it's more that once I do, a hundred Jedis will probably 'feel' my presence in there. In other words, it's doable, but extremely risky."

He searched her eyes with his fluorescent red ones. "Do you know anyone who might be able to get us into a Jedi stronghold?"

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

“I don't know any Jedi that could help us. I could also get us there undetected. There are spells for that but I'm not sure how long they would last. I wonder if I asked they would help.” It wouldn't be as fun but it could be worth a try or she could probably sneak them both in and hope they didn't get caught using the magic that she had. If they did it wouldn't look good for either of them and innocent family hunting would not fly with them.

Taking a bit of her cookie she munched as she thought of how they could go about doing this. She believed also by going to this Jedi Stronghold they would also maybe find out about her father or a clue maybe. The young witch for once in her life was hopeful that her past wasn't all bad news.

Jedi, from what she had read, were the guardians of the galaxy and the keepers of peace. She had only heard good things about them. They fought the Sith but were weaker than the Mandalorian’s.
“Do you think my father was a Jedi too?” the thought that they had both been slaves crossed her mind but she didn't want to think about that.


[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

He thought carefully for a bit, his analytical mind brimming with risk assessment. She had mentioned spells. The Chiss was even less familiar with galactic magic then he was with the Force. This made risk assessing difficult so he'd have to go with his gut. The scant information he got was really nothing. The trail just stopped.

The Jedi Archives seemed like their only way to get more intel and as risky as it was, the Chiss lived for the thrill of a slice such as this, a peek behind the curtain of Jedi computing.

"If you could take us there. I'm positive I can get more information." he assured her confidently. "As far as your father goes," he looked down at his Datapad, wrinkling his brow. "There's no indication here either way. However if he were a Jedi, we'd probably find that out in their archives as well."

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"I'm a witch so hearing one of my parents was also a Force User makes sense. I will be able to get us in undetected no issue. I don't know how long I can hold the spell." If they were going to be doing this Anastasia wanted to be straight with him. It wouldn't be good to surprise him when they got there.

She could get out of that mess though or at the very least she believed she could. If they were caught she could be a distraction while he did his slicing thing. "If that were to happen I will keep you safe. I'll cause a distraction of some sort. You have my word." The young witch found that she was quite good at getting herself out of tough spots.

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

The Chiss smiled again and and looked down shyly. "Thank you for the offer, Ms. Rade." He paused. "The offer of keeping me safe, that is." He raised his red eyes to hers, chuckling and shook his head.

"I generally put myself in a whole mess of unsafe situations in my line of work. I can probably take care of myself." He paused and added: "No offense, of course," knowing he probably could use all the help he could get.

Although he was starting to loosen up around his new client, the mention of the word "witch" made Cryax shiver. As a guy with a strictly science-based mind, the young Chiss was perplexed by the mysteries of various forms of magic in the galaxy and in his mind, and they were wrapped up into one big ball of esoteric mumbo jumbo he didn't fully understand. It would be interesting to see a witch in action.

"So then, Ms. Rade. I think we've both agreed on the course of action. When should we get started? And do you have an inkling of where these Jedi archives are?"

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"Please call me Ana. I'm not even sure where my last name came from. I didn't mean you couldn't take care of yourself." She started as she could feel her face turning read. She hadn't meant to offend him if she had. Sometimes words came out wrong. "I have no doubt that you can take care of yourself. What I meant is that I have your back as well. If things go south I won't take off without you."

She wasn't only a witch but he didn't need to know all she had been getting herself into. Anastasia worked overtime to try to catch up to where someone her age ought to be.

"Tython? I know the Jedi have a temple there. I'm not sure it's their main one but will it work? If we get you there you can work magic?" Taking a bite of her cookie she paused to think before speaking again "It might be a good plan to check it out so we can be prepared. Waltzing right in there is probably not a good plan."

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

Cryax used all his bravado to play off the fact, that yes, he had dug into her background and yes, he also knew a little bit more about her than she probably knew. Like her last name. Then again, she had to have known she was hiring a criminal to take this type of job. Slicers definitely weren't choir boys after all.

Still he thought it was polite to apologize for the intrusion of privacy. He grinned ear-to-ear and gave a small shrug, leaning back in his seat with his hands behind his head.

"Sorry, but I had to run the numbers on you before we kicked off this job." He leaned forward.

"Anastasia, I'm kind of a criminal in certain parts. I had to make sure you weren't a member of one of the dozen gangs who want my head on a pike. I hope I didn't overstep."

He paused. He needed to tell her just how much of a wanted man he was since she had agreed to go traipsing all over the galaxy with him.

"In fact, I need to warn you that there may be one or more bounties on my head right now. I find it highly unlikely that any of these unsavory opportunists would find me at a Jedi stronghold." He sighed. "I just wanted to make you aware of the risks."

He hoped this wasn't going to be a dealbreaker.

[member="Anastasia Rade"]