Nar Shaddaa

((Lore: 3eA+1eP+2eD 2 successes
, pass to find damping emitter.))

Arali searches the market, looking to find the parts to recreate her lightsaber. Hers is an appraising eye, as she gathers bits and bobs from one vendor after another, very selective in her choices, though an educated eye could guess her purpose.

((Buying a damping emitter for 2000c and lightsaber parts for 800c.))

A Sith strolled the same market, with far less purpose than the twi'lek did. By the looks of her, she had everything a murderous force user could possible want; badass robes with armor of ancient design underneath. A lightsaber of similarly ancient design; though modified; at her side... and another lightsaber at her other side. She certainly didn't need to search for parts or anything along those lines.

But she had time to kill, and so here she was, browsing for stuff she almost certainly wouldn't buy anyway.

And then she noticed the jedi. The choice of parts; nothing that stood out to her in terms of specifics, but she knew someone was in the mood to build. At least. Layne found herself mildly curious, so followed the twi'lek around as she moved from vendor to vendor. She was not exactly subtle, so it wouldn't be long before Arali might notice her.

And notice Arali does, not that she's especially worried while in such a public place. But if she's waiting until they're somewhere a little more private...

She makes a few odd turns in her shopping trip, but her tail stays. Interesting. Time for a measured response.

She ducks into a caf dispensary and places an order. Two cups. One, sweet enough to barely taste like caf anymore. The other? Quote, 'the biggest, blackest caf.'

She leaves the shop, rounds a corner, and when Layne follows, she finds the twi'lek shoving a hot, black cup of caf at her. "Hi," she greets, in a bemused tone.

She looks down at the cup, but doesn't take it. Instead she just looks back up, pauses for a moment, and in her teenagiest 'uggh' voice, offers up a simple "Hello."

Love you, too, kid.

"I should think if I'm interesting enough to follow around, I'm interesting enough to sit down with over a cup of caf," she points out the obvious. The kid got caught. "I'm Arali. What's your name?" She gestures at an open table on the patio and sits down, placing the offered cup of caf in front of Layne's seat.

"You're not that interesting," she said, "I was just curious of your purchases."

Nonetheless she did sit down, though she did not touch the drink.

"Layne," she added, with a pause before giving the final part of the name, "Hoshin."

Apparently, etiquette isn't part of the core curriculum at Sith school.

But she'll entertain this.

The twi'lek begins emptying her bag and arranging the parts on the table. Various pieces for a casing. Standard stuff; looks like it's for something quite large. A lot of parts that look like they're going to be part of an emitter. More than you would ever need on a single emitter. The last pieces, though, are interesting. The first looks like some manner of kyber crystal. The quality is there, but it's far too small; you'd be lucky to get a working light tooth pick out of it. The last looks like a stack of boost drives salvaged from a training drone.

"What's all this supposed to turn into?" she asked, not seeing the pattern.

"Madness and anarchy," Arali deadpans and sips her caf.

"Half is adjusting operating mode. Half is a mix of movement and impact options."

"...What?"

The Sith understood the words. Just not in that order.

"In your opinion, what is the foundation of lightsaber combat?" she asks, a swerve in the conversation. She has so few peaceful conversations with Sith. It wouldn't do to go without some probing now that she has this one's attention.

It was an odd question. One she didn't expect. But one that made for interesting enough conversation that she indulged it anyway.

"Shii-cho, of course."

"Accurate," Arali admits the technically correct answer.

"Shii-cho is built on range of motion, perception, control, and precision. Force is only met with force for purposes of defense and control.

"Now, let us say we change the laws of motion which attacks flow, and the mechanism by which they subdue one's adversary. What happens to the foundation then?"

"What," she stated more than asked. "Shii-cho isn't just about defense."

Was it?

Aside from that, the statement in itself hid the fact that she had no idea what else Arali was talking about. Again, it was just words randomly strung together to her.

Not the sharpest.

"I didn't say it was. I'm saying that's the only time force is met with force. Shii-cho, in fact, heavily neglects defense because it predates wide-spread lightsaber use and most weapons that could stand against one. A weakness that has remained for millennia, despite the clear limitation. The rigidity of lightsaber combat forms is, in fact, its undoing. Many of the greatest duelists of all time are not necessarily so because of their skill, but rather... because they change the rules. An advantage in anatomy, rather than talent, through multiple arms, reverse joints, additional joints, and so on, allowing them to attack in ways centuries of training and honed reflexes are conditioned to react incorrectly to."

Now, she's just lecturing.

"That's bull though," she snorted. "That's a beginner's understanding of Shii-Cho. It's not rigid, it's fluid. In the hands of a skilled practicioner, Shii-cho is unpredictable."

"Chaos is a lie," Arali shoots back. "Even an unpredictable response can often be bounded, and thus accounted for and countered in advance. Shii-cho reacts most quickly, naturally, and effectively through a select set of methods. From there, you have two paths to victory. Account for your opponent's methods better than they account for yours, or operate outside the parameters they are prepared to counter."

"Huh," she shrugged dismissively, "and I thought Jedi were supposed to know their stuff. High level Shii-cho is randomized and fluid, it can not be predicted by the likes of you. You can not use mere theory to overcome someone who gives themselves over fully to the moment. But I suppose Jedi would not know how to do that, being so unwilling to kill."

"Because killing is what defines victory?" the twi'lek shakes her head.

"Then you have reduced yourself to something easily bounded, predicted, and manipulated. Such a path will lead to your passions creating your chains."

"You will never achieve the highest level of skill in combat if you are unwilling to strike with the intent to kill."

"Such a small view of the world," she shakes her head.

"So you have slain your enemy. Now what?"

"That is not relevant. You seem to be misunderstanding what I'm saying."

She looked away, off to some people in the distance as they went about their own shopping sprees.

"When two otherwise evenly matched people fight, it is this that decides victory. If you are not striking with the intent to kill, you will lose the fight. There is no room for holding back. The master of Shii-cho loses themselves in the fight, they do not think. They act. They do not hold back."

"What comes next is entirely relevant. You dismiss me for talking theory, yet then talk of equals meeting in combat and Jedi who are not willing to kill. That is dangerous naïveté. The kind that will get you killed.

"I don't want that." She takes a sip, "Though your owner won't mind."

"Nobody *owns* me," she said. Apparently Arali had hit a nerve. "And if nobody's managed to kill me so far, it's definitely not going to happen at the hands of a Jedi, that's for fucking sure."

"I've seen how you die many a time," Arali continues, nonplused. "And yes, it is to a Jedi. One of the blackest truths I've seen of the Sith order. Apprentices who are cast, not trained, to be disposable weapons to accomplish the ends of others. All taught that they are strong enough, special enough to escape the doom they march toward. And then they're spent to tie up a Jedi master long enough to keep them out of the way of a strategic objective. There are many ways to own someone. Not all of them so obvious."