A walk in the park

[Vardon Galland]

Joe Bethersonton and Vardon were traveling in the Leger, a light Nexus-class freighter. The Solange was left a fair distance away from the planet, seeing as the ship which was originally designed to mine and manufacture goods might not be too welcome on the planet which was currently under an Imperial embargo. The young man didn't know what it was which called him to the planet, but something was pulling him towards it and he seldomly denied the callings of the force.

For a jedi padawan to brave an Imperial trade blockade was no small feat, but since it was just a blockade and few Imperials were actually expected to be found on the surface, Vardon felt relatively safe. Besides, he had no intentions on actually breaking the embargo, all he wanted to do was to find out why the light wanted him to come here, of all places. Joe Bethersonton brought the ship into a docking bay with a steady hand. "Don't read up too much on those dejarik moves now! Or else I'll never be able to beat you!" he joked while leaving his friend and the ship at the hangar.

Vardon was clad in a white puffy shirt and had made sure that it covered both the lightsaber and the vibroknives attached to his belt. His pants were of a light beige colour which almost fit with his brown boots. The man walked without any real direction but his gut feeling, drifting wherever the force seemed to guide him.

Eventually, he found himself in a recreational area close by the spaceport. It was quite similar to a park with some vegetation laid out nicely, a few children running around, shouting happily in their games and adults of all ages and walks of life, either enjoying themselves in the park, or wandering about right outside it. The tall man entered the park and took a deep breath - enjoying the fresh air and happy atmosphere thoroughly - it stood in stark contrast to the misery he had seen the embargo cause back at the spaceport. A bright smile grew on the padawan's lips as he enjoyed himself in the park - could this be the reason why he was drawn to the planet?

@Mae Senpai

 

[Nozomi Starduster]

In the midst of all the fun happy laughter of the children, the couples laughing and intermingling, stood a woman. The Woman looked to be in her late teens to early twenties, her skin the color of a tanned peach, her hair was a light chestnut which in the light her hair seemed to dance and glimmer like the waves in the ocean. Her deep blue eyes resembled the most fridged of ice, her scrutiny steely and cold in contrast with her button nose.

This Woman was no other than Nozomi Starduster, the Leader of a Ragtag bunch of Misfits called Nirvanos Mercenary Group, altough right now the group was just in its 'starting phase' as Nozomi would call it, in which the only member so far would be herself, but to her it was no matter, her Mercenary Group would soon make a name for itself. Everyone would want a piece of this business, or so Nozomi thought as she began to take steps daydreaming about the future of her company.​

Snapping back to reality, she began to walk around the park solemnly, observing silently. The children wailing to one another, playing games of tag, and 'Sith War', a game in which one child is the Sith Lord, and would hunt down 'rebel scum', as the others would try to take an objective that would be important to the Sith Lord, and if the Rebel side takes the objective the Galatic Alliance would win, but if the Rebels were killed in the Skirmish, the Sith Empire would be victorious; the corner of Nozomi's mouth twitched slightly, remembering playing this game in her early childhood...
These kids have no idea... she thought to herself.​

Looking then to the adults whom were walking in the park some were holding hands, walking completely infatuated with one another, some kissing on benches around the park, as others would tend to their offspring. Nozomi's response to this was a subtle flash of anger in her eyes, since to Nozomi these people were true monsters... How could they live like this? Seeming as if everything was A-OK on the planet, when clearly it was... These lowlives gave everything to the Empire, everything. They gave their precious resources, taking children from their families to work at the mines, taking whatever they pleased from whomever they pleased. The thought made Nozomi's stomach curl.​

As Nozomi took her last look around, she noticed something... New... Something that shined out from everything else, a man. He stood out, she couldn't help but notice... There was something... Special about him. Sucking in her breath, Nozomi made the decision to follow the man, she didn't recognize him, that was for sure. So, chances are, he's from off the planet. He could have a ship, which would be her chance to get off this forsaken planet, and start her mercenary group. Also, this man may perchance be with the Sith, so it would, in her mind, be getting two birds with one stone.

@Pyrenees ​

 

[Vardon Galland]

It didn't take long until Vardon could feel a presence, someone nearby had the force. Fear, crept upon him, quickly dampening his bright smile as his forehead furrowed. The padawan tried to reach out but couldn't feel where the force sensitive was, but more importantly, he didn't feel a strong alignment towards the dark side nearby either, which was enough to calm him down. The young man was no master, or even a knight, which meant that his senses weren't the most developed and he realized that he couldn't expect to sense everything. With that, he had a look around, but still there were just a gathering of rather happy and people enjoying their day. He saw the chestnut hair and allowed his eyes to linger for a moment as he watched it dance along with the soft wind. The slightest of smiles grew on the Thyferran's lips before his head continued to turn as he watched for potential dangers.

Vardon couldn't find whatever it was that he felt but figured that he would find the person eventually, if the force willed it. He was simple like that, often electing to just place himself somewhere and allow the the light to guide him. Galland decided that it was time to move on from the park and started walking, yet the presence never really seemed to disappear. For what reason, the padawan had no idea.

Eventually, he arrived at a residential area that had clearly been affected by the trade embargo. The buildings were poorly maintained and the locals seemed to have had a noticeable lack of nourishment, standing in stark contrast to the young man who explored their neighborhood. It didn't take long before Vardon heard agitated screaming coming from one of the alleyways. He looked into the dark, long and narrow path between several skyscrapers standing in a long line. It didn't receive any sunlight as multiple rugs, antennas and other objects hung above it, the only source of light came from the streets and a few weak lights going from one side of the alley to the other.

Spoiler: alley

The padawan didn't hesitate as he rushed into the darkness with his left hand sticking close to the part of his shirt under which he had his vibroknife, figuring that drawing his blue lightsaber might not be the best idea on the Imperial influenced world. Vardon soon arrived at the source of the scream. In the distance, he saw three brutes standing around a man bent down, holding his stomach in pain, most likely after having received a punch directed at it.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he hollered as he started jogging towards the group ahead of him. By now, the lights from the streets were no longer of any help, the weak lights and the rare ray of light slipping in from above was all they had.

@Mae Senpai

 

[Nozomi Starduster]

He noticed me for a second...

The thought rippled through her mind again like a thrown pebble disturbing a peaceful pond's surface, it just couldn't escape her since usually the Imperialist Curs who were sent to Anelsana were dressed like Nobles, this man looked just wrong to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Blondie move, so did she. Treating this as if she was a cat stalking a prarie mouse through the tall grass, she would need to keep on her toes, and be observant.

Passing through the gorgeous scenery of the suburban park and neighbourhood they seemed to pass through a paradigm shift, from lush and comforting to scummy, dirty and sketchy. Everytime Nozomi passed through this little 'poverty-portal' as she would commonly refer to it, her stomach would drop.

The scream was enogh for her to steel herself again, remaining onwards on her path keeping a steady eye on the mystery man as she watched him turn into an alleyway, exactly where the scream originated from. "Dumbass..." she mumured to herself as she skulked after him, wondering what this poor soul was getting himself into.

--
@Pyrenees

 

[Vardon Galland]

The thugs didn't take nicely to someone interfering in their business as they looked up from their poor victim to the tall human jogging towards them. Two of the men started moving towards Vardon while the third remained with their victim, carelessly dishing out another hit at the guy. The strangers soon made it abundantly clear to the padawan that they were working on collecting a debt and that it was none of his business. "I will not allow you to hurt that man any further" the young man stated which prompted the first thug two throw a punch towards his stomach.

Already prepared for a confrontation and with good reflexes, Galland caught the incomming punch with his left arm which was already floating around the level of his belt. The surprised assailant looked up at the Thyferran who countered with a hard strike against the the first thug's exposed head, knocking him out cold with a single blow. The violence broke out so suddenly that the other two had just barely managed to react before their friend fell to the ground. While the second foe who were just as close as the first one pulled a small vibroknife, the third one released their original victim and started running towards the scene of the action, resulting in the indebted man to run in the other direction, leaving Vardon to fend for himself.

The padawan was lucky that the first and second foe had stood so close to each other as he managed to throw a powerful punch at the second thug's a couple of times resulting in the weapon being dropped. Just as the third person was about to arrive, the young man gave his recently disarmed opponent a powerful kick which sent the enemy backwards. While the third collector managed to land a hit against the padawan's arm, Vardon made it seem as if he was barely affected buy it, simply shrugging off the hit and swept his right arm in a wide arch which caught the last thug. Mustering his strength, the Thyferran then pushed hard until the third opponent was pressed firmly against the wall, struggling to get out.

The second foe who had barely been kicked away came running but immediately stopped in his tracks as Galland turned to look at him with stern eyes as he still had his left arm free. The foe was wise enough to turn the other way and run.

With a glance to where he came from, Vardon thought he saw the girl with the beautiful hair from before, but had no way to be sure. "Is someone there?" he asked, letting his voice boom through the cramped and dark alleyway whilst still holding the third thug against the wall.

@Mae Senpai

 

[Nozomi Starduster]

Nozomi sighed whilst revealing herself from the corner she found herself pressed against. "I guess I'm not as stealthy as I think." Nozomi said, her soothing voice ringing throughout the alleyway. Nozomi walked up about ten feet away from the Blondie-Man. Looking at the Lowlife in his arms "Are you looking to kill him?" implored Nozomi, putting the Blondie under her scrutiny.
--
@Pyrenees

 

[Vardon Galland]

Vardon's gaze fixed on the rather beautiful woman who appeared from behind her cover. He stayed that way for longer than he'd have liked, even allowing the pressure on the thugs chest to decline in strength. His smaller captive suddenly started struggling to get loose, prompting the padawan to suddenly turn back to the other and press down hard against his chest which eventually made him cease in his efforts.

Looking back at the newly appeared figure, the Thyferran didn't quite know what to do and simply gave her a soft smile at the comment, thoroughly enjoying her soothing voice. He wasn't sure what was happening as he just stood there like a fool whilst she was walking towards him. The stranger stopped just a few meters away from him and spoke once again. Her question caused great fear in the thug who was currently pinned to the wall, but he had already given up and struggling and simply stood there in silence with both eyes fixed on the padawan.

"O-of course not" Vardon responded with a slight stutter. He wasn't sure why, but he wanted this girl to like him. It suddenly dawned on him; this might be the presence he had felt ever since his time in the park. The young man reached out with the force and felt that she was indeed force sensitive. He didn't say anything, still not quite at his normal capacity, but he did try to regain his normal composure as he awaited the girl's judgement on the stance of not killing the man.

@Mae Senpai

 

[Nozomi Starduster]

Nozomi's eyes ran up and down Vardon, noticing the minute details of how his body language read - how he eased off on the Thug who he had in his possession, indeed noticing that he would only use force if he deemed necessary. She thought for a moment, her facial expression changing only slightly as she lessened her guard, though keeping it up nonetheless. Her gaze returned to Vardon's, meeting with his she was determining if he was sincere with his words which these days was hard to come by, especially since the economy went under.

Nozomi's mind was a flurry of questions; "Who is this man?", "Why did he come here?", "Who sent him?". All these possibilities began to fill her mind, she attempted to process everything, fruitless as it was it calmed her down enough to properly access the situation. To Nozomi, Vardon didn't have an evil presence, he didn't seem like he meant, nor wanted to harm anybody. This final conclusion left Nozomi baffled, an Outsider that was on Anelsana that meant not to cheat anyone, this was a rare case.

"Then why would you hold him like that?" Nozomi implored to the stranger with a slight cocking of her head (which if Vardon was perceptive, he would notice), revealing a hilt of a vibroblade decorated with a strange black insignia design, her scarves blew casually towards the entrance of the alley as she patiently awaited her answer.​

 

[Vardon Galland]

The girl who had just approached him certainly seemed observant as her eyes darted from place to place, and even seemed to observe the padawan himself astutely as he spoke. This certainly didn't help him regain his usual composure as he felt like the fair girl observed his movements closely - with a sharp enough eye to notice any mistakes or flaws. She seemed to just stand their pondering his words, or perhaps even his being, for a while whilst he allowed his eyes to travel over her facial features, from her chin, up to her lips, her button nose and finally her blue eyes.

Almost as if in a trance, Vardon stood there looking at her until she spoke. He noticed something glimmer behind her head, but didn't care about it enough to try to figure out what it was, instead, he kept his gaze fixed on her. The padawan was a little taken aback by the question and let out a dumb "Uhhh..." as he considered his answer. He tore his gaze away from the young woman to look at his captive "Well, he was beating a man up trying to collect a debt" he began, sounding quite innocent as he spoke. "And he tried to stab me with that" he finished, looking down at the vibroknife which now laid on the floor.

Normally, Vardon would take charge of the situation and deal with the thug which he had pinned against the wall. This time, however, he didn't seem to be able to think properly as his mind kept returning to the unnamed girl standing a few meters away from him. "Do..." he begun and trailed off, seeing the risk in what he was about to do. But, the young man didn't change his course "Do you think I should let him go?" he asked, fully prepared to do so upon her request, not at all like he would usually go about it.

The thug looked down on his knocked out comrade on the floor and then back at Nozomi with pleading eyes. "ppp-plea-.." he began speaking, trying to plead to her for letting him go, but the padawan wouldn't have it and increased the pressure on the man's chest until he quieted down mid-sentence.

@Mae Senpai