[D0] Fallen Stones

[Alysele Cortess]

Aly was taking long strides towards her destination. In her left hand, her datapad, showing the data on one Zuraa, padawan and yet still part of this delegation. In her right, her communicator that just contained a message from that same person.

Tucking the comm away, she double checked the room assignment information, to make sure she didn't make a mistake. Just as she was looking up from the pad, she saw a huffing Falleen huffing towards the room.

Got it in one.

"Padawan Zuraa." She called out, not too loud.

[Nekoinu]

The Falleen teenager stopped in her tracks, apparently surprised to be addressed. She then tilted her nose upward as some gesture of indignity, superiority. "Yeah? What do you want?" Her demeanor shifted when a realization hit her. "Oh. You must be Lady Cortess." She gave a polite bow to the Jedi Knight. "Yes, I am the one you are looking for. I'm happy to see that you responded so quickly. I thought I'd see you planetside. Moonside. Whatever."

She opened up her room and swung it open, the frustration still seeping through her. "Want to come inside?"

[Alysele Cortess]

Aly frowned slightly at the behavior, but her mask reasserted itself quickly. She was a fast learner apparenlty. "Yeah, that was my plan at first, but I'm already doing security checkups on everyone else. It's not a detour."

She held her datapad in her left as she moved forward, and waved the padawan inside as well. "Yeah, I'll take a look. Any issues during your trip so far? With the Imperials, or the Hutt?"

[Nekoinu]

"A security inspection? They put a Jedi Knight in charge of that? What is up with that?" Zuraa scoffed and plopped down on her recliner. After letting out a long groan she opened her eyes and looked to Alysele. "Can I offer you a drink? You won't believe what the Hutts have to offer."

She then shook her head. "Naw, no problems so far. If anything comes up, I'm sure I can handle it. I'm coming with the delegation for a reason," she said with a big grin.

[Alysele Cortess]

Aly moved in, and leaned on the wall, taking a slow look around. "... Yeah, something would be good." She shrugged. "I am here to provide security against the Sith. Would you trust anyone else to do that?" She offered back, no hostility in her voice.

"Well, at least your master takes you to places, rather than wander away alone. What's the reason than? Enlighten me."

[Nekoinu]

"I suppose that makes sense." She blinked until her eyes turned to genuine curiosity and a tinge of admiration. "Have you fought a Sith before? Can you tell me about it?" In the meantime, she fetched an aged scotch from her shelf and poured out two glasses. "Master Mersl never tells me stories about her battles."

Zuraa sniffed her liquor and then took a sip. "She didn't choose for me. I did," she proclaimed with another one of her proud smiles. "I'm in big with a few senators, you know, no big deal or anything," she continued, her grin becoming even wider. "What was she going to do? Tell them no?"

[Alysele Cortess]

"You'd be surprised how easily Jedi say no to politicians or nobles." There was resentment in her voice. "Well, first tip. Don't bring high heels to the jungle. Not a good idea."

She accepted the scotch, sniffed it, and took a sip. It was good stuff. "My first one was against a Zabrak... bug guy, with a big sabre. Swinging around like he wanted to cut the jungle down... full of openings. Didn't mean he didn't singe me though. Taller and larger means more reach, and that's never good." She kept it minimal for now, before placing the glass down.

"You wanted to speak about something in particular? Or just the stories?"

[Nekoinu]

"Master Mersl can be a bit of a pushover sometimes. Though she will always say it's because, 'the Force works in mysterious ways' or whatever." She let out a mocking laugh and took another sip from her scotch.

Zuraa nodded along. "And you took him down then?" She sat upright and looked at Alysele with bright, expecting eyes. "I heard you trained in Makashi too. From my assessment, I imagine you're pretty good at it."

The padawan frowned for a moment. "Can't we just enjoy each other's company for a bit? It doesn't always have to be 'business, business, business.'" She crossed her legs and kicked back again. "What's the point of being on a luxury yacht if we can't enjoy it?"

[Alysele Cortess]

"Yeah. Big target, big openings." She raised the scotch and took a sip. again. Even the second taste was good. "Makashi, yeah. What are you studying? Saber forms, or something else?"

She frowned. "Hard to relax on a luxury yacht which has both sith killers and bureaucrats who have never set foot off their planet before. Too many things can go wrong." Nonetheless, she let out a sigh.

"Pushover, eh? Lucky you... my master was strict. When he was there. Fehraro... I'm sure you've heard of him. Slaver's bane, bringer of freedom, all around perfect knight, yadda yadda."

[Nekoinu]

"I'm studying Makashi too!" She frowned. "You couldn't tell? Whatever, I guess it's okay," she remarked, though obviously she was annoyed.

"They shouldn't put someone as important as you in charge of security then. You should be lying back, enjoying yourself, while someone like Master Mersl looks over security. Heck I bet nobody would try anything with Master Satele Shan around."

Zuraa took her third sip. "Yeah, I remember hearing about him. Fehraro, Garrick Lorne, they all sound like massive assholes," she said with a smirk.

[Alysele Cortess]

"Oh? Not been around much lately..." she played with her glass. "He is an asshole. Scary good duelist though." She stuck her chin out, deep in thought. "Show me your form then. Show me what your master taught you."

"Ha, important. I wish... I'm just a grunt. A pretty grunt." She sighed. "Yeah, it would be good to lay around... but I would get bored soon. I mean.... we're her, we have access to the Force. Lazing around is a waste." She looked down at the padawan. "We can change the galaxy. It's our responsibility to do so."

[Nekoinu]

"Ugh, yeah, of course we can't just laze about all day. But sometimes you need to have some 'me time,' you know?" Still, she downed the rest of her drink, stood up, and drew out her lightsaber. The hilt was curved and ornate, standard for a duelist. "Master Mersl says I have a natural inclination for it." She let out an annoyed scoff and ignited her lightsaber, the blade matching her skin tone.

"I wouldn't have pressed the issue of coming here if I didn't want to make a change," she continued as she demonstrated her rather solid stance. It was clear that her fundamentals were solid and that it was her techniques that could use more improvement. "Even if your master is an asshole, I wish he could teach me instead. Master Mersl knows how to wield her blade but she's not famous for it."

[Alysele Cortess]

Aly was silent, drinking her scotch, observing the saber and the stance. "Not bad. You do have a flair for it... don't rely on it." She put the glass again down, and moved forward. She slowly circled the padawan. "Practice makes perfect. It's annoying to hear, but in Makashi, perfection is life, imperfection is death." She extended a hand, placing it on her forearm holding the saber, lowering it slightly. "I suggest aiming for the midsection. Cutting the gut is painful, it's a larger target, and even a slight singe will cause issues with breathing. Makes it harder to defend though, but that's why you need reflexes."

She stepped backwards, reviewing the change in stance (if willingly done). "Yeah, but being famous doesn't mean he's good at teaching... well, he taught me Makashi well. Have you been sparring? With Big Burly perhaps?" Big Burly was the 7 feet tall droid that was used on Coruscant when someone wanted to punish a padawan. It was a machine made for fighting.

[Nekoinu]

Zuraa blinked at the touch and then, either expectantly or not, looked at the Knight with a coy and playful look. "You have an eye for my form," she remarked and then kept the blade lowered. Her tone shifted to a more theoretical, serious approach. "That is the point of Makashi's parries, right? To allow for riskier attacks against a solitary target in a lightsaber duel."

The falleen let out a laugh. "I remember Big Burly. Master Mersl never made me fight it but Master Lorne loved using it." She laughed even more. "Sometimes he would fight it himself. I believe he was trying to show off. What an asshole."

[Alysele Cortess]

"I started with Burly on my third week after I got the basics down." She briefly touched her abdomen with her right hand. It still hurt to this day. "Your enemies will be bigger, probably faster, more experienced." She frowned. "They're making you soft. We'll do some sparring when we touch down."

"Some of it yes." She let go the Falleen and raised her left hand, parallel to hers. "Perfection entails lots of things. Reflexes is one of them. Smarts is another." She snapped her wrists quickly. "Don't try and power it out. It might work, but too much effort. When touching sabers, push it away to the side. Minimal effort. Tire your enemy out. Don't be in a hurry. Haste leads to death." She smirked. "Or to the Force."

Her nostrils flared as she felt a pleasant smell. Falleen pheromones at work then. She felt a slight blush creeping on her cheeks.

[Nekoinu]

"I told Master Mersl that she should teach me more about lightsaber combat. We're in a war against the Sith after all. But no, she wants me to be a scholar, a diplomat." She let out a huff. "Well, I'm showing her I can already do that."

Zuraa nodded along. "Yeah, I already know all of that. Well, more or less." She did a light flourish. "I've heard that Makashi duelists are the most elegant among the Jedi. And the Sith, I suppose, but that doesn't really matter."

The falleen looked over at the human and smirked. However, she did not press more on it. "Thank you, Lady Cortess," she remarked before shutting off her lightsaber. She then meandered over to her datapad, picked it up, and plopped herself back on her recliner. "You were antsy about business earlier. Or maybe another drink?" She shrugged and poured herself another glass and then slid the bottle over to Alysele.

[Alysele Cortess]

Aly poured herself another glass. Nothing was on fire, yet, so she allowed herself some luxury. Too bad the Jedi transports don't have this stuff.

"A good duelist is a good diplomat... both are about assessing your opponent, reading their motives, and meeting their moves with the appropriate response." She flexed her left wrist, while holding the glass with her right. "We'll spar. I'll be the judge whether you know all of it. Unless you feel you know more than someone who's been dueling sith for the last year?" she glanced at her, her gaze challenging.

"Drink is good, but business... I'm curious. I'd appreciate if you would cut your teasing."

[Nekoinu]

"We'll see," she said with a devious smirk before taking a sip from her new glass of scotch. "But yes, you have a point, Lady Cortess. The two fields are quite similar, quite interlinked even."

The padawan rolled her eyes and tilted her head. "Surely I'm not the worst you have encountered. You really should meet my dad." She paused and looked quizzically at the Aldeeranian. "Do you know much about Black Sun?"

She shrugged and took another sip from her glass. "Sorry. Master Mersl says I shouldn't be so scatterbrained." She crossed her legs and looked over the Knight. "I heard from somebody that somebody on Nar Shaddaa has rare components for lightsabers. Pretty standard, not super impressive, though an upgrade is always nice for a duelist." She shook her head and moved on. "But what I see is an opportunity to acquire the whole stock and sell it to the Order. Tell me I don't need to regale you on how lucrative that would be for the two of us!"

[Alysele Cortess]

"No, you're not the worst. But I'd prefer to keep it that way. If you don't practice, challenge yourself, you'll be the worst." She was stern.

"You don't get to be as good as me based only on talent." She raised her glass to her eye level, observing the liquid. Nice color.

"Mhm... and you think they would buy it from us?" She frowned... a pure mercantile endeavor. Not something that interested her primarily, but who knows. "Well, nonetheless getting our hands on that before the Sith do is important. How are we going to get our hands on the components?"

[Nekoinu]

"You're starting to sound like Master Mersl," she said, her annoyance real and apparent.

Zuraa shrugged. "I'm not sure how much they'd pay us, honestly. But we could also use it for leverage. We are in a war, after all." She shot the noblewoman a devious smirk. "You want something from them too, don't you?"

She then leaned back into her recliner. "Well, the thing is, I don't really have the credits to purchase all of them. Daddy wouldn't let me, pretty annoying, honestly. But yeah, we need to figure something out."

[Alysele Cortess]

"Yeah, wisdom and experience. Get used to hearing that. Until you listen to us, you'll be hearing about it." She shot back, before relenting.

"Well.. do you have numbers? And I could use more details on the inventory." She became pensive... perhaps... perhaps she could negotiate her leave of the order? That would be good.

[Nekoinu]

The padawan simply nodded, apparently conceding to the point for the time being.

"Numbers? No, nothing like that. I know what it sounds like but I know he's good for it." She pulled up Zios Thran on her datapad and passed it over. "He's eccentric, like really eccentric. There's a few pictures in there of his storehouses, his supplies. He said some of those crates were full of 'lightsaber goodies' and I made an assumption." She shrugged. "He got them somewhere, I tend not to task where people get their goods."

[Alysele Cortess]

"Lightsaber goodies. That a technical term?" There was some frost in her aristocratic voice as she said it. "Okay, i'm willing to check it out." She looked over the pictures. The crates could be anything.

"Let's try a meet, and he should bring a sample, I'd think. How long you've known this... eccentric guy? What can you tell me about him?"

[Nekoinu]

"No, it's not a technical term," she said before rolling her eyes. "He usually deals in blasters and explosives but that doesn't exactly suit our needs. Anyways, I'm sure he's willing to meet with us."

Her smile became a bit more nervous. "Well, the thing is, he didn't actually offer to sell me the whole stock. He wants me to help him figure out what everything is worth so that he can sell them individually on the market." She bit her lip and shifted her eyes back and forth. "I'm not sure if he'd be willing to sell in bulk."

[Alysele Cortess]

A small sigh escaped Aly's lips. "So... we don't know what he's selling, or whether he's even willing to sell." She was borderline glaring at Zuura, before relenting.

"Well, we all like a challenge. Let's meet with him and see what he wants to show you first. It might be a bust." She drained her glass in one go. Hope that won't go to my head...

"What do you want from the order?"