Private Vagārī

[Artur (Γ013)]

He wouldn't want to hear her answer?

Artur raised his eyebrow at that statement, but decided to let it lie. No doubt it was just Julia being Julia, and asking after it would be trouble for him in some way. "Chess," he answered after she asked for his favourite. It was an easy answer, considering it was what he'd gone looking for in the first place. "I wouldn't mind Pazaak if you'd prefer cards, but...no Sabacc. You'd have a good mind for chess, though." She might play more aggressively than he'd try, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Would just mean he'd have to think.

"I can pull out the pazaak cards, or if you'd like to learn...?"

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

She of course didn't know Artur as well as she'd thought, but he wasn't the type to say she'd like something for the sake of it. So, she folded her arms and tilted her head curiously, before nodding finally.

"Chess it is. You might make a smart one out of me yet, ja?"

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

"Make may be putting it strongly," he replied with a small smile. "Come over here, I'll set it up on the gaming table." Of course, he kept the pazaak cards out, just in case Julia didn't take to chess at all; still, though, he doubted that would be the case. He quickly rolled out all the pieces, setting them up on the board as standard. Two kings, queens, bishops, knights, rooks, and then a whole rank of pawns for each. Maybe some time in the future he could experiment with the circular chess board that the gaming table itself represented, but not when he was just introducing Julia to the game.

"Alright, so..." He quickly went over the basics of the game, what constituted check, checkmate, what moves pieces could make and when, all the standard rules that had to be covered. Not a lot, all things considered—what would take longest would be developing any strategy for the game itself. Once he was relatively sure she had the basics, he settled back.

"Okay, Julia. White or black? Take the offense or have to figure out a counter?"

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

Hmm.

The temptation to play offense was very strong, something that she was sure Artur would have guessed. Normally, were she more confident in her skills and knowledge, she'd never let an enemy make the first move. But this wasn't the battlefield. At least not her usual battlefield. In a learning environment, Artur had the advantage.

"Counter." She said, eyes steeling up. "Give me the black."

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Artur raised an eyebrow.

"Black it is," he said after a short moment to make sure she was certain, and spun the board around so that now he had the white pieces. As much as white often had a definite advantage, he didn't like playing white much; he preferred to go slower and more reactive at first, seizing what opportunities he could to turn the tide. Having every single possible opening available to him instead was not something he practiced much for.

Whenever he did practice.

But, all the same, Julia had only just learned the game and she was going against her natural instincts. Beyond that, it wasn't like he'd run the risk of grievous bodily harm, lost rations, or anything like that because he lost.

Just a friendly game of chess.

"Alright." May as well start with something classic; King's Pawn. "E four."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

Julia raised an eyebrow before raising her hand and placing her opposing pawn at E5.

"When did you find time to learn this?"

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

An average defensive move. Nothing special, just a standard game. Things were still within his wheelhouse. He lifted his king-side knight, placing it on f3. Better to stick to something old and simple like the Naboo game, rather than to try and run a King's gambit.

"Learned a bit early on," he replied, eyes down at the board as he considered the possibilities starting to open up. "Got more after we started getting sent out. Couldn't always sleep on the ships, and they weren't always keeping us on ice either, so it seemed like working on the game would be as good a use of the time as any."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

Humming as she considered her options, she decided to shift the pawn in front of her kingside bishop to F6.

"I wish I'd took on some hobbies. After we...split, all that time was pretty painful. And working only fills a certain percentage of the hole."

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

"Lot of being alone, jah? Same here." New player mistake or a tricky gambit she was going for, playing the Dandrian defence? He wasn't sure either way, but it left him with a chance to take a very clear advantage, no matter which way things turned out. Now, should he play more conservatively, or go for something more explosive...

Well, if Julia was intending to do something different from her standard, he might as well do the same. He lifted the knight he'd already moved, this time capturing the pawn on e5. "I just floated around, doing odd jobs here and there so that I had enough to eat. It was certainly...isolating."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

"Odd jobs? Not mercenary work, nein?" She raised an eyebrow, in spite of the fact that was essentially how she paid her bills.

She hissed a little and grimaced as her pawn were captured, looking at her pieces to think of the right strategy. Grunting, she decided to take Artur's knight, avenging her pawn.

"I stayed in one spot. Maybe unwise. It never bit me, though."

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Time to be decisive. He brought his queen all the way out from where she sat, right onto h5. Putting Julia's king into check on the fourth move in—very early, compared to some of the games he'd played before. It would be interesting to see if she could pull out of the trap she'd made for herself. "Most were mercenary," he admitted with a small shrug. It wasn't like either of them had really been given the opportunity to develop many other skills.

"Not much else to do. You made it farther than I did, after all—I only got to Tion before I was forced to land and hide. After that I just bounced around the cluster, eventually made it to Jaminere, ran into captain Mara..." He shook his head. "Just in time, too. Stuck between the crusaders and the silver Jedi, I don't think they'd have been very...charitable if they found me."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

Leaning back, Julia looked over the board. She recognised the threat Artur had just made with the move, and it was a trap she'd have to break herself out of.

Then she smirked, lifting her pawn on G7 to G6, blocking the queen's movement.

"She was very kind." Julia said of Mara, after she folded her arms, and tilted her head. She looked at Artur for a few moments.

"Would you mind if I told you something personal?"

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

The continued attack was fairly obvious. He lifted up his queen, taking the pawn on e5. Check again, this time forking the king and the rook. "Hmm?" He glanced back up at Julia, a bit shocked at immediately meeting her gaze. "...I...don't think I'll know if I mind or not until you tell me, I suppose." What 'something personal' could she want to talk about just now, anyways? How did it follow from the game or from what they were just talking about?

And people say chess is confusing.

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

Her black king moved to f7, out of the Queen's grasp.

"Before we met again, I was afraid you'd try to kill me."

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Artur's generally neutral expression fell apart into one of utter bewilderment.

"You what?"

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

"I was the only one apart from you that knew what we were responsible for, what we were turned into. I knew who you were before we parted ways, but..."

She scratched at the back of her hand.

"I guess the isolation made me wonder whether it was tempting for you to tie up your last loose end and try to live a normal life."

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

He looked back down at the board. It was an understandable worry; no doubt some of the others had survived and might have the same goal, or maybe would try and pull any others they ran into back into the constant fighting. Just changing allegiances, changing masters, but doing nothing but what they were made for. Like droids or clones, programmed for only one purpose; whether they gave in or tied up every possible loose end to make sure they could escape as cleanly as possible didn't make much difference, because either way they were still fulfilling what they were meant to do. Kill, and keep secrets.

"I think...some of the others, I might be forced to try. Or anybody who was involved in the project in other ways. At that point, it would be a matter of defence, wouldn't it? That's why I tried to avoid notice as much as possible." He lifted his king-side bishop, moving it to c4. Check again. "But not you. I think this may be as normal as either of us get to have. Trying to remove you would...make that more difficult to achieve, I think."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

She observed the board. It wasn't checkmate but it was a pretty hard check.

"I hope you're right. About me making this more normal than less, I mean."

The pawn in front of her queen shifted down to D5.

"But if we find anybody who was involved with the project otherwise, I'll kill them myself."

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Bishop takes d5. Check again.

"Isolation pretty much guarantees a lack of normality...but isolation is about the only reasonable answer to dealing with most people, at least for me. None of them know or understand, and there's too much possibility that they notice things I don't want them to. Too much possibility for problems." Even captain Mara, nice as she was, had a very good eye for small details, which helped her pick up the connection between Artur and Julia as quickly as she had.

Neverminding how quickly she'd had to notice the much more obvious troubles Artur had with any form of socializing. "Finding any of the others will probably be a problem, too, but...at least consider the details before deciding to implement solutions with them. They might be in the same situation as us. Any overseers, scientists, or Sith, though..."

He shrugged.

"You don't need rules of engagement with them, I think."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

Queenside bishop to E6.

"The others are a different story. We were all used. So, yes, I don't want to kill them if I don't have to. But the ones higher up, they signed off on the murder of children. Worse than that. For them...the rules - they're out of the window completely, Artur, yes." Julia's voice hadn't shifted in tone much at all, there wasn't much residual anger or rage that Artur could pick up on. But, then again, Artur was not a mind reader.

"But...Artur...if things here get too much for you, let me know." Only then did her voice shift, quietening and softening. She met his eyes again, amber irises focused in on his own.

Artur (Γ013)