Lorash sat cross-legged on the floor of her cabin, breathing so relaxed and free that it became a hum of peace automatically. Here in her quiet world of solitude, it was easy to stay reflective and calm, like a still pool. The overhead comm pinged. It took her a moment to resurface from the depths of concentration, but she felt better than the day before. Deep cleaning, a surprisingly good bowl of soup, and sleep helped immensely. When her world was neat and orderly, it was easier to access her calm.

"Just about to bring us into the starport on Hutta. Figured I'd, uh, make sure everyone is awake in case we get hassled."

The jedi padawan felt her nerves twinge slightly at that idea, but she pushed it away. It would just be a quick stop to pick up the mechanic, so as long as she kept her head down, there was nothing to worry about. She picked up her staff and headed for the cockpit.

Seia was already there. She'd changed out her armored robes for a spare set of mercenary armor that she'd resized and adjusted to fit as well as possible. It was a little more bulky, but if the weight difference bothered her, she gave no sign. Even with a heavy blaster rifle slung over one shoulder, she didn't fit the image of a thug in Lorash's head. That same, unsettling intensity and effortless grace were still present. Their sith's cunning and power hadn't vanished with a wardrobe change.

Still, it would hopefully work enough to pass, particularly with the lightsaber concealed in a covered pistol holster at her hip.

"Have you spoken with your contact?" the sith asked, arms crossed as she settled into the gunner's seat.

Eso bobbed his head in a nod. "I told Yyrfhojarrr I, uh, had a deal for him, but I stayed away from the specifics. He's going to meet us at the spaceport cantina. They've got some, uh, back rooms where we can talk in private."

Lorash dropped into the copilot's seat just in time for the ship to angle towards landing, ignoring the bumps and buffets of entering Hutta's polluted atmosphere. The brown smudge in all directions left the jedi padawan sick to her stomach. "That looks horrible."

"It smells worse," Eso mumbled. "I usually wear a, uh, breather mask. At least when I'm outside in it."

As they made their final approach and then slowly settled down to land, Seia scanned the other ships that were visible outside their hangars, either moving in or out. She frowned. "That ship has the Empire's symbol on it."

Lorash's heart started to pound and she moved to look. The familiar, triangular shape of an Imperial troop transport with its wings raised sent a shiver of dread through her. "Why do you think they're here?"

"Probably doing business with a Hutt," Eso said as he glided their ship into its hangar and touched down with a thump. "I'd bring my, uh, bodyguards if I were them."

"We can stay out of their way," Seia said, doing a last check over her armor and gear. "That said, the sooner we meet the wookie and leave, the better. The longer we remain, the greater the chance that they will poke their nose where it does not belong."

Eso nodded and got up, locking the ship's engines with a code before leading the way out of the ship. He locked the airlock door behind them, though he made sure they each had the code, just in case. "This way."

A clipboard hit him in the chest, wielded by a red-skinned twi'lek man. "Docking fees," he said, smirking slightly. "If you can even pay them, Eso Jarr'ah. If not, I suppose flesh will have to do."

"How much?" Eso twitched slightly, more out of habit than anything else. He was much calmer than Lorash had expected..

"For refuel included? Five hundred credits."

Eso looked pained. "A steep price for the privilege of, uh, breathing Hutta's battery acid atmosphere. I'd like to negotiate."

The big twi'lek laughed. "With you, pipsqueak?"

Seia came out of the shadows to his left, seizing the twi'lek by the front of his shirt. She lifted him up to his tiptoes with one hand, grey eyes narrow. "How about with me?" The rasp in her voice was pure menace now.

The thug's eyes widened. When his hand moved to signal to the gang behind him that suddenly perked up, she grabbed his arm with her free hand, grip punishing even without using the force.

"I guarantee I could rip you apart before those men even made it ten feet," Seia said. "Maybe they would wound one of us, but you'll be dead and they'd be next on the menu. Three hundred credits and the continuation of your miserable life."

"That's just enough to cover the fuel and berth!" He protested.

Seia's grip tightened and he let out a howl of pain as she ground the bones in his arm. "Do you want to beg for a bribe and die here or escape to graft another day? I have no doubt that I can find another port official smart enough to take my deal."

He nodded vigorously. "The deal! I'll take the deal!"

Seia dropped him unceremoniously, watching him stagger back with open, imperious contempt. "Lorash, pay him."

The jedi apprentice nodded quickly, pulling the credits out of her small satchel. She handed them over to the terrified man, who retreated like a kicked hound.

"If I hear any hint of sabotage, Chom, I will find you," Seia said harshly. "I consider you personally responsible for the ship's well-being."

The twi'lek paled several shades, but nodded again.

"How'd you know his name?" Eso asked, turning to face Seia once they were alone in the hangar.

Seia shrugged. "His friends were goading him on. I could hear them from where I was standing."

"Well, after that little, uh, display, they'll probably refuel us as fast as possible just to stay out of your way." Eso straightened up. "Let's hit the cantina."

The starport cantina was exactly what Lorash had expected, but somehow also worse. It was incredibly diverse, with dozens of different species present, all of whom seemed the rough and tumble type. The smell of various intoxicants filled the air, made worse by the smell of loose definitions of personal hygiene. The cantina's band kept a lively tune going, but it was hard to enjoy it when the predatory looks came her way. Lorash looked out of place here and vulnerable, while Eso could blend in and Seia exuded a constant aura of danger enough to keep everyone from even looking her way too long.

"I'll find Yyrfhojarr. Lorash, why don't you get us some drinks, something strong, while Seia finds a table for the moment? I, uh, bet she can clear one right up." Without really waiting for an answer, Eso vanished into the crowd, off to find the wookie mechanic.

Lorash nodded with a confidence she didn't feel. An armored hand caught her as she turned towards the bar. She looked back, meeting the sith's unnerving gaze.

"I will be at the table if you require my assistance." With that said, Seia moved towards the darkest, deepest corner of the cantina, quickly lost amongst the thick of people despite the way they cleared an immediate path for her.

It was a busy day, the cantina packed with the crews of a dozen starships or more, so Lorash found herself in a line for the drinks. It gave her time to keep herself centered. She attuned to her senses just so she would know if anyone tried to pick her pocket, but did not extend her perception beyond that. Places like this were still far too overwhelming for her. She had not mastered sense the way her master and apparently Seia had. She released her connection with the force as she reached the bar, pulling out enough credits to pay for drinks.

The bartender was a big, burly trandoshan, far less gaunt than many of his kind. He smiled at her, exposing a maw filled with sharp teeth. "What'll it be?"

"Four of something strong," Lorash said. She didn't really know what any of her companions drank, and she'd never been very interested in alcohol before. The taste was offputting and she didn't like losing control over herself.

"Strong or real strong?" His tone was at least friendly.

"Just strong."

"Rodian Red it is." The bartender took her credits and started filling four drinks. "First time on Hutta?"

"I suppose it's pretty obvious," Lorash admitted, leaning against the bar. "I'm just here to meet with a friend."

"Well, be careful. Pretty thing like you could get into all kinds of—" He cut himself off, a dread forming in his expression.

Lorash turned, catching the dark presence much too close behind her far too late. It didn't feel anywhere near as powerful as Seia, but the shadow was there. A hooded figure caught her arm, head tilting enough that she could see the man was zabrak. The hungry interest in his eyes sent a shudder down Lorash's spine, the sensation only intensifying when she saw the lightsaber hanging from his belt.

"Ghersk is right, you are a pretty thing," he said, leaning uncomfortably into her space. "I think I might like to get to know you better."

Flanking him were two Imperial stormtroopers, more than enough force to keep everyone in the cantina from paying attention. Even the bartender moved away nervously, leaving Lorash at the mercy of her new problem.

"Leave me alone," Lorash said in a calm, even tone. She tried to find her tranquility, but her heart was pounding. If he realized what she was, she would die or worse.

"I wonder how your fear tastes." The sith stepped in, effectively pinning her to the bar. The grip on her arm became bruising.

Then both of his guards let out a cry of pain. An armored hand grabbed the sith by the shoulder and wrenched him around. His hands went instinctively for his lightsaber, but Seia moved like a striking snake. She already had it before he could even grab it. She hit him across the face with the closed saber's hilt, gashing open a long, deep cut across his face with a sharp edge. The second blow from the hilt lacerated his forehead and probably rang his bell. Her shove sent him sprawling as his guards struggled against invisible binds.

"Do you know who I am?" the zabrak demanded, a mix of horror and even fear in his eyes as he looked up at Seia, trying to show a strong front. He looked much younger than she'd initially thought, maybe younger than Lorash herself.

Never before had Lorash seen such a murder in Seia's eyes, not even when they fought the mercs. Face contorted in rage as she looked down at the zabrak, her thumb covered the switch to turn on the lightsaber. "A worm who pretends his pale imitation of power entitles him to what he does not deserve," Seia said, sneer twisting her lips.

Lorash grabbed Seia's arm. "Don't kill him," she pleaded. "He is young and stupid. He can learn."

"Then this will be an object lesson for him," Seia said, clenching her half-open hand.

His bodyguards crumpled to the floor as she crushed the life out of them. The young sith in front of her was trembling now, no doubt expecting a killing blow. Instead, Seia held up his lightsaber and then shattered the metal with her power, showering him with the pieces of his weapon. She caught the crystal in her hand, however, briefly attuning to it.

The hatred on her face only intensified as she called out to the Force within the lightsaber's core. "This kyber sings of Korriban, taken from its red stones. It is drenched in the blood of those who strove harder than you can conceive of and died the death of a failure one day you will emulate. It is wasted on filth like you." She threw it at him, striking him over the chest. "Weak." The word was spoken with a bitter contempt that seemed to cut the young zabrak to his core. "You are not sith. You wish you were sith."

Lorash herself was trembling as she held Seia's arm. This side of the sith seemed even worse than what she had seen against the mercenaries.

Seia kicked him in the side and then the leg hard, forcing him half-up from the ground. "Now that you have utterly wasted my time, you will crawl back to your master and lick their boots so that they spare you the correction you deserve. Get out. You pollute my presence with your failure."

The battered zabrak grabbed his crystal and retreated as rapidly as he could, glancing horrified at the bodies of his guards.

Lorash flinched when Seia turned to face her, but the sith seemed calmer. "Are you injured?"

"No," the jedi padawan said quickly. Her arm hurt from where the zabrak had grabbed her, but that was all.

Seia pulled down her sleeve, spotting the red marks from where the young sith's fingers dug so cruelly into Lorash's arm. "You should have let me kill him."

"That was Inquisitor Zul's apprentice," the bartender hissed as he approached. "You need to leave. Now!"

Lorash spotted Eso on the approach with a big wookie. She pulled Seia in that direction, trying to pretend that her heart wasn't beating a thousand times a minute. "We have to go." Her words came out all in a rush.

"Why?" Eso asked, face creasing with worry. "What happened?" Then he spotted the two dead stormtroopers on the floor. "That's, uh, real bad." He looked over at the wookie. "Pearl. You in or out, Yyrfhojarrr?"

The wookie nodded. His fur was darker than most of his kind, stained with oil and grease, and he wore multiple tool belts criss-crossing his body. He held out his claws for Eso to shake.

"Great!" Eso enthused. "Let's get the hell out of here." He turned and made his way out of the cantina like a bat out of hell, dragging the three of them along in his wake. "So, uh, did I ever mention not liking imps?"

"It's worse than it looks," Lorash admitted as they hit the open halls and sprinted back to their ship. "There was a sith apprentice. Seia may have dished out a beating with some pretty cutting words. HIs master isn't going to like it."

"His master?" Eso panted for breath as they reached the ship, punching in the code. They were still being refueled.

"Inquisitor Zul, one of the few who remain," Lorash said very quietly. The name was a thing out of her nightmares, but she knew at least something about the sith wearing that title courtesy of Vori's warnings.

"Great," Eso muttered. He looked over at the wookie. "Yyrfhojarrr, please take a look at the engines. We'll talk about the pearl after we dust off. It's the genuine article, I swear."

Their sith pulled the necklace off and held it out to the wookie. He examined it with very careful claws, letting out a hoot of approval. As soon as he had seen it closely enough, he turned and bolted for the engines.

"I'll be in the bridge getting us ready to dust off," Eso said, scrambling that way. It left Seia and Lorash alone in the cargo bay.

Seia turned to look at the jedi padawan. "You cannot be allowed to remain inexperienced, or you will die," she said bluntly. "I can train you, at least in combat and the use of the Force."

Lorash squared her shoulders. "I'm not going to use the Dark Side. I don't care what you say."

"I care little how you access the Force, only that you do," Seia rasped. "Cling to your master's teachings if you like. As long as you can claim victory in battle, I do not care."

The jedi padawan took a deep breath. This would be dangerous, but that apprentice was probably not out of her life forever. She almost wished that Seia had killed him, but corrected herself quickly. He was young. Maybe he would rethink things after running into Seia. Whatever the case, she would need to know how to defend herself if Inquisitor Zul came looking. "Alright," she said, bringing herself back to a calm center. "Teach me."

"You understand that this means there will be times when you must obey?" Seia challenged. "Where I push upon what you have been taught, when you will have to make difficult choices and decide what you believe to be true?"

"We have to do this," Lorash said. She lifted her chin. "I will not turn to the Dark Side, no matter what you do."

This time, there was no smirk from Seia. "Then we begin as soon as we are free from Hutta."