Taris

[darklord]

Drevin sat in the Moldy Glass cantina on Taris staring down at his datapad, a look of deep concentration on his face. The locations and coordinates he'd memorized from the ancient texts at the academy scrolled across his screen. Taris, Tattooine, Onderon, Felucia, Dantooine, Endor, Corellia... the list went on. Some of these locations couldnt possibly hold any secret knowledge of the sith. Not anymore. They were too over-populated now and any hidden caverns or temples would have been excavated long ago. But the scrolls he'd read were not treasure maps, they only gave a hint of where to start looking. The Jedi of old were numerous and the sith few, so in order to pass on their teachings, their knowledge had to be hidden from the galaxy, only accessible to true followers. Some of the planets on the list were well known to have had connections with the Sith in the past, but it was the less obvious ones that called to him.

He sat back and sighed deeply, brushing long black hair out of his face and stroking the 3 days worth of stubble on his jaw. He took in the scene around him. Cantinas like this 1 always held a wide array of species and dangerous characters. Bounty hunters, Mercs, Thieves. It was a good place to get information, if you had the credits. It was also a good place to attract unwanted attention if you werent careful. Clearly Drevin had been pouring over these coordinates for too long.

He sensed 2... no, 3 of them making their way towards him. He could feel their fear and anticipation as they approached him, slowly weaving their way through the crowd. He watched as the twilek dancer in front of him slowly moved away from Drevins table, her lekku twitching nervously. That was a shame, he'd quite liked the view.

[darklord]

The Gamorrean came first, bounding across the floor towards Drevins table brandishing a nasty looking shock stick. He lunged at Drevin as cantina dwellers around him fled. Using the Gamorreans momentum against him, Drevin sidestepped at the last second and planted a swift punch to the back of its enormous head. The Gamorrean hit the ground with a thud. The next was a three eyed Gran. He swung several times with his shock stick, missing each time by only a fraction. Drevin grabbed the Grans thick arm, and forcing it behind him, drove the shock stick deep into the face of the Rodian who was attempting to sneak up on him. The Rodian slumped to the floor as Drevin threw the remaining Gran into a pillar.

The music resumed and the cantina patrons returned to their drinks. Obviously this was a regular occurrence.

[extras]

The commotion across the room might have distracted him from his usual observations, but tonight was particularly entertaining, especially when that...what was it called again? Ah yes...That Gamorrean had stepped in. Then things had really taken a turn for the worse.
It was all over too soon however and he was left wondering how the being at the center of it all had managed the seemingly great feats he had. There were a few assumptions to be made there.

Features concealed beneath the hood of his robe, he continued to watch idly.
This place, while it sickened him to the core, was an ideal observation point in it's location. The worst of the worst came here for everything from relaxation, a paltry pursuit, to dealing out death contracts. It was, a relative hole as far as places went, but such places were necessary to infiltrate to acquire information.
However, his contact had not showed, perhaps the deal had gone sour? Perhaps his contact had revealed their suspicions about him to another source? Not a worry in the slightest, he could disappear when he wanted to and no one would ever know. That was by the by, he noted.

As the cantina began to settle down once more, many a patron giving the stranger at the center of the prior fight, a wide berth, he had to wonder, was there more to this one than was apparent? Undeniably so, he'd never seen anyone of that one's stature down a gammorean so quickly. Especially that particular one.
He continued to observe for now, though a time would come where perhaps he might find the need to make conversation. There was little else that he could do here for now after all.

[darklord]

Drevins hood had fallen back during the brief fight, revealing his scarred cheek and dark eyes. A few patrons eyed him cautiously after the fight, some even admiringly. But all kept their distance except for the clean up droids who unceremoniously hauled away the three unconcious bodies. Drevin returned to his seat and continued to drink his strong tarisian ale when a holonews bulletin caught his attention. He turned to face the screen. The picture showed images of Luke Skywalker and a few other jedi in a heated discussion with Borsk feyla. Drevin could do nothing to hide his disgust at feyla or the jedi, which didnt go unnoticed by the other cantina patrons.

The Jedi had adandoned him and left him to suffer for 5 years while they sat in their temple and meditated. Enduring the endless beatings and torture, he had grown to hate them.

The vidscreen now began showing images of the destruction of Sernpidal. There was so much speculation and rumor flying around about what had occured there that it was hard to seperate the truth from the lies. Leia Solo was trying to persuade the new republic that some extra galactic alien force was invading but feyla had just tried to discredit her.
Drevin had felt the destruction of Sernpidal through the force. Even a million parsecs away he had still heard the screams. That was one of the weaknesses that he would try to overcome as part of his new training.

[extras]

All appeared to have settled within the dank cantina within a matter of moments of the fight ending, clearly no one wishing to test this strangers patience any further. He couldn't blame them really, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to approach this one, he'd already noticed a few curious things about the stranger that had piqued his interests.

Collecting his thoughts he stood and idly made his way, via the bar to the dark-strangers table, once there he slid the drink he had held in hand, though it made his skin crawl to do it, across the table in a lazy gesture. Nothing in this place was what he'd call...clean.
" That looked like thirsty work." He muttered in a somewhat amused tone, " But impressive, if not entertaining, none the less."

Yes, there was something about this one, he thought as he sat down opposite, feigning a glance at the large vidscreen across the way. But he could not be certain as of yet. Still, as his contact had not shown nor sent word of their arrival, he had time.

The images on the vidscreen were still of the report about Sernpidal, that was all the holonet news reports had been about recently and there was no getting away from it.

[darklord]

He had been so distracted by the news bulletin that he hadnt even noticed the hooded figure approaching his table. Silently cursing himself for letting his guard down Drevin turned to face the new arrival. With the hood pulled down so low over his face it was hard to make out any facial features.


"That looked like thirsty work. But impressive, if not entertaining, none the less"

The man, at least he sounded male, slid a drink across the table to Drevin and sat in the chair opposite. Nothing on Taris was free, so the fact that this stranger had bought him a drink made Drevin all the more weary.

"Thank you" he said with a half smile.

He took the drink cautiously, raised it to his lips and pretended to drink. It looked and smelled ok but there was no way he would take a sip from the beaker, he'd felt the tickling sensation that usually meant trouble as soon as the being had sat down. But then again, Drevin had felt that since stepping foot in this place.

[extras]

He watched the stranger feign taking a sip and resisted the urge to smile. Did he sense the danger? Or was he merely being cautious. There never really was a sure fire way that he knew of at least, to tell with this sort. If indeed he was what he suspected.

" It takes a lot of strength to throw one of that one's size as far as you did." He mused, " for one of your stature in any case."

He meant little true insult by the jibe, but it never the less was meant to perhaps raise this one's hackles a little.

" Do not mind me, I am perhaps too curious, but I was just wondering..."

He waved a hand dismissively, not finishing the sentence as it was meant to entice question. Hopefully, this stranger was as curious as he was cautious. Even if that curiosity lead to another brawl. It would be unwanted, yes, but not completely unexpected. At least that would answer one of his burning questions.
Shaking his head from beneath the shroud in emphasis, he remained silently waiting, turning his attention back to the reports on the vid-screen. Even if such doudy things did offend his eyes.

[darklord]

"It takes a lot of strength to throw one of that one's size as far as you did. for one of your stature in any case."

Drevins eyes flashed with anger and suspicion. This stranger was very curious. Thinking that maybe his cover was blown and he was possibly dealing with a jedi, Drevin probed with the force. What he felt was... nothing. Either this man was a very skilled force user who could block his probe or he was carrying one of those blasted ysalamiri creatures that repelled the force. Either way, it was very unnerving and for the first time in years, Drevin felt vulnerable. But he couldnt let that show. He would never show weakness again.

"Do not mind me, I am perhaps too curious, but I was just wondering..."

"if i was a jedi?!"

He hadnt meant it to sound so angry but this stranger seemed to know more than he should.

[extras]

"if i was a jedi?!"

If he hadn't been so intent on ulterior motives, he might have mocked this one with slight applause. He refrained from that however, instead choosing to answer in somewhat confused sounding tones.

" ...Actually I was going to ask you your views." He started, of course he was not confused in the slightest and he paused for effect if nothing else, guaging the man's reaction before continuing. " ...The situation at, " He glanced at the vidscreen " Sernpidal wasn't it? "

He waved his hand in another dismissive gesture, " But as you so prominently brought up the subject, they seem to think that the issue is one that must be dealt with, unlike the senate."

By they he meant the Jedi, undoubtedly, and he gave the stranger little chance to answer before he added, " Or would you have preferred me to ask if you were?"

That brought a wry smile to his face, though it would have been unseen to the person it was aimed at. He was guarded, this stranger, perhaps with good reason. But he had already decided one thing, if this one was indeed a Jedi, then he was unlike any Jedi he had ever heard of until now. And that was enough to spark curiosity if nothing else.

[darklord]

Drevins face flushed with embaressment. These little outbursts were starting to get out of hand. His voice had turned back to normal now, the anger and embaressment subsiding.

"I dont know what happened there, but i know its more than the new republic is letting on. Leia solo may be many things, but shes no liar."

he looked up into the shadow of a face that was the stranger.
He avoided the last question, let him think what he wants.

"I wouldnt put too much faith in the jedi if i were you. Skywalker would rather sit in his temple and meditate while the galaxy crumbles around him than do anything that goes against his jedi code"

Drevin could do nothing to mask the bitterness in his voice.

[extras]

"I dont know what happened there, but i know its more than the new republic is letting on. Leia solo may be many things, but shes no liar."

It was nice to put faces to names, or in this case names to faces. He had of course, heard many things about this Leia Organa Solo, he just had not until now known what it was she looked like. The vidscreen provided an excelent, if offensive veiw of that.
It was not lost on him either that the stranger had attempted to avoid his question, answering instead with a halfhearted and perhaps biased opinion. But he cared not for weather it was biased or not, in fact, that was an advantage.

"I wouldnt put too much faith in the jedi if i were you. Skywalker would rather sit in his temple and meditate while the galaxy crumbles around him than do anything that goes against his jedi code"

" Now whoever said I had my faith placed in the Jedi?" He was careful to add as if casually.
" I do agree with you whole heartedly however, on the matter of Leia Organa Solo. I do not believe she is lying either, not one word."

He turned to glance at the stranger once more, the dull light of the cantina illuminating little but some of his facial features from beneath the shroud. For all intense perposes, he appeared human enough, but the air of an accent in his voice spoke otherwise. Something he himself had been irritatingly working on.
" I suppose the question people are asking now is, what will the Jedi do? If indeed as the senate are discussing, they should do anything at all? I for one cannot believe they would merely sit idle as you suggest, but perhaps you know better than I?"

[darklord]

Drevin couldnt help but smile at that last attempt to coerce information from him.

"I learned a lot from them before they betrayed me."

It would do no further good in hiding what he was. This was a game that the stranger was obviously well experienced at playing. Drevin was no politician and in a game of words he knew that ultimately he could not win. Perhaps by revealing himself he would in turn find out what this stranger really wanted from him.

"Skywalker is a powerfull jedi but he will have to play this carefully if he wants to avoid the power hungry accusations that plague the jedi so often. They will investigate without the consent of the republic if they have to, but they will do it in secret."

[extras]

"Skywalker is a powerfull jedi but he will have to play this carefully if he wants to avoid the power hungry accusations that plague the jedi so often. They will investigate without the consent of the republic if they have to, but they will do it in secret."

It hadn't been too hard to make this one relent after all then? Then again this could be an attempt to give him what he wanted so he could be on his way, never to bother this stranger again. He would find no such luck yet.

" Blame shifts toward the Jedi, even now. They would do well to avoid it, secret investigation would not necessarily remain just that either."

Careful indeed, and if the rest of the galaxy was going to hold the Jedi responsible, there was no harm in tipping the balance that little bit further now was there?

" No, I do not believe even this Leia Organa Solo knows the true extent of what will be, " There was a certainty to his tone, as though it were a statement of fact and not suggestion. That this was the way it was going to be, no perhaps about it.
And yet he was letting slip a small bit of suggestion there, that he knew more than he would have originally let on.

He glanced irritatedly toward the entrance to the cantina, then proceeded to let out an angered sigh of discontent. They certainly were not going to arrive then, his contact, not this late in the day. That could mean one of two things, either they had chosen to deceive him and go on ahead of him, or something had befallen the ones he waited for.
Things were, if he was right about this stranger and he had been so far, perhaps about to change drastically.

[darklord]

Drevins suspicion only increased when the stranger made the remark about the jedi. It had sounded almost like a threat.

Was he a spy for the new republic trying to pass a "subtle" warning on to the jedi to stay out of it? Perhaps they thought that Drevin still had ties with them? One thing was for certain, this stranger knew far more about sernpidal than he was letting on.


No, I do not believe even this Leia Organa Solo knows the true extent of what will be"

That was an odd thing to say and the way in which it was said.

"You seem to know a lot about this matter." It was a statement rather than a question.

Drevin noted the frustrated sigh that the stranger had let out when he'd turned towards the entrance. A smile crept across Drevins face.

"Stood you up did she?"

[extras]

"You seem to know a lot about this matter."

Statement or not, it was almost a challenge to answer the stranger,
" I am by no means the authority on such things, but I am not so far removed that I am ignorant to the goings on in the outer rim."
He responded with no hint of his prior irritation.

The next question had thrown him some however, it was not a term he was familiar with that much was certain. He could take a stab at a guess though, the question was a pretty obvious one.

" You could say that," He muttered still hiding the irritation he had shown only moments before now.

The stranger seemed very amused by his own question, not to mention the response and so at first he wondered if he had not slipped up and answered incorrectly. But then you never could tell with half the people that frequented this place.
A reversion of subject was perhaps needed, a direct one at that.

" I could not help but note the small sense of disdain in your voice when you spoke of the Jedi, you are an enemy of this Skywalker?" He spoke in a hushed tone that even he struggled to hear, only raising his voice slightly to continue with, " I find it curious that you would know so much about them and yet do not behave as any I have ever encountered."

If he was waiting to see how far he could push the subject without causing another bout of chaos to happen upon the small cantina, then he was probably about to find out.