Just Another Victim

[Vishan Korogoth]

About a month had went by, and Vishan was still off fending for himself. He had been masterless since Soolin had left for the Outer Rim for a personal expedition. The Padawan had not questioned where she was going since it was not his place to ask. He just knew that she would return when her duties were taken care of. Tiring of the jungle and his loneliness, he had returned to Coruscant in hopes that he could continue his training. A master had yet to be appointed, but that was fine with Vishan. He could wait, though he secretly was hoping that Soolin would return before that happened.

He found himself helping out the dockworkers for most of his time, repairing and maintaining the vessels for the Jedi and their guests. It was like old times when he was a pilot on Corellia, well before the Sith came and occupied it.

Due to heavy traffic this time of the year, some of the parts were running low. Seemed the head of the dockworkers didn't calculate the spare parts needed very well. They weren't hurting but it could be bad soon if something wasn't done. Fortunately for the them, Vishan still had a few contacts here on the planet to retrieve what was needed pretty quickly. He had to console a few people that the contacts he knew were legit, but they couldn't resist getting what they needed by the end of the week, otherwise it would be another two...

Thankfully the weather was marevelous today. He only needed his vest on instead of his full leather jacket. He strapped his weaponbelt around his waist, holding his lucky blaster and the sabre that Soolin gave him, and headed out on a speeder to enjoy the weather. It was about midday when he left and his destination was the third largest spaceport on the planet. He figured it would take about an hour to get there considering lunch time traffic. Dapp, his contact, had been informed of his arrival and was waiting for the Padawan. Considering their good history together, the only problem would be price haggling. A smile and a few praises, Vishan would have his old buddy eating out of his hand.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

It was about twenty minutes before Vishan’s arrival at the spaceport that theKoriolos touched down on Coruscant, landing under the name of the DD 51 in docking bay 14. There were only two passengers on board, outside of the usual droid skeleton crew. They disembarked quickly, and above all, quietly. After sorting the necessary mooring fees and such like, they headed for the ports main plaza.

As with many planet side docks of its kind, there were many services on offer outside of just having a place to store your ship. Fashion boutiques, hardware emporiums and many more shops and stalls lined the various walkways. There was a central plaza ringed by food courts, too, and that was where the two arrivals from Ch’hodos were headed, to a tiny café.

The modest little restaurant looked out onto the square and from the canopied seats outside, it was possible to see everyone coming and going into the mall. Sitting down to some toasted bread and a glass of water, the pair prepared to play the waiting game, the blonde following the brunettes lead.

[Miranda Tarkin]

There was some casual small talk between the two about sight seeing on their vacation together so that they weren't sitting in complete silence. They ordered an appetizer to go along with their complimentary bread and water. It would look odd to not order anything. Every now and then, she nibbled at the bread, biding her time and waiting for the precise situation to present itself. While they waited, she was cautious. Her face was recognizable to many, but there were billions of people on this planet. It was impossible for everyone to know who she was.

An assorted variety of human and alien alike went through the courtyard, bustling between the mall and the spaceport. No one sparked an interest in the brunette.

A rugged looking man in this mid-thirties has just entered the mall. He looked like a pilot, possibly a smuggler, by his manner of dress and gait. The lightsabre that rocked back and forth against his hip said otherwise.

She made eye contact with her partner and allowed him to follow her line of sight towards him. Soon he heard her voice inside his mind, He's the only one thus far to show any signs of being a Jedi. What do you think?

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan was completely oblivious to anyone watching him so astutely. He was only heading to the mall to kill some time as his buddy loaded up a skiff with miscellaneous parts that he could acquire immediately. All he asked was for a few hours to get them to the spaceport and would contact Vishan when the rest came in later in the week.

The Padawan knew the Order would be more then pleased when he returned. Not that he was an indulgent man, but hard work always deserved to be paid off in some form.

He turned around in place, taking in the entire area. Mall was huge. Spotting a holo-map of the building, he made his way there, hoping to find someplace that would make his stomach happy.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Over the rim of his glass, Vega nodded. A fairly low ranking one, at that, he replied, silently. From the looks of the man, he was a Padawan at most. He did, although, carry himself with a certain confidence. From his experience, Vega had found that there were two types of Jedi apprentice – the first was meek and mild, and the second was more like this man. What now, then? he asked, looking expectantly towards Dalethria, not at concerned with the prospect of Vishan sensing their intentions – the mall was so busy, even a Jedi Master would have been hard-pressed to do so.

[Eluna Thals]

Vishan's comm began to beep rapidly.

"Vishan? Are you there?"

[Vishan Korogoth]

Before he even got to his goal, his comm went off and his head and shoulders slumped forward. Eluna's voice was a blast from his past, one that he wasn't too proud of. Vishan had thought she was behind him after he quit her services.

He wrestled whether or not to pick it up. Grumbling at his polite nature, he picked it up and flicked it on to pick up his voice. Eluna could tell he wasn't happy to hear from here and was trying to hide it in his voice. "Yeah, Ah'm here. What's up?"

[Miranda Tarkin]

His mood shifted. Dalethria could tell by how his stance changed. Maybe the opportunity had presented itself but she wasn't quite sure. She could at least get things rolling with her pupil. No time like the present. Figure out what is going on with him, but carefully. Just on the surface. We don't want to alert him to any possible intrusions into his mind. Who knows how well trained this one is.

[Eluna Thals]

"I'm glad I could get in touch with you. I'm getting a little desperate. Is there any way I might be able to meet with you? Today if possible. You don't even need to come get me, just transmit your coordinates."

[Vishan Korogoth]

He turned the comm to mute and ran a hand through his hair. Eluna and desperate used in the same sentence was a catalyst for trouble. Turning off his comm unit completely and pretending that this conversation had not just happened, would be a wise option. That woman had put him through so many hoops it wasn't funny. Best plan available if Vishan was a heartless bastard, and that was the problem. He was one of the nicest men in the known galaxy and this was driving him nuts.

Vishan shook the hand holding the comm back and forth over his shoulder, still fighting the conflict inside him to throw the thing across the courtyard or to flip off mute. The shoppers passing by him thought him peculiar at his odd 'dance' and backed away quickly when he growled in defeat. "Grrrrraahh!"

He flipped the mute off and put on a pleasant voice quickly, "Transmittin' coordinates now, 'Luna." Even after all this time, he fell into his old patterns by calling her the nickname he gave her.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

It wasn’t necessary to be able to read minds to see that Vishan was engaged in some kind of mental tug of war. Vega watched with growing amusement as he struggled and finally buckled. As Dalethria had instructed, he began to try to gain some sort of insight into the Jedi’s thoughts. With the mall as busy as it was, the task would be no small feat. First, it was essential to block out all other distractions – though this was the easiest part of the exercise, as Vega had learned to basically ‘tune out’ the world early on in his training. After this, it was a matter of then trying to ‘tune in’ to Vishan.

As he was a Jedi, he had a distinctly different aura about him to the rest of the shoppers, making him easier to focus upon. He could feel a sense of inward anger from the Padawan, a vague feeling of regret. Gently probing for some explanation, the Lupine found a few words recurring to him, words that Vishan must have been thinking.

woman… heartless… desperate... Van-Derveld smirked slightly, and allowed himself to drift away from the Padawan somewhat. It seems like he’s having a bit of trouble with a woman.

[Miranda Tarkin]

Vega heard his Master chuckle inside his head. Isn't it usually women trouble with these Jedi men?

She leaned back in her chair, watching the Padawan intently and smirked, Why don't you make them worse.

[Eluna Thals]

A few minutes later, a speeder came tearing through the skylanes, dropping like a stone into a free parking space outside the spaceport promenade. A red-haired woman in a turtleneck and wool coat jumped out of the speeder, and hurried toward the commercial area outside of the terminals, looking back and forth for...

"Vishan!"

Eluna waved her hand as she spotted him, increasing her pace to a jog as she approached.

[Vishan Korogoth]

He tried to look happy to see Eluna as he waved back at her, waiting for her to approach him before speaking. "So, what's goin' on 'Luna? Ah must admit, ya sounded bad on th' comm." His features softened, feeling genuinly bad for her. As estranged as their relationship had become, causing him to leave, he did have some good times with her. Just what she was had freaked the hell out of him. "You a'right?"

[Vega Van-Derveld]

The arrival of the woman in question left Vega to ponder exactly how he would go about stirring up a little trouble for this Padawan. There were so many ways that the situation could spiral out of control, so many buttons that could be pushed. As Dalethria had said, it would be too risky to pry too deeply into the Jedi’s subconscious, but there were other ways. Instead, he opted to influence the redhead, who all of a sudden was overwhelmed with emotion, as she was consumed with the burning desire to deliver a swift backhand to Vishan’s face.

[Eluna Thals]

Contrary to Vega's attempts at subversion, Eluna reacted much to the contrary, throwing her arms around the bewildered Padawan, delivering a kiss with authority.

[Vishan Korogoth]

Vishan's hands were in the air, not offering to return such affections by going to hold her. He was still confused, as evident by his eyes growing wider by the second as the redhead's lips were firmly planted on his.

[Miranda Tarkin]

Dalethria's eyes narrowed since that wasn't what she predicted that Vega would do. All she felt was confusion coming from the Padawan as well as a conflicted heart. He was trying hard to fight old feelings. This is going to make things worse?