[SW-TOR] Shadows of the Republic [Please send a PM if you would like to join]

[Catri]

[[OOC- This thread is a sequel to Indirect Service of the Republic. We have a bit of behind the scenes plot coordination going on; so please send a PM if you would like to join.]]

Padawan Shandra Ivari stood in the ruins of the Jedi temple on Coruscant shortly after the "peace talks."  The wind blew her black hair against the strip of cloth that hid her lack of eyes. She could hear the cries of friends who were long dead and smell the blaster bolts and lightsaber blades charring stone and flesh. Suddenly the ruins faded away to reveal a dark street somewhere in the undercity of Coruscant. She could sense a busy cantina nearby. Shandra knew she was alone, but she heard the voice of Wiln Kraylo her dead master.

"Beware, Shandra, all is not as it seems". 

Consular Shandra Ivari jolted awake. She felt the room around her in the Force. Everything in her small diplomatic quarters was as she had left it the night before. She reached for the mask on the bedside table and began getting ready for work.

Shandra had been sent to Coruscant to join the small contingent of Jedi diplomats assigned to help the Council of Reconciliation work with the Republic senate. Master Naa told her the High Council had given her the assignment because they felt her prior diplomatic experience made her well suited for the position. She knew the Council wanted to keep her where she could not cause trouble after the incident on Ord Mantell.

As soon as Shandra entered the senate building she sensed  a rodian female dressed in Jedi robes pacing around the lobby. Master Adira Bel, the Rodian, radiated impatience as she approached Shandra.

"There you are, Shandra," Master Bel said "I've been looking all over for you. I require your presence immediately in a meeting with Senators Elinda Traska, Jakar Phin, and Sarisa Ghem."

Shandra dashed across the lobby to catch up with Master Bel who was already walking toward a corridor of meeting rooms. Master Bel was always on edge; so her reaction did not surprise Shandra even though she had arrived early.

When they arrived in  the conference room senator Traska, a purple Twi'lek female, was seated across from a tall human male Shandra knew to be Senator Phin. Senator Ghem, a Mirialan female, was between both of them at one end of the table. Their aids were seated along the wall. Master Bel took a seat at the head of the table and Shandra sat down beside her.

"Please take notes of the proceedings, Consular Ivari." Master Bel said.

Shandra removed a data pad from her pocket and began entering notes. The protocol droids were already recording the meeting, but she felt it inappropriate to point that out to Master Bel.

For Months Senator Phin and Senator Traska had been openly arguing with each other in the Senate assembly. Senator Phin loudly advocated open war with the Empire in the Senate assembly. Senator Traska had been advocating attempting to open a trade agreement with the Empire just as loudly. Apparently, Senator Ghem had arranged for the meeting so that the two of them could work out their differences and hopefully come to an agreement.

That was not very likely to happen. Shandra struggled to focus her Force Empathy to block out the emotions as the discussion became more heated. She cleared her mind of emotions and let the Force flow through her. Suddenly she sensed an impression of the Cantina from her dream. It was so clear she could read the sign. She snapped back to reality. Shandra knew she had to find this Cantina.

When the proceedings ended Master Bel snatched the datapad out of Shandra's hand and left the room without a word. Shandra walked over to a computer station and searched the planetary directory for  The Tipsy Gamorrean. As she was searching for directions she sensed Bentro Mar, Senator Traska's aide, looking over her shoulder.

"What business do you have in such a disreputable establishment,  Consular Ivari?"

"Oh, nothing in particular." Shandra said "The name of the Cantina came up in a conversation I heard yesterday, and I was curious about its location."

"If I may be so bold, I have heard rumors about your involvement with some...unusual incidents in the past, but I would recommend that you stay as far from that area of the undercity as you can. It is quite dangerous." Bentro said.

"Thank you, Mr. Mar, I will keep your advice in mind." Shandra replied. She could feel him watching her as she left the conference room. As soon as she was sure no one was following her she headed toward a transport to the undercity.

[Gith]

"Bleeep boop bip bip"

Val Gith stifled a yawn and looked over at his astromech droid Jak. "Sorry bud, no droids allowed. Take care of yourself out here, ok?" He patted Jak on the head and walked away from him.

Since coming to a relative dead end with his pursuit of Azel after his escape with the aid of a random Darth. He had lost Azel somewhere on Nar Shaddaa. Azel ditched his ship and disappeared because Val was too slow to follow. Part of the problem of working with other people he supposed ...

Val had picked up the trail of a murderer known to have ties to the Black Sun organization on Coruscant. The man's name was Zannos and Val had deemed him enough of a threat to warrant execution without trial. He was known to be guilty as he had been caught on security cameras and it was simply a matter of apprehending him. However, given his ties to such a powerful and resourceful organization, finding him was going to be difficult. His last murder took place on Nar Shaddaa and Zannos coming to Coruscant could not be good. He was becoming more volatile and chaotic so there was no guessing who he would be hired to kill next.

Val had squeezed some minds back on Nar Shaddaa to little benefit as they knew very little about Zannos or where he might be on Coruscant. However, he did find out that he frequented a cantina called the Tipsy Gamorrean when not working to enjoy dance and drink. It was not much of a lead but Val might be able to gather some information from patrons or staff in the cantina.

He walked into the Cantina and looked around.


[OOC - I am fairly sure the Black Sun organization existed at this time in galactic history. If not I will change the name of the gang to a random made up one.]

[Catri]

The meeting had lasted nearly the entire day, and Shandra could sense the planet's sun creeping lower on the horizon as she boarded the speeder bus. She was not eager to be caught in the undercity at night, but she knew that for some reason the force was guiding her to visit this cantina. As the bus landed at her stop, she pulled a datapad out of her pocket. According to the directions she had downloaded earlier the cantina was only a few blocks from her bus stop.

Shandra walked quickly across the walkway trying not to attract attention, but she could sense the stares of passersby. She began to wish she had taken time to change out of her consular's robes. She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally reached The Tipsy Gamorrean. Shandra struggled to keep her footing after she knocked into a small barrel on her way into the cantina. She jumped in shock when the barrel beeped.

"My goodness, I'm terribly sorry. Pardon me." she said reaching out to pat the top of the astromech droid's dome.

When she entered the cantina Shandra was met with a dizzying swirl of noise, activity, and emotion. The cantina was full of customers just ending a long day at work ready to talk and drink and fight. The band in the back of the room was playing a raucous tune and a Twi'lek dancer was entertaining a group of customers crowded around the stage. The rodian at the Pazaak table in the corner still hadn't figured out that his ithorian opponent had been cheating for the last three rounds.

Shandra walked to the bar, a sad smile creeping across her face. Nothing made her miss Master Kraylo more than a crowded cantina. She was just about to order when she sensed a familiar presence. A man's voice called out to the bar tender from behind her.

"A Pink Nebula for the lady, Jo, and I'll have a Flameout."

Shandra turned to face a human male dressed in a Jedi Knight's robes and armor. His shoulder length blond hair was pulled back from his smiling face. He immediately pulled her into a tight hug. Garrit Far and Shandra had both been assigned to the same Initiate Clan when they were younglings. The clan had eaten, slept, played, and studied together from the time they were five until they were chosen as Padawans at twelve or thirteen.

"Garrit! What brings you back to Coruscant?" Shandra asked when they pulled apart to get their drinks.

"I've been back and forth a few times over the years. Tython's pretty, but this, this is home. And what about you, what are you up to?" Garrit asked. He drank the Flameout and motioned for the bartender to bring him another.

"I've been assigned to the diplomatic team aiding the Council of Reconciliation. Mostly, that means running errands for Master Bel. I swear the woman thinks I'm a protocol droid."

Garrit winced with exaggerated sympathy.

"How did Master Bel get promoted to one of the councils?" He asked "She was one of the worst instructors at the academy."

"I don't think she likes me much." Shandra said "No matter what I did in her class I could never seem to please her, and that hasn't changed a bit."

"Don't worry about it. That schutta didn't like anyone."

"She liked Arlo." Shandra replied

"All of the teachers liked Arlo. He was the only one of our clan who was more straight-and narrow than you were. I can still remember the look of shock on his face when Master Kraylo taught us all to cheat at Pazaak." Garrit altered his voice to emulate their former classmate "Mmmmaster Kraylo, I dddon't see how-how-how we can benefit from learning to cheat like common criminals."

"Stop. That's not nice. He couldn't help that he stuttered, and he did learn to control it. By the time he became a Padawan it only happened when he got really upset." Shandra said " I never liked the way he looked at me, though, like he was staring right into my soul. I felt like his eyes were following me every time I left a room. Still, he was a member of our clan and a fellow Jedi, and that made him family."

Shandra's expression was sad once more as she thought about lost friends.

"In a way it's good that Arlo joined the Force when the Temple was destroyed." Shandra said "The Order meant everything to him, and it would break his heart to know how many people hate us now. This morning Senator Phin could barely speak three sentences without reminding Master Bel that he held us responsible for the Sith attack."

Garrit pulled a buzzing comlink out of his pocket and walked out of earshot to answer it. His brow wrinkled in concern as he talked. When he returned he downed his second Flameout in one gulp and pulled Shandra into another hug.

"It's been great catching up, Shandra, but I'm afraid I have to go. Here's my number. Give me a call some time. Maybe we can track down some of the others and have a proper reunion."

Shandra felt Garrit leave the cantina. She sat at the bar sipping her drink lost in thought. She wondered if the Force had brought her to the cantina to meet Garrit or for another reason she had yet to discover. She opened her mind to the Force trying to sense its will.

[Gith]

Val sat there in the Tipsy Gamorrean watching Shandra talk to a random Knight.

"Weird..." Val thought to himself. He mostly viewed the Force as a tool, one which he used and wielded to accomplish whatever he needed to get done. The whole will of the Force thing was something Val didn't put a whole lot of stock into other than its own tendency to seek a balance between light and dark. However that came into play Val didn't really think too much about it.

This was a little odd though running into Shandra in the lower slums of Coruscant, which is a pretty big place. Val simply shrugged it off.

As usual, Val was actively misdirecting attention from himself as to remain unnoticed by pretty much everyone in the tavern, simply sitting at a table with a bottle of water he had brought in himself. He had been sitting there all day trying to glean some sort of information about Zannos from the conversations and thoughts of the people in the tavern. To no avail though. Val was getting a little bored but he was used to long term stakeouts. He was getting a little hungry though and he should probably relieve Jak from his duties outside the tavern to return to their ship and recharge.

Val shrugged to himself again. "Not much to go on really," Val thought to himself, displeased with his progress thusfar. Rising from his seat, Val glided through the crowd without disturbing a soul or drawing so much as a passing look to come to a halt beside Shandra at the bar. Taking a seat, Val looked to his right directly at Shandra and waited to see what would happen.

[Catri]

Shandra felt the Force flow through her. She sensed a vision of Val Gith right before they parted ways on Ord Mantell. The vision was so clear it seemed as though she could feel him sitting beside her. It took Shandra several seconds to realize that she in fact could feel Val sitting on the bar stool beside her.

"Val, hello, this is quite a surprise. How did your pursuit of Azel turn out? Are you following a lead or just here for a drink? Speaking of drinks, I'll buy you one." Shandra waved to the bar tender. "Another Pink Nebula and one....what are you drinking ,Val? "

[Gith]

Val raised his bottle of water and waved off the offer with a thankful nod. "I don't follow a lot of Jedi rules but that is one I do follow. Don't drink myself." He smiled and laid down some credits for Shandra's drink. "On me. To a quite fortuitous meeting. Val raised his drink in cheers. "Although, not a place I would expect to see you in. I spend a lot of time in places like this unfortunately."

Val took a drink from his water and replaced the cap. "I was here on business but things seem to have run a little dry. So did my pursuit of Azel actually to be honest. I didn't get after him quick enough. By the time I made it off Ord Mantell and jumped to Nar Shaddaa he had ditched his ship and disappeared." Val shrugged with displeasure. "Was here looking to pick up some leads on someone but nothing so far. Was going to call it a day actually and give Jak time to recharge. I could use a bit of a recharge myself." Val chuckled softly.

"What are you doing down here anyways? People down here don't take kindly to Jedi, especially when you go announcing it dressed like you are. Val looked around as he said that, wondering if there were any eyes following them. Val could remain unnoticed if he wanted to but when sitting at the bar talking to someone else it was difficult. "How'd cleaning house on Ord Mantell go?" He looked at her. "Not well eh?"

[Catri]

"Not well at all. The Council was quick to take care of the weapons dealers, but they did nothing about the corruption in the local government. At least they replaced the corrupt officers. That's a start. I'm beginning to believe you were right about the current political climate. I'm not sure how much good the Order can do if we're concentrating so much on regaining the favor we lost." Shandra took a sip of her drink and sighed. She finally understood what Master Kraylo had meant when he told her he felt as if he didn't belong in the Order any more.

" After the trouble I seemed to cause there Master Naa arranged for me to get a post here as Master Adira Bel's protocol droid. I leave work most evenings in need of a drink, although this Cantina isn't my usual preference. It was in a dream I had last night. I'm afraid I was in such a hurry to find out why I felt drawn here that I didn't stop to change. I'm beginning to regret that."

Shandra swept the room in the Force trying to detect any hostility or suspicion from the Cantina patrons. She felt plenty of each, but the cacophony of emotions made it difficult for her to determine if any of it was directed at her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to stay and find out.

"In fact, I came down here so quickly that I forgot to eat. I know a lovely Corellian restaurant in the senate district. Why don't we head up there, and I'll buy you dinner?"

[Gith]

Val smiled politely at Shandra. "Food is fuel. Going beyond that into the realm of extravagance is not something I indulge in. And besides, do I look like I would fit in in the Senate District? I am unaccustomed to eating in places where I must relinquish my arms at the door." Val was in fact carrying 6 weapons other than the Force: 2 lightsabers concealed underneath his duster, 2 curved blade knives concealed in each boot, and two blasters one on each thigh, and many more weapons back on his ship for any number of circumstances that could require different types of arms.

"Along with the rank and title within the Jedi Order I also gave up participating in politics as that is exactly what frustrated me into leaving the Order in the first place; something that I detect more empathy for from you now that we meet for a second time. I am on Coruscant pursuing a man named Zannos, an up and coming assassin for the Black Sun Organization and I have very little to go on. If you hear of any politically charged assassinations please let me know as that might be my man, and even if it is not, that is the sort of thing I should turn my attention towards. I should get back to my ship though and recharge Jak and formulate a new approach to my pursuit of Zannos. Things are not looking good for our hero." Val smirked and chuckled.

In fact, our "hero" was not doing well at all lately. Val had lost Azel on Nar Shaddaa and now had little to go on with this murderer Zannos who was proved to be guilty through numerous witnesses and security camera footage. Everything didn't always work out in the end and this was something Val was keenly aware of. Often Val would not be able to complete the missions he set himself because of any one of a plethora of complications. Nonetheless, Val plods on through his life of service to the Republic as best he can, hoping to do as much good as he is able to do.

"You don't seem too happy with your current situation. Are you going to continue to do this Master Bel's bitch work or do something of more consequence with yourself? I have no idea what that would be but I somehow feel as if Jedi are put to better use than you are currently." Val shook his head at all the "politicking" that seemed to follow Jedi wherever they went now-a-days.

[Catri]

Shandra stirred the fizzy, magenta liquid in her glass as she considered Val's question. She had been a Jedi all of her life.

"The Order is my life...it's who I am. I'm not even sure what I would do if I left." Shandra smirked. "I could try tending bar. Master Kraylo taught me how to mix drinks for him, and he said I had a 'good eye for it.' Maybe I should have gone with him when he asked me."

[Gith]

Val shrugged at Shandra's comment. "Who you are is a compilation of everything that has happened in your life thusfar. No one thing defines you, just your choices as you make them. So maybe bar tending is the way to go. All the war and politicking going in the galaxy, stuff down here doesn't change much for these poor folk. I wonder how long it took people down here to find out the Jedi Temple--that gleaming symbol of a life these people will never have--was sacked, eh?" Val looked around the room.

"There is a resentment down here for those that live above; senators, jedi, and the like--and a lot of people looking to get into a fight for no other reason than to hurt something. Which is why I suggest we wrap up this little chat and talk again some other time. You have my ship's comm information and Jak will relay any message you send there to me if I am not aboard."

Val could see attention turning toward Shandra who was obviously a Jedi; Resentment, hate, simple confusion, or even fear. A Jedi was a great symbol to bash on and a lightsaber fetched a fair price on the black market if you could kill a Jedi. Most people were not stupid enough to try this solo but groups had been known to jump Jedi in the lower slums of Coruscant.

"How about I escort you out of here to your Senate District and then I will be on my way?" Val offered his hand in a sort of play offer as if he were helping a lady down from a carriage.

[Catri]

Shandra took Val's hand and slid off of the bar stool. She could feel a shift in the dynamic of the room. Shandra was disturbed by what she felt. Several of the patrons had begun to feel suspicion, anger, or in some cases simply a spark of opportunity. More importantly, she felt the tangible mysterious sense that somehow each person was realizing he was not the only one who felt that way. She had encountered a mob mentality before, and it was never pleasant. If enough people came together in the throes of intense shared emotion or opinion they could explode into a herd of destruction that was entirely beyond the reach of individual reason. It was impossible to tell what could be the spark to ignite them

"You're right. We need to leave NOW. Many of the customers here do not feel very happy at the moment, and I can't tell when they will decide to act on that." Shandra used the Force to send this telepathically to Val as she began to move toward the door.

[Gith]

Val could have redirected attention away from himself if he had wanted to, but given the room's focus on Shandra, that would have only worsened matters for her. Val signed inwardly, realizing that people were getting up for a fight because that is how they bleed off stress. Probably nothing too bad, no blasters or sabers involved, but weapons might come out if Shandra pulled out her saber. Better to leave the lowlives to the one that was used to dealing with them.

"Meet my astromech outside. He tells me you bumped into him on your way in. I will distract the masses." Telepathic communication came innately to one of Val's race. [OOC: If he were a Kel Dor, which I am still leaving sorta ambiguous for now but that is how I am RPing him even if he will be human due to game mechanics]

Val ushered Shandra toward the door that Jack was outside and then turned toward the crowd, pulling a few items out of his pockets. "Anyone around here know where I can find me a good pazaak game? Cause man am I itching to be losing some money!" Val held out his pazaak deck in one hand--a tool of the information gathering trade in places like this--and a fist full of credits in the other. "Who wants to have a run at me?" Val laughed jovially, which was quite out of character for him but he pulled it off convincingly enough. Appearing to be a bit drunk, Val wandered around the room looking for interested individuals. The sheer amount of credits he was carrying, obtained from smugglers/criminals/etc that he had had the pleasure of meeting earlier in his life, was enough to distract the crowd for a bit as he wandered, inadvertently dropping a few credit chips on the ground as he wandered. "Anyone? Huh? Nobody here knows how to play cards? Pfffffttttt" little drops of spittle spewed from his apparently inebriated lips as put his credits back in his pockets. "Shame ..." Val looked dejected.

By now Shandra was safely out the door and presumably linking up with Jak. Jak would know enough to get them away from the door and Val would find them later--they had done this sort of thing before together.

Suddenly looking confused, Val looked around the room for something. "Frack you all, I gotta take a p**s!" he announced to no one in particular. "This way to the washroom?" Val pointed toward the other entrance to the cantina opposite from the one Shandra used. He began to wander toward it already beginning to unzip his pants in anticipation and no one bothered to correct him. However, some eyes were following the man that was carrying a large amount of credits. Violence was a good way to bleed off stress, but money always trumped people's attention.

As Val exited a few ruffians smelling easy money from a drunkard followed. But by the time they came out the door a few seconds after him, Val was already gone, invisible and circling the building that held the cantina, following the signal on his wrist comm--that he currently could not see because it was invisible like the rest of him but he got a good look at it before he cloaked--that he knew to be Jak and hopefully Shandra unless something untoward happened to her before she found Jak right outside the door.

... and after a few seconds of circling the building Val remembered to zip up his pants again. "That would have been funny to explain" Val thought to himself with a chuckle as he worked his way out of sight of the Cantina entrance.

[Catri]

Shandra easily found Val's droid, and followed him as he rolled quickly away from the cantina. She remained alert of their surroundings to make sure noone was following them. While she was sweeping the area in the Force she felt Garrit in a nearby abandoned warehouse. Shandra could feel that something was very wrong. She called out for the droid to stop for a moment.

"You travel with Val, Little One, so I know you'll know you will be able to help me. I think a friend of mine may be in trouble nearby, and I would like to investigate. I need you to come with me and be very quiet." Shandra said.

Shandra quietly walked over to an alley beside the warehouse. She pressed up against the side of the building next to an open window and listened to Garrit talking into his comlink.

"I waited at the meeting place for over an hour, and you didn't show up. You don't seem to be very willing to cooperate. How can I help you if you won't cooperate? Don't make me take matters into my own hands." Garrit hissed. Just then two men walked into the warehouse and approached him. Garrit slipped the comlink back into his pocket and turned to face them.

"So, Jedi, you say you want to work with the Black Sun. Why should we believe you." One of the men said.

Shandra gasped in shock, and ran out of the alley.. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Garrit was always very unconventional. He had never hidden the fact that he disagreed with the Order in a number of areas, but she never thought he would turn to crime.

[Aerion Istari]

For as long as Jawa could remember, he lived on the streets of Coruscant.  He survived on what food he could find or steal and his ability to avoid trouble.  In truth, it was the quiet voices that guided him.  The quiet voices lead him to food and away from trouble.  Occasionally they lead him to a safe place to sleep or even a kindly stranger when he was in need.  He wore a dark and dirty, hooded cloak over a hodge-podge of torn and ragged clothing.  Only his shoes were in fairly good shape as he had recently stolen a new pair from a shop near the temple.  His long ginger-colored hair was tied back at the nape of his neck inside the hood of the cloak. 

Jawa probably was not Jawa's real name.  He had no idea what is mother had called him.  He didn't know who she was though occasionally the quiet voices showed him a picture of a sad, but pretty young woman – a girl in truth not much older than himself.  She had the same color hair as he had and the same haunting green eyes so he guessed she was his mother.   

An old shop keeper, named Juma, had named him Jawa.  He knew Juma wasn't his mother.  Juma was dead now though.  She had been for some time.  He had been pretty young when she died so he didn't remember a lot about her.  Jawa knew Juma was from some far away planet named "Tattoon" or something like that and that she had once been a smuggler until her ship crashed and took one each of her arms and legs.   Beyond that, he knew very little else about her.   But she had taught him to survive; her and the quiet voices inside his head.  He didn't even know for sure how old he was.  Juma had said not too long before she died that she thought he was about 5 or 6 years old and Jawa thought that had been 4 or 5 years ago.  He wasn't sure.  Time didn't mean much to a street urchin who stole to survive.

As he peered out from behind the crates, he saw a woman in a fine robe with long brown hair and a beat-up droid beside her.  He sensed a great deal of power within this woman.  He sensed the light sword inside her robe.  She was listening intently to something inside the warehouse.  "Shandra" the quiet voices said in his head and he knew that was the woman's name.  He sensed danger too partly from inside the warehouse and partly from elsewhere.  The woman was both dangerous and in danger too.

Why was she here, this Shandra?  She didn't belong here.  He could see that easily enough without the quiet voices telling him so. Why did the quiet voices want him here?  He had learned to trust the quiet voices so there was never any question of him following them.  But most of the time he understood their purpose.  But this time he was clueless. 

At that moment, the quiet voices showed him an image of a shadow man approaching from behind him.  He quietly moved behind an empty refuse container and watched as the man whisked past him like a shadow.  The shadow man had power too.  Then he moved back in time to see the woman run out of the alley at a speed he would not have expected.  The droid beeped softly and followed the woman.  The shadow man followed her but at a slower pace. 

"Follow the Jedi" the Quiet Voices said and he knew they meant the woman, Shandra.

Jawa didn't know much about Jedi except that they used something called the Force.  All the people he knew at once admired, feared and hated them.  They were spoken of like evil gods. Twice in his life he had seen Jedi.  The first time, two of them had strolled down the street near him and Juma.  She had carefully avoided looking at them so he had turned his back on them too and pretended they were not there.   

The second time, two of them stopped a trandoshan on the street, not 10 meters from him and then cut the trandoshan in half when he tried to draw a blaster.  The quiet voices had shown it happen a second before it did.  But even with the warning, it had happened so astonishingly fast, he couldn't believe it.  The trandoshan's arm moved and then he was in two pieces on the street with one of the Jedi standing over him with his light sword in hand.   Whoever or whatever these Jedi were, he didn't ever want to tangle with one!

But this Jedi, this "Shandra", was not like any of the other Jedi he had seen.  The other Jedi had been strong and sure like raging river.  This Jedi was more serene like a quiet lake.  And she wore a robe rather than the tunic, belt and leggings that the other Jedi had worn.

With a sigh, Jawa followed after her and the shadow man.

[Catri]

Shandra didn't know where she was going and she didn't care. For a moment she had forgotten the dangers of the undercity and Val's plan. She just wanted to get away. She wanted to forget that she had witnessed her friend, her brother, betraying The Order to join a crime syndicate.

Shandra got halfway up the walkway with Val's droid close behind when the sound of shouting and blaster fire made her freeze in her tracks. She frantically swept the area in the Force to find out what was going on. She felt anger and confusion from the Black Sun thugs shortly before they died. She felt shock and a jolt of pain from Garrit. She ran back to the warehouse.

The deal must have gone bad. When she reached the warehouse Shandra could see the two mercenaries' corpses on the ground with wounds in their backs. Garrit was lying nearby clutching his stomach. Shandra knelt down beside him and wrapped her arms around him. She had never practiced Force healing, but she tried with all of her might to focus the Force and heal his wound. Garrit grabbed her arm and struggled to talk.

"Sh-shadows...Phoenix Rising." Then Shandra felt the spark of Garrit's life extinguish as he joined the Force. She hugged him close trembling with sobs.

[Aerion Istari]

As Jawa followed after the Jedi and shadow man he heard the sound of a blaster inside the warehouse.  "Pain.  Death," the quiet voices said.   The shadow man stopped.  Even without the quiet voices, he knew Jedi Shandra was coming back.  "Inside" the quiet voices said.  Jawa quietly moved back along the wall of the warehouse to a small broken window and he slid inside. 

Jawa had no trouble navigating to the main area and hiding behind a pillar.  A second later, Shandra came inside and paused for a moment.  He could tell that she was checking out the place though her head did not move around as she did.  It was as though she was listening rather than seeing.   Looking closer he saw that the covering over her eyes was not a mask, per se.  At least it didn't have holes for her eyes to see though.  "She does not see with eyes," the quiet voices said.

Jawa watched her move quickly to the golden haired man who was still alive.  He could feel her fear.  He felt the life leave the golden-haired man.  He felt her grief.   He heard her cries.  Jawa was very good at moving unnoticed by others.  It was one of the ways he had stayed alive in the dangerous world he lived in.  "What am I doing here?" Jawa wondered to himself.  Normally when trouble like this broke out, he stayed far away from it.  Yet this time he was here.   "I should be getting out of here fast!"  Yet, in spite of this feeling of dread at being here, and without deciding to do so, Jawa moved around to the front of the pillar and sat down silently on the floor with his back against it,  The lady Jedi was just a few meters away.

With his hood pulled over his head and wrapped in is dirty cloak, Jawa sat and studied the woman in front of him.  As he did, two thoughts came to him.  The first was that the shadow man not followed Jedi Shandra into the warehouse.  The second was that the man in Shandra's arms was also a Jedi.  The other two men were dead.  Within one of the dead men he felt darkness. 

"The darkness was not in him," Jawa said in a quiet voice though at first he didn't even realize he had said it aloud.

[Catri]

Shandra jumped at the sound of a voice behind her. She swept the warehouse in the Force. At first she didn't feel anything. She stretched her mind out further in the Force like a hand groping in the darkness. Then she felt it, a faint tiny sliver of an aura. She couldn't tell whose aura it was. It felt like Val's aura had felt when he was stealthed on Ord Mantell, but that was not Val's voice.

"Who's there? Who said that?" Shandra asked her hand hovering over her lightsaber hilt.

[Gith]

Val, being nowhere near Shandra at this particular moment, was circling around the rather larged based building that housed the cantina in which Shandra and himself had just left. He had had to use the opposite entrance that brought him out on the other side of the building, which made it a bit of a trek back to where he had planned to meet up with Shandra.

Having little to no gift for Force sense other than to pick up on dark side taint, Val had no idea that Shandra was not where he had planned to meet up with her. However, he did have a tracking beacon installed inside Jak his astromech droid that is linked to his wrist comm. Activating the beacon Val saw that Jak, and presumably Shandra as well, were not far from where he was now. Not in the direction of his ship though ...

"Odd .." Val thought to himself. Jak always does exactly what Val tells him to so something must be amiss.

Snaking through the crowd Val found a good place to disappear from without attracting any attention and dropped under a Force cloak. Very few in the Galaxy, and only Force adepts at that, would be capable of detecting Val at all when cloaked but he knew that Shandra would be aware of his presence if not his exact location. However, since they were not headed back to Val's ship as he had instructed Jak, Val automatically assumed something was wrong and approached the area under stealth and with hands ready to move to his weapons if needed.

Val noticed a small being present near Shandra but discounted it as a non-threat and approached Shandra, keeping an eye out for any further threats in the area. He saw the bodies and Shandra hugging what appeared to be a corpse and approached carefully. Val was not a person with an over abundance of emotion but he recognized that this person must have been known to Shandra to elicit such a response.

"Who's there? Who said that?" Shandra asked her hand hovering over her lightsaber hilt.

"Is everything alright, Shandra?" Val asked, eying the small being from underneath his Force Cloak, communicating telepathically as to not freak out the person that would then hear him and not see him.

[Aerion Istari]

"Odd", thought Jawa to himself.  "She can't see me?"  Jawa knew he was pretty good at being unnoticed by others when he didn't want to be but he was surprised this obviously powerful lady could not see him while he sat in plain sight.  Jawa wasn't sure what to do now.  If he ran, would she see him then? Her hand was inside her robe near her light sword.  The image of the trandoshan flashed through his mind.  His first instinct was to scurry back behind the pillar and hide again though if she was as fast as that other Jedi, he doubted he'd make it there. 

"Stay," the quiet voices said. 

"Why?" Jawa silently asked the voices though he knew he would get no answer.  He never did.  The quiet voices were good and telling him what to do but not so good at explaining the why of it. 

Normally, Jawa avoided contact with everyone.  Before Juma died and even more so afterwards, bigger kids and grown ups would steal his food and clothes from him.  Or worse, they would try to hurt him though thus far he had manage to escape any real harm. So he quickly learned to avoid others and keep to himself.  He found it safer just to hide and avoid interacting with anyone else.  He kept a few safe holes to hide in about the neighborhood.  He'd come out to forage for food or whatever he needed.  He'd beg, find or steal then scurry back to his safe hole. 

A few years ago, he'd had a friend.  Mora was girl a little older than him who like him had no home or family.  For a few months shared food and safe holes and watched each other's back.  He'd found her one day, naked, beaten to death and tossed in a large garbage bin.  Aside from when Juma died, it was the only time in his life he could remember crying.   Other than to beg for a credit, she was the last person he'd had any human contact with. 

So this was new territory for him.  Hoping it was the right thing to do, Jawa pulled back his hood.

"Why can you not see me?" he asked aloud though he was ready to bolt if she drew the light sword.

[Catri]

Shandra struggled to regain her composure. She felt as though someone had driven a knife through her chest. She had trouble concentrating when she tried to feel for the voice in the Force. She struggled to shove the emotions out of her mind and open herself to the Force. Shandra calmed as the Force flowed through her.

"Why can you not see me?" the voice asked

Shandra was surprised to find a youngling in tattered clothes sitting right in front of her, and she was also surprised that he radiated a strong Force aura. The aura she had felt was gone. She knew she had not felt the youngling. There must have been someone under a Force cloak in the room when she came in. Looking at a person under a Force cloak was like looking at their shadow. She could tell someone was there, but she could not tell who it was.

"I'm sorry. I was quite distracted before. What are you doing hear? It isn't safe. You should go home right away." Shandra said. She continued to sweep the room in the Force trying to detect any other unexpected guests.

Just then she felt another faint aura enter the room. She put a finger to her lips to signal for the youngling to be quiet for a moment as she tried to sense the aura's location. She pulled out the hilt of her lightsaber, preparing to defend herself and the youngling. She relaxed when she heard a familiar voice in her mind.

"Is everything alright, Shandra?"

"Garrit is dead, Val. He was in my initiate clan. I sensed that he was here, and when I came he was meeting with Black Sun representatives. A fight must have broken out. I still can't believe he was going to join the Black Suns." Shandra replied to Val out loud. She was still in shock.