Private Jedi, Hunter, Spider!

[Ran Serys]

Kirtania | Kinkosa City | Late Afternoon - Several Galactic Standard Weeks Ago

Ran had come to the Unknown Regions in search of other Jedi. What she found was a hunter, and an expert one at that. The hunter had concealed themself well, leaving Ran only with an inkling of their intention felt through the force. Ran assumed the hunter was watching and waiting. No doubt waiting for the moment Ran would drop her guard, but the Jedi Master was a resilient and careful sort, one who would not be dropping her guard until she was ready. So Ran continued on with her self-appointed mission, searching for clues of any Jedi exiles, outcasts, or survivors living on the fringes of space, despite her mysterious stalker.

The Mirialan Jedi Master walked the crowded streets of Kinkosa City, asking around if anyone was aware of any Jedi who had passed through. Suspicion and negative sentiment of the Jedi was low on Kirtania, so she felt safe in doing so. Ran couldn't tell if it was the planet's distance from the core or their nearly non-existent history of Jedi on Kirtania that did it, but it was a welcome change from the parts of the galaxy where Jedi were being hunted on behalf of several different galactic powers. On Kirtania she only had to worry about the one hunter, and not the entirety of a planet.

She worked her way from the inside of the city out. It wasn't until she entered a bar on the outskirts of the city, where the city met the jungles of Kirtania, that she began to make any headway.

"So you've seen a Jedi come through here in the last week?" Ran asked the bartender somewhat surprised. After questioning almost an entire city, she was beginning to lose faith that she would find any trace of another Jedi.

"Seen him? No," The grizzled older human man explained as he polished a tankard. "I served him. Polite enough fella, but kept a hood on while he was here. I never saw his face." He paused to think. "I did hear him talking to one of the regulars. They were talking about recruitment strategies. Recruitment for what, I don't know, but he did say he'd be in system for a little while longer. Maybe he'll be by again, him or the regular, if you wait around long enough. Can I interest you in a drink or did you just want some info?"

It sounded like a long shot to Ran. She decided she wouldn't waste too much time waiting around in the small-ish dive bar, but she was already there and would have a drink. "I don't think I'll be here too much longer but let me have your finest."

The man put a fine tea spiked with alcohol in an ornate clay cup in front of Ran. She pulled up a stool, crossed her legs under skirt, and sipped at the drink. It was rich, warm, and potent. Still she did not drop her guard. Still she felt the eyes of the hunter on her. Were they in the bar or somewhere else?

Tags: Jasper Kai'el
​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Kirtania
Tags: Ran Serys

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

Jasper had been in the recruitment phase of the Outcasts for some time now. After Dromund Kaas he realized that they would need more folks so they could split up their forces between the Grafted and HQ back on Refuge. Not have all of their eggs in one basket. When rumors of a wayward Jedi Master reached his ears he stopped what he was doing to go investigate out in the Unknown Regions. Kirtania was where he found himself, Kinkosa City.

He had some vested interest in finding this individual. Amani Serys had been a close colleague of his, and he had hoped to bring her into the Outcasts. After the disaster on Alderaan, however, he was left with one less peer he knew he could place his trust in. It wasn't clear where she had gone. So to find out that she had a relative, one who also ascended to the Jedi Council following his departure from the Galactic Alliance, he knew that he had to take the long shot. Unfortunately he didn't really find anything. This place was a maze. Even a hardened former resident of Coruscant, he wasn't always the best tracker. His Force senses were not as powerful as most Jedi, even as a Master. He had always found other ways to get around his weaknesses.

So, with no leads, he was back to the random dive bar he had started at. Jasper shuffled in with a heaviness about him and slumped down into a stool at the bar, not even remotely paying attention to his surroundings.

"Hey, it's me again," he mumbled as he slid some credits to the bartender. "Got any more of that Corellian in the back?"

He, in fact, did not at all realize who he had sat down next to.

 

[Ran Serys]

“More Corellian, eh?” The bartender whispered to himself with a happy look of recognition. “Coming right up!” The graying man answered loudly, trying to make eye contact with Ran as he fixed the man’s drink. The old timer knew this was the Jedi he’d served, the jedi the mirialan was looking for, and it wasn’t everyday he got to serve two Jedi. He wanted to make sure they connected.

Ran, who was not expecting the Jedi the bartender had previously spoken about to materialize, had her focus on the hunter’s presence and also on the enjoyment of her spiked tea. She didn’t catch the Bartender’s stare until he had placed the Corellian spirit in front of the man that had pulled up a seat beside her. <It’s him!> Ran had watched the older man mouth, so she turned and then she smiled. It was him. Not someone she could’ve expected, but him all the same.

“Master Kai’el,” Ran said softly, and unintentionally. She was surprised as she took in his appearance. She had never personally met the Jedi Master but recognized him from his time on the Council, before she herself had become a master and was able to serve the Council. “I’ve been looking for you, for any Jedi.” She said just as soft but directly to the man. That was when her guard dropped, but only in the slightest. That was when the hunter let loose a shot.

Red blaster fire shot from a rifle arced overhead as the Hunter knew the key to disarming a Jedi was not in attacking them but in disrupting the systems in and around them. The shot had been aimed straight for the bartender’s head. Ran reached up to intercept the blaster bolt with her hand. It was a dangerous, foolish, and split second decision. If she succeeded, the bartender would be safe but her hand would be burned beyond the means of traditional medicine, if she didn’t the bartender would be no more.

Before the shot could hit, the Mandalorian Hunter had revealed himself from his hiding place, outside of the Tavern with a vantage point into the open windows of the establishment. He ditched the rifle and pulled a blaster and vibro-knife and sprinted toward the bar. “Engage the Jedi now. We can take her.” He said over a comm in his helmet to his two companions.

Tags: Jasper Kai'el
​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Kirtania
Tags: Ran Serys

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

“Master Kai’el,”

Jasper's eyes perked up, and he turned to catch the gaze of a Mirialan woman that knew his name. That had to he her. A smile came to his face.

"Master Serys! That makes my job a whole lot-"

When the blaster bolt was fired off he reacted quickly, standing up and turning his mechanical prosthetic to block the incoming bolt. Ran wouldn't need to injure herself defending the barender, as the durasteel plating absorbed the hit with little more than a bit of scortching.

"Chat later, hostiles," he stated, flipping into an entirely different mode on a dime.

The Jedi Master had grown up in war. He had fought Sith, Mandalorians, monsters, and everything in-between. He had very little hesitation jumping into battle, which he did right now. The man made himself large in the entryway of the bar as the hunter and his two companions rushed for the door. He quickly withdrew one of his two EMP grenades that he always kept on him and charged it in his hand. He didn't throw it, however. Instead he seemed to be letting it detonate in his hand.

"I'll pay for the damages!" He called back.

And then the EMP would engulf the area and fry all unprotected electronics.

 

[Ran Serys]

Silence. An eerie silence, as this neighborhood block on the outskirts of Kinkosa City went dark.

Mandalorian Huds faded to black in their helmets. Targeting systems turned off, support systems were down, and Jetpack functionality had been crippled. “Damned, Jedi! She’s got backup!” The Mandalorian who charged blaster and vibro-knife first shouted into an unamplified vocalizer. His fellow mandalorian hunters could not hear him. They stood too far apart. Verbal orders were useless but he knew they’d follow his example, and operate on their own.’

“Pay with your life, Schutta.”

The Mandalorian Leader opened fire on the man in the doorway as he closed the gap to vibro-knife range. He’d aimed to land two in the chest, and one in the head, but he’d grown reliant on the targeting system. That and unbeknownst to him, he was facing down another Jedi Master.

Ran watched as Jasper sacrificed a bit of the durasteel on his own mechanized arm to keep her flesh and blood one intact. She was grateful but like Jasper, Ran could turn from spiked tea to combat at the drop of a hat, and she did. It took less than a second for her mutant brain to analyze the scene before her. Mandalorian’s on her tail. Experienced Hunters who could deceive a Jedi’s senses. She saw one but knew there was more, as the Mandalorian she recognized was Exton Stole, Alor of Clan Stole, a man with a grudge to settle with the Miralan Jedi Master. Though the Mandalorian would have to settle with her fellow Jedi before him as Jasper blocked his path.

Able to sense the Mandalorians now, Ran felt as the other two members of Clan Stole pronged their approach. They jumped through windows at either side of the Bar. Ran blasted one in mid-air with the power of the force sending them ragdolling out of the window and into a stack of empty metal casks. The other charged Ran, blaster drawn and firing. In a moment, Ran pulled her lightsaber and ignited its shining blue blade. The sound of light cracked as she batted the bolts back and away from bar patrons that scrambled for an exit.

“Out the back door!” The Old-timer shouted at his regulars, waving them on back.

“Go!” Ran ordered the patrons. “We’ll protect you!” She announced deflecting several more bolts back as the female Mandalorian came within striking range.

Tags: Jasper Kai'el
​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Kirtania
Tags: Ran Serys

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

Jasper stared down the leader of the Mandalorians, tossing aside the empty husk of an EMP that likely rendered their scanners and other gadgets fried. After an encounter that left his prosthetic limp, Jasper learned to insulate his gear from EMP shockwaves.

"You know, one of my drinking buddies is a Mandalorian..." he noted as he prepared himself for combat. "We'd get a lot more done learning to get along."

And then he sprung into action in an unorthodox way. Jasper pulled a drink over to him with the Force and threw the fluid into the helmeted face of the Mandalorian. Then, using one of the runes scrawled onto his mechanical fingers, he would let a chilling energy spill into the air. If it made contact, the liquid would freeze over their visor. Then, without hesitation, Jasper fired up the piston in his mechanical arm. The machine had broken through duracrete before, so it was gonna hit hard. The Jedi Master would waste no time swinging for the head of the Mando before him.

Just to rattle their head inside the helmet.

 

[Ran Serys]

Exton Stole believed Clan Stole could take down and capture Ran Serys. He realized he was a fool. If she was anything like the Jedi before him, they'd probably lose every time. That was how he felt in the moment as his helmet was rinsed, chilled, and crushed under fist. He was ready for a Jedi Knight, not whatever kind of Outcast he figured Jasper to be.

From between a shattered T-visor and a dent so big it kept him from pulling his helmet off, Exton shouted. "That's it! It's over! We're done here." Within ear shot, the Mandalorian about to come to blows with Ran loosened the grip on their knife and reined themself in. She knew what was at stake here. It mattered more than the pride of any one member of Clan Stole and Exton, Stole Clan's Chief, had spoken.

"Two Jedi weren't part of the plan, at least not this one." Exton admitted from his back, as Jasper's strike had sent him crumpled to the ground.

"Neither was an EMP." The Mandalorian woman harrumphed, tapping the side of her helmet and backing away from Ran. Ran let her. The shining blue blade of Ran's lightsaber disappeared from sight with a hiss, while Exton, from the floor, extended his hand up to the Jedi who'd just knocked him flat on his back. "You share drinks with Mandalorians? Even ones aiming to collect the bounties on Jedi?" Exton asked not wanting to fight anymore. The shattered bits of visor that stabbed into his face began to bleed. Blood disappearing into Zabrak tattoos.

"Only if they're done with that business." Ran answered before Jasper could as she approached from behind her fellow master's shoulder.

"Done for now." Exton admitted. "Share a drink with us and we'll be on our way. What do you say?"

Ran looked at Jasper and back at the pair of Mandalorians. Their third had been knocked out and buried underneath a pile of empty alcohol casques. Ran wasn't sure if she could so easily forgive and forget their attack on her. They were on her tail for hours, they attacked the bar owner to get to her, and what confused her more than anything else was that they were quick to surrender. The few times Ran had exchanged blows with a mandalorian it ended in death, or at least she assumed death. She found the whole thing to be suspicious. Instead of making the decision, Ran eyed the Jedi Master Jasper Kai'el and gave him a nod that indicated he was in charge and that she'd go along with whatever he decided. They would share drinks or not. Ran wondered what the or not looked like.

Tags: Jasper Kai'el
​

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Kirtania
Tags: Ran Serys

Lightsaber, Refuge, Respite, Jedi Outcasts, Grafted into Stone
​

"Done for now." Exton admitted. "Share a drink with us and we'll be on our way. What do you say?"

"Smart move," Jasper noted, very quickly becoming jovial again. "I operate by a strict no-failure policy. No shame in calling it quits and fighting another day."

He was surprisingly very casual about the entire ordeal, sitting back down at the bar and sliding over a few credits. His words, though, carried a very clear threat. Jasper Kai'el was a man of conviction. The fire in his heart yearned for nothing more than the best results. Save the maximum lives no matter the risk or cost. His unorthodox approach to combat made him very dangerous.

And yet, he could flip so quickly to a smiling face.

"Another round of Corellian, and the rest is for the damage," he expressed.

Jasper turned to Ran and offered a smile.

"You must've gotten up to some interesting things out here to get a bounty on your head," the Master noted. "So where were we. I was looking for you, but I had no idea you'd be looking for me. Guess that maybe makes my life easier, yeah?"