Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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A Bit of Both | Maria

Kuat's busy starports are notorious for their traffic. Hence the common Kuati saying: "Late is the new early."

For Hadleigh she was afforded the luxury of proving this false, her standings as one of the Ten and head of Kuat Drive Yards allowed her unobstructed travel and a personal hangar... Or two. Her shuttle descended gracefully into the surprisingly stark docking bay, where a refueling and maintenance crew rushed out to greet the vessel.

Elsewhere a passenger ship had finally made it through queue, and departing were numerous souls of various wealth and status seeking to connect with another ship or continue on elsewhere across Kuat. Thousands upon thousands of souls bustling through the massive hubs and corridors. Lining the many walls were storefronts to services and suppliers alike.

Hadleigh vacated her hangar, but instead of heading to the Purkis estate as usual she detoured to visit her favourite venue, the popular Nebula Orchid for a quick cup of caf.

[member="Maria Natalja"]
 
Nebula Orchid.

Huh, sounded just about right. She'd been there so many times in so many different occasions. Maria had loved that place. She only hoped that she could still love it despite all the changes in the galaxy.

The birth of Free Worlds Coalition was one of the most miraculous things to happen in this crazy galaxy full of terrors, at least in Maria's opinion. It was the place of democracy and freedom. It had been a powerful area in the late Galactic Republic. And now that these planets were once again in good hands, Maria could feel nothing other than pure joy.

She had quite a bit of money left from the times she was the Witch of Arx Mortis and later when she was the CEO of Siechel Transystem. The woman missed the company every now and then and thinking about made her all teary, but she did know there was no way she could afford so much of popularity in the galaxy.

Especially now that the danger of getting caught was greater than ever.

She hadn't had a single cup of coffee that day, which was a great sin, so she thought it was for the best that she ordered a cup now. Even if it was just a little now.

"Hello! I'd like a cup of black coffee, please!" she said, her voice all bright and cheery.

| [member="Hadleigh Purkis"] |​
 
Hadleigh kept herself neatly tucked away in a quiet booth of a crowded diner.

Her hand wraps around the delicate frame of the cup, pulling the hot liquid to her lips. "Ahh..." She hums in pleasure. Hadleigh had many addictions, and for woman as busy as she it was no secret caffeine is one. Green pearls examined the dimmed screen of her viewpad, a singular finger swiping left and right to cycle between concepts and data.

Yet despite being deeply ingrained in her work, the bright and cheery voice over at the counter quickly drew the woman's attention.

Sadly Kuat had not been so happy since the Omega War, when the beautiful shipyard above had been decimated and sent debris into compromised world below. The world and her people were still recovering, and yet hearing a voice with cheer to its tone couldn't help but bring a slight smirk to Hadleigh's face. "Why don't you join me?" She calls out in an effort to grab Maria's attention.

[member="Maria Natalja"]
 
The woman was just getting her cup of coffee when somebody called her out, startling her so that spilling some of the hot drink was inevitable. Some of the drink landed on her hands, some on the table. Thankfully, most of it remained in the cup. "Kark!" she muttered to herself, feeling the burning sensation of the drink hurting her hands.

She was a healer, so treating such simple wounds was no big deal. However, she was more concerned for the coffee. She'd lost a considerable portion of it, so there was no way she would leave the diner without buying some more first.

But she wouldn't buy more at the moment. The healer wanted to see who the woman had been. She held no grudges since she was a normal human being, after all. But she did feel a little bit interested to talk to her and perhaps make a new acquaintance.

Oh dear Maria, always so naive and delusional. And such a person had once been a politician and a company's owner. What a terrible mistake it had been.

The woman did move to the woman's and she had to note, the person looked well put together. Her own white summery dress was quite casual and while she did think it was not the worst piece of clothing there was, it still paled next to the brunette woman's attire. The Knight comforted herself with the fact that Kuati people often were really wealthy and fashionable.

"Hey!" the blonde Epicanthix said happily when she'd made it to the woman.
 
An outstretched arm settled along the back of the booth's sofa.

Hadleigh observed the quirky Jedi's maneuvering, eyes following her all the way until she had finally seated. "If I had my guesses you aren't from Kuat--are you?" There were perhaps many reasons to guess this, other than just Maria's cheery nature. It wasn't like the entire world had been doom & gloom due to recent events; although that didn't mean it was easy to find someone elated either.

"I am Hadleigh by-the-way," she leans forward and extends a naked hand. Introductions and all.

More and more people queued up to grab their coffee, so even if Maria did want another it wouldn't arrive for a while.

[member="Maria Natalja"]
 
"Oh, no," Maria replied to the woman's question about her being from Kuat. "From Nar Shaddaa, actually." There was no reason for her to hide her home planet, especially because she no longer lived there. In fact, she'd lived there only for a few first years of her life. So that was nothing to be ashamed of.

She then smiled and leaned her own hand forward to shake hands with the Hadleigh. Yeah, it was pretty apparent that she was from Kuat, or at least lived there now.

"Nice to meet you, Hadleigh," the Knight said. "I'm Maria."

A lot of the people around were quite gloomy, she had to admit. None of them was even half as happy as she was. Was it due to the recent events? She'd heard the Omega event had managed to deal a lot of damage to these areas, but she hadn't thought it would be this bad.

"Kuat seems so different nowadays. So... dark."

[ [member="Hadleigh Purkis"] ]​
 
Hadleigh nods to her statement.

"It will change," she smiles without saying much more. "I am sure you will find plenty here to enjoy... Despite everything."

Hadleigh spins the cup around slowly wiping the rim dry before taking another sip. "So tell me, Maria. What brings a woman like you to Kuat anyway? I can't imagine you're a tourist; you don't seem the sort." And really, there wasn't much going on right now to attract tourism. Most of the recent traffic are shuttle transfers. Seeing as the Free Worlds represented stability in the region, many transports chose these worlds to base their new operations.

"Apologies if I am asking too many questions," she adds.

At the entrance of the diner, several protesters appear one-by-one and begin picketing. Something about a referendum in regards to Coalition membership.

[member="Maria Natalja"]
 
"Oh, that's alright. I don't mind," Maria replied. She didn't, really. Times had changed, years had passed, things were a lot different now. She might have not been the most easy-going person around before, but she certainly was nowadays, despite the constant chance of getting caught.

There was no way the Jedi Knight couldn't have noticed the picketing in the entrance. Protests were not always a bad thing, but she just hoped things wouldn't get violent.

"I'm here to, uh, check the new faction out, really. The Coalition seems nice, so I'm eager to see what it's all about," was the lady's answer to Hadleigh's other question.

The protest was clearly against the Free Worlds Coalition. She got a glimpse of the pickets which were full of different slogans, all against the faction.

"What do you think about the faction?" she got curious. "I mean, why such a protest?"

[ [member="Hadleigh Purkis"] ]​
 
She frowns at the growing protest outside.

"Kuat just exited a civil war. A short one, but a war nonetheless." She went to pick up her cup, but now her appetite for such had been ruined so she put it back down. "Some people are are unhappy as a result. Kuat's entry into the Coalition was a decision made between the house Andrim and house Purkis... House Kuat ceases to exist; due in part to their involvement with the One Sith." Hadleigh simply reviewed some recent politics on the matter.


Looking back to the protestors, she couldn't help but notice the numbers growing. Anyone could tell just by how loud it's becoming. "People don't like change. It is as simple as that, but solutions are far more complicated... I personally believe in the Coalition. If not to protect my home then I pushed for us to join because I believe in a better tomorrow." Corny sentiment, from Hadleigh? That's new.

"Don't mind it, though. There's been a few this past week and none have been violent." She tries to reassure.

[member="Maria Natalja"]
 
"Hmm, alright. I can see why some people might be against this change."

Maria's eyes turned to look at the cup of coffee on the table. Well, at least at what was left of it. Of course the cup was slightly dirty from the drying coffee spills and the inside of of the cup was not quite as full of the hot drink as it should have been. But she did take a sip of the drink, feeling its warmth and its earthy tones. It was a nice one, probably something local.

"The One Sith ruled over the planet for quite a while. It surely did have some impact on the way people thought. I mean, take a look at how Coruscant welcomed the Alliance. It was quite horrible, to say the least, but people adapted to the change. And those who had remained loyal to the light accepted the new faction with open hands."

Once again, she turned towards Hadleigh.

"I think it's nice this Coalition exists now. It reminds me of the good old days when the good guys ruled over the galaxy. The world has been bothered by the dark for far too long."

[ [member="Hadleigh Purkis"] ]​
 
Good guys... Hadleigh couldn't even imagine it that way.

Of course, they weren't trying to be bad. They wanted what was best for their people; to allow their worlds to heal and to prosper. "I suppose I can see how that is the case. I am afraid I wasn't too familiar with Coruscant's entry into the Galactic Alliance. "No institution is perfect, however. If they people don't challenge it then it will never improve either." At least Hadleigh saw it that way herself.

A man who had been standing towards the back of the room approaches Hadleigh, bending down to whisper in her ear. The woman turns her head to face him with a frown. "Is that so?" She mutters quietly to herself, then looks back to Maria. "I am sorry... I need to leave abruptly." Lady Purkis began to stand...

However, that was just when bad things happened. A burst of light and crackling of flames--a growing explosion from one end of the diner to the next. Glass shattered outwards as the windows began to burst, sending the shards like shrapnel into the crowd of protesters. Beams snapped and flung like javelins. Chairs flipped and tables slid violently, the shockwave alone threw countless others about.

Hadleigh's bodyguard took the brunt of the attack, allowing dangerous debris to slam into his back whilst he covered her.

[member="Maria Natalja"]
 
"Oh my goodness," Maria muttered, trying to cover herself from getting hit by any of the objects that flew around in this madness. What the kark had just happened? Had the protesters gone wild, had somebody somebody come to stop them? Were the Sith attacking? Oh what the heck was happening?

The woman grabbed her red lightsaber - a remnant of her time as a Sith - from her belt and got into a Jedi Ready Stance. Whatever was going on, it was her responsibility as a Jedi to protect the civilians.

What if all of this was just set up by Hadleigh to catch Jedi? What if she was on the Dark side and was just fooling around, trying to gain the Jedi Knight's trust so that she could be easily trapped? What if the woman was a bounty hunter hired by his cousin Kaine?

All these horrible thoughts crossed her mind, making her feel slightly anxious about the situation. However, she soon understood this was not the Jedi way. A protector of the innocent never would have made such presumptions. They would have bene cautious and careful about everything, but would have never deemed anybody guilty before finding any evidence.

"What is happening?" she asked instead.

[ [member="Hadleigh Purkis"] ]​
 
Hadleigh's ears rung from the forceful blasts.

She pulled herself out from under her guard's body, a dazed look glancing around to pick up their surroundings. It wasn't long after that those same eyes found themselves upon Maria--holding a lightsaber. She brought a bloodied hand up to her own head, as if somehow that would stop the piercing pain that throbbed violently inside.

"What...?" The only word which escaped her. Things had happened so quickly that her mind is yet to process all of it.

If things were to get worse, that is exactly what's happening. The roar of engines drastically approaches the location, a dropship hovers above and from its bay descends foot soldiers. They quickly open fire on protesters slow to get up, but their fire doesn't end there. Laser bolts flare and soar in every direction, sending chaos into the diner itself with no apparent target in mind.

Only then when the adrenaline finally kicked in did Hadleigh muster the courage to stand, although she tried to hold onto Maria for support in the mean time. "We need to get out here..." The words came with a catch for breath, and desperate eyes still locked with Maria's.

[member="Maria Natalja"]
 

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