Looking for Information

[Aragnos Starstriker]

Location: Coruscant

Aragnos walked into the dark and gloomy bar, wearing a set of black robes with his hood covering most of his face. He casually looked around to see what sort of 'cliental' were in today. No-one he had met before at least, good, that meant there was no chance of anyone knowing what sort of infomation he was after, well a very small chance. Hopefully he could pick up some vital information which would be useful, either that or perhaps a low-key job that needed doing. Anything that would bring him extra knowledge of the force.

"Gimme a Tarisian Ale."

The bartender gave him a funny look, a look that he gave to anyone that came to the bar for a drink. The type of look as if he was wondering why epople were asking him for drinks, well it was that type of establishment. He took his drink, tossed the 'tender the credits and went to sit down at a table with a good view ofthe door but not out in the open. As he sat there and drank, he couldn't get the premonition that he had out of his head. He had never had anything like it, apart from the odd bit of deja-vu but this was nothing like that. He knew that it was a vision of the future given to him by the Force, his 'master' had mentioned something about them and from what he had studied on his travels confirmed that. Had he come to an end of his pursuit of knowledge or had he found all he could by himself and scraps of information or was it something else. However, he would still carry on with what he came he to try and do, gain information. Keeping an ear out for even a rumour would be a start. No matter what happens, the Force would guide him.

[Alexia Sturkov]

The door of the gloomy, dank bar opened and a woman stepped inside, and as she did so every eye in the building turned to look upon her, even those too drunk to see straight turned to look at her, well, technically all three of her. Her elegant, uniquely designed dress, expensive makeup, and rich hair style combined with her natural beauty made her look like the kind of person that belonged in a palace, not in a backwater booze house like this. Purple was the color of her lips and orange-pink the color of her eyes. She carried no weapons, which would have painted her as an instant target for the thieves, murderers, and rapists, if not for the two tall, robe and hood shrouded individuals that stepped in behind her, taking positions on both sides of the door and standing quite still with their arms crossed over their chests. They looked as dangerous as the woman was beautiful.

Alexia did not often come to Coruscant, but she had been following a certain individual. His aura was strong and easily followed. It had led her here, and now her mind's eye was scanning the room, looking for the source of the aura. She found it in a middle aged man sitting all alone with a tankard of ale, who was sitting at a table watching the door, almost as if he was expecting trouble. She sauntered over to his table, her long dress swishes side to side as she walked, her low cut neckline drawing the attention of every male in the room. Females turned green in jealousy as they watched her.

She reached the man's table and sat down without asking, "Good Evening," She said, her voice was like honey coated sugar, "You look out of place here. Are you from off-planet? Robes are not very fashionable, especially in these parts," Especially since the Empire had started painting everyone in a robe as a force user, gunning them down first and asking questions later. Corpses tend to agree with anything you ask them. Thus the existence of force users on Coruscant and nearby neighboring planets went down, but only because people stopped wearing robes. This man was wearing a very sith-like set of robes, like she had seen in pictures and, well, in person. But he didn't have a dark aura, she would have felt that.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Juliana Rose," She extended a slender, pale hand covered in enough finger jewelry to sink a ship. Silver rings covered most of her fingers, along with silver bracelets that weighed down her wrists. Only a single ring had a jeweled head. It rested on her fourth finger and had a set of rubies in the shape of a rose. More jewerly yet hung from around her neck in the form of silver necklaces and other necklaces of various styles. She looked very expensive.

[Aragnos Starstriker]

Aragnos had noticed the rather stunning beauty that had walked into the bar, certainly a rose among thorns here. However he was a little concerned at her coming to his table, had he been followed or she had been tipped off to who he was? Whatever the reason he still just had to play it calm and keep his head, for all he knew she had a job for him or better yet some information that he could use.

"Good Evening, Aragnos Starstriker." He replied shook her slender hand but hardly raised his head. "Is it that obvious that I'm an off-worlder? Well you certainly guessed right, recently got off a transport and enjoying a bit of the local culture. Still, what's a woman like you doing in a place like this? I can't imagine that you are from around the local vicinity with all of that jewellery you're wearing, either that or you are rather well connected around here."

Aragnos raised his head and looked at Juliana as he finished his sentence, his hood was still up but his eyes could just be made out behind his fringe and the shadow created by the hood. As he looked at her he got some sort of feeling in his body as if something was telling him something but he was unsure to what it was. These types of feelings were quite common for him, usually a Force reaction of some kind but without the patience, concentration and training he couldn't figure out what they meant. He never really gave himself to time to train himself as he was usually occupied with something. It was annoying as ignoring usually didn't work. He took another swig from is mug before talking to her again.

"So what can I do you for? It isn't very often that I get guests at a table which I am sitting on unless a meeting has been arranged beforehand. I do apologise if I seem a little edgy but it's how I've kept my head, I'm sure you understand."


Since the start of this conversation Aragnos still occasionally looked around the bar but not in an obvious way, just scanning the place over.

[Alexia Sturkov]

She laughed, the pleasant. jolly laugh as if he had said something not necessarily funny, but certainly cute. She smiled, and around the room men's hearts melted, "You are a clever one, are you not? Yes, I do not often partake in dirty places like this," She said as she dusted an invisible particle of dirt off her sleeve. She hated places like this. She would sooner raise it to the ground then go inside. But these were trying days and desperate actions were required. If it meant her getting near this man then she would go into this dingy place. She silently prayed that she did not contract any strange diseases. The last thing she needed was getting ill and getting horribly ill and losing this body. Losing one's body was an experience she did not wish to repeat. Again he dusted her sleeve. God, being in here made her sick.

"There are a great many things you can do for me," She said with a slow wink of her eyes, "But I fear that only a few would interest you. Sadly I cannot discuss such things in this... open place. Too many ears. You could say I have a proposal for you, Mister Starstriker. A very valuable proposal, the once in a life time variety, you could say," She paused and looked around the room as best she could without moving her head. Everyone was watching them it would seem, "Are you interested?"

[Aragnos Starstriker]

As she talked to him, he squinted as if he had seen her face before but was trying to remember where. His eyes fully opened when he realised where, she was one of the people that he had seen in his premonition. His gaze suddenly slipped from her as his body instinctively looked away from her visage. He almost didn't hear what she was saying as he collected his thoughts and himself. Although there was confusion on the inside, the only thing that may have given anything away would have been the slightest movement of his head as he looked away from Juliana. Once she had finished talking, Aragnos cleared his head and thought about what she had said.

"Is this the type of proposal that I can walk away from or the type that I walk away from and keep looking over my shoulder until either you or I are dead?"

This was a rhetorical question, but he wanted to say it just to confirm that he wasn't stupid and was going to be a little wary about anything that she offered. He was about to reply before a question entered his head.

"Now why would someone like you be at all interested in someone like me? As you already know I just got off a passenger transport so I'm obviously not rich, with all of your get-up if you wanted a 'job' doing you could afford a professional yet here you are in this bar talking to what can best be described as a tramp that can do the odd job for some credits and a bit of information?"

[Alexia Sturkov]

She smiled, again. She was doing that a lot, "I am interested in you Mister Starstriker because you have special qualities that intrigue me. Qualities that cannot be openly found in the atmosphere I work within. I can tell your no fool, Mister Starstriker, and that is good, because I don't want a fool. I already have a fool, and he is a pointless waste of human energy, time, and oxygen. I need someone of your intelligence and qualities, and yes, you will be able to walk away. I am not a cruel person, Mister Starstriker. If you want to know more we will have to move outside, too many ears in here. Will you join me outside?" She did not pleed, she did not beg, she simply put the offer out there on a line, waiting to see if he would bite or not. It was entirely his choice. She would not influence his thought patterns or make the offer seem more inviting. Forcing unwilling people to do what you want always turns sour in the end, usually with them chopping off your head while your sleep. Not exactly the future she wished to look forward to.

[Aragnos Starstriker]

It was a fair enough deal from his point of view plus it was rather flattering for someone to be looking specifically for him and his qualities. She must know that he was trained in the ways of the Force and able to use the Force to some extent and perhaps she was also interested in his wealth of knowledge. There was only one way for him to find out and it was to accept her offer and continue their conversation somewhere with a few less ears than their current location. He had certainly noticed a few onlookers since Juliana had sat down, fighting wasn't too much of a problem for him, Aragnos knew how to handle his lightsaber fairly well. He wasn't an expert but when you are on a transport, there aren't too many things you can do while you wait to land on the next planet. It was the unwanted attention that you drew from a conflict that he didn't like. Such attention could scare off potential contacts and make his movements a lot harder and more expensive. Still back to the matter at hand...

"Well Juliana, you certainly have caught my interest, I accept your offer. Now let us remove ourselves from this place before anymore attention is drawn to us. I shall let you lead the way to a more secluded environment to continue our discussion."

[Alexia Sturkov]

Her smile return, more intense this time, "Very well. Please follow me," She said before standing up and sweeping away in a rush of cloth and jewerly. She headed for the door, Aragnos right behind her. As they stepped out through the door the two robed men followed them out, taking positions behind the pair and following them at a short distance, "My bodyguards. Pay them no attention," She whispered before turning down the alley that ran in between the bar and an abandoned brewery. Once lost in the dim light of the alley she stopped, examined the alley for observers or security equipment and, having found none, turned to Aragnos, "First my name is not Juliana. It is Alexia Sturkov. Not that it matters, as you would not have heard of me. I am not the sort that operates in the spotlight. I am more of a shadow dweller, but that is beside the point. My reason for contacting you, Mister Starstriker, is that you are a force adept. No, don't try and hide the fact. I can sense it in you. Why? How? Because I am also a force adept, and one of incredible power. I sense great potential in you, Mister Starstriker, a vast potential. My offer is this: serve me and I will train you to use your natural powers," It was not the worst sales pitch in the galaxy. It was dramatic with lots of flair and emotion. She would have done wonders as a holodrama actress, but that just was not the path she wanted. But her presentation was not the only convincing thing about her offer. She was also subtly influencing his mind, making her offer seem more acceptable. She had that kind of power over the mind. Mentalics and telekinetics were her strong suit. Which is why she was prepared to flex her mind over his body and break a few bones, should he say or do anything she deemed unacceptable.

[Aragnos Starstriker]

By the looks of his situation, Aragnos certainly did not hve the upper hand here by a long shot but that was something he wasn't too concerned about. An opportunity had presented itself, a very rewarding one at that. The chance to continue his training and with that the wisdom to understand all this knowledge he had accumalated over the years. Such a chance didn't come around everyday. Also his head was almost saying to accept the offer as if there was a little voice inside there just letting out a whisper once in a while, perhaps this was one of those Jedi mind tricks he had heard about. Certainly very useful to have and another plus to say yes. He did feel however that a 'yes' would a very solid 'yes', if he changed his mind then more than likely he would not be around the next day.

"Alexia, I accept your offer, teach me in the ways of the Force as you see fit and I will serve you to my best capacity."

[Alexia Sturkov]

She was rather disapointed with the outcome. She had expected him to reject the offer outright and thus force her to beat some common sense into his head. He turned out to be a smart boy, which was sad because she was looking forward to chaining him to a wall and whipping him until he gave in. Oh, well. Chances are she would still get a chance to do that. Another time, another place. A little torture always made her feel better, and torturing Zanon was like gently whipping a kitten to death with scented shoelaces. He loved it.

"Very well. Consider yourself a lucky man, Mister Starstriker. Now, do you have anything in the way of personal belongings? I wish to leave this miserable planet at once, so please; gather your things so we can leave at once. The aura of this planet disturbs me greatly. Too much noise, too much thought, too much life. It makes it difficult to think, no?"