Open Workin' Hard or Hardly Working

[Darth Tiamat]

OOC: Open to anyone looking to get into some shenanigans...​

It was difficult at times to get away from all the chatter, especially when it resided inside. It had grown much quieter, she was learning to pull her own and to take back some control over her mind, but she wondered how much of it was the Eternal giving her what it wanted. It was taking much compromise on her part, finding ways to satisfy the dark entity's lust as she worked to keep control over her own mind and body. Regardless, each of the spirits that resided inside the mask and now connected with her were just individually unique, a collection of knowledge that was worth more than any wealth in the galaxy. Still, Lyra wanted her peace and it was all about adapting. Something she was quite proficient given the life she lived before coming to the Sith Order.

So then, why was she in this drinking hole in the far reaches of the galaxy?

The Eternal made a mistake and she was a lot stronger than it thought it had believed; it was easy to torture its host and to pull its most precious thoughts. However, when that host grew stronger once again, this was a new struggle, thus the compromising lately. The memories that were contorted and twisted to work against her, were only met with memories that countered such actions, but it was a constant battle as she wished to savior the autonomy she had. It also kept her away from those she sought for their advice and input.

She looked at her glass, normally she did not drink liquor, but in this case, she was feeling she could suffer the taste to take her mind elsewhere.

 

[Kopecz]

"And how are you supposed to drink anything with that ridiculous mask!" The Trandoshan jeered from beside the booth where Kopecz sat, datapad before him. The awful din of the bar made his head shriek out in misery, but it was the best place of this dead end to find the work he needed to move up in the world. He was away from the hated Republic and utterly despised Jedi, and he had found peace. Until the lizard started heckling him. Bully. Weak. Unfit. Drunk. Wretched.

Kopecz glanced at the bar tender. Clearly not the type to care if he did what he supposed to do. So he did.

The slight Ubese lept to a stand upon the worn booth seat and plunged his vibroblade into the scum's arm. It would not be fatal, but it might cost him the appendange. Oh well. A fellow hunter should be in better shape than this pernicious bar fly. "You Quiet. Leave now. You die."

The man stumbled out and Kopecz again surveyed the cantina. A woman caught his eye he did not notice before. She was a kindred spirit. An angry soul. He could tell as he could at times. "Good hunting" his father said, "Serves you well. You read the enemy well." She was important, worth something, he knew, unlike the detestable Trandoshan whose blood he wiped onto his cape. The galaxy is a hateful place. A wretched place. But this woman was not like the others. He could tell. She sat with the weight of a million tons on her shoulders.

Maybe it was a mistake, maybe she was a detestable as most. But maybe words would be well for both.

He approached the woman, waiting for her eyes to meet his. "You drink rotgut. I cannot drink. We both feel sorrow. Thinking alone kills no Jedi-of-the-Mind."

 

[Drow Venn]

Exile.

It was an ugly word but a word that was burned into Jedi Master Drow Venn's mind as of late. The Jedi Order he loved, the Temple on Yavin that he'd worked so hard to protect was now lost to him after he had been exiled by Grandmaster Voran. And it still stung

He'd deserved exile, of course. Running his own black ops mission against the Sith in defiance of the Council's wishes had its costs and after the Jedi had liberated the princess of Eiattu, Drow was more than willing to come clean to the Grandmaster. Fortunately, Alex was a forgiving woman and his friendship with her had not been lost as a result of his actions.

Another Jedi might even look at Drow's new assignment as a promotion of sorts as the Ishi Tib was now leader of the Jedi Shadows. While his combat background and experience made him a suitable candidate for the role, Drow would much rather be curled up in one of the chairs at the Yavin Temple library, reading about ancient Jedi Generals or teaching a class of younglings the basics of saber technique. But as long as the war with the Sith raged on, that would remain a fantasy for Drow and so, it was with reluctant determination that the Ishi Tib approached his new role in order to end the war as quickly as possible.

And part of that new role consisted of meeting with rather unsavory individuals in unsavory places like this one. Before his exile, Drow and other Jedi had "convinced" a gang of pirates to turn their operation a bit more legitimate and act as privateers against the Sith. And in this seedy, dark corner of the galaxy, Master Venn was having a meeting with the pirate captain, Red Rordrik. Oh how the mighty had fallen...

Obviously, in his status as both an exile and a Shadow, Drow had forsaken his traditional Jedi robes in favor of something a bit more inconspicuous. Simple coveralls, knee-high boots and a wide brimmed hat gave him the look of a gardener and that wasn't far from the truth. Ever since stumbling upon Dune Tarn's work as a botanist, Drow had become fascinated with plants and tending the earth. For now, it was best the galaxy saw a scruffy looking gardener interact with pirates instead of a Jedi General.

"It was a good haul but not much in the way of military gear. Seemed like it was more of a supply ship." Red Rordrik told Drow in a low voice as they met in a corner booth in the cantina.

"Supply ships are just as necessary as gunboats and tanks. Donate any medical supplies to hospitals and sell the rest." Drow told the pirate captain. Rordrik nodded and left the Jedi to his own devices.

The Ishi Tib took a swig of his drink and watched the pirate depart. Red Rordrik was a plunderer and a killer but even he wasn't the worst sort in a place like this. Drow was reminded of that firsthand as he saw a loudmouthed Trandoshan start to jeer before taking a vibroblade to the arm. Used to the sight of such violence, Drow still couldn't get over how callously life was disregarded in a place like this.

The one who stabbed the Trandoshan started talking to a woman at the bar and the Force seemed to spin around the two of them. For whatever reason, Drow didn't want to quickly finish his drink and get the hell away from a place like this. No, he wanted to see where this was going. He sat back in his booth, put the brim of his hat further down over his face and kept an ear out. Gardeners were often inconspicuous by their very existence and the Ishi Tib hoped to remain that way.

@Strabo @GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

In a place like this it was not unusual for such watering holes to get as exciting as to what was happening in the booth behind her. She took another sip from her drink as the growling and yelling continued, seeming not too concerned along with others who sat at the bar counter with her. Even as the instigator left whimpering, his arm nearly hanging by a tendon as he was shuffled out by his posse. Then, it was quiet again.

Well, at least for a brief moment.

Tiamat's brow narrowed as she felt someone approach, she didn't need her senses to tell her someone was coming from behind; there was a deep intuition that she learned to trust years before joining the Sith. The Ubese who was in the strife earlier had now found his attention on the redheaded woman. He spoke in broken basic as she glanced over to recognize his presence. When he was done speaking, she shrug her shoulders, "/Would it be easier to speak your tongue?/" she asked in Ubese. Tiamat gestured for him to take a seat.

@Strabo @Fantasy Liver

 

[Siviks]

Glory in Death. Not Glory and Death. Few understood the connection between the two, but Siviks did. She knew the price of the Great Hunt. She understood what it meant for her species to survive. She knew her King was more willing to rid their livelihood of traidition for the sake of keeping the rest of the galaxy happy- willing to kill her mother by public execution to send a message to the traditionalists of her kind to stop being themselves.

Siviks had donned her predatorial armor before she entered the bar, though she was big and probably looked exotic compared to the other common dwellers of the building, Siviks knew how to blend in and silently entered the building without a single stare from the others while she walked to sit with her back against the wall, as they were occupied with another strange being who had just stabbed a trandoshan. Siviks liked hunting trandoshans, especially during their traditional hunts as well. The irony of beheading one of them while they were supposed to be predator made Siviks grin behind her helm.

Something felt strange about the bar- something Siviks couldn't explain. It was stronger than instinct but it still was instinct. It put her on edge, so she waited and glassed her options. She was here for one reason and one reason only; to scout out her prey. So far, the trandoshan was off the table, literally...but that Ubese...might be the worthy prey Siviks was looking for. She'd find out soon enough, and maybe the redhead he sat next to was even worthy of having the honor of becoming Siviks' prey.

@GABA @Starbo @Fantasy Liver

 

[Kopecz]

The woman welcomed Kopecz, he was pleasantly surprised. What shocked him more was that the human knew his tongue and was willing to converse in it. No need to call for his droid, and fight with its "attractive, feminine programing," just freedom to speak his tongue. He sat across from her, "/I am honored that a human such as yourself is versed in Ubese, rarely do you seek to meet our people in our own tongue, but rather expect us to suffer through your thick and tortuous language. I have not spoken freely since I departed my people. I am intrigued how you know it, but I could tell you are a being of important by the invisible weight on your shoulders. Speak, for as the Martyrs say one cannot hunt a quarry that remains within the veins./"

What miracle was this!? She spoke his tongue, and if he closed his eyes he could imagine his elder sister before him. How he missed her. But merely speaking freely lightened his soul. This was a powerful woman, the storm of feeling that surrounded her was comforting. This whole bar was alive with that implacable energy, but this woman. It drew him like a hawkbat to a duracrete slug.

He was at peace in the turmoil that surrounded her. It was like an orchestra and she was the chaotic brass. Within the cacophony a trumpet and a horn were locked in blasting duel. Therein lied the thousand tons on her shoulders. Elsewhere in the bar there was a mysterious and quiet wind, almost unnoticeable. A third discord was in their midst, a creeping noise, a plucking, prowling string. The lizard was not the only hunter in this storm. Kopecz fought the music and his fascination with the red haired woman, to keep his senses about him, but what his father called his "instincts" were overloaded with the music of emotion. He leaned in toward his new companion and eagerly awaited her reply. How rare this song he sat within.

@GABA @Fantasy Liver @Charles

 

[Drow Venn]

There was something about this woman that Drow couldn't shake and it wasn't the usual kind of attraction he'd had towards strange women in strange bars. For one thing, her mammalian features was not at all appealing to the Ishi Tib, as his amphibious features probably weren't to her either. For another, it seemed as though the Force itself was calling his attention to her. But why? He liked to think he was fairly attuned to the mystical energy field but this was confusing, to be sure.

He decided on a course of action, trusting his instincts that had been finely honed through years as a soldier and a Jedi. Worst case scenario, this action would just check on a random bar patron. At best though, it might help unravel some clue as to the identity of this woman.

"This guy's not bothering you is he?" Drow asked Tiamat as he made his way to the bar, gesturing towards the Ubese sitting next to her and carefully gauging her reaction.

@Strabo @Charles @GABA