"I see," Kyle grimly murmured out, crouching in front of the holo-projector as the image of Jaden's distraught expression filled out the blue field of recreated static of his other student. He was regaled about how the mission that was supposedly to scout an abandoned complex was just a ruse to lure anyone seeking the signal to ensnare them in a crooked Imperial's web. He had known people like him, both during his service and after he left the Empire; those that abused the system and used clout to hide from the potential consequences that'd fall upon their heads.
And yet, he couldn't wholly blame her for reacting in the way she did. He too was goaded into murder before a helpless opponent, one that brought up the witnessing actions of his father's killer mutilating his body and laughed in his face. He gave into the sweet, euphoric taste of revenge as he ended his nemesis' life only to recede back into that calm place to keep himself from turning completely.
"Listen, Jaden," He intoned, making the silver-eyed girl finally look back up his way as he stared back with darkened orbs. "I'm not going to tell you did nothing wrong. It was, and the fact you know it is a good thing. But don't let guilt and sorrow cloud your mind. We all make mistakes. Our purpose is to ensure we set a good example by never repeating the same ones before. We are not our enemies who justify slaughter and profess goodness out of evil for their own intentions. Remember that being a Jedi isn't meaning to be perfect, but to do good and be the best we can be for others to follow and look up to."
"Y-Yeah," Jaden shakily nodded, affirming with a still saddened grin but a glint of appreciation echoing from her eyes. "You're right. I-I'll try to get over this. It's still a lot to...to take in...you know?"
"I do," Kyle nodded sagely. "More than you know."
"You'll have to share some of those tales eventually," She switched topics, slyly curling a part of her face as she forced her expression to not exert pain but humor.
Chuckling lowly, he stroked a gloved hand across his beard, shaking his head at her, "In due time, maybe I'll tell you the whole story. It's quite a long one after all-"
"Mmph! Mpppph!"
"Ah, got to go," Kyle cutting himself off as he heard a nearby muffled sound. Winking at Jaden, he gestured to her in farewell. "Keep at it, Jaden. While it's a shame we didn't get more from Rax, we did put a halt to their production of commandos and other operations to this mysterious Remnant sect. Less bodies for the Cult to throw at us in the long run."
"You're right," Jaden nodded more emphatically, grinning back at him in earnest. "I'll get back to it. See you when you're back at the Academy!"
"Later," He signed off, deactivating the holo-projector with a click of a remote. Walking up to pick it up, he pocketed as he turned to face a gagged individual. He wore Imperial officer colors, tan in color with a colored striped metal on his upper left uniform's chest, indicating he was fairly high ranked. Bereft of his hat, his messy dark hair was frayed and retained crusted blood along the scalp -some of which dried along the side of his left temple-. With a black left eye and a busted nose, the simple cloth covering his mouth and tied in a knot behind his skull.
Walking over to stare at the man who muffled in protest, his hands bound behind his back and his body lying in a slouched position against a boulder. It was one of many rocks on this barren world of sediment and dust, a mining world long since abandoned. This was a common thing to find out here in the Deep Core, as many planets that existed in this place were on the verge of being wiped out by imminent gravity warps and exploding stars, finding places such as this with a minimally stable atmosphere was optimum for Kyle to locate.
He had help, of course. Contacts and allies that aided him in locating Remnant patrols, places where they'd skirmish or were known to make routine runs through. He had to ensure that he didn't attack them openly nor just approach any one single craft. The former mercenary had to approach this entire ordeal in the way that past routes corroborated with the arrival of his missing student. If the Remnant weren't responsible, then perhaps did they see who was, for example...
"So, I got in from a reliable source that you were overseeing the scanning of potential hostiles in this area of space," He began to intone, his eyes looking down at the terrified man. Squatting down so he was at eye level, he pulled out his trademark Briar Pistol, holding the massive hand cannon till it was level with the kidnapped Imperial's face. Priming it with a building whir, the orange-white glow built within till it was nearly bursting from the seams of the barrel, allowing the squirming captive to scream behind his gag. "I'm going to make this simple so we don't waste either of our precious times. Did you find something out in the Byss system a week ago?"
He nodded, desperately breathing through his bloodied nostrils.
"Was it a lone craft?"
The officer, hesitantly, nodded again.
"Was the pilot a Jedi?"
The officer shivered in place, unable to decide if he should let him know. Pushing the gun closer towards him till the heat of the patiently built energy nearly burned his brow caused him to shriek with terror. Shaking his head up and down, he kicked his heels in the ground in visible, fearful retaliation.
"Did he have spiky hair and cream-red robes?" He pressed further, getting another nod. Grimly he licked his lips and defused the stored energy, holstering his gun. Walking away from his captive, he pulled out a comm and pressed it towards his mouth, clicking it for the discreet channel linked to only one other person.
"Luke, it's me. I've just got confirmation from an official source. Our pals from the Remnant ran into our MIA student; Rosh is captured."
Mission Briefing: We have received anonymous information that a large influx of assassin droids have flooded the black market recently. These droids have been banned for years, even by the Empire, and no public company produces them that we know of. It is suspected that a local crime lord, Lannik Racto, is responsible for manufacturing these droids. Capture Racto and determine the droid factory's location. Considered small-time, even by his peers, this task should be easy to complete without too much difficulty.
Jaden had taken time to recover from her mission on Dosuun, though far less than she'd have liked. With the demand of aid from the Academy still at an all time high, she was called upon only a day afterwards. Clothing into a protective mesh beneath a long-sleeved, blue-outlined white hooded tunic, her lower body was covered by a similar blend of blue on white, straight down to the pair of boots. She thought this was a bit much but Meelik suggested that sometimes, having a complementing apparel match her Echani-born features would make her stand out in all the best ways.
The only things that truly didn't mesh with her clothing choice was the weapons she brought with her. The pistol was concealed on a sharply contrasting black holster on her blue-striped white hip, the Disruptor holstered over one shoulder and the E-11 strapped along her lower back.
Piloting her Headhunter to Coruscant was a bit closer of a distance than she was used to. It did, however, give her time to collect herself and calm her mind for the upcoming inevitable struggle. Preparing for the worst and hoping for the best was becoming her new motto at this point. Her situation of being captured and toyed with was a rarity, but it was something she knew could happen at any point throughout her life as a Jedi.
The Light that had given her comfort and sanctuary was starting to seem less certain, the stronger she became in the Force. She knew this was a result of finally opening up and becoming more comfortable in her new setting of adventure and social interaction with fellow students and masters. It was like a flower bud finally blooming, unfurled to the Sun and experiencing what life was like beyond the initial curled stage she had submitted herself to. There was so much positive to it, thanks to her relationships she was forging and the bonds cemented between those dearest to her.
But the negatives were now even more adamant. Her anger was enhanced by the mystical energy she was now entangled with, her senses heightened and awareness spiking. Every time she tapped into the energy, whatever her countenance reflected in the power that surged through her. It was like being shot up with a stim but on a factor of surreal multiplication beyond her ability to explain. This energy was capable of soothing her as much as tormenting depending on what flux of thoughts and feelings that passed through her consciousness into her body.
The doubts swirling in her mind was a battle she fought since that day she murdered Rax Joris. She was already teetering on the edge when she summoned the Force to punish him. She tried to let it go, and leave him suffering, but his words cut icy daggers of fear into her heart. The insults of her first, dearest friend only served to incite an unexplained infernal hatred that exploded forth from the seams. It was surprising when a power she was only partially familiar with had been channeled through her hands, cast so vehemently and instantly with such deadly power that killed him in mere seconds.
As the screams carried her into the night, she forced her eyes closed, calming herself and bringing her mind back to the mental image of the jewel that protected her from the darkness of her soul. The gentle hum that resonated through her core extended past her spirit and into her chilled pores, its passive warmth gently caressing her into a state of tranquility and peace. This was why she was in love with her newfound gift, and why fearing it brought her no real peace.
Even now as she could lean back into the seat of her Z-95 Headhunter she could extend her awareness to the astromech droid's circuits, the faint hum of its core sparking and possibly in need of a tune-up. The passive thuum of the engine's hyperdrive as it maintained an even pulse to keep the ship propelling swiftly through the faster than light current that severed time and bent space to the occupant's whim. Coils of power stirred all around her and past the river of streaking blue and white of the emptiness beyond, proving that her cognitive faculties were absorbing more and more of a supernatural scale.
She wished the dream was without ending before the bleep and whir of deceleration was noticed by her senses. Pulled slowly out of her near panorama of her flight path and the craft she presided within, her eyes opened and was gifted with the sight she didn't think she'd see so soon.
Coruscant, the Queen of the Core, glittered in a beautiful way she never had seen from the time her life was spent in its bowels. Orange-golden glows stretched across the ecumenopolis, far more pronounced in its current night cycle rotation from where she approached. She processed her entry with the New Republic entry with Academy codes, and was allowed to enter the densely packed atmosphere of air traffic. Weaving in and around the constant air taxis and off-world vessels, she'd veer off into the darker parts of the upper levels, nearing the spots of the metropolis eerily familiar to places she had lived by.
Glamor and splendor was replaced with seediness to carnal satisfaction, bulbed lightings ranging from bright pinks to halos of greens and reds. Far less sophisticated banners and imagery was used to lure people into one of many known Red Light Districts of the planet wide city, but was still removed enough that it was in its own climate. Here was an array of not-so-tall towers, home to less than impressive rivals in both structure and design to the rest, fitting right into the ill-painted and designed atmosphere of this side of the continent.
Finding his parking space on a suspended landing pad empty, Jaden chose the direct route and landed her Headhunter there. Veering around, the swirling masses of life and conducting energy filled her mind with an almost electric miasma to her Jedi senses. Even though it was a different place than her home, it was a wholly new outlook on life she could see it as. She could now see power, industry and people all flowing in this ever-flowing sea of interconnected ribbons, tying everyone in a giant web that expanded far beyond comprehension.
She was so lost in the moment that R9 had to tweet insistently at her to get out of the cockpit.
"Ah! Sorry, R9!" She exclaimed with a blush of shame. Hitting a few switches to shut down the spacecraft, she hit a switch to open the cockpit to the open air of the titled 'Undercity' despite being relatively high up elevation-wise. Hoisting herself out of the opening canopy, she made a casual hand-propped front flip to land on the landing pad's platform.
The landing pad possessed a single, grey-matte paved walkway towards a single impressive door, more than likely constructed to resist unsavory guests. Sighing, she hoped to resolve this quickly as she had thoughts of perhaps paying her dear friend a visit. Walking away from her Headhunter, she didn't move far across the walkway's bridge to the office tower entrance till the massive door whooshed up and clanked audibly in place.
A dark brown bearded man, bearing an infuriated grimace, emerged from the shadow of his massive doorway. He had long leather gloves covering up to his elbows, a pair of shoulder pads connected by a metal belt to his waist outlined his light blue long-sleeved dress shirt with neutral mustard coloring near the waist and collar. Cobalt colored slacks led to a similar tinted pair of boots to his gloves, giving him a professionally illicit look to cover.
Raising up a remote of some kind, he gestured towards Jaden, causing her to stop her approach in surprise as he bellowed out with expectation, "Did you think you can just barge in here and take me into custody, Jedi?!"
Not waiting for a reply, he clicked the remote in hand, causing the bridge between them to explode within a broad radius. The cascading series of detonations was violent enough for Jaden to force herself to leap backwards, hurling herself in a tumble in the air through the Force to avoid the resulting shockwaves and debris flung around. Landing in a three-limb slide, she looked up from her sprawled posture, seeing the man turn his back on her and seal the massive door behind himself.
Sighing, Jaden stood upright with a weary expression on her face, "Guess that rules out the front door idea. Wonder how I'm going to get around that?"
Closing her eyes, she channeled the Force to give her the clairvoyance necessary. From her position she could make out a host of voices, all within a reasonable distance, calling out to one another in Basic, Huttese and Trandoshan. Mercenaries, she figured, were circling around the alternative routes that'd lead to Racto's office. The tower more than likely was too durable to simply use her ship's cannons on and a jump of that distance was far greater than even her leap she made back on Tatooine's spaceport.
Opening her silver orbs to the seedy lit environment once again, she huffed as she trotted off to the ring of patrolling mercs. Leaping down a series of platforms from behind her parked ship, she angled around a series of improvised walkways and building tops to balconies to her destination. During her skirting around, she'd find a particular gap to a distant building where she needed to get across.
Just as the thought entered her mind how to get across, a pair of hovering speeders parked across from her, all possessing a trio of mercs to unleash a host of fire upon her.
"Guess that works too!" She cried out, whipping her saber out as the blue-outlined, white dressed Echani woman initiated Soresu. The Third Lightsaber Form's pattern of deflection allowed her to concentrate her energies on manifesting a pulsing emerald barrier, strengthening her body's endurance to damage. Then, with what remained of her stamina, she coiled her body back and sprang forth in a forward leap to the nearest speeder.
Bolts singed and whiffed past her emerald shell of Force energy, the rest were reflected back in an application of Shien straight at a Weequay in front of her. Bracing herself on the body with a meaty crunch, she twisted around to employ Shii-Cho to slash the torso and neck of the Rodians on either side of her person. As they cried out, one falling back to clench at a wound that killed it within seconds, the other howled in a distant cry as he fell deep down into the abyss of Coruscant's metal space below.
A Trandoshan standing apart hefted his Imperial Repeater up, unleashing a horde of golden orbs, sizzling her barrier of what she didn't deflect in another measured leap from transport to transport. Twisting around to land a heel kick to the lizard-humanoid's skull, he domino'd into his three compatriots, causing a Gran to topple off the back end of the speeder, scorched by the suspension thrusters and howling in a wailing cry out of sight and mind. In a quick withdrawl of her DL-44, she downed the sprawled pair, ending their lives before they could make counterattacks to her person.
Turning her eyes to face the last space between her and the nearby structure, she released her barrier and made the distance in a gliding jump. Landing on the other side, she maneuvered around the upper terrace of the building, wondering why she felt compelled to navigate this way. Her confusion was answered with an enlightening sight of a distantly propped landing pad, occupied but currently unattended from her point of view. Twisting her head, she could see it angled around to, indeed, a back entrance to the tower she was aligned with minutes earlier.
Focusing on the Force to propel herself, she throttled herself through the air, gliding like a silver kite to the H-shaped personal craft surface. Just seconds before making impact, she tucked her knees into her chest, rolling herself into a tumbling ball before forcing herself to land on the ship's top with a buffet of kinetically displaced air. Having practiced falling as much as jumping on the training course, it was only now did she realize just how large of a leap it was, and how far she's come from the simple training exercise Kyle had her take.
Flipping off the ship, she'd encounter a pair of human mercs, whipping out E-11's to stop her. She thrust her hand out, yanking the first one's rifle out of his hand before whipping it back telekinetically straight into the mercenary behind's face. The audible clack was near comical as his prat fall onto his back, making the merc do a whiplash double take of the event. Without giving it much thought she surged a hand back and unleashed a Force Push, sending him crying out as he'd be surged out into the near bottomless pit of Coruscant's space between the towers below. The downed man looked unconscious, and Jaden pitied him just enough to leave him where he was, knowing she didn't have all day to play with these hired guns.
Around the corner inside the landing pad adjacent building was a pair of Trandoshans, kneeling behind cover with Repeaters in hand. Before they could peek over to launch a flurry of energy spheres her way, she employed a burst of Speed to jettison past the first one to her right and lariat him across the rising face. Landing with a meaty crunch, the lizard-humanoid skidded in a gurgling snarl, leaving her to whip out her DL-44 to fire a few placed shots to the other's confused face that downed him. As the prior one rose up to strike, she ignited her lightsaber and cut him diagonally across the chest, leaving him to fall over in a gargled shriek.
"For a small time gangster, you certainly have enough money to hire goons, Racto," She spoke lowly to herself, walking up to a narrow elevator plate, soon clicking the pressure pad beneath to signal an occupant awaiting motion. Rising up in a nauseatingly breakneck speed, she reached the top and exited, finding herself in a pillar arranged balcony place that was angled towards the direction she needed to go. Walking around the bend, she heard a Trandoshan snarl something in its native tongue before bursting automatic fire of its Repeater at her.
"Do me the decency of speaking Basic before attempting to murder me, Duracrete Slug!" Jaden cried out indignantly as she deflected the horde of Repeater shots. Thrusting her palm to send it tumbling off the pillar space it was huddled by, it'd soon shriek out with horror as it'd fall to its inevitable death. She'd deal with a handful of other mercenaries in this fashion, using Push and Pull to help levy the difficulty of fighting them without cover or range to use her untouched weapons on her person.
The path was wrought with hired guns of this manner, mostly populated by aliens than the usual uniformed humans she was used to seeing. From the leathery faced, dreadlock-hair Weequays to the big-eyed, bug-faced Rodians, the three-eyed, equine-visage Gran and the reptilian, red-eyed predatory Trandoshans they were all huddled in pairs to trios with heavy arms for any common mercenary. Even as she passed each group she made quick work, alternating her forms to match the situation and using her Core based abilities along with Protection and some sparse Healing.
At the end of a particular path wrought with holo-advertisements of various imagery, text and colors, she saw one of the infamous assassin droids reportedly sold on the black market. It was broad shouldered, with oblong shaped arms and legs, with an angled optic cable producing its sole eye that homed in on her approach. Wielding an E-11, it fired accurate singing bolts, though its rate was easy for her to deflect from her saber as she crossed the threshold. Each time she reflected a shot its way, she saw it spark up with a field of contorting volts, soon spreading out into an electrical bubble-like field that acted as a defense mechanism.
Any time it shut off its force field, it'd fire its shots again, each one being specifically marked to hit her in a means to deal deadly injury. The pattern was one that was of tedium, whittling down its power supply on the internal-built shields till the armor took a beating with scorching marks and exposed frying circuitry. When one struck its optic cable, it was left to fire at random, allowing her to close the distance with a Force guided throw of her saber, lopping off its arms and legs with a well executed dance of her laser sword before it returned to her hand.
"This may be the dullest opponent I've ever fought," The Echani teenager noted to herself, though was intrigued by its force field circuitry. Deciding against salvaging parts, she figured she'd get the time to acquire some later once she stopped their manufacturing.
Pushing onward, she found yet another distant landing pad with its own craft occupying its space. Executing another beautiful glide downward, she'd somersault off it into a roll, standing up to face a three way wall of portable force fields. She almost laughed at seeing the obstacles, taking a sprinting leap over each one, outright ignoring the mercs taking pot shots at her by the second field's set-up. Once out of their range, she dealt with the second assassin droid by simply Forcing it off with a telekinetic thrust strong enough its stabilizer gyros couldn't hold itself onto the ledge it was hiding behind.
After passing a few more upper balcony pathways of buildings she got the distinct impression she was getting closer. The slew of goons helped confirm it, cutting them down and handily besting them as she went along. She now understood why Kyle considered this to be an easy event, if only due to her improved prowess in all aspects of her skill as a Jedi. Walking across the edge of a divider from one building to the next, she landed next to the massive identical door leading to the opposite side of Racto's office.
"Well," She began to say to herself, passing through the doorway without any sign of mercenary interference. "That was easy."
"It's a Jedi!"
"We'll deal with her!"
"Ah Holo-dust!" She finished exclaiming, seeing a pair of figures flank an X-shaped support beam within the teal-lit chamber she just entered. Strangely enough, one of them was wearing a differently colored set of robes from his orange-red-brown trappings of his colleague. The Force warped acolytes approached her together, one igniting a hissing blade of red light while the other extended weapon-less hands in a Force wave at her.
"Ngh!" Jaden braced herself, with a raised arm, rooting the soles of her body like anchors to keep from being flung so easily. The other acolyte tossed his saber her way, causing her to cross her weapon around to deflect it with a sparking crackle. Once it hovered back towards his grip, she challenged his hold over it with a thrust of her hand. This surprised him, as he quickly lost his hold over the weapon, allowing her to toss it straight at the dark green robed comrade of his.
"You'll have to do better!" The targeted cultist guffawed, leaping straight upward towards the ceiling, as if he was weightless and completely evading the flung blade. Aiming his hands to channel Dark Side energy, he failed to foresee Jaden's ploy as she harnessed her own Force energy and thrust it straight at him; smashing him with a crack against the very nearby ceiling.
"You can never defeat us!" The saber wielder announced challengingly, returning the saber back in hand and rushing up in a forward flip to slash down at her. Stepping to the side as his crimson weapon scorched the flooring, she swung around two-handed in Shii-Cho to Makashi in several arcs of blade against blade gliding against her opponent. By the time his emerald robed counterpart had picked himself off the floor, she dialed the saber's length in mid-stroke, forcing him off balance before elongating it to bisect him from the shoulders across, severing him in maimed halves.
"The Master will destroy you!" The emerald robed acolyte cried out, unleashing a torrent of Force lightning, a re-imagining of the same Dark Side power she had harnessed in murdering Rax. She almost felt herself freeze at the sight, the memory still vivid of what she had unleashed. Had it not been for the man's cry she would've been unable to defend herself against the sorcerous power aiming for her body.
Raising her blade, she found its peerless snow colored glow absorbed its currents, nullifying it deep within the crystal of her leather wrapped hilt. It thrummed beneath her palms, focusing her back to the task at hand and shoving the memory aside. Grimacing, she pushed past the storm of crackling light, the snapping tendrils hissing in the air and threatening to stab at her white tunic covered flesh. Walking slowly forward, the acolyte snarled out, doing his best to use what power he had to crush his foe.
Tried as he might, he felt the lightning leave his hands and soon felt himself drained of stamina. Dropping to one knee and a palm, the other resting on the other knee, he let loose deep haggard breaths. Looking up, shakily raised a hand, distantly aiming to call upon his slain comrade's saber. Just as the cylinder of metal shook from the dead hand it was in, he'd find himself mortified as it was bifurcated in mid-launch, its pieced clanging uselessly in smoldering halves by a single horizontal slash.
"Praise Ragnos!" He snarled, lunging at her with a roar at her. "Death to the J-!"
Cutting him across the middle, Jaden watched him fall lifelessly to the ground, his body left to bleed out on the metal plated flooring.
Looking away from the two, she left the acolytes where they fell, passing by the X-shaped support beams to another massive door embroidered in golden-tinted framing and platinum faced. Walking up to it, she felt it whoosh up and allow her into a much more spacious elevator. After the pressure pad detected her entry, she felt herself carried up in a brisk yet easily acceptable pace to the expected office.
Once the door opened, the platinum-haired woman exited into a massive office, filled with paraphernilia painting him as a supporter of the Cult thoroughly. Force sensitive Vorrskr heads were mounted along the walls, artifacts ascribed to the Jedi Order in glass casings in white painted pedestals and a bust of what she could only assume as Marka Ragnos stood in a tall column, similar to the myriad of designer black, golden outlined octagonal shapes patterned around the room. Racto himself was situated in the room's middle, able to see streaks of air traffic from windows dozens of meters away.
Seeing her enter the room, he stood up, looking furious as much as surprised of her presence.
"How did you get in here?!" He shouted with hand pounding indignation, his desk rattling from the force of his gloved fists' impact.
"I came in the back door," Jaden replied mirthfully, her humming lightsaber passively casting a complementary halo of silver over her white adorned person. "You honestly didn't need to make it this difficult, Racto."
"You think getting in here was difficult?" The gangster asked incredulously, pressing a few buttons along the edge of his desk. "I'll show you a real challenge you won't walk away from, Jedi!"
Immediately, a blast shielding came from the ceiling, surrounding him in a square shaped panic-room space. Simultaneously in sync with the shutting of him to the outside air of his office was a door to Jaden's immediate right, hidden within the seams, revealing half a dozen of the same assassin droids she faced. Standing in attention they all homed in from their angular optics at her, their shields overlapping one another with E-11's aimed at the ready.
A cacophony of blaster bolts sang out, forcing her to deflect and cartwheel around the precise aiming of the droids, forcing them to clamber around with haste to land an appropriate hit from any angle. Splitting them from each other allowed her to thrash them with timely uses of the Force, shoving them into the erect octagon pillars, smashing them to pieces and damaging the droids in the process. Each time the mechanical drones attempted to hit one, she'd reflect off to the other, forcing them into their shielded phases.
They were easily predictable thanks to her Jedi senses, feeling the whirs of gears and the swift processing volts deep within their circuitry even from this position. Anticipating their movements like reading someone's body language, she began to avoid being shot all-together, maneuvering around to slash several strokes of her lightsaber before their bubble-shock fields would be activated. Cutting one's arm off before lopping its leg, she'd send one toppling down and another beheaded.
As the final one went down, she took a few measured breaths as the safety shielding was whooshed back up. Her saber defused, she walked up quietly behind him as his back was to the desk, his seat turned with hands erect in a foolishly confident pyramid form for his fingers. With a brash smile affixed on his bearded face, he growled out with lingering anger in his voice.
"That'll teach a Jedi to-"
A snap hiss later, and the saber purrs to life just inches away from his neck. With a hand clasping his shoulder firmly on the other side, Jaden glided over to his fear-stricken face, now clearly at a loss for words. Silvery eyes glared hotly at him, held back only through the peace of completion of all obstacles that held back the froth of anger bubbling beneath the surface.
"Now, let's talk about these assassin droids," She growled out, her saber humming dangerously close to the man as he looked at her with alarmed understanding.
"U-Uh...o-ok," He lamely agreed, eyes veering towards the light of her weapon with obvious trepidation.
"Where is your factory?" Jaden bluntly inquired, not wanting to waste anymore time with this man.
"Hidden on Nar Shadda," Racto explained, gesturing slowly from his right side. "If you don't hurt me, I'll tell you where it is."
"Good man," She falsely complimented, defusing her blade but still kept it in her tight grip. She knew he noticed that, so he made no sudden moves as he reached slowly towards a datapad of his, no doubt his personal log of all comings and goings business related. Turning to say something, she grabbed him by the shoulder and wrenched him from his seat with her saber still in hand, her voice letting him know there was no escaping this fate.
"You're coming with me."
A/N: And that's another wrap! Jaden's got baggage to deal with, thanks to Rosh's absence and her turmoil enhanced by her sudden dip into the Dark Side through murdering Rax Joris. I enjoyed Kyle's interrogation a little too much, and I honestly almost made it a bit longer, but the sight of a Briar Pistol's priming charge would probably make anyone want to spill their guts. Exploring Jaden's attunement to the Force as she's getting stronger was another thing I loved describing, as if gaining some kind of metaphysical transcendance as her abilities continue to push her mind, body and spirit to heights she never even imagined feeling as a child.
With Racto arrested, Jaden's temptation to visit her old friend is subdued by the obligation of her duty, and thus will have to wait for another time. The next mission in a way also ties to Jaden's commitment to protecting others and stopping the Remnant from carrying out their despicable acts both in the present and potential future. That's right, we get to see our good ol' friend, Wedge Antilles!
See you all in the next update!