Nar Shaddaa

Zeno sat in his room, taking a break from working on the Hilt. He had his crystal out and some supplies necessary to work on it, hoping to upgrade it a bit.

It took him some time, but his focus and attention on the modification to his crystal finally came to fruition, and the green veins of crackling energy that surrounded the blade as he turned it on became significantly more violent. He smiled at the blade with a dark sense of glee visible in his eyes and an appreciation for the brutality of the thing in his hands.

D3 ME, Mechanics, Upgrade Crystal (second vicious mod), 3rd mod formidable, reduce difficulty by 2 for own created saber (hard), Destiny Upgrade: 2eP+1eF+3eD 1 success, 2 Light Side


OOC: -300 credits for third mod, success

Stepping to the doorway, after un-igniting, he seemed to have a pleased expression. He stretched his arms and cracked his neck as he loosened up after having hovered over his crystal for so long.

Asra was making her way down the hall, on her way out of the compound when he stepped to the doorway. In her focus, she nearly continued, but managed to spot Zeno early enough to emergency brake to bow her head. "Good evening, my lord."

"Evening," he returns, in an unusually chipper tone for him. "You were at the briefing a few days ago. Sorry, I'm bad with names sometimes. Especially when being bored through intel briefings."

"Yeah... It wasn't exactly a thrill a picosecond, but necessary, I suppose," she comments with a small smile. "Corporal Asra Nakahti, sniper corps."

"A sniper, eh?" he says with interest in his voice. "Haven't had much use for an over-watch in the actions I've been involved with. They've mostly been quick strikes in enemy territory. Maybe we could go shooting sometime? I'm likely not as good, but I know my way around a rifle."

She nods amiably. "Yes, for the most part, unless things are extremely... pressed, the snipers are often assigned to different operations. That sounds good... I've gotten some practice, but it would be nice to go shooting with someone without that pressure."

"Maybe head down to Hutta and pick off small critters and vermin?" he suggests. "I haven't done much shooting since Korriban with the tuk'ata pack."

She nods. "Sounds like a plan to me," she agrees. She raises her eyebrows. "Ahh. Friendly creatures, as I hear... Yeah... I've done a bit of shooting here, and the past year was on Tatooine."

"You hunt any Tatooine wildlife," he asks, gesturing to offer entry to his suite.

"Oh, thank you," she acknowledges, entering with a quiet, 'excuse me'. "Usually people more than wildlife. There was an incident where we had to clear a Krayt dragon out, though."

"That is something I'd love an opportunity to, hunting and killing a krayt dragon. How was that?” he asks offering a seat.

She sits at his offer with another soft thank you in appreciation before answering. "Well... hmm... fun is the wrong word. It was exhilarating. It was a challenge, even for a well-trained, if small unit." She smiles. "They're impressive creatures... It's easy to see why they're regarded with such awe on the planet."

"Well, we may just have differing ideas of what constitutes fun," he says with a smirk. "At least as far as fighting is concerned.

"My most impressive take-down was probably Death's Shadow on Korriban with two other Sith. That was one nasty beast. Centuries old tuk'ata empowered by the dark side and absolutely massive. And I enjoyed each exciting and dangerous moment of it."

He moves to grab a drink. "Anything for you? They stock these rooms pretty well."

"Damn, that's quite the take down, especially up close. The krayt would've had to take a little while, at least, to get where we were," she says, eyebrows raised with a nod. "I'll take a drink... whiskey if they've got it, doesn't matter as long as it's not any more poisonous to me than any other alcohol if they don't."

"Yeah, there's a whisky from Kaas City," he says pouring a drink for each.

"When it comes to the big kill it feels more satisfying for me to get right in there," he says with a smirk, as he walks to her and hands her a glass. "But then, I'm just a touch crazy and sometimes it's better to fight smarter even if it's not as fun to me."

She smiles, accepting it. "Excellent, thank you." A long sip, then. "You're not the only one I've heard say that. I can see the appeal. It's good to have people around who like to do both. Complementary."

He takes a sip himself, before sitting down next to her. He thought back to Niriti being in the room earlier. He wondered as he looked over at Asra. "For those who can feel the dark side of the force, there is a sense of satisfaction granted from being in such an experience. A rush similar to adrenaline but not quite the same. Knowing that you've faced conflict head on and triumphed. But then, taking that shot from a distance, and ending an enemy dispassionately is not something I'm unfamiliar with either as a pilot."

She took a sip, crossing one leg over the other and leaning her glass on her knee. "I don't think at least sniping is a totally dispassionate kill. There's some times when I've had to track the target I'm after down myself and almost get to know them on a personal level to be in the right place at the right time. Then, when you're looking through the scope, you can practically look into their eyes when the bolt passes through their forehead." She's quiet for a moment. "So kinda between the two spots, I guess. Not totally disconnected, but not totally up close and personal."

"Oh, I have no doubt that you can be very connected to the target. But the technique... I'm not trained in it but I've known some. You empty your mind, you focus on your breathing and trigger discipline and all of that. The shot itself is supposed to ignore everything about the target other than the spot the bolt is supposed to go through is it not?" He seems curious. "Do you not fire between heartbeats, when all is perfectly still?"

She nods. "Yes, to the heartbeat question..." She turns the glass, then finishes it. "It depends on the person, what mental technique they use. I use visualization. I create the most perfect shot I can in my mind before I fire. Ideally, from there, it's just emptying one's mind and going through the motions required by causality to pull forward a future that already exists, in a sense."

"In the time leading up to it, and in the time following it you can feel a connection to that person. But in that moment they become nothing more than part of a series of events that results in a pulled trigger and a dead target. That's the difference between sniping someone and staring into someone's eyes when you are no farther away from them as we are right now. It is impossible not to feel anything when you can reach out and touch their cheek while you can see in their eyes that they are searching for reason... coping with the impending doom," he says.

"It's an intense feeling, whether because you are feeling the release of watching a hated enemy recognize their end, or wishing for a loved one to claw desperately from the coming blackness and survive. For a Sith that passionate moment defines the person we become, and it's one of the most intense you can experience. Aside from when you are intertwined with another as one and feeling that natural primal drive kick in. Life and death."

He finishes his own drink and grabs the bottle from the counter to offer a refill.

"The heat of the moment... I guess it would give whole new meaning to the phrase, that level of intensity," she accepts the drink, taking a long one. "They say there's an close tie between sex and violence. Life and death, as you said. Without experiencing either one, I suppose it's difficult for me to fully understand."

"You have to open yourself to the opportunity," he says with a chuckle. "I imagine you have no shortage of folks making passes at you."

She looks over with raised eyebrows. "I have an entire shortage of folks making passes at me, as a matter of fact. At least that I'm aware of. Maybe there are social cues I'm just missing."