The dark-skinned Jedi brings her ship in for a landing on a patch of rock surrounded by jungle. She opens the ramp and steps out, taking in the air. It's a strange mixture of vegetation and sulfur. Her astromech whistles. "Of course I'm worried," she says, "I'm on a planet I've never been to, hiding from an empire we know nothing about, with only a few plant seeds and my lightsabers." It lets out an even longer inquiry. "No, I haven't forgotten your charging station. But I need to scout the perimeter first. We need to see just how hostile the wildlife is." Yet another whistle. "We're far away from any major systems or shipping routes. Honestly, you spend too much time around protocol droids. But if it makes you feel better, I'll set up the sensor grid when I've got the rest of the camp running." The droid blips its approval and starts its own scan, searching for sources of water.

Pacing around the clearing, Loneva hears nothing but the chirping of a few birds. At least a tenth of the sky is taken up by the planet's moon. She'll have to run calculations on its orbit later. Her macrobinoculars identify several large mammals in the jungle, herbivores judging by their teeth. On this note, she decides to set up her camp. She erects a tent, a fire pit, a research station, and a sonic emitter to repel any potentially hostile wildlife. When she thinks her work is done, her droid begins whining and wobbling from side to side. "Fine. You can set up the scanner. Just be quiet about it." It's an obedient enough droid, and goes about its work without any further complaining.

Loneva sits inside the tent and begins meditating, in an attempt to familiarize herself with this new planet and its life. It's not particularly strong with the Force, like Tython, but is still teeming with life. Most of it is benign, probably herbivores living off the abundant plants growing in the highly fertile volcanic ash. Her meditation is interrupted by a tremor that sends her droid into a panic. She scans the horizon with her macrobinoculars, and sees nothing new. Several plumes of smoke rising from volcanoes, but nothing from an impact. "Relax, Teethree, it was just a groundquake. They're bound to happen on a geologically active planet. We'll be fine." As she speaks, she realizes she is talking just as much for her benefit as for the droid's. She's never experienced a groundquake before. Just another thing she'll have to get used to.

Jori's confidence chooses rather strange times to manifest itself. Now is one of those times. She hasn't bothered to turn on her external sensors, so sure is she that she will have this whole planet to herself. The moon is certainly unsettling to look at, but its orbital decay won't be a problem for at least another three thousand years. Her only company is her protocol droid, C2-N5, who much to her relief can be silenced with the flick of a switch. "Mistress Kanath," he says as they land just outside a large patch of jungle, "I believe it would be prudent to scan the planet for other ships."

"Oh, you do, do you?" she refuses to look at him.

"I-I beg your pardon, Mistress! I didn't mean any offense. I merely thought that you had overlooked this routine procedure, but you being you, I suppose you have a very good reason for doing so!"

Still focusing on the landing, Jori puts a touch of irritability into her voice. "My very good reason for doing so is that if someone else is in fact on this planet, I don't want to know about them, and I certainly don't want them to know about me. I look forward to spending this time alone." The ship touches the ground and she glares at her droid. "I enjoy peace and quiet. Do I make myself clear?"

"Inescapably, Mistress Kanath!"

The Sith walks to her ship's entrance, opening the ramp, and steps out, taking in the thick air. The temperature reminds her of Korriban, and the jungle of Dromund Kaas. If the predators here are anything like they are back home, she won't have to worry about them since a few jolts of lightning are usually sufficient to keep them away. "I'll go look around. If you want to run a scan, do so, but don't bother me with the results." She raises a finger. "And again, don't say a word to me until I permit you to do so." The droid simply nods. Jori walks into the jungle, taking in the life force of the creatures inside. One of them, she notices, has a stronger life force than all the others. She walks toward it, curious as to what it is, and using the Force to cloak herself in case it's hostile. When she finally closes in, to her astonishment it's not a predatory creature at all. She sees another human. One with dark skin, wearing form-fitting greaves and a shirt that leaves her arms and most of her midriff uncovered. Even worse, she's headed in Jori's direction. Maybe she can drive her off. She uncloaks herself. The other woman jumps, but continues walking. "What are you doing here?!" the Sith demands.

"I could ask you the same thing," the other woman says back in a Republic accent. "I thought this planet was uninhabited."

"So did I. What business do you have here?"

The other woman rolls her eyes. "Hello and nice to meet you, too."

Jori frowns and ignites her lightsaber. "I'd rather not have to do this, but you give me no choice. Leave this planet. Now."

The woman puts both hands behind her back and pulls out a pair of lightsabers, turning them on. A Jedi? That explains her strong life force. "There's no need for violence, but I will defend myself. This planet's big enough for the both of us."

"Your mere presence bothers me. Leave."

The woman frowns. "I'm not going anywhere."

Jori takes another step forward. "Leave now, Jedi. I will not ask again."

"No."

She casts a bolt of lightning straight at the Jedi, who jumps cleanly out of its path. "Then you will die."

The Jedi lands right in front of her, tries to move her lightsabers closer, and is blocked. "I have no quarrel with you, Sith, but I won't let you kill me just because you want this planet all to yourself."

"My name is Jori Kanath. It's the last one you will ever know." She blasts a wave of Force energy at the Jedi, who rolls across the ground, then stands back up.

"I'm Loneva Delban, and I think you're being totally ridiculous!" she jumps at Jori, swinging her lightsabers furiously.

Jori sends another Force wave at Loneva, this time to slow down her movement. This makes her able to parry all of Loneva's strikes, though they're still too fast for Jori to make an attack of her own. "You will either return to your ship and leave, or you will die!" she growls. Sensing the slow spell wearing off, Jori erects a static barrier around herself and Loneva's sabers bounce off it.

"We don't need to do this," Loneva puts her arms at rest, "We can agree to leave each other alone. Why do you care if I'm here?!"

Jori detonates her barrier, temporarily blinding Loneva and sending a jolt of electricity through her. She lifts her up with the Force, choking her. "I told you to leave, but you didn't listen. Now, Jedi, you will-"

The Sith is silenced by the Jedi's boot catching her right in the chin, breaking her concentration. She spent all her energy on the static barrier and the choke, and can no longer continue the latter. When the Jedi lands on her feet, she takes advantage of Jori's missing shield and uses the Force to pull away her lightsaber, which shuts off as the switch brushes against a rock.

Loneva shuts off and holsters her own lightsabers and picks up the Sith's immobile body, carrying it back to her ship. She puts a pair of Force-resistant stun-cuffs on her and sits her up against a rock. As the Sith starts coming to, she puts the spout of a water bottle by her mouth and squeezes. The Sith swallows it and groans. "Are you awake?"

As Jori takes in her surroundings, her eyes slowly adjust and she sees the face of the Jedi and tries to reach around to hit her. The struggle triggers the cuffs, which sent a stun pulse into her wrists, sapping her energy. "You should have killed me, Jedi. I will make you pay for this insult," she growls half-coherently.

"Now, now...is that any way to treat someone who just spared your life?"

The Sith glares at her with pure menace. She feels her breath stop, and blinks. The cuffs activate again, breaking Jori's concentration. "Good luck getting past those cuffs, Sith. They're controlled by my cortical implant."

"This is my planet," she mutters.

"Says who?"

"Says the Sith Empire. It was unclaimed, and I purchased the deed with my own earnings."

The Jedi laughs. "First of all, I had no way of knowing that. Secondly, I don't recognize your Empire's claim to this world."

"What do you want with me, Jedi?"

Loneva opens a ration packet, dividing its contents onto two trays where Jori can see her. "For starters, telling me why you're here would be nice. I saw no signs of people or machinery."

The Sith bows her head as if she has nothing to lose. "If you must know...I'm hiding from the Eternal Empire."

"Well, that makes two of us," the Jedi says, then holds out both trays of rations.

"The left one," Jori answers. Loneva picks one of the nutrition cubes from it and puts it near Jori's mouth. "Are you serious?" she raises an eyebrow.

"It's the only way you eat. I don't trust you enough to unbind your hands. And I think you can guess what will happen if you bite me."

Jori rolls her eyes, then leans her head forward, biting the cube and pulling it out of Loneva's fingers. "I'm the sort of person who prefers solitude. That's why I don't want you here."

"Too bad," Loneva says, feeding her prisoner another cube. "I'm using this planet as a base of operations."

"Doing what?"

She taps her cortical implant. "I'm a slicer. My head has a direct link to the holonet. Don't worry, I routinely route it through several different networks with seven layers of encryption. Even Zakuul will find it hard to trace me."

"You have an awful lot of confidence in yourself."

"I've been slicing since I was twelve, and I haven't yet been caught," the Jedi says proudly. "I was born to slice."

For the first time since meeting Loneva, Jori smiles. "Funny, I don't recall arrogance being a Jedi trait."

"Well...I'm not really a typical Jedi."

"I figured as much. Most Jedi of your particular skills would be on the front lines." She eats several more bites as Loneva feeds them to her. "Truth be told, I should be defending the Empire myself. But I so dislike being around others. The attack on Dromund Kaas was all the excuse I needed to flee here. I wanted to spend my days sitting alone, reading and writing."

The Jedi looks intrigued. "You're a writer?"

Jori nods. "I mostly write political theory, though I have been known to do a work of fiction here or there."

"Oh, what sort of fiction?"

Jori swallows the last cube on the tray. "Historical, mostly. I specialize in the era of Tulak Hord."

"Have you published anything?"

A laugh. Progress. "Oh, I'd never publish my political theories. I would have been exiled at best."

"But did you publish other works?"

"Not under my proper name, no. My historical fiction didn't sell too well. People seem to prefer the era of Naga Sadow." She seems unaware that she's blushing.

"So, what DID sell?" Jori doesn't answer, but her blush deepens. "Oh, did you write steamy romance novels?"

"That's none of your concern!" she looks away.

"Maybe you can tell me some other time." Loneva casts her gaze at the sky. "It's getting to be night, from the looks of things."

"So you will be releasing me now?" Jori asks.

"I don't think so. Though I could put a modified version of the stun cuffs on your ankle and remove them from your wrists so you can go about your daily activities and sleep comfortably." The Sith looks to the side. "And don't think of trying anything when I'm asleep. It's configured to kill you if my heart stops or if you use the Force to tamper with it."

Jori smiles. "There may be hope for you yet, Jedi."