Ask Forget Diamonds, Give Me Crystals

[Param Vour]

There was something about live music. A blue twi'lek girl, couldn't have been older than twenty, sang over the beautiful melodies the band behind her played. The passion the girl sang with was palpable; the melodies controlled the emotions of the patrons around. Of all the places in Syndicate space, Nar Kaaga, and specifically the H'unn Cabaret Pit was one of the better stops. It was a mere pit stop for most traders coming from Tattooine and beyond, but that trade created a bustling culture centered around trade deals, live music, and a whole lot of drink.

Param swayed her head side to side, gracefully in step with the beat. A glass of a fizzy alcoholic drink in her hand. She lounged in one of the booths by herself, long silver hair and eyes being the only thing standing out about her. She wore a black crop hoodie, and a pair of tight fitting brown, leather trousers. To anyone that didn't know her, she'd look like nothing more than young girl enjoying the live music. She'd made sure her lightsaber was hidden by a black half-skirt that covered her left leg.

The music wasn't what she was here for though. Spice on the otherwise bland noodles, sure, but her main objective was something far more lucrative for her. A shipment of crystals was headed to central Hutt space from Tattooine, and the captain of that ship happened to be here in this cantina. He was seated in the booth on the far side of the cantina opposite of her. A bith with a taste for young women it seemed, as he was surrounded by three of them. They were after his wealth, maybe even his ship. Param only cared for the crystals he had on board his ship. She'd heard rumors that a rare crystal could turn a lightsaber blade silver, and she wanted it.

Param took another sip of her beverage. The bith captain stood up, the women draped all over him like a living cloak as he made his way towards the stares to the private rooms. She'd wait a moment, let him get settled and comfortable with his "dinner." Besides, this particular song was too beautiful to waste.

@Sreeya

 

[Z'Kair]

Music
​

“Read ‘em and weep,” He said with a grin. He had a cigarra dangling from the corner of his lips as he dropped his cards that came just shy of 20, while his opponents went bust.

“Oh come on! That’s the third round!” His Rodian opponent angrily hissed. Kai simply took a long drag of his cigarra before grabbing the chips and sliding them over to his side of the table. He was seated across a Rodian, a Trandoshan and a Gamorrean. All four were part of the Captain’s crew. Kai was the newest addition to the crew and he was getting chummy with his fellow workers.

It was only fair before he robbed them all blind.

His tail swished to the beat of the music, his eye flicking up now and then to try catch the gaze of the Twi’lek that was performing. She was way out of his league, but so were most girls he scored. He made a mental note to go work his charm on her after the show. For now, they had a day off to enjoy themselves. The Captain would be drowning in ladies and the three idiots across from him had to chug down drinks and get sloshed with every loss. This left Kai to be the sole functioning person to 'tend to the crystals'. It was a solid plan. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

With a content smile, Param downed the rest of her fizzy drink. She'd gotten used to drinking a little bit here and there. If all she felt was a slight tingle, she found she could still use her powers to mostly full effect. They just tasted so good and sweet. The captain would be busy with his three women by now. Busy enough to not look at the alerts on his EZ Phone about his ship being broken into.

Param slinked out of the booth, and with as much minx-energy she could muster strut across the cantina. She was almost to the door when she felt something... familiar. No. He wouldn't dare. Would he? She turned, finding her dream and nightmare sitting in a booth with others. Being chummy, laughing, having the time of his life. Her stomach was a pit of fire, ready burst into rage. Her heart was a shield, keeping the rage at bay. This boy.

She diverted course, stepping up behind Kodi. Her silver eyes giving the others at the table a glare that would send shivers down the bravest of men. Then it switched to a smile. She had their attention, good. Kodi wouldn't be hear without a reason. He was a trickster, a con, a crook. These three were probably apart of what ever devious plan he had. Param nodded toward another booth, and the three made their excuses in their various tongues, and made their way.

Their backs turned, Param used the Force to spin Kodi's chair around, straddling his lap before he'd know what was happening. Her smile was menacing as her silver eyes peered into his single red eye. "Hello, handsome," she said, right before pressing her lips against his. She poured every bit of passion, every feeling she had that night on Nar Shaddaa into the kiss, and just as suddenly as she had straddled him and kissed, she pulled away and stepped away.

"That is a taste of what you decided to skip out on," she said flatly, folding her arms across her chest. "What are you doing here Kodi?" If one thing was clear, she was no longer the sweet and innocent Param he had conned back on Nar Shaddaa. She'd gone through training, seen the highest in her order fall, been grounded to reality. She was confident, and she had every intention of using it as a weapon.

@Sreeya

 

[Z'Kair]

He was in the middle of winning another round, when the crew members in front of him abruptly looked terrified. He figured it was the captain, and he put out his cigarra and began to turn around. However, his chair was abruptly spun around of its own accord and someone plopped right into his lap. He barely registered what was happening before he saw a familiar face and felt lips press against his own. Kai was mostly reactive, still processing what was happening before he recalled the Sith girl from some time ago.

She rose up and began to slip off, but his superior reflexes allowed him to snatch her hand and tug her back into his lap. He flashed her a lazy grin, “Looks like I’m doing you, baby,” He said with a smirk before tugging her back into the kiss. He knew when he saw crazy, and he knew it had to be navigated carefully. His hands traveled along her body, grabbing fistfuls of her silvery hair to tug her head back. His lips traced along her neck till he bit down at the crook of it, the points of his fangs just almost breaking skin.

Meanwhile, his other hand shamelessly slid up along her leg, her thigh, and up her skirt. He returned to kissing her again. It was only when he found what he sought up her skirt that he pressed the saber hilt against her crotch with his thumb on the emitter. Kai gently broke the kiss, “I’m sure we can come to some sort of mutual understanding," He murmured quietly against her lips.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param couldn't lie, she was definitely loving the attention. Her own fingers began exploring Kodi's hair. The way he pulled her hair, ran his hands along her body. She was the one in charge, until he entered the picture, of course. His fanged bite did her in, and a small moan escaped her lips. Everything was great, until she felt his hand on her lightsaber, and knew exactly where it was pointed. Her silver eyes didn't betray the shiver that ran up her spine as she stared into his single red eye.

"Yeah? So you'll actually listen to my offer now instead of offering me spicy noodles and a dance you'll never finish, then?" she asked, tilting her head. Her menacing smile was gone. Her face was normal Param, the Param he had met. Naive in this new situation she found herself in. Her hands were on either side of his neck, thumbs running along his jaw. "Tell me what you're after, and I'll tell you what I'm after. Maybe we can help each other and move on to less... business oriented subjects." She ran a hand down his neck to his chest, feigning feeling the athletic build underneath. She was preparing to blast him through the wall if his thumb so much as twitched in the wrong direction.

@Sreeya

 

[Z'Kair]

The girl’s ability to switch between psycho to sweet was unsettling. It also didn’t help that she clearly remembered his name, but he couldn’t recall hers. It started with a P. Prim? Prom? Fuck. He was painfully aware of her hands along his neck and chest, but he was also confident he could run her through with her saber at the same time. All the same, he didn’t feel like dying right then.

“Oh I can tell what you’re after,” He said with that same fanged grin that apparently worked wonders on her. He leaned back in his seat, keeping the grip on the saberhilt, “Seems to me you need me more than I need you, starlight,” Kai said, keeping up with the cute nicknames, “Let’s hear your offer then.”

Out of the corner of his eye, the Captain rose up with his gaggle of girls and left. This meant the ship was left unprotected. Kai rapidly had to think of some way to make this girl get lost if he wanted to nab those crystals.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param tilted her head, a few strands of her hair falling in front of her face. Did he just call her starlight? She actually had to stop herself from being giddy at even having a nickname. She didn't want to believe he'd use a nickname on her like that, but she really didn't want to think about the alternative. It was amazing she could even think about anything other than the lightsaber pointed at her crotch.

"Oh you do?" she asked with sarcastic surprise. "Then you know I only need one. You can have the rest." Luckily for Param, her slaver didn't have a very secure design of his lightsaber. The battery compartment was screwed into the end. Slowly, she began unscrewing the pommel. A few turns is all she needed to make sure that if he pressed that ignition switch, there'd be a fifty-fifty chance the saber would just not ignite or explode in his hand.

"Deal?" she asked, smile never fading from her lips.

@Sreeya

 

[Z'Kair]

He paused for a moment as he worked out what she meant. However, it all clicked into place soon enough. She wanted the crystals. It was the only explanation for her being here, for knowing where to mess with the Captain’s crew. Nevertheless, he scoffed, “I’m not a charity, darling,” He said, “I will give you one of them if you can keep the rest of the crew occupied,” It was the main obstacle between him and the crystals. In fact, there was also a droid pilot that would get in his way. If she did her part in keeping his coast clear, he wouldn’t mind parting with one of the crystals. But a threat on his life was not enough to get him to cooperate.

“We have a deal?” He asked, finally drawing back the saberhilt he held. He wasn’t about to release it just yet. But it wasn't in danger of nailing her.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param leaned back a little in his lap, removing her hand from his chest to tap her lips in feigned thought. Of course she was going to accept the deal, he had her own lightsaber pointed at her crotch. It was like Kodi was actively trying to not point what she wanted at her. Her cheeks flushed with the sudden thought. She nodded, hoping to hide the blush with movement. "Deal," she said.

There were a lot of eyes on them, mainly the crewmates she'd made leave. She didn't even need to look with her eyes; just sensing her immediate surroundings with the Force told her that they were going to have to play this carefully. Not that Param had any problems with that.

"Your friends are watching," she said, flicking her eyes over toward the group of crewmates. "So how about you let go of my lightsaber, and we give them a show that leads us back to the ship. I'll deal with the crew that's there." If at all possible she'd like to not kill the entire crew of the ship, but they would see soon enough.

@Sreeya

 

[Z'Kair]

He smirked, “How about I keep it as insurance,” He said as he flipped the saberhilt and stashed it into a pocket. He knew lightsabers held a lot of meaning to Force users, and he wasn’t about to lose leverage until she had done her part. She may have been sweet on him, but she was still a Sith. Kai didn’t trust Sith or any Force users. He let her slide off, but he played the part of being smitten, his tail eagerly swishing around and his ears swiveling.

“I’m gonna show my girl the ship..” He informed the pazaak group with a sheepish smile. The rest of the crew looked suspicious, but one of them had a knowing grin.

“Yea, it’s definitely the ship she’s gonna be explorin',” The Trandoshan said as he chuckled at them. Nevertheless, they were too drunk and happy to care right then, giving Kai and Param an opportunity to head inside.

Once he made it up the ramp of the ship, Kai released her hand, going fully into work mode. He turned to her, “Use your mind trick thing to get the other crew members in here to leave and do what you can about the droid. I’ll make my way down to the stockpile. I need a clear way out as well,” If she expected him to do pleasure first and business later, she would be sorely disappointed.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param kept her cool outwardly, but internally she was raging at Kodi taking her lightsaber. She already had a feeling of how this whole thing would go down, and it didn't quite look good for her. Granted, it was her slaver's lightsaber. Losing it would grant her the opportunity to make her own. That is of course, if she made it back to be able to. The flutter in her stomach from being called "his girl" did little to quench the flames. For her part, she put up one hell of a cutesy, giggling act on their way out to the hangar.

When Kodi would turn around, the smile would be gone, and her silver eyes narrowed and piercing. "Mhmm," she hummed, the only thing she could manage at the moment. Oh how she hated him, and yet couldn't stop herself form liking him. He undid her at every turn, and yet she kept coming back for more. Half the anger she felt was at herself. "So I'm supposed to be like other Sith when it suits your crook ideas?" she blurted without realizing it.

The fierce visage she portrayed vanished in embarrassment, and her cheeks flushed. Her master had specifically instructed her to use her emotions but let them use her; here she was letting her emotions blurt things out for her. She shook her head, and put on a cutesy smile again. "Ready."

@Sreeya

 

[Z'Kair]

He actually paused at her little outburst. It was perhaps the first time he didn’t have a cocky smirk on his face or focus only on the job. He gazed at her for a few seconds, “What kind of Sith do you want to be then?” He asked bluntly. Kai didn’t budge from where he stood, actually waiting for an answer. As far as he knew, all Sith had the same kinds of ambitions and goals - always self serving, throwing their powers around and taking over the galaxy. If he had those powers, he would probably do the same, because fuck the galaxy. It never gave him anything, so why should he give anything back?

Their discussion wouldn’t last long - several crew members were walking over. Kai quickly dipped out of sight to make his way over towards the forbidden sections of the ship. It was up to Param to stall the crew. There were two twi’lek men walking over, and they looked confused at spotting Param there.

“Er… are you supposed to be here?”

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param lowered her gaze to the floor for a moment. What was the kind of Sith she wanted to be? She had power, a newfound knowledge of things, but there was still so much she didn't know about the galaxy, and about herself. Her silver eyes rose to his. "I..." How was she going to say this? "I want to have a garden, walk the paths every day, and not have to look over my-" She was cut off by the crewmates, and of course, Kodi slinking away.

"Yeah, I was sent here by the captain to..." she looked around for a moment, seeing if she could see Kodi. There was no trace of him. Of course. "Entertain the crew?"

"Captain doesn't give us scrap." A cold sweat started on her back. She wasn't quite trained to persuade anyone. Wouldn't stop her from trying since somebody took her fucking lightsaber. Param put on her best smile, but it would do no good. The crewmates drew their blasters. Bloody work it was.

She was a blur to the first crewmate, palm smashing up into his human nose. Before the first bolt flew, the human's body was flung into the next crewmate. The sound would draw more. Which one had a melee weapon? The third one, of course. Param was on him in an instant, pummeling him with strikes, one of which stealing the vibro-blade from his hip. The previous owner was ended shortly after with a swift stab. Unfortunately, the blaster shot that did go off would have alerted the rest of the crew.

Param dropped the vibro-knife as the second wave of crewmates rushed to the scene. She cupped her face and screamed. It was the show of a life time for her. "What happened?"

"H-he went that way!" Param cried, pointing out the ramp. The crew was convinced and ran out of the ship. The only thing left was the droid pilot.

@Sreeya

 

[Z'Kair]

Kai’s sensitive ears picked up on the commotion and he guessed that Prim just killed everybody on sight. Typical Sith. He fought to keep from rolling his eye as he got to work. He was silent as a cat, slinking through the corridors he had studied when he joined the crew. And it also helped that the drama she created drew all the attention away from these corridors.

The pilot droid walked over. It spotted Kai and began to ramble something, but the Fiani quickly drew out the stolen saber and sliced its head off. He robbed the droid of the keycard to the cockpit and navicomputer. He marveled at the blade, twirling it around a few times. He had to get himself one of these…

The Fiani continued the rest of the way uninterrupted, but he had an idea. Instead of making his way to the crystals he had a crazy thought. He bolted right towards the cockpit, punching the button to close the ramp, “This is Captain Kodi speaking,” He announced over the intercom, knowing the Sith was the only one that could hear, “Hold on because it’s about to be a bumpy ride!”

With her emptying the ship, he definitely got greedy. Why only steal a few crystals when he could hijack the entire ship? With that, the Fiani revved up the engines and started lifting off. He wouldn’t get too far without a crew, but he would make it well past where the Captain could stop him.

On the ground, the crew was rushing past the murderous culprit only to realize too late what happened. A few of them turned around and tried to shoot their blasters at the ship, but it was too late. The Bith captain just so happened to look up into his hotel room window as his ship began to take off into the night sky. He screamed and ran out half naked into the balcony, angrily shaking his fist.

But that ship was long gone.

Theme​

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param was about to make her way to the cockpit when she heard the intercom. Of course this boy stole the entire ship. The moment he said bumpy ride, Param held to the nearest wall as they took off. When thing stabilized, she made her way to the cockpit. One hand went on the back of the captain's chair, and the other on her hip.

"That was unexpected, but it works, I guess," she said. She gave a warm smile down toward him. "For the record, I don't know how to do that mind trick thing." It was probably more information than he needed, but she didn't care. "Can I have my lightsaber back, Kodi?"

It was a long shot. This was a crook, after all. He had left her on Nar Shaddaa on some random dance floor, after all. They were on a ship by themselves with a full cargo.

@Sreeya

 

[Z'Kair]

He studied her quietly for a moment, suspicion clear on his face. The Fiani considered the options - he was effectively stuck in a metal prison cruising through space with a demonic Sith. He played out several scenarios in his head that involved spacing her and ridding himself of any drama. As he considered what she said both now and earlier, he began to wonder if there weren’t better ways to handle this. The ship needed him to fly it, and that alone meant it was smarter to leave him alive. Then again, Sith were psychotic enough to take others down with them.

Kai wordlessly tossed the saberhilt back to her, focusing back ahead of himself. Soon enough they jumped into hyperspace. He had charted a course for a particular asteroid so he could sell the other crystals.

“I thought all Sith knew the mindbending stuff,” He said after a moment, finally easing into his chair now that he didn’t have to actively pilot, “Are you a dropout or something?” He asked with a quirked brow.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param beamed a wide smile as the lightsaber hilt touched her hand. She wasted no time in clipping it back to belt. A sense of relief washed over her at having her only actual weapon returned to her. Sure she had the Force, but blasting people through the bulkhead would only serve to space everyone on board, and that just wouldn't do. Her arms folded across her chest as she watched Kodi take them into hyperspace.

"Acolyte, actually," she said without looking at him. The beautiful hues of hyperspace dancing off of her silver eyes. "When we met on Nar Shaddaa I didn't even have any formal training." She gave a quick, coy glance at Kodi. He had won the night on Nar Shaddaa, and would probably even win this one too, but she felt a tiny joy at having made him sweat with out so much as a proper class in the lightsaber technique or the Force. All she had to go on was what the holocrons had taught her over the years.

"Oh! Um..." she started, turning toward him. Her folded arms stretched out down the length of her body until she was holding her hands. "Where do you want to put the guys I knocked out?" They'd been lying near the closed ramp, right where she had dropped them. Probably wouldn't do them any good to let them wake up and roam the ship.

@Sreeya

 

[Z'Kair]

A scrub. She was a scrub? Damn. Acolytes were the same as Pandawans or whatever the hell the Jedi variants were called. They almost always had supervision, which meant that she probably had a Master who would probably eat Kai alive. Great.

Kai put a cigarra to his lips and lit it when she mentioned the KO’d crew members. He sprang up then, almost choking on the cigarra, “What?” He couldn’t help the animalistic growl that accompanied the exclamation, “I thought you emptied the ship!” Kai practically screeched.

He quickly darted down the length of the ship, coming to a pause near the closed ramp. Which happened to be empty. Kai looked around frantically, “Where are they?!”

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

"Didn't exactly have time," Param said defensively. She had been able to sense the holocron the entire first night that they'd met; he should that she'd be able to sense the crew. Her confidence in her abilities took a deep dip as she followed Kodi to the ramp to find that the bodies were in fact, gone. Oh no. She fought against the panic that started to rise within her as she frantically tried to reach out with the Force to sense them. She got nothing, and her panic soared.

"Um- g-go to the cockpit. I'll find them," Param stammered, her cheeks burning with embarrassment as her heart picked up it's pace. "I did this anyway." She rushed down the corridor, checking room by room. Each empty room added to her panic. She didn't want to be like all the other Sith and just kill everyone, and now they're in trouble because she didn't. Tears started to from at the corners of her eyes.

Turning the corner into the cargo hold, the two crewmates were there, still a bit dazed from just waking up. Param raised her hand to use Force push, but because she was panicking and the tears in her eyes made her vision blurry, she whiffed it into a box of cargo and shattered it across the bulkhead. The men charged her and tackled her, getting a few punches in before she was able to fight back. Param kicked one in the face, returning him to the world of sleep. The other was straddling her stomach, so she hit the closest thing she could- his crotch. He doubled over, letting her put another fist into the side of his head and knocking him out too.

Param appeared again in the corridor of the cockpit, dragging the two crewmates behind her. She'd been roughed up to say the least. Swollen eye, bloody nose that was probably broken, cut lip, the works. She dropped the unconscious bodies and sat in one of the chairs in the cockpit, keeping her eyes on the hyperspace in front of her. "All yours."

@Sreeya

 

[Z'Kair]

He had split up from her to look in the other directions, frustrated at her consistently failing to use Force tricks. Was she even an acolyte?! Did she steal that saber!? He suppressed his angry thoughts as he ran through the corridors, hearing some commotion behind him. By the time Kai found her again, the crew members were knocked out and…she looked like was used as a punching bag. His expression was difficult to read for a moment, but the tears were obvious in her eyes. His tail involuntarily drooped and his ears flattened without him even realizing.

“I’ll uh…make them disappear..” He said simply. She may not have been that kind of Sith, but Kai was not taking chances. Within moments, the two were unceremoniously ejected from the ship and not his problem anymore. He didn’t need to keep them alive to drop them off somewhere and hold a grudge. That was how he lost his eye, after all. He was no longer in the business of showing mercy too easily.

However, his expression softened for a moment when he returned to the cockpit. He stood there for a moment, scratching the back of his head and shifting in place, “Thanks..for your help,” Kai said after a moment of silence. He cleared his throat, jutting his chin, “Sit down there.”

With that, he grabbed a medkit, walking over to softly brush aside strands of her hair from her face. Without a word, he gently began to apply bacta and a salve to the bruises and wounds, “Why didn’t you just kill them?” He asked quietly as he worked, his face very close to hers as he gently worked on the wounds.

@TheDudeMike