Fear. Fear Attracts The...

[Connor Harrison]

Theed City
Naboo, Chommell Sector​

The shuttle ride was nice and smooth on entry to the Naboo spaceport. The sky was a hazy pink. The night was drawing in.

Joon was sat alone, with her tan cloak and fur pulled tight around her. Yes, it belonged to her old Master, Ayra, but she was dead. The dead had no care for such material possessions, and so it was hers. It had kept her warm during those cold nights on Duro, as she was forced to make her own life after being abandoned by everyone else who promised to be there for her.

Her dark eyes stared out at the expansive planet below, especially Theed. It was a place like she'd never seen before. So many buildings and colour. Lots of nature. Lots of heartbeats and dreams among the people there.

Ayra had mentioned Naboo before to Joon, about it being a key planet, or something? A place rich in resources ruled by old-age families who were as corrupt as the Jedi who protected them.

Sounded the perfect place to stir up a little noise.

- - - - -​

Joon walked across the large spaceport with no belongings, except the one tied to her side. She glanced around as she followed a small crowd to take another transport up to the city, and there she saw the palace. Here eyes went a little wider, and she made that her target.

It didn't take long at all for the auto-pilot to bring the transport up and around and down into the large oval plaza where tourists could make their way to any area of Theed. Guards were dotted around, elegant looking men and women walked around, a few entertainers, and river.

Joon glanced around and inhaled slowly, and started off on a casual, care-free walk towards the perimeter of the mangnifcent palace, working on that naive, wide-eyed expression that her old-self bore so much in the past.

When she was weak, of course.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

With all of the craziness going on surrounding Naboo as of late, Jamie found herself, and her nerves, near wits end. Vrak had been imprisoned finally, the bounty claimed and taken care of. Suravi was still on the loose. Her training had yet to be completed and thus required frequent trips off world. Her situation with her boyfriend was a mess, she had taken countless beatings in recent past, and to top it off, her family situation was still in the ruts.

At least thankfully things had been quiet over the past few weeks.

Unfortunately if someone wasn't setting off bombs in the center of Theed, dropping empion mines at the spaceport, or abducting and torturing her, it wasn't an average week. As far as her cynical side was concerned, they were due for another disaster any day now.

Though she much preferred to just linger in relative peace, if it was all the same to the rest of the galaxy. Jamie had been tending to the courtyards and gardens most of the morning, seeing to their landscape and health. Flowers and nature made her most comfortable, and this area of the palace served to appease that need for nature, even while performing her noble duties.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

These people – these mindless creatures – all seemed so ignorant[/].

So unaware, and so inward. Strolling around and laughing and talking and painting pictures with their hands, dressed in their various colours and sweeping coats or dresses.

What a strange place. Clearly one founded on luxury and riches rather than hard-work and poverty.

The large palace consumed most of the horizon before Joon, and she stopped for a moment to admire the architecture of it. Nothing as mighty as the Empire’s creations, for it was very soft in design and plain, but still impressive.

She took a more casual pace now, sauntering around a plaza looking at people and buildings, running her hand along a pruned hedge that went all around in a semi-circle shape. A few busy bodies were working away, a few wandering around.

An emerald green speeder passed through, and a large crimson tri-engine ship flew over-head catching her attention. Joon walked along the grass, sweeping the hedge without a care in the world.

”Excuse me, girl,” she said to the blonde tending some flowers, ”but who runs this planet and resides in this place?”

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The blonde heard the voice behind her call out. Given her current state, she assumed the voice was calling for her. Jamie dusted off her hands from the bit of soil belonging to one of the plants she had re-rooted in another area better suited for achieving proper sunlight and then stood up. Turning, she saw what looked to be a woman, shorter than she though more toned, at least in her upper body, and much older than she. The Padawan tilted her head with a slight bow.

"No intrusion at all, Ma'am." She offered a warm smile. "This palace belongs to the royal crown, our current King, Marcello Matteo. However a great many reside here. I myself have an office within the inner sanctum, as do most of the royal delegates." That would infer that she was at least a noble herself, and that she held some sway with the crown. Fact was that she was one of the few that aided in presenting the word of the King during times of public crisis, as well as being the face of their galactic embassies whenever called upon.

"My name is Jamie. What is it I can do for you?"

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon looked at the palace while the girl - Jamie - spoke. She seemed harmless. She had an aura to her, and it was very peaceful.

The birds tweeted high above darting around the high clouds.

”A King,” she muttered to herself. ”Wow.”

With a lazy turn of the head, Joon looked to the gardener and narrowed her eyes.

”Who are you, Jamie? And what allegiance does this King have to the galaxy? Who does he serve?”

Jamie must have known everyone serves someone - something - high above. Power wasn't earned, it was dispensed. Kings ruled for others sitting in the shadows. Queens ruled for people pulling strings behind the scenes. Everyone was a pawn in a much larger game.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Lots of questions I see.

"Me? I serve the crown as a member of the court, an ambassador and humanitarian where needed."

Pretty simple and straightforward. Her reply would indicate that she was obviously of nobility, but the way she spoke would give that away long before the subject of her words would.

"As for King Matteo? He serves the people of this planet. That is all. He is an elected ruler, by the people. His job is to oversee the planet's economic, defense, judicial and legal branches."

He had a great many jobs, as well as titles, both former and present. Jedi Master being one of them.

"As for an allegiance? I suppose the closest thing one could say would be the Galactic Alliance, though that is one of mutual agreements, more than loyalty towards them. Why do you ask?"

These seemed to be oddly probing questions for a passing conversation.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

She gave Jamie another once over, and looked at the flowers she had been attending, and then back to the palace, squinting a little at the sun light in the sky.

The King sounded a little weak. While he oversaw all the strengths of the planet, he was led by people. People were fickle, and were weak and easily led. They were the ones who had to be led, not the other way around.

And the Alliance? They were trouble. And this girl? She obviously was trouble also. She was here to answer questions, not ask them.

”The Galactic Alliance are supporters of Jedi Knights and support their barbaric acts. If you King seems to be in agreements with them, then he is a coward and not fit to serve.”

She closed the gap, as if she were nobility walking to a handmaiden and stared into her eyes on that pretty little face. The clear skin, golden hair, the rosy lips and overall etiquette. She had been provided for and had it on a silver platter.

”I demand to speak to him at once.”

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The blonde took a step back, straightening up as the woman's tongue came rather venomous. Jamie bit the inside of her lip. Not least because she was a Jedi herself, at least in practice, perhaps not in title or affiliation. She was in fact, not directly linked to the New Jedi Order, or any other for that matter. Still, she represented a great majority of their values, and practice of the light side of the Force.

"King Matteo is off-world currently, seeing to a disaster at a neighboring planet. I'm sorry, but he is not available."

The girl was almost afraid to ask, but still decided to inquire as to what the purpose of Joon's presence on Naboo was.

"Is there something I can do for you in his stead?" She was after all, a member of the royal court and had the authority to speak on the king's behalf when and where necessary, provided it were in the best interests of the people.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

With a silent sigh, evident by the slow rise and fall in Joon’s shoulders, her eyes narrowed slightly. She stepped forward to the girl again, keeping the gap tight.

”You don’t hold any sway over a King. Do not waste my time. But you can tell him that the days of a complacent rule are numbered, and Naboo will become an example to many who long for order to reign rather than the people.”

She wanted to turn, but found this Jamie fascinating. The aura she had was complex, and Joon wanted to feed of it. Her eyes closed and she turned her head up, like an animal finding a scent.

”Why are you fearful, Jamie. Do I make you nervous?”

She grinned, still not looking at the girl, still with her eyes closed.

Feed me, child.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

This girl had a familiarity to her. Not her specifically, but one she had found common in a number of other less than favorable others she'd encountered before.

Sith.

The blonde crinkled her nose, taking another single step back. Her muscles tensed at the words she spoke, a slight draw at her lips pulling her into a frown.

"You confuse order with tyranny, like Sith." While Jamie wasn't entirely confident in her assertion, she believed if she tempted the right words in front of the woman she would affirm Jamie's suspicions. "Naboo is a sovereign world, ruled by democratic monarchy."

Was she threatening the planet? The king? Her? Her motives were clouded by the darkside of the Force.

"I believe you've already wasted your own time in believing that."

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

At the mention of the word, Joon opened her eyes, and lazily brought her head down. Were people so narrow-minded?

”Sith. ”

She stepped forward again, her wedged boot crushing a pink flower into the grass she was now on.

”Sith are Force users who serve the Dark Side of the Force in order to control the galaxy, and they live for one thing and one thing only. To fight and destroy Jedi Knights. Naboo is a world ruled by a democratic monarchy you say? Well, that is why your whole monarchy is doomed, and thus, your planet. ”

Joon lunged her body forward and her arm, and grabbed the girl by the throat, her eyes flaring to life and her smile sickly sweet.

”I am not Sith. I am much, much worse. ”

She bit her lip and pushed Jamie back towards the row of flowers and greenery decorating the yard she had had been tending to. A push not with the Force, but a push like one would bat away a play thing.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

It seemed Jamie sparked a nerve in Joon. The blonde felt the forceful grip of the others' fingers around her neck tighten, then shove her back. Jamie stumbled, her feet working to ensure she didn't fall back onto her rear. Only after she regained her balance and composure did she see the flowers that Joon had intentionally crushed beneath her boot. As if that singular flower had in some way accosted her.

Her eyes glared back at the woman in front of her. The assault would not go unnoticed.

Whatever she was claiming to be, worse than Sith, was worrisome. "You should leave here immediately." Jamie advised through clenched jaws.

"Before it's too late."

What was with people and attacking Naboo, and her directly, lately?!

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon looked around - yes, people were staring, a couple turning the other way. Another young man running into the far yard. She narrowed her eyes at the man, probably going to run for help. Coward.

”Don't threaten me,” she said, turning and smiling at Jamie, ”because otherwise I'll bring the Empire knocking at your door. Or rather, blowing it to pieces.”

She took her time to walk around the girl, now seething a little. It was nice to feel.

”I don't want to hurt you Jamie, why fight? All I want is for your King to open up to those out there who would actually do some good for this world and the system. Those like the Empire.”

Giving her a sweet smile, Joon shrugged.

”Get your head out of the clouds, and let's talk. Is there anywhere we can go without peasants looking on? It's so off-putting and...embarrassing.”

Her head shook slightly in disgust. Then, cocked her head with a curious smirk.

”Are you a Jedi, Jamie?”

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The empire?

For a moment she looked confused. She heard rumblings of a new shadow government rising somewhere off in space, but little more than that. Naboo had bigger problems, namely the First Order, knocking at the door on the far edges of Alliance space. Wherever this empire was born was hardly worth her time of day in the moment. Priorities, after all.

"The King, like his people, will not subject the planet to tyrannical rule. We are sovereign. We do not need your empire. Nor will we accept it."

The blonde reached for her side, ornate Cambylictus wood hilt housing the brilliant yellow blade hidden within. Taking it in hand she held herself in place. "I will ask again that you leave this place." The question as to whether or not the girl was a Jedi would likely answer itself. The request for somewhere more appropriate to 'talk' was ignored.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

At first, it was disheartening to be rebuffed so quickly. But secondly, at the sign of a lightsaber, Joon knew an aggressive foe when she saw one. Her amber eyes flared and narrowed.

”Do NOT under-estimate the Imperial war-machine, Jamie. Naboo will burn and a new regime will soon rule. Be it we get there first or another.”

She glanced at the lightsaber at her side.

”Come on. Strike at me. I was like you, once, and then I woke up. Maybe it's not too late for you to wake up either.”

The clone turned her body slightly into the girl, and waved her on.

”Do you want to wake up, Jamie, from this nightmare you're in?”

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The blonde girl stood where she was, silent, studying the other. She would hardly be convinced to strike first. Her lightsaber hadn't even the capacity to kill or dismember, after all. Jamie was patient, calculated. She knew when another was trying to instigate her, to weave their web around her feelings. To try and take control of her and use things like fear and anger to get the better of her.

Jamie wouldn't have it.

"Imperial, Sith, First Order, it makes no difference. I will stand against any foreign force intent on destroying my people's home and way of life, you included."

The Padawan ignored the beckon, the taunt even, to strike at her. The weapon remained in her hand though, finger at the ready, mind clear and focused. The light side of the Force would well within her, extending outwards to touch that of Joon. The woman would feel her presence elevate, likely reel from the very thought of it, but it was her own measure of taunting.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Joon smiled, then grinned and broke into a little laugh. It was so fascinating meeting these sort of people.

”First Order? Sounds interesting. But no, I do not want to destroy your world. I simply see it as - ”

She stopped and turned around as quick as a flash and held her hand out in a grip; the advancing guard, armed with what looked like a staff, was frozen on the spot. Joon tutted, and turned to Jamie.

” - predictable.”

The guard cried as his throat seemed to bubble, and he gurgled once, twice, and then fell to the floor as Joon let him go. Maybe he was dead, she didn't care. He was down. Jamie was more important.

She turned fully to her and pulled her lightsaber hilt out slowly, as if playing with her, and the clone had a excited glow to her.

”You're such a pretty human, Jamie. I'm going to make you my personal play-thing.”

She ignited the crimson saber with a sharp snap-hiss and hissed at her, making her move - a lunge forward, direct to the chest to skewer her.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

This woman reminded her of another. A Sith Pureblood. Vrak. She claimed not to be Sith, yet she shared the very same behavioral patterns as he. Whether she acknowledged it in name or not, she was what she was. The guard's life was forfeit, a sad truth and tragedy. One she would mourn once she'd dealt with this new threat at her doorstep. It seemed she had become the attraction for these types as of late.

Jamie's eye shifted from Joon to the man as he lay quietly on the ground, a twitch of her lip pulling to the side before her attention shifted once more to Joon.

It was a bold move, striking at her alone in the middle of the palace. The crackling bite of the woman's red blade at the air was the only bit of warning the blonde needed. One step forward into her advance and Jamie's sun colored blade stormed forward, two hands carrying the beam crashing against Joon's, sending it down into the grass, leaving a terrible scorch mark as it lingered a moment in the soil.

The girl released her left hand on the lightsaber, shoving forward nearly touching Joon's chest, sending a sudden rush of Force energy forward in an attempt to throw her hard and fast back against the nearby pillars, all the while remaining utterly silent.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

A blade as orange as the sun – or as amber as her eyes.

Joon grinned for a second as the blades clashed with that satisfying spark.

While it was her first confrontation in over a year, she wanted to relish every moment and learn from it. As he hands were brought down with the block, Jamie launched her Force burst and it sent Joon falling back, something she only partially fell into with a half-corkscrew turn to land on her knee, the lightsaber distinguished.

She looked up at Jamie, now with a tight face full of determination.

Joon held her hand up.

”Wait…please…I’m sorry.”

She took her breath and hung her head.

”I’m scared! I’m alone. I don’t know where I belong or with whom…I don’t know what my purpose is and I...I lash out.”

Her hand stayed up, palm out to ward Jamie off.

She dropped her head a little more, hair falling down either side of her face.

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie hadn't moved from her place. She did however perk an eye towards the sudden change in demeanor. Not more than a few seconds prior the woman had nearly attempted to kill her, threatened to take her prisoner. The blonde was well used to the tricks employed by the Sith, having been subjected to them a multitude of times already, and several times over, by both Waide and Vrak on Ossus, Prakith, and Naboo.

She was no longer as naive and careless as she had been in the past.

Her lightsaber remained lit in a defensive posture. "Throw me your weapon! Get on the ground and keep your hands where I can see them!"

Jamie wasn't going to take any chances with this woman's unsettling presence.

[member="Joon"]