Third Time Lucky-ish

[Beowoof]

Taci nodded her understanding of Asemir's words of experience. She had gathered a lot of 'junk' over the course of her life here--so much that she wished she did not have to part with. There was a use for everything, as far as she was concerned, and it pained her to leave the vast collection of years of scavenging behind. Maybe she would leave a note for whomever might set foot in her poor excuse for an apartment. If you cannot take everything with you, at least leave a story behind.

There was not much to clean up, however. Most of her vital supplies she carried on her person, apart from hygiene necessities. The twi'lek had been alone for quite some time and had almost nothing in terms of keepsakes and souvenirs. The only thing that saddened her was the stock of paintings she had made. There were some she could rescue, but not all of them could be taken along. Her luggage case could only hold so much.

But maybe it should all stay--her story. Not many people passed this way, and fewer would want to. If she locked it up well enough, she might come back to her home one day, everything undisturbed. And if someone broke in while she was out on adventure with her new comrade, then they would at least have her legacy, if that was worth anything.

She wrote on the wall, boldly opposite the doorway:

My name is Tacitanya. I hope this room finds you well.​

When you are done using my room, please leave something behind to share.​

Now there was only one thing remaining. Digging through her piles of scrap, Taci found the corroded, cylindrical piece of personal fabrication and tucked it into her bag. It did not work yet, but if Asemir was as knowledgeable about lightsabers as he claimed, then maybe he would know how to finish her project.

Exiting her home and locking the door behind, Taci marched out with barely more than she had gone inside with. "I think I'm ready now."

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

Asemir nodded and added a smile. "I want to say something philosophical, like how no one is ever ready, but I think that's a bit melodramatic." He pointed at her single luggage case. "If there's anything else you need, we can stop by a shop after turning in this bounty."

He took a look at her apartment and sighed. There was a tinge of regret, which surprised him. This wasn't even his home, but the fact was, he was taking someone away from the life that she had known. That saddened him. Ah well.

The ingr'nysk turned away and guided Taci back towards the Promenade. "Okay, we're actually going to head back that way. The bounty turn-in is in some casino. It should be pretty straight forward. All I have to do is hand over some evidence that the contract was fulfilled, so nothing dangerous or too exciting. This will actually be the very first step of your training. I want you to reach out with the Force and see if you can sense the emotions or general feelings of those around us. Try to determine who they're projecting their intentions at, what they're thinking, that type of thing. It'll be a neat exercise, and a great way to gauge where to start your other training at."

As Asemir explained, his mind drifted back to the apartment. The sadness reared its head again and poked at some long-buried memories. "Let's take a step back, Taci," he said after a moment. "What are you feeling right now? I mean, we're leaving your home for who knows how long. How are you feeling?"

[member="Tacitanya"]

 

[Beowoof]

She nodded in partial agreement at Asemir's musings, her lips curling upward in a slight smile. She was fairly certain that she was ready (There was not much here for her other than what she had already been doing her whole life.) but she had, of course, been proven wrong on several occasions. "I don't think I'll need anything more. If I do, I can always find something..." 'Find' was perhaps a loose word--maybe it was legitimate for most cases, but the truth was that she had indeed stolen some things before, if only to get by.

And was she ready? Doubts immediately began to fill Taci's mind as the bounty hunter declared his intent to practically throw her in the deep end from the very start. She had always taken new challenges in stride, and had never given up when life had ordained a task as necessity. She had only survived this long through perseverance, after all. But this Force thing was never even considered relevant in her life until now. It's only a gauge, he said. She felt her sudden stress ease off, however, when Asemir decided to test her right now on her own emotions. That should be easy, right? She should know what she was feeling.

It was harder than she would have logically assumed. Her heartrate increased again as she fumbled through her mind, afraid that maybe he had been wrong the entire time and her 'gifts' were just a bunch of luck--the kind a street rat needs to get to her adult-but-still-young age. If she failed, would it all be over before they even began? Yes, she certainly was feeling emotion right now. "I'm excited and I'm worried," she said, simply letting everything out instead of trying to forcibly unlock her own heart. "I'm not really sad. I have no one here for me anymore and I always knew I would leave for a better place if I had the chance. I'm just... afraid I'll fall short of what you'd expect from me. I'm just a bastard daughter who made everything up so I don't end up where my mother was."

The twi'lek then brought her hands up to her jaw to literally stop her mouth from running any further. He wanted to know how you feel, not hear about a soap opera.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

Asemir nodded, sensing the anxiety and unease behind her words. Her emotions rolled off her in waves, and he read it plainly. It matched her words. She wasn't lying, not that he expected her to. And what he read was justified, it made sense. If he had been in her situation, with a strange man showing up randomly in his life and dropping the quite surprising fact that he, an urchin, was heir to some mystical destiny, well, he'd be incredulous and unsure of himself as well.

"Hey," the Forgotten said, trying to be reassuring, "there's really no failing here. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that I'm right about you. And even if you don't sense anything during this first exercise, even if nothing seems to happen, it's not a failure. This isn't a test. It's a gauge, remember? We're here to see how you'll do. Besides, even if this turns out to be a wild goose chase, there's no harm done. No one's life is at stake. You'll see the galaxy and be exposed to a million opportunities."

They entered the Promenade district and were soon approaching one of the numerous gaudy casinos. The neon lights and flashing displays reminded Asemir of the laser-and-tracer light show from a fully active anti-aircraft system fending off an orbital insertion. He stopped and turned towards his companion, his voice serious. "Are you carrying any weapons on you? Knives, blasters, that sort of thing?"

OOC:

Sorry if the pacing is off. It's honestly been a few years since I've really RPed with someone else, as opposed to writing a story by myself, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to allow more time for conversation and all. I fear that if I do, we could get stuck talking and walking to the building for dozens of more posts, which honestly isn't that horrid of a thing.

[member=Tacitanya]

 

[Beowoof]

She nodded as he reiterated what his intents were, taking consolation in his promising that, no, she was not going to be left on the side of the road on some backwater world should they discover that her potential was inadequate for some supreme plan of an aging, overreaching bounty hunter. Maybe the plans both of them had devised in this short span would not come to fruition, but at least there would be something gained out of it, no matter how hard she fell while trying to pick up her feet and step forward into this new future.

Her luggage case smacked against the heels of the short one's grubby boots as they returned to the Promenade--apparently the location of this bounty registration. It would appear that Taci had caused quite the detour in his errand, which was flattering, in a way. Most people never gave her the time of day.

Weapons, weapons... "Yeah, I've got a pistol..." She dug her free hand underneath her coat and felt at the grip of the homemade gun. She had built it herself, despite her aversion to violence. Living out here alone was just too risky without some sort of weapon, and she had eventually pieced together a polished and functioning--albeit unimpressive in firepower--handgun that had made the most brilliant sound that one time she had tested it. Since then, she had not pulled the trigger. "Should I not be?"


OOC: It's no problem! I've had plenty of RPs that are more-or-less just talking.
Also, congratulations on 1,200 posts!

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

"The pistol is fine," Asemir said. "I just want to be sure before we go in. While this should be a pretty straightforward deal and I don't expect any surprises, it's good to be prepared. And speaking of being prepared, we'll be meeting with a Hutt that goes by the name of Thorin. He owns one of the casino franchises on this world, and put out a hit on one of his former underlings. Andranos, the target, was preying on Thorin's customers, stealing what little they won and just generally driving away business. I was asked to end Andranos' threat, and that I did.

"They continued walking as the Forgotten explained. "Now, I know I said that I focus on taking jobs that help people and are for the greater good. Thorin isn't a Hutt known for his benevolence to others. He is a Hutt after all. But, the target was attacking the weak and all that, and it was a pretty straightforward job. So, I took it and spent some time trying to return the stolen credits. That was actually a job in itself. Took too much time to track people down and I eventually gave up on it."

He pointed across the street to the Galaxy's Star, a hotel-casino combo that serviced this sector of the district. The building towered into the sky, brightly lit neon glowpanels covering every centimeter of its edifice and claiming to all that this was the casino of the district. Patrons crowded the Galaxy Star's entrance, all of them chattering and many attended to by the small army of hotel greeters. Asemir scanned the employees with a practiced eye, counting the number of entertainers, servants, and guards. The official bruisers were easy to spot, their physical bulk marking them clearly. It was the undercover guards, the enforcers masquerading as clerks and pleasure girls that were trickier to find. But he found them. There weren't that many.

"There it is. The Galaxy's Star. We'll go in, ask to see Thorin, deliver the evidence, get paid and get out. It should be easy." The ingr'nysk turned towards Taci, slightly grinning. "It's never easy. 'No plan survives contact with the battlefield' and all. Do you have any questions or thoughts or anything before we head in?"

OOC:
[member="Tacitanya"]

Thanks! I guess, though, my post count has now increased slightly!

Fair enough, talking is a good thing to do. I have this quirk where I try to avoid short posts, which are necessary in a conversation. :lol:

 

[Beowoof]

Hutts. Oh, she loved Hutts. They were the primary enslavers of her kind--well, second to her own people. Yeah, that was an unfortunate bit of reality. "I'm surprised he even hired the guy. He could just make someone do whatever," Taci muttered, a surprising hint of bitterness in her tone. While the culprit stealing people's money was not something she liked to hear, that mattered little to her when it came to filth like Thorin. Call it prejudice, but the collective reputation of the Hutt species had never been favorable since... ever. There was undeniable truth to it.

The short one was no stranger to encountering the shadiest of practices on Nar Shaddaa. She was, after all, a product of one of the worst kinds of sins, depending on who one asked. She had dwelt with the shame at one point in her life, but now almost all the people who had kicked her around had met their fates--often bloody--in one way or another. It was by their examples that she had learned the natural consequences of treachery.

Unfortunately, some people like Thorin and Andranos seemed to still have reign over this rock, as evidenced by the flashy palace that had been built in Thorin's honor. The tyrian glanced around, trying to recognize which emotions were flowing around her in preparation for Asemir's test. She could sense some of it, but there were so many people and everything seemed to clash. It grated on her mind and she stopped trying for the while. "How do you know when to bring out your weapons?" she asked upon his prompt. Was there a Force sense for that, too? "I feel like you can't even enter this place without waving one around."

She bumped into a servant as she had her head turned, nearly knocking his tray holding bottles and flutes out of his hand as her tails flapped about. "Oh, snaf." Taci cringed as she looked back at the man glaring at her. "They'd notch your lekku for that, in some places..." she mumbled.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

OOC:
You know it's bad when you have to look up who this Thorin guy is, only to realize that you created the NPC on the fly. XD

IC:
"Yeah, that's a good point," Asemir said as they headed in. "I suppose the fact that Thorin hired someone instead of forcing his will, that's a sign that he's not the worst Hutt out there. Or, at the least, it gives me some confidence that he'll actually pay us instead of just having us killed." He meant that last part in jest, but regretted it when he realized that to Taci it wasn't much of a joke. This was worrisome territory for someone who didn't have years of combat experience.

"You'll know when to draw your weapon when the feth hits the fan, but I think your first priority would be to get to safety. You can leave the shooting back to me." He winced as the servant stumbled, nearly spilling his tray of precious drinks and glasses. The man looked like he was going to say something nasty, but the Forgotten shook his head, added a bit of the Force, and the server's face went blank. He hesitated, looking dazed and lost, before returning to his duty of serving the casino's guests.

"That's barbaric," Asemir said. Having read up on twi'lek anatomy, he knew that the head tails were extensions of the central nervous system and what injuries could result from trauma to the lekku. "My people also have hideous ways of punishing others or branding slaves. It's terrible and shameful."

They weaved their way through the crowd and found themselves standing before the central reception desk. Asemir smiled at the young woman manning the station. "I'm here to see Thorin the Hutt."

"For what business?" she replied in a bored voice. "Master Thorin is quite busy and does not take uninvited guests."

Asemir shrugged. "I am here for the bounty on Andranos."

"Oh?" That sparked her interest. "One moment, sir." She looked down at her terminal and began keying in commands.

As the receptionist put in her call, Asemir took a moment to look around. Again, he evaluated the environment, noting what furniture he might use as cover, alcoves or nooks that offered defilade positions, and avenues of escape. There wasn't much, he concluded. The furniture was gaudy and ultimately offered no real protection from blasters. The stair case to his right might be good cover, but just barely. The place wasn't ideal.

"Yeah," he said to Taci, "if shooting starts, and I'm really hoping it doesn't, get to cover. It'll be ugly and it's safer to just hide. But let's not worry about that," he said, wishing to change the subject. "Have you been able to sense anything? Notice the mood or atmosphere? Any raw emotions?"

[member="Tacitanya"]

 

[Beowoof]

She nodded as he explained how to judge these things, deciding it best to keep her hand near to her side, but not too near. Too many people were looking at her in various wrong ways. Someone would notice if she looked overly trigger-happy. Not that she was in the slightest.

It was interesting to note the demeanor of the receptionist as they approached her, all dull and bored--and maybe sniffing a little 'dust' by Taci's observation. Whatever she did to pass her time, it sure did not seem to be talking with people. The twi'lek wondered what kind of job she actually performed besides acting as a sort of gatekeeper to the Hutt in charge. Of course, her mood suddenly changed at the mention of Andranos, likely intrigued by some juicy news that she would be the first to tell. Taci glanced to her side, almost to see if the waitress all the way across the room had not already heard the impending gossip telepathically.

Her eyes returned upwards to acknowledge her teacher (At this point, she had decided to accept him as that much.) and mark his words, then followed his gaze to check on good hiding spots. "Do I draw first, then hide? Or do I hide, then draw?" Or do I not draw at all? That would be ideal, in her mind.

"And I've been trying to feel everything out..." She half-closed her eyes, trying to reduce visual distractions without completely blinding herself to the activity around them. "I feel like there's a lot of nothing--but mostly there's bliss and panic?" Taci looked back up at Asemir in search of confirmation. Had she judged accurately? This was new to her, after all.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

"I'd say hide first, then draw. Your job is to stay safe. Returning fire should be secondary." Asemir nodded at Taci's assessment of the general mood of the area and reached out with the Force to double-check her readings.

She wasn't very far off, he decided. The casino, the hotel, it all bled with a sort of bleakness mixed with eagerness and anticipation. All of that quickly transformed into a kind of despair, and the net effect was that of nothing - hope cancelled out by shattered dreams. Sure, there were small surges of elation as someone won a jackpot, but those peaks were rare. It was all rather depressing.

"That's pretty good. It's about right," Asemir said approvingly. "People are gambling, sometimes winning, but mostly losing. It all comes down to a feeling of nothingness, as you said. It kind of reminds me of something an instructor said to me once. 'Hope is the first step towards disappointment.' That fits this place rather well." He paused. "Actually, that fits Nar Shadda as a whole rather well. Depressing."

"Excuse me," the receptionist interrupted. "Master Thorin will see you now." A pair of hulking Gamorreans sauntered up from behind her, each carrying a wickedly looking vibro axe. It was the first obvious display brutality that Asemir had seen in the casino. The receptionist looked almost apologetic as she stood. "You'll have to turn in your weapons and equipment here. Master Thorin doesn't like surprises, as I'm sure you understand."

The idea of entering enemy territory unarmed did not appeal to the Forgotten. He was confident that he'd have no trouble fighting his way out of Thorin's throne room, but he didn't like the risks that entailed. Plus, Taci would be at danger, and that soured his mood even further.

Asemir glanced at his twi'lek companion before turning his attention back to the receptionist and the pig-like aliens. Gamorreans did not posses much intellectual fortitude, he recalled, and the receptionist probably wasn't trained in the arts of fortifying her mind against mental assaults. "That won't be necessary," he said as he shook his head, and added a bit of suggestion courtesy of the Force. "We do not need to turn in our weapons."

Like the server who had bumped into Taci earlier, the receptionist's face blanked and her eyes glazed. "You do not need to turn in your weapons," she repeated.

"Your guards may take us to see Master Thorin now," Asemir added.

"Guards, take these two to see Master Thorin," the receptionist finished. The Gamorreans grunted before turning to lead the way.

Asemir gave Taci a wink. "Isn't the Force great? Are you ready?"

[member="Tacitanya"]

 

[Beowoof]

Taci was almost jubilant to hear that she had 'felt' the situation correctly in the bounty hunter's opinion. Maybe she really was this 'Jedi' type after all. Three-for-three on the sensing or really lucky guessing scoreboard. It was all beginning to sound like confirmation. She should stop this doubting sometime--though it was only natural. Everyone on Nar Shaddaa tended to be a cynic after a few weeks on the pleasure moon.

Hide first, then draw, she recounted in her head, nervousness waxing and waning in her mind as she was inspired by Asemir and yet uncertain in herself. He seemed to have faith that no one would kill them. But what if they did? And what if they killed him first? What would become of her? She should probably not linger on those thoughts very long. We'll be in and out. I think...

Or, maybe not. The gamorreans were always a great sight to see. It was like the entire species had been bred to be some brutish enforcers, as Tacitanya had never once seen a gamorrean who was not wielding some massive weapon as they lumbered ominously about some crimelord's compound. She was scared of this, she had to admit. One of them could probably kill the small twi'lek just by flicking his finger. And they wanted the pair to go with them sans weapons?

But Asemir had that covered, apparently. That was one of the creepiest things she had ever seen--some hypnotic magic deal that made these freaks do whatever he said. That was the Force at work? What had she been missing out on all this time? "Where have you been all my life?" Taci whispered, mind boggled by this thing she totally needed to learn. I wonder if I can do that. The tyrian squinted at their 'escorts' and tried to imagine how one commands these jerks. Her spirits were suddenly high, and there was a whole new aspect to this Force thing that made her realize that there was so much to look forward to.

What if she had the power to just tell people what to do like that?

This little meeting with the great Hutt crimelord should be quick and easy. Asemir could probably just wave his hand and make Thorin eat a fruitcake while they served justice. She felt that they must be invincible.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

OOC:
One challenge with threads that go on for months IRL but only hours IC is I don't know if I'm repeating the narration. I'm sure I've mentioned the whole emotional empathy-thing with ingr'nysks in an earlier post. XD

IC:
As they followed the gamorreans, Asemir sensed a sudden change in Taci's demeanor. Her hesitation, self doubt gave way to a sudden excitement, an eagerness. He didn't know why her spirits had changed, perhaps it was satisfaction that she had passed the first exercise, that her assessment of the casino's general atmosphere had matched his own.

His people could sense the mood of others, but they couldn't read minds. It was a useful talent but at times it was irritating to catch a glimpse of someone's emotions but have no idea of the context. Asemir had met some Force masters who could read minds, but he wasn't one of them, and he really had no desire to read the mind of a friend. While it would be great to know more, it would also violate the trust Taci had put in him. It wasn't worth doing, even if he could.

But he was ruminating now, and that wouldn't do. He was in enemy territory, potentially dangerous territory, and he should be focusing on the task at hand.

The guards led the two through a twisting hallway, past alcoves that housed various statues and sculptures and holographic displays. Asemir took a moment to peer at several as they walked by, seeing that many of them appeared to be ancient, having been roughly carved from an unidentifiable stone that spoke of a very earthly art form. Others were clearly more recent in creation, their clean-cut lines and smooth surfaces hinting at modern laser-carving techniques.

The holographic displays showed modern art, a myriad of colors and forms, something that Asemir did not truly appreciate. There were also paintings made by traditional mediums, similar to what Taci had sold him. They hung on the walls, mixed in with other displays of art. Asemir grinned to himself as he turned an eye to some of them. Some of them exhibited the artist's obvious talent, but more often than not, they just weren't that good. Taci's paintings were better. Far better. These, they looked forced, manufactured. Hers were natural. Raw talent. Ability.

But, of course, he wasn't an art critic, so what did he know?

"Thorin's an art collector, then," the ingr'nysk said to his companion. "I wouldn't have guessed. Hutts aren't known for their sophisticated tastes."

It wasn't long before they reached a sealed door. A scary looking droid, built big and menacing, guarded the portal. The gamorreans grunted something and the droid replied in binary before stepping aside to let them through. Asemir took a glance at the droid as they passed, noting its integrated blaster mounts, filing that piece of information into the mission-readiness section of his mind.

Thorin the Hutt's chamber was grand, but it wasn't gratuitously opulent. In fact, it looked decidedly modest compared to the flashy casino trappings that greeted passersby and gamblers. Some servants occupied a drink and food station at one end of the room, while a small band played some soothing, neoclassical music piece that Asemir couldn't identify. The Hutt's other guests were huddled around various tables, all dressed professionally, and they responded politely to the servants as they talked business. There were no skimpily-dressed dancers or slave girls or raucous shouting or laughter.

"I did not expect this," Asemir commented. In a way, it was almost surreal. "I guess I should have done a little more research on Thorin before I took the job." He glanced at Taci as a protocol droid announced their arrival. "Are you ready?"

[member="Tacitanya"]

 

[Beowoof]

There was art everywhere--physical, tangible, canvas-backed paintings. Her eyes scanned them and drank them in, no matter how good or bad they might be. Someone had taken their inspiration and embedded them into these pieces, and she could always use some transferred inspiration. None of the works were in her style or brought about by her forms, but they were there and they were real.

It kind of annoyed her. "Yeah. I bet he just inherited this stuff," she commented on top of Asemir's observation. Hutts were classless--period. It was futile to believe that one of those slugs could appreciate anything worth a second glance, unless it had a credit symbol attached to it, followed by a dozen digits or so. "Or he's hoarding it all for a rainy day." These were the only two options. It was impossible that art could hold any sentimental value with this Thorin.

But Taci would soon realize further and nearly unbearable annoyance when they actually arrived within Thorin's 'lair'. Ominous droid aside, nothing really looked particularly sketchy about the chamber. In fact, it even looked welcoming. This was not how Hutts were supposed to be! There were supposed to be slaves and scoundrels and flashy lights and evil contraptions and hideous decorations. Everyone knows that. How could Thorin not know that? Her brain went into overdrive, seeking to conjure up some theories as to how evil he really was. It all had to be a facade. This worm was inherently evil--someway; somehow.

She grunted before answering Asemir, utterly disgusted at how immediately challenging it was to rationally condemn the Hutt. "I'm ready..." As the two approached the owner if this fine establishment of unclear wickedness, the short twi'lek made sure to keep to the side of her teacher, not wanting to look too meek for this crowd but making sure everyone would still presume the bigger, potentially scarier of the two arrivals was going to take charge of the business. She had never done this sort of thing before--and she was obviously not the fondest of Hutts--so Asemir could do the talking; hopefully do that hypnotic trick and tell Thorin to go roll off a skyscraper.

But Taci was not going to be entirely idle. She kept her senses tuned to the proximity of the gamorrean escorts to their rear, having identified their 'signals' and concentrated her focus on their presence. She was not stupid. They were employees of a Hutt, after all.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

The protocol droid interrupted any reply Asemir would have made. "Master Thorin, may I present to you the bounty hunter Ghostmaker and his companion. They are here to claim the bounty on the late Andranos."

The droid's mechanical tone, scratchy to Asemir's ears, cut through the soft music and conversation. The businessmen and servants turned to look at the Forgotten and his twi'lek friend, and odd mix of interest and boredom reflecting in their eyes. They gave the two not more than a few seconds of attention before turning back to their own businesses.

Thorin the Hutt, however, grumbled deeply as he turned his massive bulk away from the zabrak he had been conversing with. He beckoned to the two with a pudgy hand and said something in a rumbling voice.

"Master Thorin wishes for you and your companion to step closer," the droid offered helpfully.

Asemir shrugged and complied. His eyes darted between each of the room's occupants, cataloguing them and any potential threat they represented. He spotted a few armed guards, but they were there for appearances. The real danger were the undercover ones.

"Business should not be conducted so impersonally, from across the room," Thorin rumbled. The protocol droid translated for his master. "Would you have some refreshment?"

The Forgotten declined politely as a servant offered a drink to him and Taci. "No thank you, Master Thorin."

"Very well," the Hutt said. He beckoned for another servant, who approached with a portable holovid viewer. "I especially appreciated the video evidence of your job." The servant flicked a switch, and the viewer leapt to life.

It was a first person view, the recorder was obviously Asemir himself. Andranos was kneeling, his face stretched to look up at the camera, eyes wide open with fear, shock, and pain. His nose was crooked, recently broken, and a lip was split. There were bruises.

Asemir's voice was ghastly, disembodied. "Thorin the Hutt has ordered your death for preying on his patrons. Do you understand this?"

Andranos blinked. "Please..."

A hand grasping a pistol appeared. Asemir's hand. He placed the muzzle against the man's head. "Be at peace."

Asemir wanted to wince at what came next. He wanted to block Taci's view, to protect her from gore and violence that was to come, but knew that would have created the wrong image. The holovid projector's small speakers softened the pistol's report, and the hologram disappeared.

"Conclusive proof is always appreciated," Thorin grumbled. He paused, then asked, "How were you able to capture such an angle?"

Asemir shrugged. "Helmet mounted cameras are useful," he said simply.

"Indeed. And you are now here for payment?"

The Forgotten nodded. "That is correct, Master Thorin."

"Very well. My sources tell me that you made an effort to return the money Andranos stole to my customers." Asemir nodded, and Thorin laughed. It was an ugly sound. "My sources also said that you were unable to return all of the money. Since you have undoubtedly kept that sum, I will be subtracting twenty percent from the agreed upon amount. Is that acceptable?"

Doing the math in his head, Asemir knew that twenty percent far exceeded the total of what he couldn't return. The Hutt was ripping him off, that much was obvious, and he wanted to call Thorin out on it. He considered threatening the Hutt, reminding the worm that he had killed Sith lords and nothing in this room could stop him from doing the same to the crimelord. It wouldn't matter that Thorin had him outnumbered ten to one. Asemir had faced worse odds. It would be too easy. They would die in seconds.

It all flashed before his mind's eye. A brush with the Force would alter reality, screening him from the guards in the back. He would disable the two closest guards with a Force stab to their brains. At the same time, he would draw his carbine and place rounds to Guards Three and Four. A step forward would allow him to close the distance and he would pivot, his carbine would silence Guards Five, Six, and Seven. He would complete his spin, his momentum taking him to Thorin's throne. His songblade would be unsheathed, and its singing edge would slice deep into the Hutt's many chins.

But Taci's life force shimmered just behind him, and he knew his course of action.

"That is acceptable," Asemir said, bowing his head but not in submission. "I will not forget this."

Thorin threw back what made up his head and laughed. "Your funds will be transferred to you. Now be gone."

As they were led back down the hallway and out of Thorin's throne room, Asemir sighed. "Well, what do you think? How do you think that went?"

[member="Tacitanya"]

 

[Beowoof]

Just as she suspected. As classy as this Hutt may have been, he was still that filthy, wretched, manipulative, disgusting being deep down. How Taci's teeth ground when he started speaking! That gurgling rumble of the slug's gut-deep throat absolutely grossed her out. Everything--everything--about him and all of his species made her sick. The thought did not even scrape her mind that her attitude was horribly xenophobic. Thorin and all his kind deserved such sentiments.

Yet the flow of all her bitter thoughts was cut off abruptly with the literal flick of a switch.

By the time the recording was over, her mouth was entirely agape, breath short and rare. To whom had she pledged her tutelage? Had her choice been so rash? After all these years of being lightfooted; cautious; even paranoid, had she made a swift blunder at the promise of some sort of mysterious power? The hypnosis thing was cool and all, but did that come at the expense of innocence?

Not that she had exactly walked the straight-and-narrow. But she had never killed anyone.

It had to be justified. It was justified, right? Asemir--this friendly guy--surely he would not murder anyone. He was the good kind of bounty hunter. That was what he said!

The tyrian paid little attention to what happened next. There seemed to be a buildup of rather boiling emotions in the room, but no one did anything. Her teacher simply took the money and left after a bit of a pause. There was something spoken about not forgetting this occasion and then a bellowing laugh, and soon the two were walking back through the hall to the public area of the casino.

What do I think? Taci took a deep breath. "I don't know..."

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

Taci's reply to his question came back subdued, not the excited, mission-accomplished response he had expected. The ingr'nysk had some suspicions as to why, but he didn't pursue them, didn't really analyze them. Death, killing, murder, these things were so natural to him, a means to an end, second naturee, a part of life. Plus, it had been years and years since he had been in the presence of people who would consider these actions repulsive and offensive, or horrific.

Much later, when Asemir had the time to reflect on the day's events, he would recognize that this was a flaw in his thinking, and he would vow to correct it. But that would be later. Right now, he took Taci's response in stride. Right now, his mind was focused on analyzing what had gone on in Thorin's throne room and what Taci had learned from that encounter.

"It could have gone better," Asemir said as they made their way around the receptionist's desk. He stopped and looked at his student. "Let me ask you this. You saw what I did to those gamorreans. With the Force, I clouded their minds and made them do what I wanted them to do. I could have done the same with Thorin, when he ripped me off. I could have killed him, along with everyone else in the room, taken the money, and left. But I didn't. Why do you think that is?"

[member="Tacitanya"]

 

[Beowoof]

She furrowed her brow and shrugged, wondering the same thing. Well... not the killing part necessarily. Although he had apparently not had too many qualms about shooting that guy in the recording. Why not kill the slimy Hutt? He was probably just as bad, and he had ripped Asemir off to boot. I don't know. Why? It seemed like the answer would have to be something arbitrary, and the twi'lek was not really focused on that to care so much about a well-thought response. Maybe he just did not want the cops on his back? "I really don't know why you didn't do that mind thing. It worked on the guards, so it could have helped out a second time. You could have even gotten that freak to commit suicide and make the galaxy a better place."

Was she bitter? Maybe. Why would anyone kill the one guy but let someone like Thorin enjoy another day to make other people miserable? To be honest, Tacitanya was almost mad at the man next to her. What kind of 'good bounty hunter' would leave someone so despicable like that to continue doing the things he was prone to do? Were they not here to help people? "So what's the point in knowing how to do that?"

She might have abused it if she knew how to use it at all. There had to be some things that just needed to be done, after all. When--if--she developed this skill her teacher had, she might come back to pay the overgrown slug lord a visit someday.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

"The point is there's a difference between knowing how to do that and when to do that." Asemir felt anger creep into his voice, but knowing that it was influenced by the bitterness in Taci's reply helped him shunt it away. He took a breath. "I probably could have killed the slug. The galaxy would probably have been a better place. But two things are at play here.

"First, the Force doesn't make you invincible. Being a Jedi or Sith master doesn't automatically give you the ability to survive any encounter. Whenever there are weapons drawn in anger, there is the chance that you or someone will get hurt or killed." He thought back to Thorin's throne room. "I could have killed the Hutt, I'm pretty sure. I'm also confident that I could have done so without getting hurt. But there were no guarantees that I could have done so without endangering you. One of Thorin's thugs could have shot you. Or someone may have had a thermal detonator.

"Life is pretty much a cost-benefit analysis. You examine your surroundings and determine the risk and your course of action. In this case, the risk was great. I wasn't about to gamble with your safety. With great power comes great responsibility, and all that."

Asemir paused, gathered his thoughts. "Secondly, you have to know your own limitations. I could have killed Thorin, but I probably could not mind control him. You'll learn that most people specialize in one or two areas of the Force. No one masters all of it. I'm an excellent sword master, but mental manipulation is not my forte. Gamorrean guards are weak minded, but I've heard that Hutts are more resilient. I wasn't about to risk us like that.

"And there's a third reason for what I did. Always keep your eye on the mission. What was the mission? To collect a bounty and to use the trip as a learning experience. Killing Thorin, or mind controlling him, would have made a mess of things. We probably would have had to shoot our way out instead of casually stroll out."

He turned to wave for a cab. "So? What are your thoughts? You saw that holovid Thorin showed. You have questions, right? Questions about me?"

[member="Tacitanya"]

 

[Beowoof]

She felt like she was being scolded for thinking out-of-line at first. And perhaps she was. Her head hanging low like a shamed puppy as they progressed through the streets, there was still no disguising the enmity that was thick in her tone. Anger can get a hold of someone and wrench away rational thought--not to mention distance oneself from another. Did she hate Thorin? Possibly. She had already judged him quite enough before even meeting the slimeball.

It was a lesson to be learned, though Taci did not believe she was completely in the wrong. At least Asemir had been looking out for her. Not that she had been a failure at keeping her own hide safe (She had made it to this age, after all.), but looking down the barrel of fifteen blaster pistols in an enclosed space did not sound like her kind of adventure. She was a street rat, not a fighter. Well, not yet.

She was generally patient. But it would be nice if some things just hurried up! "Alright..." I'll still be back for Thorin someday. What difference could she make if she did not take care of the big things? She had made little difference in her life, as she saw it. It was time to do big things, and eradicating scum like their friend Thorin was one of those big things.

And now, as they came to the edge of the walkway and awaited a taxi, she was forced to confront what had been nagging at her mind the whole time: the execution. "Yeah," was all she said at first. It was an uncomfortable topic to bring up, but it had to be taken on sooner or later. At least Asemir was the one who had acknowledged it first. "Why did you kill him?" That was really all she could ask.

Death was not exactly foreign to her after all these years in what was likely the filthiest hive of crime and frivolity. Death never surprised this twi'lek, but 'why' had never ceased to frighten her.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

OOC:
PS, is there an easy way to code the colors into my post? Or will I need to use BBCode formatting for each instance? I like how your dialog is in a different color; makes it easier to read.

IC:
"Why did you kill him?"

Her question came as a surprise, but he wasn't sure why that was. It was a logical question, the question to ask him. Why had he killed that man? Why had he ended Andranos' life? It was a tough question, and his reply was important. It would answer a host of questions thatTaci hadn't voiced. Could she trust him? What type of person was he? Was he a murderer, a psychopath? Was her life in danger?

A cab pulled out from the lanes of space traffic, giving Asemir an excuse for not answering immediately. He held the door for Taci and slid into the back with her. "Take us to the spaceport. Gate Delta." The driver gave an uncommitted grunt, and the vehicle sped off.

"It's complicated," Asemir said finally. “The short answer is that Adranoscommitted many crimes, including murder, and he deserved death. But, the long answer is, I was raised with death as a companion. It was something that happened all the time, and I suppose the value of life was cheapened.” He turned to look out the window, seeing the towering skyscrapers glowing with corporate logos.

“I made my first kill not long after I turned ten. He was a classmate who had failed a test, and his death was ordered by the instructors.” He shook his head, remembering the feel of Axunari’s throat beneath his foot. “We were taught many things. The dead can never harm us. The mission is always paramount. You do what you have to do to complete the objective, including killing anyone who is in your way. Or sacrificing yourself if it meant success. And so death became second nature.”

Asemir turned back towards Taci. “It wasn’t until about twenty years ago that someone else taught me that killing should never be easy. Taking a life should never be something you do without a second thought. I admit, I haven’t bought entirely into that view, but I see the point. Life is precious, and arbitrarily taking it away is wrong. But, there’s always exceptions. Andranos is a case in point. Thorin, as well.

“Does that answer your question?” He watched her closely. “If my ‘why’ concerns you, I completely understand. I also understand if you decide to change your mind about this whole training. I mean, it’s not like you know anything about me as a person. You are trusting your life to a stranger.”

[member=Tacitanya]