spiderparlour | The saga begins!

The saga begins!

"You sure you're gonna be okay?"

"I've only been captured here once," he replied, fastening the outer layer of his robes. Light enough to move in, armored enough to give him some protection. And, of course, the right color palette to complement both his and Vette's skin tones. "And besides, I managed to get out of that one."

"And who made that happen?" she punctuated the question with a little 'ta-da!' gesture with her lekku towards herself.

"Both of us, but mostly you." It'd been early on, when he was still finding his footing. It was lucky he'd survived with only a broken nose. "And you are going to be saving me again, by getting that information I need."

Vette sighed, frowning as she glanced down to check the straps on one of her pistol holsters. Neither of them really wanted to be here right now, but it was the best place to collect information on Darth Baras' plans. Which, they both suspected, included killing him. "For the record, your boss is stupid and sith are bad at life."

"I couldn't agree more."

"Agreeing with me so much makes arguing hard, you know."

"You're so right about that."

"Ugh!" She poked him in the stomach with a sheathed knife before sliding it into her boot. "I mean it though, be careful. And if you do anything funny, save me a holo, okay?"

"I will be." Baras had agents on all sides--he knew that well enough, he'd been sent to kill several of them before. He'd be traveling into dangerous territory for a Sith today. "And I'll give you a call to listen in if I can."

"Great!" she chirped. "Oh! And if you see any of those--"

"Of course I'm buying the cheesy puffs, I want those too."

She threw her hands up in mock exasperation. "Then what are you waiting for? Go give 'em hell and get us some puffs!"

"Hell and puffs, as you command," he grinned, leaning down to give her a kiss. "I'll see you later."

They left the ship and went their separate ways, Vette off to check in with her old gang, and he took a route towards the Nikto Sector. The gangs there were territorial, but that wasn't the real worry. He was using the sector as a means to approach Republic-aligned districts nearby, and there was a distinct chance an SIS listening post would pick him up anyway. He had some valid excuses for being there, but it likely wouldn't make a difference in the Republic's thinking.

Besides, he wanted them to see him. He had his own allies on Nar Shaddaa, and they'd be watching what happened, and who reported back to Baras.

So. All he had to do was walk towards enemy territory.

And buy some cheesy puffs.

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"I'm sure he did, if he was Sith as well." Another thing a Jedi shouldn't say, but he's saying it anyway. At least Rejalgar is showing slightly more appropriate behavior now, since he's talking about murder. "And yet you're not supposed to kill family."

"I'll spare you the entire tragic backstory, but we weren't actually family, as he was always quick to point out. I was a bastard they found too late to openly disown without an excuse, but too early to ever love." So really, he'd been helping them.

No, not really, he was happy to make their lives hell just by the sheer fact that he was out of jail now. "I'm sure that technicality makes it righteous and proper, doesn't it?" He didn't like talking about this, and so the encroaching sensation of the club was a welcome distraction. He could feel the people inside just as clearly as he could hear the bass that was filtering out through the door. It was absolutely blaring emotions and passion.

And if the Jedi was paying attention to his senses, he'd feel it too. "I think I like this place," he declared, as they approached the massive herglic bouncer.

"No weapons," the bouncer grunted. That was adorable, and absolutely was not going to stand in his way.

"We're harmless," he said, vaguely waving a hand in their direction as he fished out a credit chip from a pocket of his robes.

"Yeah," the bouncer said, taking the chip. "You're harmless. Go on through."

Look, if he was going to mind trick the poor thing, he could at the very least make it look like a bribe instead.

Saga probably would have kept pushing. He still wanted to, because he was curious about this Sith who refused to attack him, and he definitely wanted to figure out how to get to him, get back at him. And a good Jedi should always strive to understand their enemies.

But the club caught his attention as they approached. He'd been slowly adjusting to being away from the quiet of the Jedi temple, and the daily life he was used to, but this... This was its stark opposite. Even standing outside, it felt like everything a Jedi wasn't. He pushed past Rejalgar, and didn't comment on the mind trick.

"Now I understand why you wanted to go here," he said, glancing back at Rejalgar. He knew he should turn back, but he was too curious. Besides, he had to get used to places like this, too.

"Clubs can be fantastic if they've got the right scene," he raised his voice a little as the music grew louder--something with a dirty-sounding synth line and lyrics he couldn't understand. No clue what it was, but he liked it. "A sith who can control themselves can have an excellent time in a place like this." Back at home, he'd gotten his start in the down-city clubs and illegal raves that set up in warehouses in the outskirts, rather than the expensive and no-aliens places his half-siblings and cousins went to. So to him, this one on Nar Shaddaa felt familiar.

"I had an ulterior motive, though," he leaned in closer so the amused note in his voice could be heard. "I want a drink."

Saga tensed a little at how close Rejalgar was getting. The emotions in this place were getting to him. He didn't know if it was bad, exactly, but it was putting him on edge, and Rejalgar wasn't helping. He tried to remember his lessons. Keep your mind empty, let the emotions drift away... He'd never enjoyed those lessons, though.

"Siths don't control themselves," he said, his mind still on lessons, and the many warnings they'd been given. That one had often been aimed at him specifically. "Their power comes from a lack of control."

"'Their power'? Please, if you're going to tell lies about me, at least be up front about it," he laughed, starting to make his way over to the bar, clearing a path through the crowd with broad shoulders and a little telekinetic push.

"Unrestrained power is undirected power. It's less effective, there's more blowback on the user, and there's a risk of burnout at least as bad as a Jedi with no effective emotional release." Yes, that means you.

Saga followed after, falling a step behind, the crowd immediately trying to close up again and nearly pushing him into Rejalgar. At least that made it easier to hear what he was saying, but Saga waited until they actually reached the bar before responding.

"So what's the difference between a Sith and a Jedi, according to you?"

"Sith draw on emotion to access the Force. Current doctrine specifically prizes anger and fear, but I find that to be simplistic," he replied., then shifted his attention for a second to the bartender. "A Scarif Sunrise, please." It was a good drink, not too sweet, packed a punch, and the fact that it glowed was always fun.

Where was he? Oh, right. "And from what I've been told repeatedly by Jedi I've encountered, peace is what Jedi strive for and eliminate emotion in the process." And by the Emperor's second-oldest pair of socks, it got annoying. Somehow each of them seemed to think he didn't know how they did things.

Of course, Saga here didn't seem to be radiating serenity. Which was going to make this interesting. "But I'm sure you've been told something different?"

"Chaos versus control," Saga says, as the easy explanation. There's more to it than that, the old Jedi had spent hours talking about it, but the bartender is looking at him a little impatiently. Saga squints at the menu behind him, but he doesn't really know what any of it is. "I'll have the same as him."

He has no idea what it is, but it's as good as anything, and saves him having to figure out if anything actually sounds good. Problem solved, he looks at Rejalgar again. "It's fear versus serenity, violence versus peace. It's usually described as a dichotomy."

He did pay attention sometimes. He'd wanted to learn, he'd just always been better at practical lessons over theoretical ones.

"You make it sound as if Sith aren't obsessed with control," Rejalgar smirks, leaning against the bar as he waits for the drinks. The Jedi manifestly has no idea what he's just ordered, otherwise he probably would've asked for water. This could get even more interesting.

Come to think of it, if he gives the Jedi vaguely good advice, it could work in his favor. "And a glass of water," he says to the bartender. "You're going to want to pace yourself. That drink's a little strong."

Anyway. The whole Jedi/Sith thing. "It might be in some ways. Dark Jedi certainly treat it that way." They had, as one might say, zero chill. Even less than the average Sith. "But I think it's more complicated."

"It's about method, not about what you want. Obsession leads to a lack of control in your own actions, even if you exert control over others." He couldn't believe he was repeating the words of his teachers like this, teachers he'd argued with, been corrected and chastised by... He'd always been strong, but their corrections had made him doubt himself at times, and he hated it.

The suggestion for water surprised him, but he didn't comment on it. He was sure he could handle it. "Complicated how?"

Because that was more interesting than the black and white world he'd always been told about.

"Mmm, sometimes. Did you ever hear stories about Darth Jadus?" He might be dead now, but gossip and rumor about Dark Councilors took up about 50% of 'serious discussion' in old Sith families, and he'd unfortunately been sober enough to overhear at least some of it, before he got sent to prison. And they--okay, everybody had always seen Jadus as a freak, so of course he got talked about any time he did something in public.

"The Sith Code is stupid in so many ways, but it doesn't say anything about anger or fear, just passion. An emotional attachment of any kind can be a way to harness the Dark Side. I love my work, I love my hobbies, I find the fights I get into exhilarating, and it's all meant I can drop most of the fear-and-anger methods."

And it meant he could openly have a fruity, glowing drink in a club without feeling like he was going to die of anxiety if anyone noticed him enjoying himself. "Thank you," he said to the bartender, taking his glass.

"Thank you," Saga mimicked, lifting the glass to take a cautious sip. It tasted fruity in a vague sort of way, sweet, interesting. He immediately liked it, which at least was a momentary distraction from how frustrated he was otherwise.

He sipped again. "Maybe you're just a bad Sith." It might have come across as a little petulant, because he didn't like being lectured, and he thought he'd escaped that when he left the Jedi Temple. He didn't like that some of this was resonating with him. "What kind of power does having fun get you?"

He'd heard about Darth Jadus, briefly. From what he'd heard, passion wasn't what described him, either. "Maybe you Sith are weaker than you think."

"I don't know, I get told 'Well done, my apprentice' quite a lot," he drawls, only making the vaguest attempt to imitate Baras' voice before taking a long drink. You know, he'd be quite alright with hearing well done, my apprentice for the next hundred years, if Baras wasn't a paranoid fool who was definitely planning on killing him within the next five years at most.

"Turns out, the power of not giving a shit about the establishment is pretty damn strong. It certainly scares the skirts off most Sith." Which was fun. Yes, he wasn't a fan of getting marked for death, but scandalizing the upper class was great.

"Oh, everyone's covering for some failing or another, but that's not unique to us." Isn't that right, extremely frustrated Jedi?

"Do you have a master, or whatever they call themselves over there?"

Saga takes another sip. Then another. He's never had anything like it before, and he's been warned against alcohol often enough that he's curious. Warning him not to do something was always the best way to guarantee he'd want to do it. "Sounds like you'll be making a lot of enemies."

He doubted the Sith appreciated someone not giving a shit about the establishment, just like the Jedi. At least that was one thing they had in common. He didn't comment on the other - He wasn't covering for anything.

"Not anymore. They had nothing left to teach me."

"Oh, that's inevitable with how the Empire runs things. I could play along with the establishment and it wouldn't make me any safer at all."

That statement, though. Wow. He hid his expression behind another drink. Oh, on that note--"Drink some of the water. You'll need it."

Or he had nothing left to teach this tiny egomaniac about booze, maybe. That was apparently a possibility.

"Sounds like you won't be a Sith for long."

If the Sith took themselves out, that would make life a lot easier for the Jedi. On the other hand, he was looking forward to proving himself against them, make a name for himself, show them all what he could do. He wanted a good fight. He picked up the glass of water, but didn't drink.

"Who will kill you first, do you think, another Sith, or a Jedi?"

"Oh, don't count out the rest of the galaxy either. There's a lot of people in here with us," he gestured as expansively as he could without hitting somebody in the face.

"Besides--the more predictable somebody is, the easier it is to kill them. Nobody knows what's going on in the head of a Sith who's actually enjoying their life, so my life expectancy's not as terrible as you think." Still not great, but better than being an angry idiot too distracted by immediate problems to notice how Baras definitely treated his apprentices as expendable. And why wouldn't he? He was probably planning on killing his own superior, so being a paranoid bastard he'd expect that everyone else would do the same, given the chance.

And to be fair, he would kill Baras. The Sith were an amazingly stupid little perpetual murder machine, weren't they?

Oh look, his drink's gone. He gestures for another, and a glass of water for him too. He had enough bulk to mostly shrug off one of those drinks, but two would start getting him drunk unless he paced it.

Saga set the water back down, and switched back to his drink instead. He had no experience in going out, but he had a vague idea that drinking too slowly compared to others looked bad, and the last thing he wanted to do was to look weak. He still had about half his drink left, and he quickly drank a bit more.

This conversation was annoying him, though. But the mental image of this Sith being murdered by a random drunken human, like the one waving a bottle around a little behind them, was a good one. He doubted it, but he could entertain himself with it.

"So you're saying you're better than other Sith?" He, at least, wasn't impressed. Or at least he wouldn't acknowledge if he was. "If you're so sure, I'm happy to fight you to test that out."

Edited 2020-05-11 12:33 (UTC)

He smirked. "You really want to dominate a Sith, don't you?" Do Jedi even know what that means? Maybe he'd figure it out from the tone. "We could work something out if you're that into it."

Saga lowered his glass again, looking surprised before his expression turned into a more excited one. "And here I was thinking you'd be too much of a coward."

Oh bless this little idiot, he completely missed the point. ...Unless he was far more kinky than he'd given him credit for, but he doubted that.

"You're remarkably hungry for it. Can't say I've seen that in many Jedi before."

"You haven't met the right Jedi before," Saga said. He turned himself more towards the Sith. "And I keep being disappointed by the people I meet."

"I really haven't," he agrees amiably. "All the ones I've met before have been absolutely boring." He had theories why they were like that, but it was still so weird. At least with the Sith he knew why everybody ended up so insane: he'd felt it too. You got pulled into it, it was intoxicating. But how the hell did the Jedi all end up so dull?

Saga could say a lot about that. He could talk about days of meditation, of learning to control your emotions, of reading and learning and theory over practice... He'd hated every second of it. But actual fight training had been fun, if not as fun as the real thing had turned out to be.

But talking about that would be just as boring, so he just finished off his drink. "Then let's find somewhere better than this place. Though I'm expecting you to be just as disappointing."

The saga begins!

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