Business opportunities

[Rayna Eclipse]

Rayna waved her lightsaber through the air in motions that she had once practiced unto the point of being able to do them in her sleep. The purpose of these motions, was not to be able to strike down an opponent, but to become one with the rhythm, one with the Force. She stepped back, bringing the green blade in a graceful arc over her head almost touching the tall ceiling of The Flaem, Nadja's ship. The art of lightsaber weilding was not something one picked up in a day. It had taken years for her to perfect it, now she had only months to relearn it.

"I don't see why you don't just use a blaster." Nadja said from behind Rayna, standing at the top of the short steps with arms crossed.

Rayna took her next step. "A blaster does not bring us closer to the Force."

"But a lightsaber brings you closer to getting killed."

"The lightsaber is a true warriors weapon, only fit for those prepared to meet death. Some even call you blaster wielders cowards." She said, careful not to smile.

"A price to pay to live another day."

She couldn't help but smirk a little as she reached her closing motion. She turned around, "So are you here to heckle me or have we reached our destination?"

"Both."

"Very well then." Rayna said as she slipped the lightsaber to her belt. "I take it the brown robes will are necessary, we don't need to alert anyone to our presence."

"Obviously." Nadja said as she walked to the cockpit and took control from the auto, guiding the ship down to the planet's surface. "Why can't you Jedi type wear normal clothes. Even brown robes stand out a little."

"Oh, so I should dress like you?" Rayna said as she stepped into the cockpit, sliding into the co-pilot's chair. "Is black and skin tight fashionable anymore?"

"Only when you can make it look this good." She smiled as the ship slid down into the nearest open docking space on Wayland's capitol.

"So you're sure this guy is going to help us, right? Because I know you didn't speak with him before." Rayna said uneasily.

"Are you reading my mind or something?" Nadja asked.

"No, you told me earlier. And I couldn't read you mind without you knowing anyway."

"Ah yes. I remember." Nadja stood up. "Well, best to jump to it then."

"Agreed."

[Rayna Eclipse]

"So what has you so down all of a sudden?" Nadja asked as she took the seat across from Rayna, setting down the small meal in front of her.

"Nothing, I was just thinking." She said and turned her attention to her own food.

"Nervous?"

"Is it that obvious?" She looked up without raising her head.

"It is when you're a telepath."

"Right." She said and stared back at her food. "I really don't want to go back in there. I don't think I've been so scared of a single place in my life. The Sith-" Just saying the word made her heart stop for a moment. "they don't kill you, its so much worse." Everyday memories of her pathetic life came to the forefront of her mind to antagonize her. Everyday she questioned whether or not she would evr be able to forgive her self and leave the shame behind.

"You know why we're doing this, right?" Nadja said, picking up on Rayna's thoughts.

"Yeah, to stop the Sith Order. To end their self serving plans. To protect others from their darkness."

Nadja gave her a look, knowing full well there was more.

"And it feels too much like revenge." Rayna admitted.

"Which is forbidden by your code. If it is more like revenge to you, then we don't need to do this. But if you believe honestly that the Sith must be stopped, then it has to be done. Either you're fully with this or fully not, uncertainty can not be allowed."

Rayna moved her spoon around in the mush before her. Silently contemplating the issue. "What must be done, must be done."

"Good." Nadja said. "We haven't much more time so let's hurry."

----

The two women entered into a mediocre resturant, the walls made of wood and plaster, the patrons as average as they came. Nadja lead the way, it was her connection that brought them there and Rayna assumed she knew what she was doing. Nadja took her to the bar, the keeper quickly attending to them.

"Good afternoon ladies," he said with a bit of a lisp. "Is there anything I can get you to drink? To eat perhaps?"

"Nadja said, "We're not here for food and drink, but another purpose. Give this to Anz'aak." She slid a piece of white folded paper to the barkeep.

"Ah, he is very busy. But I shall take this to him anyway."

Rayna said, "Do you know him?"

Nadja replied, "The barkeep? Yes. Oddly enough he claims to never remember me everytime I visit."

"A safety precausion against shape-shifters and disguises?"

"Perhaps."

"Dear Nadja, it has been a long time since I last saw you. You look as beautiful as ever!" An fish-like alien said as it walked out from the back.

Rayna stood with Nadja but did not say a word. Instead she stared at the alien's silvery skin, the muscles moving beneath entrancing her eyes. "Oh I'm sorry. I am Rayna, pleased to meet you." She said once she realized Nadja had introduced her.

"Jeebza!" The lanky and silvery alien said to the barkeep. "You're in charge for the rest of the night."

The barkeep's eyes grew wide. "But master, the dinner rush!"

"Handle it!" He said as he lead the girls to the stairwell leading from the far end of the kitchen. "Tonight I am spending with friends."

[Rayna Eclipse]

"So Anz'aak," Nadja began as they stood in the flat above the small resturant. "I'm sure you remember my favor on Bespin."

Anz'aak turned his head towards Nadja, his hands occupied with a glass liquer bottle and three stout glasses. "Nadja, always down to business..." He smiled and shook his head a little. "Give it a rest for a moment. I insist."

Rayna had hardly been paying attention, her eyes wandering through the room. It was beautifully decorated, nearly in all white and blues with tasteful touches of black. The room had almost a spiritual feeling to it, as if it may be alive. She tried to touch it with the Force to satisfy her curiosity, but found only a room as normal as any. Strange.

"Miss." Anz'aak said as he handed the glass with a creamy yellow liquid to her.

Rayna snapped back into reailty, leaving her thoughts for later. "Thanks." She said while taking the short glass.

"So," Anz'aak said holding up his glass. "To reunions," He looked at Nadja. "And to new friends." Then to Rayna.

She sipped the drink, sweet and sour perking her tastebuds. "So I've noticed your lightsaber collection." She said looking towards a red shelf, hilts carefully set on stands propping them up. "They're quite nice. Particularly the Yoric lightsaber."

"Ah yes, one of my prized blades." Anz'aac walked over to the shelf picking it up gently. "It's actually been crafted by the Knights of the Order of Aequitas. Very rare, as I'm sure you are aware. None fo the Jedi of this Order or the past Order ever quite achieved such a level of delicacy and mastery over construction." He held the hilt towards her.

She took it into her hand, holding it as a Jedi of the Order of Aequitas would.

"You are familiar with the style of combat?" He asked.

"Very." She said and retrived her own lightsaber hidden beneath a layer of clothing. She held the hilt towards him. "I was once priviledged enough to call myself a part of the Order."

"Facinating." He said taking the hilt into his palm. "Would you mind if I activated it?"

"Not if you don't." She replied as her green blade exploded from the hilt in Anz'aac's hand. A silver-blue blade emitting from theone she held in her hand. "I must say, I'm envious. This is truely a work of art. Do I know the craftsman?"

"Desp'aat Urio, a master of his craft."

"I've only had the priviledge of meeting him a few times. I would agree, a true master." She said. "How did you come into contact with him?"

"A friend of a friend of a friend and a hefty sum of credits." He smiled.

"Ah, I didn't know he did outside jobs, you're very lucky." She deactivated the blade as Anz'aac deactivated his.

"I think he respects a fellow craftsman, if he would honor me with such a recognition." He said as they exchanged hilts.

"If you're half of what Nadja says you are, I'm sure he would." She said with a smile as she hinged her hilt back into its place.

"Talking me up to your friends again?" He said with a smile, turning to Nadja.

"Stating the truth, Anz'aac." She replied. "Which brings me to why we are here."

"Again, so quick to business."

"Apologies." She said exasperated. "But we are pressed for time. We have a rather important mission. If you didn't know, the Sith Order is on the eve of attack, though not entirely by us but another powerful one."

"Who is..." Anz'aac said with a heavily interested tone.

"Alexia Sturkov, heard of her?"

"Just rumors. Enough to know to be afraid. She's involved with a scientist of sorts, isn't she?"

"She is." Rayna said sharply. "I've had a little of a run in with him. It wasn't pleasent, Nadja had to fill me in as I remember very little about it."

"So you are in an uneasy alliance with her?" he said, taking a sip of the drink.

"No." Nadja said. "To our knowledge she does not know of our intentions, though I doubt she would object."

"I'd expect you've heard of Sith Knight Vuntana?" Rayna said with a slight scowl. She was still working on supressing visible emotion, a vow of her earlier knighthood.

"Sith Master." Anz'aac corrected. "Recently promoted according to what sources I have. He's young though, I suspect its more of an indication of his staus within the Order rather than personal achievement."

"Well," Nadja said. "The bigger there are, the harder they fall."

"Ah, planning an assassination attempt?"

"Yes." Rayna said quietly with anger clearly in her voice.

"For a knight of Aequitas, you're not as monotone as the rest?" Anz'aac observed casually.

"A former member." She said quietly. "My surname is Aequitas."

"The daughter of the Jammatz Aequitas? Brother of Vir?" He said in dismay. "It shows in your face now that I know, but... you look worn, forgive me."

She paused, she could feel a tear in her eye. "It's been rough lately. The Sith-"

"They're rotten to the core." Nadja said, saving Rayna the words. "She'd infiltrated their order, they found out. We're going to stop them."

"Cut off a head and three more grow back, ini their case." He said. "You desroyed Southstar, now they have Vuntana, Magus and Lancer leading their pack. All very much capable."

"Alexia is after Lancer, we've got Vuntana. It leaves Magus and the other acolytes, but we think Alexia may have covered those bases for us. This may prove to be a fatal blow to the Sith if we can make it that." Nadja said sternly. "We need your help."

Anz'aac looked both of them in the eye and turned to looking at his drink. "You've put me into a difficult position, you know that right? I need time to meditate on it."

Rayna replied, "We need to leave by tomorrow night at the latest."

"Very well." Anz'aac said. "The house is yours until I return from my chamber with a decision." He finished the drink off. "I have much to think about."

[Rayna Eclipse]

The man was a clear collector of Force related weaponry, many weapons on display, even those older than the lightsaber. She had spent most of her time looking at these, inspecting the various lightsabers, many of them built by those taking lightsaber construction to be an art. In the light of these, her own lightsaber which she spent the better part of a year crafting, look like a child's toy.

"Incredible." She breathed as she set a gold hilt back to its resting place.

She glanced at Nadja sitting in a red chair in the corner, reading from a datapad the latest news headlines. Rayna bit her lip, if there was a time this was it. She walked to the refresher, carefully locking the door behind her and took a seat on the bathing tub shoulder. Quietly she removed a small half filled vial, again looking at the door as if she expected someone to enter. She wasn't proud of her issues with spice, she had learned to downright loathe it. Even after Nadja rescued her, after she had begun to rediscover herself, after she vowed to break the curse which gripped her from the vial she held in her hand, she simply couldn't break away from it. Spice was considered the most addictive substance in the galaxy.

She pulled a needle from her belt pouch and attached it with the plunger to the vial. Spice in its liquid form was especially addictive and especially dangerous. But for so many years it had held her captive. Silently she wondered if she really wanted to break free from it, she couldn't lie, she did enjoy its effects.

She glanced at the door again, no sign of anyone outside listening in. At the moment that seemed most important to her, in the same house as the man whom she was trying to gain the confidence of was mediating, she dared to satisfy the urge which had been chipping away at her all day. This was a bad idea, but she slid up her sleeve and stuck the needle into her black and blue arm.

She bowed her head as the spice took its effect and soaked in the intense moment. When the vial was empty she pulled the needle out, her skin stretching a little as if her body was desperatly sucking on it for one drop more. It fell tot he floor as she rubbed her forehead, her vision told her, as if the rest of her body was deaf, that the spice was in control now.

Haphazardly she disassembled the syringe, placing the componants back into her pouch. She stood up, swaying a little with each step and stopping in the mirror. She tried to convince herself that this needed to stop, but could hardly believe it. She needed that drop of pleasure in the bucket of misery that her life had become.

She tried her best to keep quiet, but gave up on noticing as the notion lost her attention. She stumbled to the couch against the wall, halfway across the room from Nadja's chair. Nadja looked up from her datapad and stared at her for seconds but did so like she had been in a trance.

What? Rayna thought to herself. Can you hate me? Are you disappointed? Look at me like that and... I hate you. I don't care. She fell to the couch with the grace of a Tauntaun, staring ahead at the shelf of lightsaber hilts until her eyes felt heavy and she closed them. It was like every other night she had lived in the ratty apartment she dared to call home. Take the spice and lie in bed knowing she made no difference to the universe anymore.

[Rayna Eclipse]

"Miss Rayna?" The silvery faced alien said as she opened her eyes slowly. "I hope you had a decent rest. Quite comfortable, isn't it?"

"Hmm?" She noised in the form of a question.

"The couch."

"Oh, yeah." She sat up and rubbed her neck. "Very nice." She looked around for the chrono, it had been around eight hours since she laid down.

Nadja said, "So have you made your decision?"

"I have." He said standing up.

Rayna perked up, looking carefully at Anz'aac. She shouldn't have taken the spice, what if he knew now? THen he surely wouldn't be able to trust her. She cursed herself for being such a self obsessed fool.

"I shall help you how I can, but my instructions must be followed to the letter."

[Rayna Eclipse]

She held a vial of clear liquid up to her eye, looking at it briefly against the ceiling light. For something that looked like water, so innocent, it was hard to believe the contents could kill a man.

"Sarin Yushenko." Anz'aac said. "It comes from a plant grown only in the most rare conditions. Even then, simply growing the plant does not secure the poison, retrieving it from the seeds is an extremely complicated process."

Nadja said, "And he won't be able to sense it. You can promise this?"

"Nadja, can you sense it?" He asked.

"No I suppose not." She said as Rayna handed the vial to her.

"But it has to be ingested." Rayna affirmed.

"This task will be difficult." Anz'aac said. "You're sure you can do this?"

Rayna said, "I've infiltrated the Order before, it took nearly a year for them to realize who I was and my intentions. Food poisoning had been a long lasting option for me, it's easy to do and can be very effective."

"Things have been relatively quiet there as well, you should be able to get in and out quickly and unnoticed while they're all relaxed." Nadja said, handing the vial back to Anz'aac.

"Yes." Anz'aac said as he set the vial down on a shelf. "Rayna, can I see you for a moment?"

She wanted to curse, what if he was going to ask about the spice. Since she had escaped from Corellia, her issues with the drug had become increasingly associated with paranoia. She stood up and walked slowly, keeping an eye out for anything Anz'aac might have to surprise her. "Um, yes?"

"Do you recognize these robes?" He said as he held up a base black robes with yellow and green trim.

She had seen them only twice, maybe, in her life. "I have."

Nadja asked, "What are they?"

"The robes of an Aequitas guardian." Anz'aac said. "They protect the most sacred of the Aequitian relics, they pursue the most secret of endeavors."

"Where did you get these?" Rayna asked in growing astonishment. "I've barely seen the men who wear these, let alone any robe that wasn't worn." She almost said it was dishonorable that Anz'aac had them, but she bit her tongue.

"Very sacred." Anz'aac said. "They do not pass from its wearer very often, I am honored to have them. However, to offer them to a decentant of Aequitas is a greater honor."

"I can't." Rayna openly protested. "I'm- I'm not... allowed. I'm not pure, Anz'aac. I absolutely can not wear these, they're cast directly from Vir Aequitas himself, I just can't."

"I've communed with the Force, I am confident this is right. You are pure of heart, Rayna, never forget that. Now you are pressed for time. Please, accept my gift and fulfill your mission."

The stark contrast of his beliefs against reality felt as if they had stabbed her in the heart. To deny the gift, especially as a decentant of Vir Aequitas, would only dishonor Anz'aac and herself. It had been so long since she had been in the presence of these customs, she almost wanted to brush them off like she had brushed everything else. No, if Anz'aac believed them, then she had no choice.

"I'm honored." She said quietly. She had no intention of wearing them herself as Anz'aac offered, she would find a way to return them to Yoric, if not then to Anz'aac again.

"And in return you honor me. Thank you." Anz'aac said and smiled. "Now you must go. Time is not on your side."

Nadja grabbed the only bag she brought in and slid the robes in carefully along with a case in which the vial lied. "Anz'aac, you've come through for me again."

"Now I think you will owe me one, Nadja." He said as the two embraced.

"I'll pay it back, I swear." She said and smiled, turning to Rayna. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Rayna said, still a little stunned.

"You'll be back." Anz'aac said. "Take care of yourself, Rayna."

"Thanks." She said quietly as she embraced him. "I owe you a lot, Anz'aac. I won't forget it."

He smiled, "Just take care of yourself. I'll see you on your return."

They exchanged good-byes for the last time and Rayna realized that being in that house, in the man's presence was unnerving for her. He seemed to expect so much out of her, seemed to believe he knew so much, and she couldn't help but feel like a disappointment.

"Alright now." Nadja said as they exited the small resturant. "We haven't got much time. We'll eat the food on the ship and make our way for Korriban."

"Good." Rayna said. Her mind was beginning to linger on the immminent task.