Private Bad Company

[Amani Serys]

Nar Shaddaa
Lavria Xedrim

It would not be the first time Amani found herself dealing with Hutts, but it would be the first time she did so alone. Really, she should have known better, given how the previous attempts had gone, but backup wasn’t an option here. Traveling to Nar Shaddaa was not exactly something the padawan enjoyed, the moon had its reputation for a reason after all. Imagine if the entirety of Coruscant was like it’s lower levels, reeking of rampant crime and poverty on every street corner. That was Nar Shaddaa.

The dull, brownish smog that hung over the moon’s atmosphere set a dour mood, in line with the ambiance the streets set. Bright neon holograms every which way provided a sensory overload that would give anyone not used to it a headache if they looked too long. For once, the mirialan was wearing something other than Jedi robes, trading them for a set of ratty street clothes instead. Even still it was obvious that she wasn’t entirely comfortable through her demeanor, and she attracted the wandering eyes of several on her way to the cantina.

Once inside, the sour stench of alcohol hit Amani’s nose, making her grimace instinctively. The dingy establishment was just busy enough that her arrival brought relatively little attention, or at least she thought so. Taking a seat in a corner booth, she pulled her jacket a little closer over her body, and waited. Several minutes later a short, stocky figure sauntered over to the table and slid across from her. A Bothan, clad in typical smuggler fashion trends, gave the girl a smirk and leaned back in his seat nonchalantly. “Yer the little lady we been waitin’ for, aren’t ya?”

“Y-yeah, I think so.”

“I know so, just makin’ sure you do.”

“I was told I’d be speaking to your boss directly.” Amani defensively straightened up in her seat, glancing around at the other patrons, none of whom seemed to pay any mind to them at the moment.

The Bothan gave an exaggerated shrug, the wry smirk ever plastered on his face. “Ehhhh, Boss is a little busy today. Any concerns you have with him, you can take up with me.” Every word he spoke sounded as though it had a double meaning, like he’s been incapable of telling anything more than a half-truth his entire life. A gloved hand raised to stroke his whiskers in thought, “What is it that brings you Jedi types out here anyway?” He mused.

“You know what.”

“Heh, just pushin’ your buttons, girlie.” The Bothan rested his hand on her shoulder, which Amani quickly defused, pushing him off and scooting another inch away. He sighed and opened up his vest, reaching into one of the inner pockets and pulling out a small holocron.

“Whaaaat are you doing?!” Amani whispered sharply, lurching forward against the table and trying to hide it with her hands. The smuggler pulled away and chuckled again, “Ah ah ah. Don’t be so quick to worry, darlin’. So much pent-up stress. You gotta learn to live a little, unwind, eesh. Somethin’ I’m sure this here moon of ours could teach you a thing or two about, y'know?”

“What if someone sees?” The tension in her voice an all too noticeable weakness. He glanced around the room before leaning in closer, his tone turning more sinister but no less amused. “Oh, well I ain’t gotta fret with that. See, every boy in here is one a mine.”

Amani stared wide-eyed at several of the others inside, a few giving the slightest glances her way, confirming what he said. She shrunk back into her seat, the dawning realization that the leverage they had was even greater than she knew causing her to break a sweat. The Bothan idly tapped the holster at his side, “Surely the Jedi got more ta offer us than a youngin’ way in over her head. This little whats-a-cron contains some priceless information, I’m sure. So let’s talk business.”

These gangsters were operating under the assumption that Amani had come on behalf of the Silver Jedi. Apparently interested in negotiating some kind of deal regarding their operations as the Concord continued to expand its influence. On the contrary, she had come alone, the Jedi had no idea she was here at the moment, but the second these gangsters realized she had nothing to back her up, it was game over. Holocrons could prove quite valuable to a Force-User, and if Amani was lucky, no one else had caught wind of it yet.

 

[Lavria Xedrim]

Master Zul had caught wind of a Hutt cartell on Nar Shaddaa that were looking to sell a holocron to someone.
"I need you to go to Nar Shaddaa and intercept this transaction." he told Lavria after summoning her.
"Is this information reliable, Master?" she asked.
"It is. I have an informant in that cartell. They'll be meeting with someone in the Burning Deck. Go, and get that holocron."
"It will be done, Master." Lavria replied. Soon, she was on her way to the Hutt moon along with Lars.

"Stay with the ship. And if someone gives you trouble, you fly. I'll call you if I need you." she told Lars as she got out of her fighter. The droid chirped at her, still firmly seated in his socket. She smiled at him, before heading into the city. It took her a while to reach the cantina, but she found it eventually. The bar was busy enough when Lavria walked in and took a seat at the bar counter where a nice, big mirror was hanging. She had a view of most of the bar behind her. She was dressed inconspicuously to blend right into the crowd around her. She ordered a drink and waited. Soon enough, she felt the irritating itch of the Light Side. She looked in the mirror and saw that a Mirialan girl had walked in, looking somewhat out of place on the planet even though she tried to blend in. This should be easy, Lavria thought as she watched a Bothan approach the girl.
They had a little discussion before the Bothan took something from his inner pocket. The girl gave everything away instantly as she lunged forward to try and hide it. Lavria smiled. Now she knew who to threaten to get it.

Lavria casually stood up and sauntered over to their table slowly. She was just in time to hear the Bothan talking about the Jedi having more to offer than a young girl. She sneered and her golden eyes sparkled as she went to stand inconspicuously behind the gangster. When he suggested to the Jedi that they talk business, Lavria leaned over and pressed one of her still-sheathed lightsabers to his neck.
"Yes, let's talk business, Fuzzy. I believe you value your life more than you do the holocron, so hand it over." she said in his ear, while watching the young Jedi across the table, her golden eyes simmering with malice. "Make a move and you die." she continued in the Bothan's ear.
She then turned her attention to the girl. "You're in way over your head, sweetheart. Who was stupid enough to send you here alone?"

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Lavria Xedrim

The Bothan tensed as the hilt of the lightsaber was pressed to his neck, eyes darted across the room as he grumbled, “Don’t any a you dolts do yer job around here?!” Several of the patrons noted earlier as gang members glance around the room at each other, a few of them standing up from the seats to examine the sudden action. He gave a soft chuckle as Lavria threatened again, “Heh, feisty. I like that in a lady.”

Amani could only do a double take as the situation spiraled further out of control. She leaned forward and raised a hand as the new face drew a weapon on the smuggler, craning her neck back as her face contorted into a half-confused, half-offended sneer as she was unceremoniously insulted. By a complete stranger, no less! “Sweetheart?” The mirialan went wide eyed again as she quickly put two and two together. This person was obviously not just any patron and certainly not a Jedi. Sith. She could sense it now. Amani ran her hand along the strap across her chest, which carried her collapsible pike hilt behind her back. “This has nothing to do with you. Just…”

The sentence was left unfinished as the Bothan chuckled again, interrupting them before he cleared his throat to speak. “I get what’s going on here. Thought you and your Jedi buddies could pull a fast one on us, eh? Just give us a little strong-armin’, and make your way outta here with a free prize. Y’all must be even dumber than I thought.”

“Wait, what? N-no, that’s not-- she’s not even--”

“A bit late to sweet talk yer way outta this one, girlie.” The Bothan leaned against the hilt of Lavria’s blade goadingly, turning his attention towards her now. “It’s a nice sentiment, darlin’, I’ll give ya that. You got moxie. But let’s say you kill me, hm? You and your friend here snatch that little holocron. But what then?” He nodded his head towards the rest of the cantina behind them, many of the gang members having gotten up and rested their hands on their holsters. “Cause I can guarantee ya won’t be makin’ it out alive after the fact…” his dare hung in the silence that filled the room now. Amani gripped the strap tighter, her eyes glaring back and forth between Lavria and the Bothan, silently begging for a peaceful resolution as a bead of sweat ran down her face. A thick air of palpable tension could now be felt by all in attendance, everyone waiting for someone else to make the first move.

 

[Lavria Xedrim]

As the girl displayed her offense of being called "sweetheart", Lavria smirked.
"Aaw, did I hurt your iddy biddy Jedi feelings?" she taunted. "Find a corner ad cry about it quietly, would you." she continued before turning her attention back to the Bothan as he spoke and refered to her as he Jedi buddy. Her nose wrinkled at the thought. Her using the Light Side? Like that will ever happen. She was very aware of his karking stupid lackeys, but she would deal with them when the time. For now, she listened as the Bothan spoke further with her - even taunting her. She pressed her hilt harder into his neck and sneered into his ear. Her eyes suddenly blazed bright gold as she drew on the Dark Side.
"I'll take my chances, sleemo. See, I'm no Jedi. I'm Sith." With that, she ignited her lightsaber into his neck, killing him instantly, while using the Force to summon the holocron towards her other hand. She used the few seconds of stunned silence to drop it into her pocket and then igniting her other lightsaber. She was ready for what would come next.

She flicked two fingers at a few gangsters that were starting to recover, sending three of them flying with the Force. By then, some others had started blasting and she had to start deflecting like a mad person.
"Oi! Not in my bar!" the barkeep yelled, his hands trying to cover his head. His request fell on deaf ears, though, as all the gangsters have recovered from their shock by now and were trying to gun down the young Sith Apprentice. She tried to move back towards the door, but was flanked by more gangsters.
"If you are done crying, Jedi, you're welcome to jump in. Especially if you ever want a chance of taking back this holocron from me and still be alive afterwards." she said, sending two more flying. A bolt grazed her upper arm, but she was so bloated with the Dark Side that she hardly felt it. However, she could not keep the major deflecting up for very long. She suddenly wished her master would get over himself and teach her how to utilize Force Lightening. On the other hand, he probably would not wholly approve of her method of getting hold of the holocron.


Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Lavria Xedrim

And just like that, everything went to hell. Amani watched in stunned silence as the Bothan was abruptly silenced, his body slumping against the table with a look of surprise still etched onto his face. The cantina lit up with blaster bolts, and instinctively she leapt from her seat and rolled over the bar for better cover. Her eyes met the bartender’s, who had joined her in hiding behind the counter. Peering around the side, she scowled at the Sith who had now ruined her whole plan.

“Are you insane?!” Amani shouted over the blaster fire, “You’re gonna get us all killed!” She detached the upper portion of her pike from the rest of the hilt, allowing her to use it as a shotosaber. Springing up from behind the bar, the padawan hurled two of the gangsters against the wall before igniting her weapon. Immediately several shots came in her direction as she revealed herself, but she was prepared enough to deflect them with ease.

A bolt grazed Lavria in the arm, and Amani instinctively Force pushed the Sith to the side and behind a table where she had more cover. As she reached out, another bolt struck her own cybernetic arm. The metal was largely unharmed, but sensory systems meant it still sent a jolt of pain into her body. She gritted her teeth in frustration before ducking back down, “Why is it always my arm?!”

The gangsters still fired blindly around the room. Soon after, the back door kicked in, and several more criminals flanked them, these ones wielding stun batons, as they sought to close the gap and engage the Jedi and Sith. “I don’t suppose you have some sort of 'master plan' for getting out of here, now?!” Amani glared at Lavria intensely.

 

[Lavria Xedrim]

Jedi were always so predictable, as the girl insinuated that Lavria was insane.
"Are you just as boring as the rest of your Order?" she countered back with a sneer as she deftly deflected some bolts back to their owners.
Luckily the Jedi had half a brain and she joined the fight. She at least seemed to have some skill with a lightsaber, which could be just the diversion Lavria needed to try and make her escape with the holocron.

She had wanted to take off when the bolt had grazed her arm. Although she had paid no attention to it, it seemed the Mirialan did. Lavria was suddenly sent flying to land behind a table with a "Hey!". As she got up, she noticed more gangsters were filing into the tavern. "Oh, kark me!" she growled. And of course the cowardly Jedi would ask her for a plan.
"It's called improvisation, Crybaby. You Jedi should try it some time when you're not crying about this or that." she sneered before sending the padawan flying back behind the bar counter. She then used the Force to grab hold of just a little lip of ceiling that was sticking out and she brought most of the ceiling down on top of the brunt of the gangsters. While the dust hung thick in the air, Lavria launched herself over the bar counter as well and landed next to the Jedi.
"Master plan executed. Now we do what you Jedi do best - run!" she said before taking off through the back door as the dust started settling and the gangsters not buried beneath ceiling, were grumbling about where she and the Jedi had gone.

Outside, there was still a bunch of gangsters waiting all around. This time, there was not much cover, and they were very much outflanked and outnumbered - even for Force users.
"Oh, for karks sake! How many of these suckers are there? You were really in over your head, Lollo." she groaned towards the padawan.
"Drop the sabers, girlies!" a Twi'lek ordered. "We got you outgunned."
Lavria's nose wrinkled as she glared at him, but she had to admit that he was right. Even her skill as an Apprentice in her final stages would not be able to deflect all bolts, should they choose to shoot.
"Fine." she sneered and dropped her sabers to the ground. "Don't try anything stupid just yet." she told her reluctant ally as some of the Twi'lek's men came closer to bind her.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Lavria Xedrim

“Boring?!” Amani peeked up, only to duck down immediately as a bolt went overhead.

The Sith seemed rather unappreciative of Amani’s attempt to protect her, “Hey! I’m trying to help you!” One of the baton-wielding gangsters rushed towards her, only for the padawan to receive a similar force push out of the way, and for him to have a ceiling dropped on his head along with several of the others. Amani stumbled up, coughing up dust as the Zabrak hurled more unwarranted insults at her. “Why are you so mean?!” She followed close on her heels, nearly bumping into her as the pair found themselves face to face with a swarm of goons.

“You are kidding me…” Amani gave the Sith a heated glare as she dropped her weapon on the ground, holding out her hands to be cuffed. “This is all your fault.” she sneered, before being pulled forward by two of the gangsters and made to follow them. One of them, a particularly unpleasant-smelling Gand, chittered closely, “Y-You two are r-really in f-for it now. The boss w-won’t be happy to hear his f-favorite smuggler was k-killed. A-and by J-jedi, no less!”

Amani rolled her eyes, “Ugh, for the last time, she’s NOT with me!” She turned back to Lavria once again, staring daggers as she was carted off to who knows where.

 

[Lavria Xedrim]

Before she was cuffed, Lavria sent 'n quiet distress signal to Lars. She just hoped the mech used his brain and not end up as spare parts. She then heard the padawan blame her for this whole situation. Of course the Jedi would blame the Sith for their own stupidity - that never changed.
"Shut your piehole, Moof-milker. It's no use crying about it now." Lavria sneered at the Mirialan as their weapons were seized and they were herded into a speeder. "And don't insult me, Bugbrain. I'm much more than a weak-backed Jedi." she snapped at the Gand when he dared credit her kill to a Jedi. Although she was somewhat in a bad mood about their current situation, Lavria had to admit deep down that the padawan had some more moxie than what Lavria was normally used to. "Just....bear with me, okay?" she whispered, slightly more sincere, to her reluctant partner.

The drive was over fairly quickly. They were unceremoniously bundled into a cell to await the judgement of the Hutt in charge of the whole operation. Lavria moved to the back of the cell and took a seat.
"Take a break. We'll have some time to get out of here. The Hutts don't make decisions quickly. You'll need to settle yourself if we want to make it out in one piece." she said calmly. Now was not the time to rant and rage. Hopefully Lars was on his way to create a diversion. The droid was innovative, she had to hand it to him. She just needed the Jedi's cooperation in this endeavour. She realized that if they were to be successful, she had to dig up the Lavria that she had tried very hard to bury - the nice person. She sighed.
"I'm Lavria, by the way." she offered. "I'd say it was a pleasure meeting you, but it's not really. Lately, you Jedi have had a tendency to turn my world upside down." she added, but not unkindly.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Lavria Xedrim

Amani scoffed as more insults were hurled her way, stumbling into the speeder. The Gand withdrew, chittering mischievously even while he himself was subjected to the Zabrak’s rather unkind words. She took her seat defeated, giving an exasperated sigh that was cut abrupt when her partner in crime had a sudden shift in tone. Amani stared back at her quizzically, but noting an apparent degree of similarity in her words, nodded back. Still, too irritated to say anything, she was silent for their ride, trying to plan a way out of the mess she had been thrown into.

As the two of them were tossed into their cell, Amani glared at the gangsters while they walked away, turning back as she heard the Sith begin to speak and opening her mouth as if to retort. Instead, she stayed silent as her cellmate continued to use a much calmer demeanor. The padawan meandered over to the side wall, slumping down against and taking a break as she had suggested. A moment of silence passed before the Zabrak spoke again, and she found herself legitimately taken aback. “...Amani.” she offered in kind. “We turned your world upside down?” she looked around the cell they were in, remembering fully well that, at least in her mind, the deal would have gone smoothly without the Sith’s intervention. Quickly, however, she waved her hand and changed her expression, trying to defuse her own harsh words. “Sorry. There’s no use in me throwing blame around right now.” Amani finally let her guard relax and kept her tone soft. “What do you mean by that?” she asked, genuinely curious.

 

[Lavria Xedrim]

It seemed that Amani wrestled with herself before opting for playing nice in return. Lavria was a bit taken aback, however, when the padawan asked her what she had meant. The Zabrak's jaw clenched at the discomfort the seemingly innocent question brought her. Half of her wanted to snap at Amani, but on the other hand she could still hear Cas' "maybe you aren't as bad and evil as you thought you were". She was filled with fear at the time, but his words had stuck. And here she was again, stuck with a Jedi out of necessity. Only difference now is that she had already been slightly touched by the stinking Light Side. She wrestled with herself for a few seconds, but in all honesty, she was tired of trying to throw anger at it continuously - to try and bury it so that her master wouldn't retaliate. She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Few months back I had another run in with one of you, and something.....changed. When I left, he and most of his crew was still alive." she finally said, not looking at Amani. She was not about to relay the whole ordeal.

Suddenly a boom came from upstairs. "That's our queue." Lavria said as she jumped up. "I'm going to need you to keep an eye on the hallway, while I get this cell open." she continued, looking at Amani.
She closed her eyes and raised her hand as she looked for the control pad through the Force. It didn't take her long to get the door open for them. Just then, Lars came rolling down the hallway with Amani's pike in one appendage, Lavria's one saber in the other and her other in one of his compartments. "Amani, meet Lars." she said as he came closer.
Lavria smiled a genuine smile as she knelt in front of him. "You are brilliant, my friend." she told him as she took her weapons from him. He chirped at her before he turned to Amani to hand her her saber.
"We need to get going. That diversion won't last forever." she told them as she ignited her sabers. She then proceeded down the hall towards the stairs where she could hear some commotion as some dust drifted downstairs. She looked back at Lars.
"What on earth did you blow up, buddy?" she asked. Lars bleeped at her a few times.
She shook her head. "How you got a can of fuel in here, is a mystery I don't want to know. But well done."
She then turned towards Amani, her golden eyes burning with sudden malice. "You ready?" she asked, motioning with her head towards the stairs.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Lavria Xedrim

Amani leaned forward and listened to Lavria intently. It seemed that she might not be as Sith-y as she tried to be. To the Mirialan it was entirely unexpected, she never would have imagined to see this side of her, even though it was just a little bit. But it proved that behind all of that anger, there was a person. It filled her with a strange sense of comfort. Amani had been struggling to reconcile her own use of the dark side ever since it happened; But if someone as directly affiliated with the dark side as her partner here could be this way, then perhaps there was hope for both of them. Lavria did not seem keen on divulge the whole story, which Amani chose to respect despite her curiosity to inquire further. "Lavria, I-"

Her sentence was cut short by the sudden explosion that came from above, and Lavria sprang to action. "That's our queue?!" Amani echoed in confusion, joining her at the cell door, albeit less preparedly. Her vigil didn't last long as the door was quickly opened with little trouble. The distraction seemed to be proving useful, as no guards had yet to arrive either. The droid arrived not long after, and Amani knelt down to take her weapon from him, "Hello. And thank you!" She smiled, and took note of the fact that Lavria seemed genuinely attached to the droid.

"Right. No time to waste." Amani extened the hilt to its full length, choosing to keep the blade sheathed and instead using it as a quarterstaff. They approached the stairs, and she looked to Lavria, who now seemed eager for a fight. "We don't have to kill these guys, you know." she reaffirmed her statement, knowing that chances are the Sith would try to argue with her on it, "It's just going to put an even bigger target on our backs with this gang."

To try and take lead of the situation, Amani quickly pushed her way up the stairs, ensuring she would be the first through the door. "Just try to keep up!" The padawan offered some friendly competition, even she was finding something about the situation more exciting than tense now. Immediately as she pushed into the room, two gangsters were just about to approach the door, making her skid to a halt in front of them and leading to a moment of awkward pause between them. "Oh, hi." With her staff, Amani smacked the gun out of the first gangster's hand, following it up by thrusting the end into his stomach, making him double over. In an arc she swung it over to the second gangster, hitting him in the face and causing him to stumble. She spun the staff around behind his legs, tripping him to the floor and finally returning to the other gangster, smacking him on top of the head and knocking him out. Amani looked back to the stairs, then towards the rest of the room as more gangsters were soon arriving on the scene.

 

[Lavria Xedrim]

Aaaand of course the Jedi would try and prevent her from killing the sleemos that would so readily kill them. Typical.
"Do you have an actual mental affliction or are you just stupid?" she asked Amani. "They want to kill us. Ergo, we kill them first." she continued as if she was explaining to a two year old that two plus two equaled four. "You can shake their hands if you like, but if one comes at me, he dies. Simple."
Amani made a comment about a target on their backs. "What? You mean bigger than the big-ass one we already have on our backs? They do think you are in cahoots with me and I killed the Hutt's lieutenant. And I brought down the tavern on the rest of their heads. I think that has painted a large enough target on our backs. Now, if none of them are alive, none of them can collect on that target, see?" Lavria's mushy moment was gone and the Dark Side was back in all it's snarky glory.

Amani pushed past her to take the lead, probably to attempt to take control of the situation. Lavria smirked at this, but she followed with Lars at her back. As she reached the top, she heard Amani's "Oh hi".
"Oh goody!" Lavria said, her voice dripping with anticipation for this fight.
As Amani dealt with the first two, Lavria launched herself at the few that had come through the door. In a blur of red, two dropped to the floor, instantly dead before the third realized what was going on and fired off a few blaster bolts. The Sith deflected the bolts before grabbing him with the Force, swinging him up before smashing him down onto the floor where his head cracked sickly against it.
Her eyes were shining a bright yellow as she grabbed the next one through the door and choking the life out of him. Another attempted to take her from the side with a knife, but with Lavria bloated with the Dark Side, she thrust her lightsaber through him before he could get far. There was a lull in gangster movement. Lavria turned back to Amani. "You were saying something about keeping up?" she quipped with a smirk before making her way out of the room and into the next.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Lavria Xedrim

Just like that, the Zabrak returned to barraging her with insults. Amani scoffed, “You’re unbelievable.”

The patronizing continued, and Amani fired back, “Well, maybe if you didn’t, I don’t know, murder those guys, this wouldn’t be a problem to begin with!” She snapped, “If you just took a moment to respond to the situation nonviolently, life would be a lot easier!”

Alas, the two had more important things to do than bicker. Lavria joined her upstairs, and much to the padawan’s dismay, quickly extinguished the lives of several guards. She winced as one third was smashed into the ground, and was only aggravated further as the Sith felt the need to taunt her. “Also, you can’t interrogate people when they’re dead.” As if to prove her point, Amani grabbed the collar of one of the guards she had knocked out, barely lifting his head off the ground and pausing for a moment. She had most definitely never interrogated a person in her life. His head drooped lazily to the side, and the Mirialan put on her best mean face, which was… decidedly no very intimidating, with an equally unintimidating voice to match it, “Where is the holocron?!” With no response, she meekly slapped his face, barely enough to even move his head from where it lolled, “...Where is the- Alright. He’s not waking up soon.” Amani gently laid him gently back to the ground, giving up on her attempt. “But my point still stands.”

Following her partner into the next room, they both swung the corner, immediately being met with gunfire. Amani blurted out a reactionary, “Woah!” and threw up a Force barrier just in time to halt in incoming bolts. A hulking Trandoshan mercenary had been waiting for them, lugging a heavy blaster cannon that sprayed lasers indiscriminately in front of him. She had saved them for now, but it was obvious her strength wouldn’t keep up all day. “I can’t… do this… forever.” She winced, taking slow steps forward to try and close the distance. “Wanna… help out… here?”

 

[Lavria Xedrim]

Before she left for the other room, Lavria let out a sinister laugh as Amani attempted to wake the idiot she had knocked out.
"The point? Don't ask a Jedi to get results. They suck at it. Leave the interrogation to me." she quipped before taking off.
Through the door, they were met with a barrage of bolts. Amani reacted quickly, throwing up a Force barrier. Lavria was semi-impressed with this.
"Look at you being all reactionary. You can be useful after all." she smirked with mock pride. She stood with her hands on her hips while the Trandoshan sprayed away, Lars hugging her leg from behind to stay out of harm's way. Lavria snorted when Amani complained of not being able to hold up the barrier indefinitely and asking her to help out.
"Oh all right." she said, almost bored. "Lars, let go. I have to move." she added to her droid. He warbled at her in agitation. She rolled her eyes at him before facing the Trandoshan while Amani was wincing next to her. Her golden eyes scanned the room quickly. There were some containers to their left.
"Move this way. I need you to drop the barrier without you dying in the process." she told Amani, motioning to their left.

When they were behind the containers and if Amani had dropped the barrier, Lavria peeked out slightly to focus on the canon. She closed her eyes and lifted her hand slightly. With a bit of concentration, she grabbed hold of the canon with the Force and yanked it out of the lizard's hands. She then used the canon to knock his feet out from under him. He crashed to the ground and in a flash, Lavria was on him, crossing her sabers over his throat.
"You move, you die." she sneered. "Amani, get your geometric butt over here." she then called, still keeping her eye on the hissing reptile between her blades.
"Now, Milk-scale, the question is simple enough - where's the holocron?" she asked the Trandoshan.
"I won't tell you ssshhhit." he hissed.
"See, I thought you'd be stupid enough to say that." she said. She then waved two fingers, while the rest still gripped her sabers. "You will tell us where the holocron is." she commanded through the Force.
"No I won'ttt."
Lavria narrowed her golden eyes and summoned the brunt of the Dark Side. "You WILL tell us where the holocron is." she demanded, the Dark Side amplifying her voice somewhat.
"I will tell you where the holocron is." the Trandoshan answered, suddenly entranced.
"Where?"
"The boss has it. Ilo the Hutt." he answered.
"Thank you, darling." Lavria said, lifting her sabers. Before he could get up, however, the Sith planted her boot in his face, knocking him out cold as his head slapped back against the floor.
She then turned toward her partner. "See, I can play nice." she smirked. "Wanna dance with a slug?" she then asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Lavria Xedrim

Amani would have sighed in agitation, if she weren’t too focused on try to keep the two of alive to care. She only just heard Lavria over the endless gunfire, following her towards the left and quickly dropping the barrier once they were both ready. Jumping behind the containers for cover, Amani watched the Sith go to work, quickly disposing of the gunner and leaping onto him in an instant.

"Amani, get your geometric butt over here."

The Mirialan scoffed, crossing her arms and flouncing over beside Lavria. It was immediately evident that she was much better at the whole interrogation thing. Before long, the Trandoshan had revealed the location of the holocron, and Lavria surprised her even further by choosing to knock him out rather than kill him. “No fair. Using a mind trick is cheating.” Amani huffed. Still, they had more important matters to attend to, and she changed her tone, “But thank you, for not killing him. Let’s go find a Hutt.”

Two duo made their way further into the complex unimpeded. It seemed whatever resistance was left, if any, was in hiding, or had regrouped elsewhere. A set of massive double doors marked the way to the Hutt’s lair, and Amani looked to her partner, giving an affirmative nod before slowly Force pushing the doors open.

Inside, the gluttonous slug sat reclined on a dais, apparently unguarded. The only figure next to him, a protocol droid. The crime lord spoke in a guttural voice, his native tongue translated by the droid, “The great Ilo the Hutt welcomes his Jedi guests to his humble abode. He hopes you have found its services to your liking?” Though the droid’s voice was monotone, it was clear Ilo was gleefully taunting his intruders.

“Tell your Master all we want is the holocron. Just give it back, and we’ll leave in peace. There’s no reason to make this into an even bigger problem.”

The protocol droid gave the message to Ilo, who promptly laughed uproariously at the request. “Lord Ilo says he has a better idea: the two of you surrender yourselves immediately, or die. He would happily let you keep your lives as his personal slaves. Unfortunately, he sees little other use for troublesome Jedi invaders such as you.”

Amani recoiled in disgust as she watched the Hutt lick his lips. Her face burned hot, and she turned to Lavria to hide her fluster, “You wanna deal with this?” A hint of mischief hid in her words, and she gave the Sith a smirk of her own.

 

[Lavria Xedrim]

Lavria smirked as Amani pouted about using mind tricks for interrogations. "We are Force Users, honey-bun. That's what we do." she quipped. Amani then changed her tone a bit, thanking her for not killing the lizard. Lavria's smirk faded. This humanity crap was happening again. It chooses to blindside her at the strangest of times. The bright gold in her eyes faded somewhat as she looked at Amani.
"Don't tell anyone, ok? I'll be punished if it reaches the wrong ears." she said softly before following her companion through the complex.

They finally reached the Hutt's room where a protocol droid translated for them. It seemed the Hutt was getting under Amani's skin because, for the first time, Lavria could sense a sliver of the Dark Side from her. She clearly wanted to make a move on the Hutt and wanted the Sith's help to do it. Lavria grabbed Amani's upper arm.
"Careful. He's not alone in this chamber. He wants us to move on him." she said softly so that only the young Jedi could hear. "Think it through. He's bating us."
She then looked at the piece of slime on the dais. "I have a counter offer. How about he gives us the holocron and I don't kill him? See, I am no Jedi. Peace is not the Sith way." she deadpanned. She sounded more convincing than she felt. Leaving the Trandoshan alive has taken the wind out of her sails. The Dark Side had receded some. She could not decide if she wanted it back in full force or not.
The slug laughed before continuing in Huttese while holding up the holocron. "Lord Ilo says come and get it then." the droid translated.
Lavria's jaw clenched. She hated Hutts at the best of times, but this one was starting to get on her nerves. Her eyes flashed as she quickly lifted her hand and summoned the holocron with precision from his slimy hand.
"If you don't want to take me seriously, it's your mistake! Your Bothan buddy made the same one. Let's just say he lost his head a bit." she said firmly, igniting a lightsaber as the holocron sailed into her other hand. Great. She did exactly what she warned Amani against. Just great.

A bunch of mercenaries jumped out from behind the curtains around the dais and started shooting as Ilo's eyes widened in shock. Lars retreated to outside the door with a scream and a waving of appendages. At the same time, Lavria dropped the holocron in her pocket as she deflected the bolts. She then ignited her other saber and sent it straight at the Hutt with the Force. It embedded itself nicely between his eyes, killing him instantly. She pulled her saber back towards her hand with the Force while still deflecting madly with the other. She just hoped Amani had better luck and did not resent Lavria's poor life choices.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Lavria Xedrim

Amani was once again hit by the emotional whiplash that had defined her interactions with Lavria so far. More of that gentler side shone through when she had thanked the Sith for sparing their mutual foe. It was subtle, but it was there.

By the time they were in the Hutt’s chamber, they had practically switched roles. Amani was burning with frustration, when she felt a grab at her arm. She swung around to face Lavria, who spoke in a much more sober tone that completely disarmed the padawan of her prior hotheadedness. “...Right.” She whispered with a nod, letting the Sith take over negotiations.

And then the Hutt taunted them.

It wasn’t long after that blaster bolts lit up the room, and Amani followed suit out of the room, a stray shot singing the tail end of her jacket. “Phewww..” Amani sighed in both exhaustion and relief as they found cover from the attackers. She didn’t exactly see the end result of what happened, but as Lavria threw her lightsaber back into the room, Amani gave her a wide-eyed stare. “Did you just-” A sizzle of hot plasma, and the briefest of silences that hit the room confirmed her suspicion. “You did.” She had killed the crime lord.

Another sigh of exasperation, and Amani began to pull at the doors with the Force, shutting them closed to hold the mercenaries inside for a little while longer. “Okay, time to go now?” The sound of lasers striking and begging to burn through the door proved that even if she kept holding the door closed, it wouldn’t stop them from getting through soon enough. The padawan backed up, still focusing on the door as she moved further down the hallway, gesturing for Lavria to join her. “I’m going to let go of this door, and we’re going to run. Got it?” She’d never expected herself to place this much trust in another Sith before, but life had been full of surprises lately. She dropped her concentration, the door swung open, and Amani began to bolt down the corridor, hoping her partner wasn’t far behind.

 

[Lavria Xedrim]

Amani seemed somewhat surprised that Lavria had just impaled the Hutt. She pulled up her shoulders as the Jedi stared at her.
"I don't like Hutts, ok? They creep me out." she said nonchalantly. "At least I got us the holocron, so stop complaining."
Amani huffed at her before she turned and pulled the doors shut with the Force, while saying that it was time to go.
"Agreed. I want to get out of this karkhole now." she said, sheathing her sabers as the sound of blaster bolts hammered the door.
Amani beckoned to the Sith as she backed down the hall, telling her that they will have to make a run for it when she lets go of the doors.
"Fine." she sighed, igniting her sabers once more. "Lars, get moving, buddy. Get your parts back to the ship. I'll meet you there." she told her droid. He warbled at her, but took off down the hall, nonetheless.

When he was out of sight, Amani let go of the doors and bolted. Lavria retreated a good way down the hall too, before she stopped and turned around.
"Cover me!" she called to Amani as she lifted her hands and closed her eyes.
Pulling on the brunt of the Force, she repeated her parlour trick of earlier and pulled down a part of the roof. The mercenaries halted their pursuit to avoid being hit by falling concrete.

Lavria dropped her hands. "That should slow them down. Let's get moving." she said, turning around and making a beeline for the exit, hoping that Amani would follow. On the way, she noticed Lars' handiwork and made a mental note to give her droid some more credit. As they reached the outside, Lavria let out a slight sigh of relief. She had started to feel the draining effects of the Force - something that has never happened before. This scared her slightly, as it meant only one thing - the Light Side had gotten a little foothold within her. She pushed the thought into the back of her mind and straightened up, facing Amani.
"I suppose it won't be long before they get out and start chasing us again, but I need to know something. Why were you really looking for this holocron? If the Order had sent you for it, they would have also sent someone with you. So why are you really here?" she asked sincerely, all malice and snarkiness gone from here voice, which surprised even her. This strange partnership was starting to screw with her head. It was almost as if she considered the Jedi a friend after their whole ordeal. Where in the life would a Sith befriend a Jedi, she wondered.

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Lavria Xedrim

Pushing further out of the complex, she skidded to a halt at Lavria’s request. A few stray shots sprayed down the hall, and Amani pulled out her blade, deflecting any that got too close to her partner for comfort. Within a few moments, the Sith managed to pull part of the roof down, giving them one more opening to escape.

Finally outside, and once they had moved a safe distance away from the Hutt’s palace, Amani slumped against the wall of the alley they hid into. Her breathing bordered on hyperventilation as the adrenaline from the excitement still lingered. “Whew... That was…” She shook her head, catching her breath and managing to calm down enough that she could focus on Lavria’s words. Her tone had once again grown calm, and Amani could even sense a hint of the light within her. She was beginning to feel just as confused by everything by now. The question gave her pause, “I, uh…” Amani stood up a little straighter, rubbing her arm uncomfortably, “I have… something I need to do. And I need to get stronger if I’m gonna do it. I didn’t feel like I was learning enough from some simple padawan classes, so... I figured I’d look for something on my own.” She gestured towards the holocron, a hint of desperation hitting her voice, “I don’t know exactly what all is in there but… I need it.”

 

[Lavria Xedrim]

Lavria listened as Amani tried to explain the method behind her madness today, while still catching her breath. For the first time in a very long time, the Sith was at a loss for words. She gaped at Amani's words of seeking hidden knowledge. Finally, mouth and brain caught up with one another.
"That's rogue-talk. Don't let the wrong person hear you say that. You'll get expelled from the Order." she eventually blurted. It felt odd to hear a Jedi speak like that. It caught Lavria off guard. She looked down at the holocron in her hand. If she let this go, Master Zul would be furious. But she could not help but feel that she wanted to help Amani in whatever endeavour she needed knowledge on. The wheels in her head were turning in overtime. Spare herself the wrath of her master or help the person who had added greatly in their escape from Hutt clutches.

Eventually she looked back at Amani, her eyes now dimmed to bronze. She had made the decision that she would probably regret for the rest of her life. Slowly, she stretched out her hand, offering the holocron to her. "I hope it's worth all this." she said. She had no idea what her master would do if she told him that the Jedi got away with the holocron. To let any hidden knowledge fall into Jedi hands, was a problem that won't go unpunished. Lavria was starting to resent this. To second guess the Sith Code.
"Do you......do you think everything is as clear cut as the Sith and the Jedi want us to believe?" she asked hesitantly, the question barely audible. When the words left her lips, she realised she was speaking treason. She'd be killed. She pursed her lips to stop anything else escaping.
"Forget it. I should go break the bad news of the lost holocron to my master. He's probably already wondering why I'm not checking in." she said after a slight pause, but her tone was still lacked heart.

Amani Serys