Change Must Come Through the Barrel of a Gun

[PadawnPrawn]

"Yeah, Naboo is largely unspoiled. I lived practically in the middle of nowhere." he said, thinking about where he used to live for a moment before turning his attention back to [member="Emerald Sage"]. Once he felt her arm around his shoulders, he turned his head towards her and felt strangely relaxed. He wasn't sure if it was just the presence of another person or if it was because she was being friendly, perhaps too friendly... but he didn't notice.

The Padawan nodded. "I can do that."

Fletcher, unsure how to respond at first, blushed. "Um.. thank you." he smiled at her and panicked mentally. Was he supposed to compliment her back? "You are too." he said quickly, regretting it immediately after. He silently cursed himself before realising he had a job to do. He quickly stepped from the speeder with the tracker and nodded at Emerald.

Whilst the guards were distracted, Fletcher moved quickly and quietly, making sure he wasn't spotted. He did everything he was told to and placed the tracker on the speeder, staying crouched next to the vehicle whilst he stared at Emerald, lost in thought.

 

[Emerald Sage]

Emerald looked over one of the men’s shoulders and stared at [member="Fletcher Lorcan"] kneeling behind the speeder transfixed on her, lost in his thoughts. Perhaps she used too much pheromones on him before leaving. Wouldn’t that be a shame? she thought sarcastically to herself. “You boys are so helpful,” she said swatting at one of their chests in a flirty way. “I just need to go back the way I came, and then turn a right and a left on sunstreet?” Her hand played with a few strands of hair. “That’s so great, I might not even be too late,” and then bubbly she added, “just fashionably late.”

She winked over at Fletcher and licked her lips. “Hey I tell you what, if you’re ever at the clover club, just ask for Jade,” Emerald rested her arms on one of the mens shoulders and closed in with her body. “Just ask for Jade… “ again she repeated it, “and I’ll see you have a great escape from reality.” She emphasized escape and mouthed it wide in the direction of Fletcher. She wouldn’t be able to keep the attention of the guards much longer, at least not more than one or two. “But I’ve really got to go. I’m meeting some friend over at the Casino. When you boys get off you should come over and party hard with us.”

 

[PadawnPrawn]

After a few seconds of realisation by what she meant, Fletcher got up and ran from the speeder, though being careful. How could he be so foolish? He glanced at Emerald and found himself smiling, though he didn't mean to. The Padawan looked away and pressed himself flat against a wall. He was unable to think straight or even clearly. It was all so exciting yet all so frightening.

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

Once [member="Fletcher Lorcan"] was clear Emerald smiled, winked at the men, and then left retreating back to her speeder. She vaulted over the door and into the seat before pressing the acceleration and whisking around the corner to where Fletcher waited.”C’mon secret agent,” she said, “You did good we will know everywhere he goes.”

After Fletcher got into the speeder she shot off. She wasn’t sticking around to follow the man, thats why they had placed the tracker to begin with. “Let me take you back to my place,” she said. “We will wait a day or two and follow his car on the tracker and see where he goes. Home, work, various locations. If anything abnormal comes up we can guess its probably being used for illegal activities.” She let out a little shrug as the peeder accelerated. Emerald liked to move fast.

She had a safehouse in the district. It was a loft over a nightclub. She didn’t get much sleep here. The lost looked abandoned. It was nearly empty with a single mattress, not even a full bed, on the ground. The only other furniture was a workbench, a couch, and a small couch. “It isn’t much,” she said upon entering and setting up a computer, ”but its home. From here we can plan our next move. Though I gotta warn you, this sort of thing… it gets boring.Talking passes the time. You could always tell me more about yourself. I know where you’re from. That you’re a Jedi. But you’re really a mystery. Hey, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?G ot any fun stories? How do you like being a Jedi. We got time.” She sat down on the couch and threw off her shoes and throwing her legs into the air before resting them high in the air on the workbench. Thats when a devilish smile appeared on her face, “Unless you can think of another way to pass the time.” And then she winked another damned wink.

 

[PadawnPrawn]

Fletcher wandered around the loft, looking at everything in turn before finally settling besides her on the couch. "To be honest, it's tidier than my room." he smiled and turned to her. He didn't spend a lot of time with other people since he had become a Jedi, most of his time was devoted to practice, missions or his master.

"I'm not really a mystery, I'm an open book." he said, not really being ashamed of anything as such. "I'm the last light sider in my family if you care to know that." he said, glancing away from her for a moment. "I have no stories either, except how I got this scar." he said, pointing to the scar across his eye. "But even that's not a good one."

The Padawan blushed when he was winked at, innocent and naive. Was this a custom? Jedi didn't treat each other this way. Nonetheless, he liked her. He thought she was far more interesting than anyone else he had met. "Not really, but I'm up for anything." he said confidently. "Provided that it's within the boundaries of the Jedi code." he added with a smile.

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

“It’s always business with you.” Emerald pulled him over next to her on the couch. “Conversations go both ways you know.” She waggled her toe around in the air a little bit. “tit for tat…” Her face contorted into a pouty look, as her hand looped behind Fletchers hand. “Let’s a girl know she’s appreciated and shows how much you care.”

“Makes you look, dashing really,” she said reaching out and touching the scar he had indicated over his eye.Then her hand flattened running over his forehead and combing through his hair. “My mother…” she said staring him in the eyes, “Was the sith overseer of this sector back when there was a Sith Empire, before the One Sith.” she let out a little sigh, “I understand how you feel…”

“You haven’t really done much of this have you?” Then a laugh to break the somber mood. “And I saw you looking at me when you planted that tracker….”

[member="Fletcher Lorcan"]

 

[PadawnPrawn]

"It's just what I'm trained to do..." he said. "Well I care. You're nice. Nicer than a lot of people I meet." he said, which he believed to be true. "and you're a lot prettier than everyone else I meet." he added quietly.

Fletcher smiled at her shyly and kept his eyes on hers. Once she had mentioned that her mother was a Sith overseer, his eyes brightened up, maybe there was someone who understood him after all. It was comforting knowing someone felt the same way as you, it was a way of feeling well.. not alone.

"I was just admiring your work and I thought you looked, well... beautiful." he said, regaining the confidence he had earlier hidden.

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

Emerald smiled. “You think I’m beautiful?” a chuckle followed the words. “A lot pretty than everyone else you meet.” She pulled him close and gave him a kiss on the lips. “You’re sweet in a cute sort of awkward way.”

Considering him for a moment Emerald squeezed him tighter with a hug. He was a good person afterall. Although she generally had a low opinion of good people Fletcher seemed different. “[member="Fletcher Lorcan"], was that against the code?” Winking he leaned back into the couch. “You admired the way I work. Well I can teach you that. How to con people without a Jedi Mind trick. How to work make people see what you want them to. It’s all part of the game.” The Spy Game. Not that she would ever admit she was a spy of any sort. “Deception. It’s something that is infinitely useful. Even to you Jedi.”

 

[PadawnPrawn]

Fletcher was startled to have been given a kiss, but didn't move back. He looked away, feeling embarrassed. "Thank you?" he said, unsure to whether it was a compliment or not.

"No." he smirked at her. "It's all part of the game..." he repeated, thinking about it momentarily before nodding in agreement. "It certainly sounds useful, plus people never listen to me." he said as he put his arm around her shoulders. The Padawan smiled and kissed her on the cheek. It was all just fun and games.

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

“Soooo…” Emerald said standing up and grabbing his hands. She pulled him towards the door. “We have time, we need to see if he develops any pattern. And you look like…” Quirking an eyebrow she looked him up and down examining him. “Well you look like a Jedi. Since Sasha Santhe is paying…” She shrugged. “You ever been on a date? You’re taking me on a date. We need to go shopping…”

Not that Emerald needed an excuse to go shopping… she loved shopping. Still she needed to make sure this youth would be able to better fit in if they were going to do this job. “You wanna drive the speeder? I can give you directions.” She let go with one hand and went out the door. “It will be fun.” And it will help [member="Fletcher Lorcan"] fit in better.

 

[PadawnPrawn]

"Well that's because all Jedi tend to look like... Jedi." Fletcher said, looking down at his attire. All his clothes looked the same, it probably looked like he wore the same outfit everyday. "No, what's a date?" he asked with a frown, he had never been on or heard of a date since pretty much all his time was spent around other Jedi Padawans.

"Sure. I can drive." he said, having driven a couple of times before. "Since we've got nothing else to do, I don't see why not..." he said, thinking about it momentarily. His master couldn't scold him for this, right?

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

“A date is a social or romantic appointment,” Emerald winked as they jumped into the speeder and took off. “So our date is going shopping. I like shopping and if we’re going to pull this off we need you to blend in.” Emerald shrugged as [member="Fletcher Lorcan"] drove the speeder. She gave him directions around corners and through the streets until finally reaching a large strip mall.

There was plenty of different outlet stores and Emerald picked one. “Here we go,” she said walking him into the store. There was plenty of clothing to choose from. Emerald picked up a particular one and put it in front of the young man sizing him up. “There are changing rooms in the back…” she said dragging him along and pulling several more items of clothing as they go. “So you’ve never been on a date huh?”

 

[PadawnPrawn]

Fletcher followed her directions, though still not entirely sure what the purpose of a date was. He followed her into the store and looked around, he had never been shopping for clothes in his life. It was all so bewildering. But he smiled and went along with her free-willingly even as she dragged him to another part of the store. Though he didn't want to admit it, he enjoyed spending time with her, she was a lot more fun than anyone he knew. But then again, his master had probably offered to take him shopping before and he'd probably refused, it wouldn't surprise him.

"Well no, I don't suppose Jedi are allowed to, are they? If it's romantic..." he said, glancing at the clothes and then at her. "Besides when would I ever get the time to do this? I've been training continuously for seven years now and I've been a Padawan for five, maybe six of them. I'm so busy and the Jedi are so strict."

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

Emerald laughed and pushed him into the changing room, “Try those on,” she said closing the curtain and putting her hands behind her and rolling on a heels to put her back to the room. “As an agent of Tion I am always on duty.” She thought about her words for a moment. “Duty to my cluster, to my employers, to my conscious,” Purposely she left out family. “So I’ve made it a duty to have fun.” she shrugged. “All work and no play and all that.”

Speaking of play… Emerald turned and opened up the curtain starring in as [member="Fletcher Lorcan"] was in the process of changing. “What’s taking so long? I’m a girl and I get dressed quicker!”

 

[PadawnPrawn]

"I have a duty too, but I suppose I'm not that important." he said, his eyes quickly skimming around the place. "Sounds like a fun job. Being a Jedi is more of a way of life, or at least to me it is. I don't think having fun is exactly... encouraged within the order." he said, making it sound as though Jedi were the most boring people in the galaxy, though he had no way to tell if that were true or not since he was one of them.

The Padawan turned to her and pulled a shirt over his head. "Do you mind?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. His lips slowly curled into a smile and he shook his head at her, pulling the shirt down.

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

“I don’t mind one bit,” Emerald said looking at [member="Fletcher Lorcan"] put on his shirt. As he pulled it over his head she closed the distance between them and grabbed pulling him from the store. “I’ve arranged for Sasha Santhe’s credit to buy all of this,” she indicated the piles of clothing. “And have them delivered back to the loft…” She winked and pulled him out, “We’re taking this to go…” she indicated what she was wearing. “Now lets give these terrorists some trouble.”

The speeder zoomed down the road until they reached a small secluded part of the city. Warehouses, “There is a man inside there who weapons. This includes explosives. If he didn’t sell the explosives that breached our facility where the weapon components were stolen then it’s a good bet he knows who did sell them. Do how do you think we should play this? What is your idea to extract the information we need from him?”

 

[PadawnPrawn]

"Really? This seems more... recreational than work." Fletcher said, frowning. He had never done anything like what they were doing and being his first mission alone, he was confused as to whether all missions would be like this. It was clear in his actions that he was inexperienced. He followed her slowly, groaning in frustration as he was dragged from the store. Despite being a Jedi, he was still a teenager.

Once they reached the warehouses, he became lost in thoughts for a moment and smiled at her absent mindedly before realising what she was saying and regaining his serious manner. "We could go undercover?" he suggested quickly in an attempt to disguise the fact he had just been staring at her blankly instead of listening.

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

“It is both. Remember what I said, I’m always on duty, so part of my duty is to have fun.” She winked.

Emerald looked over at the youth now aware of his comment to go under cover. “How do you go under cover? What is your cover identity, who are you? What deception will you use in order to get close to the target. What role will you play that will make him give up a customer?” Emerald smiled. “You see it isn’t just about pretending to be someone else, walking up to the man and asking questions. His business is selling illegal goods. These goods are destructive. He wouldn’t stay in business if he gave up his customers. We need to incentivize him."

[member="Fletcher Lorcan"]

 

[PadawnPrawn]

"My job isn't like that..." he muttered. Fletcher frowned as he listened to her, beginning to realise he wasn't as good at this job as he originally thought. "Bribe him? Give him something he wants?" he suggested, though he wasn't paying attention and had stopped listening half way through what she was saying. The Padawan stared blankly at nothingness, he was always easily distracted and lost in thought, a trait which almost cost him his life more times than he cared to admit.

[member="Emerald Sage"]

 

[Emerald Sage]

Emerald smiled over at him. “Bribery won’t work,” she stated. “He gives explosives to bad people, no matter how much money we give him he won’t sell out his clients because if he does will kill him.” Shrugging Emerald stepped out of the Speeder and looked around. “So,” she walked around to the back of the speeder and opened up the trunk pulling out a few blasters and handing one to [member="Fletcher Lorcan"]. “We need to convince him that we’re just as scary….” her eyes narrowed.

“We walk up, pretend one of his clients tried to blow us up. Intimidation. Maybe hang him off a building.” She shrugged. “Or do your Jedi sensibilities stop you from doing what must be done?”