Ask Nar Shaddaa Lucid Dreaming

[Astra Calloway]

​

The nights were cold and unforgiving on most planets but the Smuggler's Moon proved to be even more so than most. As events transpired, Astra found herself having to stay on the moon for longer than previously anticipated, though with every fibre of her being she would rather be anywhere else. The civilisation here, or rather lack of, did not tend to be keen on Jedi and so she did all she could to conceal that part of her identity, so she hoped to be relatively safe from being a target of petty crime since she didn't exactly radiate wealth or high social status.

Astra paid for a room for a night and though it wasn't particularly expensive, you definitely got what you paid for. The balcony was a nice touch but didn't take away from the fact that the carpet was stained with various fluids and there seemed to be a family of insects taking residence in at least one corner of the room. She felt a pang of sadness at the thought of people living in a place like this, lost and hopeless while those on the core planets were granted a more sophisticated way of life. The situation on Nar Shaddaa was disturbing at best and yet many of the more privileged would never lay eyes upon it and those that did would be inclined to ignore it, it almost made Astra wish the Jedi would get involved in politics once again, perhaps when they could gain more traction in the galaxy.

Eventually, she settled down enough to manage a bit of shut eye so she stripped down to a vest and shorts and climbed into the bed which looked like it had seen better days, leaving the lightsaber hilt on the floor by the side of the bed before drifting off to sleep. It was a rather odd hour to be sleeping at for those more accustomed to the planet but most of the light at street level was artificial anyway and travelling between planets took its toll on your sleeping schedule and besides, she needed to be awake most of the night anyway to achieve what she had come here to do.



@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

Neriya Dahle tightened her grip around the fibercord as she rappelled down along the side of the building. With the extraordinary amount of credits she was getting paid, the mercenary from Bespin was willing to put in a little extra effort. It was straining, heavy even, to rappel from such a height, looking for the right balcony. But she had done the math. Seventh floor as seen from the roof, second window to the right. Should be doable, if she just didn't look down. Buildings on Nar Shaddaa were nowhere near as tall as on Coruscant, but these skyscrapers were no joke either. If she fell, she doubted that even the most skilled doctors could piece her body back together.

Moving as silently as she could, Neri finally reached her target's balcony. Windows and curtains were closed; excellent. The nimble mercenary grabbed the railing of the balcony and climbed over it, finally standing on a horizontal surface with both her feet again. Thank the Force for that. Cautiously, Neri unlocked the safety mechanisms of her climbing harness. No longer attached to the fibercord, Neri could move freely again. It meant that her mission had gone to phase two.

Her assignment was simple. Some pushover woman had an important data chip in her possession, an item with great market value. Normally, the Bespinian pilot would've stolen the chip and sold it herself instead, but she didn't know what kind of buyers were interested in the information. And frankly, this assignment alone paid far enough, so why should she bother? Having been supplied with the right equipment for this mission by her employer was also a plus, which also made the mercenary feel reluctant to cross her employer. Yeah, she was going to be reliable for once, and actually deliver.

Silently, Neri placed the backpack next to her on the balcony, taking out the exact tools she needed to get inside. While she wasn't a masterful slicer, she was by no means bad at it. It was another basic skill she had learned at the Bespin Security Force. She hated the years she had spent in that rotten organization, but she had to admit, the skills she learned during that period of her life were extremely valuable. After a couple of minutes, the mercenary had managed to bypass the access codes, unlocking the door to her target's hotel room.

Careful not to wake the woman up, Neri entered the hotel room. The room itself was decrepit, consisting out of not much more than a bedroom and bathroom. Simplicity over comfort, it wasn't her style but the pilot understood that some didn't have the luxury to choose anything better. As Neri scanned the room for the whereabouts of the chip, she caught a glimpse of a shiny, metal object near the bed. At first, Neri thought that it had to be the case holding the chip. That was, until she got a closer look at it. Stealthily, Neri picked up the tube. Except it wasn't a tube. It was a kriffing lightsaber.

Neri's heart pounded in her chest as she held her breath. Was she robbing a Jedi? Was the woman who was sleeping in the bed inches away from her truly a Jedi? Kark. This was more troublesome than she had expected.

Glancing through the room again, Neri's gaze fell upon the woman's clothes neatly piled up not that far away from her current position. Neri reached for the pile, carefully searching the pockets of the woman's clothing, until she found the small chip she was looking for. Heh, perhaps she stood a chance after all. With a satisfied smirk, Neri slowly retreated back to the balcony, taking both the lightsaber and chip with her. It didn't take her long to load her trophy, objective and used tools in the backpack, and to connect her harness to the fibercord again. She had to go another five down; to the hotel room she had hired herself. It was the closest room to the Jedi she could have hired, and was the easiest to reach.

Once Neri set foot on her own balcony again, she let out a long, exasperated breath. That was way more intense than she had expected. All that was left now, was get the kriff out of here and deliver the chip to her employer. With that thought in mind, Neri exited her own hotel room in a hurry, hoping that the end of her assignment was near.

@Sunfrog

 

[Astra Calloway]

Astra stirred in her sleep as the stranger was in her room but didn't wake, she was in a dream that was becoming more and more turbulent and could feel the distinct feeling of danger beginning to rise within her which only made her stir more until she woke up with a jolt seconds later. Although she still felt a sense of unease, she attributed it to the dream and turned over to go back to sleep but didn't notice the familiar glint of a metallic lightsaber hilt in the light.

A cold feeling of dread encompassed Astra as she immediately saw the balcony door slightly ajar and felt her heart sink. Someone had been in. She quickly put on her boots and threw open the balcony door, looking around frantically to find the perpetrator if they were still around. Her eyes fell on a long piece of fibercord from above that extended far down below and came to the conclusion that this was more sophisticated than your average pickpocket, leading her to wonder why she had been targeted.

With wide eyes she ran to the pile of clothes she had left on the floor and rooted through them, finding no sign of the data chip, making finding the thief evermore important. Losing a lightsaber was bad enough, a deadly weapon in the right hands and and even deadlier one in the wrong hands and losing the chip too only increased the panic that was rising within her. She wasn't totally defenceless without a lightsaber but the blade was certainly a large part of said defence, especially since the Force required composure and focus to properly utilise, neither of which she had right now.

Judging by the length of the rope which extended well below the balcony and the fact that the thievery seemed somewhat more sophisticated than the average petty criminal, she could hazard a guess that the thief was intelligent enough to know that descending would offer a much quicker getaway than ascending and concluded that the most probable location of the thief was somewhere below her but the evidence didn't offer much more than that and she would still need to identify the thief - if they hadn't gotten away yet.

There was no more time to waste, it had taken her this long to gather her thoughts and now she needed to put them into action to prevent an undesirable outcome. She ran out of the room and down the stairs in a panicked search for her lightsaber and chip, to where she didn't know. Within the building she could sense another source of tension, though for what reason she couldn't make out, maybe because they had just stolen from a Jedi.

There wasn't much information to use to aid her search but for now she followed the source of tension further down the building, they were running from something, this was the best chance she would have right now. She imagined the lecture Kraud might give her for losing her lightsaber as it was so valuable or maybe even the lesson he would give her to prove the importance of a lightsaber being the last resort, either way, it spurred her on to run faster.




@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

Neri quickened her pace as she moved through the corridor, looking for a turbolift. Once she finally found one, Neri felt a little more relieved knowing that she could leave this building behind her. Leave the Jedi behind her. After the doors closed and the lifted started to move to the ground floor, Neri took the datachip out of her bag, studying the tiny sheet of metal. What information could be so important that a Jedi had to transport it? This wasn't some third death star plan, was it? No, her employer wasn't interested in weapons of mass destruction... Or so she hoped.

Exiting the turbolift, Neri slid the chip in one of the small bags attached to her utility belt. She couldn't afford to lose it, not with a Jedi potentially coming after her. No, she would need something to bargain with. Biting her lip, Neri left the building behind her. Was she going to ask her employer about this? Ask for a higher payment? No, she amount of credits and tools provided seemed appropriate for the job. Thinking on her next move, Neri strolled through the streets of Nar Shaddaa, looking for the drop off point, stopping occasionally to ask the 'kind' people of Nar Shaddaa in her best Huttese what the fastest way to the bazaar was.

 

[Astra Calloway]

Astra paused for a moment to catch her breath and felt the source she was following increase the distance between them, so much so that running felt futile now. She saw an open lift up ahead and sprinted into it, pressing the button inside frantically until it proceeded to move to the ground floor, far too slowly for her liking. She looked down at herself, wearing the shorts and vest she had rolled out of bed in and a pair of boots and her hair hanging either side of her face in disarray. This had to be one of the most demeaning missions she had been on yet.

Once on the ground floor, she shot out the door and into the street, nearly taking out a woman with her as she did. "Sorry!" She said hurriedly though without stopping to see if the woman was okay as she continued running down the street, dodging groups of people who got in the way until all of a sudden the source of tension was considerably weaker and then she couldn't make it out any more. If there was ever a time that called for clarity and focus, it was now. After all the lessons Kraud had given her about utilising the Force properly, she would try and use it to her advantage.

Astra ran to the side of the street and pressed her back against the wall, getting away from the hustle and bustle of those going about their business. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, allowing the Force to flow through her, knowing that she might as well be calm now because if she couldn't do this then she had already lost. Through the Force, she began to sense the intentions of those around her: a pickpocket, a thief, a smuggler... but she was looking for a very specific thief. She frowned in concentration, the feeling was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but her attention came to someone who was intending to give a data chip to someone and she could vaguely sense their direction...

Her head whipped to the right as a woman was passing around the corner into the next street and Astra broke into a sprint, leaping over boxes and all manner of things that littered the street before turning the corner and standing on a vendor's stall to scan the crowd for the back of a head she had seen moments before. "Hey!" She shouted when she spotted the suspect, knowing that if they ran then her suspicions were correct.




@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

Almost there. The woman with the white streak moved through the crowd, distracted by all the figures and languages that filled the streets of Nar Shaddaa with life. That was, until she heard someone shout, trying to grab attention. Neri glanced over her shoulder, looking straight at someone she hoped she could've avoided. The Jedi.

She wanted to run, flee and find a place with cover to hold off her adversary if she had to. But that wouldn't work. No, she didn't stand a chance against a Jedi. She was unarmed, yes, but the pilot knew the stories. While they were myths, legends as Luke and Rey skywalker were all but forgotten. She would not fight this Jedi. Not head on. So there was only one thing she could do. Act natural.

Without giving a hint of recognition, Neri briefly locked eyes with the Jedi. Showing a clear disinterest, she turned around again, strolling in the direction of the drop-off point as naturally as she could. It was just one or two more blocks up ahead, she was so damn close. But her sixth sense told her that she wouldn't get that far. Every time she got close to the Jedi, she felt warmth. Not just that, but she felt a little more at ease. It was completely different from what her friends Sera or Alana incited. With one hand on her blaster pistol, she continued down the street, hoping that the Jedi would forget about her.

@Sunfrog

 

[Astra Calloway]

When Astra's gaze met the person who she had been following, she immediately felt suspicious and made note of the woman's appearance should she lose her in the crowd again. Although the woman acted natural, Astra felt drawn to her in a way she couldn't quite explain and could sense the emotions the woman was feeling, suggesting she wasn't all as innocent as she pretended to be.

Astra leapt off the vendor's table, leaving an angry man shouting after her, and ran through the crowd, weaving in between people but accidentally knocking shoulders here and there. It was beginning to feel hopeless after losing sight of the woman among the crowd until she finally came to a clearing where there were considerably less people and saw the woman ahead. She held a hand out, ready to use the Force to push the woman but held back, there was still every chance she had the wrong person and this woman hadn't been hostile towards her yet, Astra would give her a chance to give back what she had taken and walk away first.

"Stop! We can just talk about this." She called out as she neared the woman, reaching for her arm as she did so though she doubted the brunette would be very willing to talk, most people weren't and it usually ended in hostilities.


@Powerfullhorus

 

[Neriya Dahle]

Neriya did not have the patience nor willingness to talk with the Jedi. "Hey back off!" she exclaimed, raising her voice a little as she spoke, attracting the attention of a the people who passed by them. "Look, I don't know you lady. I don't know what you're trying to accomplish here, but leave me out of it." she stated, a little agitated. Her eyes pierced those of the Jedi, showing little to no recognition. She was good at deceiving people like this, and she used it whenever she got the chance.

Trying not to think of her mission and fully submerging into her role, Neri continued. "If you're another of those vagrants who's tryin' to rob me," she said, looking Astra up and down with a look of disgust, "you better get the hell out of here, or I'll contact law enforcement." She wasn't here to play nice today. She just had to complete her objective, and if that meant shooing a Jedi away, well she would give her utmost. She knew from experience that most people got uneasy once law enforcement was mentioned. Undoubtedly, the Jedi were different, but she assumed that the woman didn't want to get in trouble. And the best way to avoid trouble, was for her to leave. In the case her act wasn't enough to scare the Jedi away, she always had the option to make a break for it, or to try and face the Jedi head on. Although she had to admit, the latter did not seem like a smart move.

Not willing to listen to the Jedi's pleads, Neri turned around again, continuing her stroll in the direction of the mission objective. Perhaps a little decisiveness and ignorance after her outburst would be enough to make the Jedi give up.

@Sunfrog

 

[Astra Calloway]

Astra immediately released the woman's arm when she raised her voice and her words made her doubt that she had the right person and she became especially wary of perusing the woman when law enforcement was mentioned. The last thing the Jedi needed was any more bad rep but then again it could all be a misunderstanding and so far she hadn't done anything wrong. She just felt inexplicably drawn to this woman and at the moment she was the only lead she had.

She responded in the only way she knew how, calmly and with sensitivity. "Miss, I'm not trying to rob you, please calm down." She said in an authoritative tone. "I just want to ask you a question..." She said before the woman turned to walk away so Astra sighed and waited for a gap to build between the pair before she followed the woman through the crowds, deciding against stopping her in such a public area lest she make a scene again. It seemed she wanted to do this the hard way.

Weaving in and out of the crowds, Astra made sure she could keep sight of the woman but tried to keep a reasonable distance between them in attempt to remain undetected. Without her lightsaber she was uncertain of her ability to protect herself, especially if facing the person who had her lightsaber.




@Powerfullhorus