Grinding Glass Into Wounds

[Mayumi Kochi]

Nar Shaddaa (Random Cantina)

Mayumi Kochi sat quietly on the stool staring at the glass in her hand. The whiskey had not helped her mood, though it did give her a pleasant burn in her throat.

Thinking back over the past month was enough to give her a pounding headache. It was liking waking up in a dream; one minute they were floating through her territory outside of her Nar Shaddaa and the next minute they were being fired upon. Apparently this new dimension did not like a pirate owning a star destroyer.

After realizing what had happened she had spent the last month torturing and interrogating people trying to find a way back to her dimension. It was now that she was only beginning to accept that she was stuck in this dimension and she was going to have to start all over again.

Now, in this random cantina, she had to figure out where to go from here.

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"]

Aaran found himself back on the smugglers moon. Only this time it was not in a stolen ship full of dead bodies. No he was passing by on his way to his next destination. What had started out as a need for more work and turned into opportunity after opportunity. He popped into a Cantina to grab a drink before moving on making sure to avoid the one he had been in on his last visit.

As he took a seat on a stool at the bar he noticed a woman holding a glass of whiskey like it was her only possession. He knew the look and the sentiment. His hood concealed his face as always but his head turned towards her.

"Drowning in whiskey doesn't help...............trust me I know." "Not a month earlier I was where you are now trying to chase my past with no solid plans for the future." "It was not until I found a new home and I fresh start that I found some measure of purpose though peace still alludes me."

 

[Qhorin Solas]

Cronos Aegir waved his hand at the heavily armed and armored men standing across from him. "The men you seek are gone."

"The frakkers got away," one enforcer said. "Cowards are probably hiding," the second said. "Should'a shot'em when we had the chance," said the third.

Another hand wave. "They are fleeing to the lower levels. If you run, you might catch them."

"Let's go!" an enforcer exclaimed. "Move out," said the other. "Me first!" chimed the third. The three of them took off, spilling out of the cantina's back room in a tumble of armored bodies. Cronos counted to thirty, and made a gesture.

Two young, scruffy spacers emerged from behind a stack of boxes. They were brothers, and they'd run afoul of the Hutt's after having their cargo confiscated by the Republic. Hence Cronos' involvement.

The former Inquisitor and intelligence agent knew a thing or two about the criminal underworld, and he knew the benefit of having a pair of moderately competent smugglers in your debt. Even if they'd have to lay low for a while, it was easier for a smuggler to keep his ear to the ground than a Jedi, and in the eternal fight for galactic peace, every bit of information gathered and every contact made was valuable.

"Thanks," the older brother said. "Err, it's Marcus, right?"

Cronos nodded. "That's right. Marcus. You two... you'll have to steer clear of Nar Shaddaa for the foreseeable future. I'd recommend One Sith space; not many Hutts there, and just as much smuggling to be done. I'll put you in contact with a friend. Just don't forget me when the creds come pouring in."

The two young smugglers thanked him again, profusely, and followed him out of the backroom. Cronos' gaze jumped to the bartender, whose bulbous Gand eyes flickered to a dark haired woman sitting at the bar beside a hooded man. Cronos knew what that look meant. She was a person-of-interest. Bidding his new "friends" good bye, he walked over and eased into the stool beside the woman.

"Have another round," he said. "On me." Credits were exchanged and drinks were poured. "The name's Marcus." He knocked his drink back, already excising the toxins through the Force. He hated alcohol. "You look like you could use a friend, lady." He waved the bartender over. "Keep'em coming, pal."

[member="Mayumi Kochi"] [member="Aaran Calfan"]

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

Her gaze slid lazily toward the hooded man who approached her first. A smile played on her lips but only briefly. "Who says I'm looking for a measure of peace? I've always preferred a little mayhem myself," she picked up the glass and examined it closely.

She had barely anytime for any reflection before she was approached by a second man. He reeked of Jedi or something like that. She didn't dislike the Jedi but they had often gotten in her way, they were a presence in her former life but nothing more.

She accepted the glass offered but didn't drink it. The fog in her mind that had resided over her for the past month was beginning to lift a little. Her ship was in orbit and her crew was easily in reach if needed. "Friendship should not be offered so lightly," she chided. Looking between the two men, she thought of what an odd meeting this had turned out to be.

[member="Cronos Aegir"] [member="Aaran Calfan"]

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"] [member="Cronos Aegir"]

Aaran chuckled ignoring the second man.

"Personal peace not galactic personal peace is achieved by what makes you happy." 'Whether that means being a pirate jacking other people's stuff or chasing the pirate jacking other people's stuff."

He looked her up and down before speaking again.

"You don't exactly look the goody two shoes type so I am going to guess you, like I, made your living anyway that got you paid." "The fact that you are still alive means you have at least some skill at it."

He chuckled ordering an Ale.

"I once came to this planet looking to join a new crew but found something else instead." "Perhaps I can offer you a new place to call home." "My employer gave me a new purpose and the ability to do what I love." "Perhaps I can offer you the same."

He looked towards the other guy then back at her.

"Or I can simply take my drink and go on about my business." "Up to you."

 

[Qhorin Solas]

"I never offered," Cronos said. "Only making an observation."

The Gand's thoughts were unnecessarily loud. Word was this woman had a star destroyer, and she had been torturing people for one reason or another. Cronos didn't quite know what to make of that. He needed to know more.

When the hooded man sent a glance his way, he frowned. Marcus was the sort of man who'd take such as a challenge, for all that Cronos was a much calmer creature.

But he wasn't Cronos, now. He was Marcus, less an alias and more an entirely new person. A character mask, to be donned and shed as needed.

"Maybe you should go about your business," he suggested to the hooded man. "And have another ale while your at it. In fact," and he stood up, smacking his glass against the bar, "drinks for everyone!" He reclaimed his seat. "Now where were we..."

[member="Aaran Calfan"][member="Mayumi Kochi"]

 

[Jorin]

Sometimes even revolutionaries driven by vengeance, in some circles labeled terrorists, needed a drink. Nar Shadda provided such a place even for the likes of one of the Republic's fallen heroes, Cody Jorin. Sitting at the par, helmet clipped to his belt, the pale man sipped on cheap whiskey. It was nothing like the drinks he'd had a supreme commander, hell his sons, the millions of them, had drank better befoire they perished in [member="Cronos Aegir"]'s war. Technically it was all the force users holy war, and for that he was indiscriminate in who he killed.

As the free drink was set before him, he pushed it aside, eyes locked on the Jedi. Cronos would know he was there, mainly because he wasn't, being force dead left you a void in it, and voids were noticeable in some cases. Plus, everyone got that weird feeling they were being watched.

[member="Aaran Calfan"] [member="Mayumi Kochi"]

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

Looking between the two men, she wasn't sure how to go about this. One was offering her a home? Job? The other was ordering drinks for the whole cantina, fifteen of which were members of her crew. This dimension was really odd.

Turning to Aaran first, she tried to keep her tone as civil as possible. "I have a home, though thank you for the offer. I'm sure in the future we can work together, however for now I prefer to go my own way. I have a ship and a loyal crew, that is enough for now."

She didn't mention the cargos full of spice and credits. Thankfully they were the same in this new place.

Turning to the second man, she observed that someone was watching them from the corner of her eye. "Your generosity is appreciated. You are being watched and he doesn't look too friendly."

The man speaking with her did not seem to like each other much. She wondered if it had to do with the Force or something.

[member="Cronos Aegir"] [member="Aaran Calfan"]

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"] [member="Cronos Aegir"] [member="Cody Jorin"]

Aaran ignored the man's comment having no desire to engage in any banter. He smiled to Mayumi shrugging his shoulders until he mentioned something about being watched. He was sure she was not talking about him but curiosity got the better of him. He scanned the room until he saw what she was talking about letting a small chuckle.

"Perhaps he is renown for his winning personality." "Giving advice to people that were not talking to you tends to rub them the wrong way."

Aaran smirked standing up and walking over to a booth having said would go about his business he asked to by Mayumi. The new spot he chose giving him a good view of all of the players without actually being caught between them should things go south. Part of him actually wished it did............it certainly would salvage his evening.

 

[Qhorin Solas]

[member="Aaran Calfan"] [member="Mayumi Kochi"] [member="Cody Jorin"]

One would have thought that Cronos had written "I'm a Jedi Knight" across his forehead in bold, glowing colors. He'd been an Inquisitor and an intelligence officer far longer than he'd been a Jedi, had been trained to hide what and who he was. And yet, he'd been found out.

He was getting rusty.

Cronos had sensed the Force-dead man long before he entered the cantina. Or rather, the young knight didn't sense him, which was telling in and of itself. The man's distinct lack of a presence in the Force was almost jarring, and not unfamiliar. Cronos' had run afoul of the Vong before, who were similarly Force dead.

The former Inquisitor completely ignored the hooded man. Had he not been undercover, as it were, he would have never been so rude. "Thanks for the warning," he told the woman. So far, the supposed stories about her weren't adding up. Had his Gand friend identified the wrong woman?

Cronos turned around in his stool and stared back at the Void in the Force, eyes narrowed, brow furrowed. His hand seemed to drift towards the blaster at his waist. His lightsaber was hidden elsewhere, in a pocket in the inside of his vest. She was right -- this one didn't look friendly at all. Force dead opponents could be tricky, but they died just the same as everything else. Probably easier in some cases, considering some of the things he'd faced.

Cronos cut straight through the bantha poo, carving into the heart of the matter. "You got a problem, bub?"

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

Should she protect him or should she not. Fifteen members of her crew sat in the cantina and they were all armed to the teeth. However, if a fight broke out this little place was going to get turned upside down. But the Jedi had been nice to her and bought her more booze.... Oh for the love of the gods the man had a death wish. Marcus had just walked up to the very unfriendly looking man and asked him if he had a problem. This was going to turn out so well.

Giving a quick whistle, she alerted her crew to be at the ready. She would only engage if Marcus got in over his head. For now she just sat and watched, waiting to move if the situation called for it.

[member="Cronos Aegir"]

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"] [member="Cronos Aegir"] [member="Cody Jorin"]

Aaran practically fell out of his seat laughing when Mr. Personality practically stormed up to the man staring at him and practically challenged him to a duel. Aaran looked at the guy at the next booth over.

"Never a duel moment on the Smuggler's moon." "I got 5 large that says the one with the Helmet clipped to his belt wins."

Aaran smirked. Normally he was not one to get into other people's beefs but the man had turned a simple been there before conversation into a chest thumbing territory marking pissing contest. While the woman was attractive the galaxy was a large place.

 

[Jorin]

There were no words, no warning thanks to his absence in the force either, only a hand being balled into a fist and a vibroknuclker extended. With augmented strength and speed seen only in those subjected to the augmentations of the Dread Guard such as himself, Jorin jabbed for the Jedi's gut. It wouldn't be fatal, the former commando knew what he was doing, and he wanted it to be slow. Anger burned at the fact he hadn't been recognized, the face of the second clone army fought only to make his 'sons' be remembered, but that started with him.

As the punch went, time seemed to slow down. Bars traditionally were good places for this, an out of control brawl which would undoubtedly start would distract security though 15 men wasn't nearly enough anyway. The chaos would also provide exfil and cover for it. Not to mention, he had explosives in his air speeder outside which if push came to shove would cover his exfiltration as well. Now he simply had to kill the Jedi. As the punch sailed, either missing or connecting or somewhere in between, Jorin kicked against the bar and off of the stool, rolling and landing in a crouch.

In a blur of motion his helmet was on, and [member="Cronos Aegir"] was staring into the eyes of a skull craved into the visor of his helmet. They symbolism had grown, with every strike he carried out the visage became more and more terrifying to those who knew it, perhaps as horrific as his actions themselves. Those who forgot or didn't know of Jorin in his clones, and their combat abilities, were about to get an intense lesson.

[member="Aaran Calfan"]
[member="Mayumi Kochi"]

 

[Qhorin Solas]

Somehow, Cronos turning around in his stool to address the unfriendly became him walking over to get in his face. But no matter: shavit happens, and he'd long since learned to roll with it.

The unfriendly responded as any man might to such blatant aggression -- with a sucker punch to the gut. Cronos tightened his stomach even as he stepped bac, bracing for the impact of the vibroknuckles wrapped around the man's fist. The former Inquisitor had been caught flat-footed, hurriedly pulling from the Force to facilitate his backward scramble, and further shield himself from harm.

The punch struck him. He moved with it, but pain shot through him still. He winced, even as he gathered himself, drawing his blaster as the man kicked away from the bar into a roll. He aimed and squeezed the trigger, once, twice, three times, backing away a step with each shot.

The pain went away, dulled to a slight ache. His thoughts streamlined, outside concerns and considerations bleeding away to join his pain in an unfathomable vastness. There was only the here and now. Everything, he gave to the Force. In return, strength flowed through him, strength and speed and power, pure and heady.

He swept out with the hand holding his lightsaber and bottles of liquor leaped from the shelves to crash against the man. Glass would shatter, and liquid would pool on the floor at his feet if the bottles struck true. The Jedi shifted his stance, turning sideways to present his shoulder. He held the inactivated lightsaber between them, the hilt parallel to the floor.

"You've made a mistake," was all he said.


[member="Cody Jorin"] [member="Aaran Calfan"] [member="Mayumi Kochi"]

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

All she had wanted was a quiet night out with some alcohol. That is all she wanted.

But no. Instead she was going to participate in a cantina brawl.

Watching the scene play out in front her, she stood up quickly as Marcus was telling the man he attacked something. Coming up behind Marcus, she grabbed him roughly by the shoulder pushing him back slightly. Standing between the two men, she pulled out her blaster. "That is enough!" She aimed at no one in particular, she took a deep breath. "Marcus, if you haven't notice, you were the one who started this for no reason. It was your mistake. Pull yourself together and stop being an idiot."

Turning towards the man Marcus was fighting, she went to say something but then stopped. She had no clue who this guy was and she wasn't about to become his enemy. "Sorry," she told him with a shrug.

[member="Cronos Aegir"] [member="Cody Jorin"]

 

[Jorin]

One

The first hit rocked his shoulder

Two

The second bashed his chest

Three

Jorin rolled hard left and stood up, the final bolt slamming into the bar. Class 8 armor such as GUNGNIR Mk III could take blaster hits with ease, it stung, but it wouldn't truly harm Jorin as he stared down [member="Cronos Aegir"]. He failed to respond to the Jedi's taunt as [member="Mayumi Kochi"] attempted to intervene in what she perceived as a simple bar fight. She was so deeply wrong, the hardened warrior let out a gruff chuckle.

"I don't believe you understand,"

Cody's hand slipped into a pouch and he produced a small cylindrical object, his thumb hovering over the button atop it, with his other hand he unholstered a heavy blaster, leveling it with Cronos.

"I came for him."

Mashing down the entire wall to their left burst, and explosion thundering, flames spitting through and debris flying in air. Instantly he pulled, shooting into Mayumi's back and discarding the detonator. Dropping into a roll he re-positioned, rubble pinging off the heavy armor as he brought the pistol to bear and unshealthed a vibroknife. The entire bar would be in disarray and panic with the exception of one Jedi and himself so far as he knew, then the fight could begin.

[member="Aaran Calfan"]

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"] [member="Cronos Aegir"] [member="Cody Jorin"]

Aaran enjoyed the show for a brief moment as the two men squared off. Nothing like a bit of a bar fight to keep things lively. When Mayumi jumped between them Aaran loudly booed her yelling for her to let them fight it out. His taunting was caught short as an entire wall exploded knocking Aaran and everyone around him back against the wall. The only thing keeping him alive was the modest armor he wore. None the less he still had three cracked ribs and a shatter wrist.

Aaran coughed and winced in pain as he yelled out not really caring if anybody heard him.

"Hey a bar fight is one thing butt that was fething rude."

He looked beside him at the man he had just been speaking to. The man was in a bad way trapped under a shattered section that used to be a table. He shook his head.

"I think we overstayed our welcome come on time to get out of here."

Aaran started to try and move the debris out of the way. He nearly screamed in pain trying to move.

 

[Qhorin Solas]

You started this, she said. It was your mistake, she said. Stop being an idiot, she said. If Cronos had been a lesser man, a man prone to anger, he might have slapped her. Or shook some sense into her; even during his darkest times he'd been hesitant to hurt women who weren't specifically out to kill him. He opened his mouth to offer a rebuttal, but then he saw the nameless soldier pull something from his pouch, something cylindrical with a button on top --

!​

The Knight didn't need the Force to know what came next. His lightsaber flared to life, leaping to its second phase length of fifteen feet, directly through where the madman was standing, before regressing to its first-phase five-foot length. He tugged at the detonator with a grasping Force pull, shoved at the man with a sharp Force push, anything to by an extra second, to delay what was about to happen...

He pulled Mayumi close with his free hand, annoyance with her shelved for the moment, and grounded himself in the Force, gathering his energies for what was coming. And then --

BOOM! The cantina was rocked by a violent explosion that spewed flames and debris across the room in a wave of death and destruction. The Jedi's mind harkened back to the days he'd spent forging his synthetic crystal in the intense heat and pressure of a geological compressor, heat and pressure enough to turn carbon to crystal. His focus had been absolute, impregnable... but he had prepared himself for that task long in advance.

A telekinetic barrier formed around him, borne of sheer desperation. The flying debris halted as if having struck a durasteel wall. Some of the heat got through, a thick wave of super heated air that singed his nose hairs and made it hard to breath. A blaster bolt knifed through the air towards Mayumi; Cronos twisted his wrists and batted it aside, not quite in a position to redirect the bolt back to its sender. Cronos wasn't a man prone to anger, but it bubbled up now, as hot as any flame could ever be. How many people had this madman just killed?

And for what? To get at him?

The spilled liquor on the floor caught fire and spread, turning the room into an inferno. His anger afforded him some measure of focus and direction, and he fell back to tried and true methods of eliminating an enemy: relentless offense and overwhelming speed. He swept out his free hand, releasing Mayumi and sending a wave of telekinesis to smother the flames licking at the walls, inching towards the unfortunate souls trapped beneath heavy debris. He grabbed hold of the largest chunk of wall available with a strong telekinetic grip and launched it at the madman, intending to crush him beneath it, then darted forward to attack, lightsaber brandished before him.

[member="Cody Jorin"] had gone too far.


[member="Aaran Calfan"] [member="Mayumi Kochi"]

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

Well, she had completely misjudged this situation.

Her eyes only had time to widen when she realized that the soldier was going to blow up the cantina before the blast went off. She felt herself being pulled away from blast. The air was knocked out of her lungs but she managed to focus on the situation. Marcus had saved her from the blast and then a blaster shot. She owed him now and she hated owing people.

As the two men started to fight using the Force or something. She quickly surveyed what remained of the cantina. She had come in with fifteen crew members and now only eight remained functional. Hauling herself up, she grabbed her blaster. In many ways she was useless in this, she wasn't a force user. Grabbing one of her crew that was close by she gave quick instructions, "send out a distress signal. I want the crew swarming this place in four minutes." The crew member began typing rapidly into a com while Mayumi watched the two men continue to fight. The best she could do was aim her blaster and wait for a shot at Marcus's attacker.

[member="Cronos Aegir"] [member="Cody Jorin"]

 

[Jorin]

That was a wall

Dropping into a roll forward, Jorin barely evaded the massive chunk of duracrete as his eyes narrowed. Coming up his blade met [member="Cronos Aegir"]'s saber, the vibroknife and saber colliding with equal force as one combatant used his strength from a mythical energy, and the other from biochemical augmentation. Almost certainly the Jedi saw his actions as insane and sadistic, but the man was ignorant, his kind had to die. The force in it's entirety had to be destroyed, that was the only way the violence stopped, it was the only way he'd stop.

Yet that wasn't his goal, as warped and twisted as it had become his goal was simply to make the universe emember his sons, the millions of clones who'd been butchered in the Jedi and Sith's war which had claimed all but a few them. So much death, and the fucking zealots of the Jedi had swept their lives under the rug as if they were meaningless.

They thought his sons were meaningless.

Dropping the blaster his hand drew another knife as he held the Jedi in a lock, swiping at his gut with the second blade then drawing back his leg and kicking into the Jedi's knee hoping to snap the bone and cripple the man. His blows were harsh and heavy, the fire of rage fueling the strikes, a fire that burned so bright it'd put a Sith to shame.

Jorin was going to kill this Jedi.

He was going to kill them all.

[member="Mayumi Kochi"]
[member="Aaran Calfan"]