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"I wish we could lend them to you, but given the rather distinctive sound they make you would be found out rather quickly unless you can cut the horns while the explosion is still happening. Not to mention the difficulty handling these things if you haven't been trained with them." Before they drag Raden out there, Kess whispers to him, "If you make a grand show of it, you might make it out alive Raden. Just say goodbye to your horns." Kess winks at him, and then leaves him alone.
"Quite right Alistair. Now, or in the morning?"
"I only sense a single distant presence. What could this be?"
Awaking in moments after Alistair's call, Kess reaches out into the Force herself, straining to find the signatures he felt.
Kess would prefer to share space with Alistair, but really has no problems sharing a room with anyone except Allerick.
"Very well, sir, let us be off!" Kess says grandly, placing her arm in his.
Kess laughs, genuinely amused. "Yes, we must watch for that. Wouldn't want people to get the wrong impression about us."
Kess smiles as Alistair finishes. "You always seem to find the bright side to these things Alistair. I am very glad to have you around. I'm not sure how I would deal with all these people by myself."
Kess goes to find Alistair. Once the conflicted young Jedi finds him, she immediately launches into a rant about the stupidity of a certain mad genius, ending with: "And I'll ram one of those starship engines right up his backside!" After a few seconds of huffing, she blushes slightly and says, "Sorry about that, but I really needed to vent to someone. Thank you for listening, Alistair. Tell me, do you feel anywhere near what I do? Were we not taught to treat people better than this?"
Kess lets out a disgusted "Ugh!" as Allerick steps inside. She listens to his plan with a look somewhere between disbelief and relief plastered on her face. When he finishes she says slowly, "You...I...This is the most insane plan you've ever had! The fact that it might work amazes me, but still, are you sure you have everything strapped in correctly up there?" She waits a moment, staring at the mad genius before just giving up. "Fine. Fine! I suppose I'm honor bound to help you, given this turn of events. I will remember this debt, though."
Kess rolls her eyes as the mad genius accosts her door. Deciding not to keep the loudmouth waiting, she opens the door and immediately regrets that she did. Wrinkling her nose at the nasty smells coming from Allerick, she says "What did you want, oh exploder of men?"
Sighing, Kess says "It's not that I care about Raden, but that I have some respect for life, no matter who's it might be. Despite whatever he has done, or may do, he doesn't deserve to be put on display and murdered. You say Allerick is attempting 'sleight of hand' with explosives? That doesn't change my opinion about what is going on here at all."Kess crooks her mouth in distaste. "It does, however, give me a small amount of hope back for that foolish man. Now, I assume you wanted me to use some of my...talents, shall we say, on the Hutt's major domo? In this case, I can tell you that Alistair is in fact the better choice. He has a more...general set of talents then I do. Mine are rather more useful for removing obstacles from our path directly."
With a flick of her wrist, Kess uses the Force to open the door, allowing Colvin entrance. She is still in a meditative posture, but says as he enters, "I assume Allerick still plans to blow that poor man up?"
Throwing her hands up in the air, Kess gives up trying to make the mad genius reconsider his plan. "Just don't include me in this, ok? I'll be in my room when you guys are done planning torturous executions." With that, Kess heads off to her room to meditate, and search the Force for the peace that seems to be lacking in her current role.
Kess looks disgustedly at Allerick. "High explosives, to execute someone? At least give him some dignity and shoot him."
The mention of an Imperial agent sets off warning klaxons in Kess's head almost immediately. "An Imperial agent? You must be very powerful, Great Darga, to attract such attention. Why is the Empire interested in what you are doing?"
"Until I met these men, I was a simple spacer, hiring on wherever I could. Now, I'm running around bombing buildings, breaking into prisons, and generally causing havoc about the galaxy."
Kess keeps a wary eye out for any trouble. Being in a Hutt's palace is not one of her favorite places to end up. The tendency for people who displease them to end up dead certainly doesn't help things. At Allerick's comment, she rolls her eyes and says sarcastically, "Yes, Darga certainly has that in spades. I'm glad you like him."
Stepping forward, Kess places a hand on Allerick's shoulder. "My compatriot here sometimes gets ahead of himself. What he means to say, O Great Darga, is that we are here in search of information. Information of a rather valuable, and very sensitive, nature. We would like the chance to discuss this information with you, and acquire it from you, for certainly the Great Darga has what we seek. If there is some service we can provide for you in return, then we will put our talents at your disposal."
Whispering to Alistair Kess says, "What can I do besides simply be vigilant? If I can keep control of my emotions, then I can avoid falling into the Dark side. I won't wait about pondering what is good and bad."
Walking up to the Devaronian, Kess pats his cheek and asks, "Could you be so kind as to take us there now? I have a schedule to keep you know."
Coughing and hacking, Kess weakly responds "Yes, I can see why. Maybe next time, however, we could choosd to detonate a more structurally sound civic fixture."
Setting her blaster for stun, Kess simply asks, "Shall we?" and moves to start the shooting.
Kess laughs at Alistair's comment. "See? Just like I said. Now, I for one vote that we simply take care of this now. The longer we wait, the more likely we are to run into trouble. Let's just stun him, and take him with us before we leave." Hefting her blaster back to a ready position, she says, "Who's with me?"
"Yes, this is really a rather strange moment. Maybe because he's already caused one shootout today? I mean, normally I'd wager that he could start any number of fights, mostly on accident of course, but still. I suppose this could be considered progress for him then."
"I know how you feel," Kess responds to Alistair. Kess keeps her blaster in hand, but lowers it to her side to present a non-threatening look. With a smirk she says "At least things seem to be going according to plan: Allerick shouts a lot, Colvin tries to patch things up, and the rest of us get to see just how long it takes for a firefight to break out."
Gazing at her surroundings with pity Kess whispers "Is this what the Empire brings? Ruins for criminals to hide in, and no one to clean up the streets." Sighing, she gets her blaster ready once more. "Anyone have any better ideas than 'charge right in?'"
Steadying herself, Kess takes a shot at the leader, hoping to bring her down before anything else can go wrong.
Shouting in pain as the blaster scores a direct hit, Kess grits her teeth and fights on. Concentrating on keeping up, she moves away from the biker trying to slash her to ribbons, and fires on him.
Not wanting to give away their cover so easily, Kess pulls out her junky blaster and lets loose at the gang leader.
"I really wish you would learn some more persuasive speaking skills, Allerick!," Kess says as she reacts to the Troublemaker's lead tongue.
Slapping her hand into her face, Kess simply groans. "If I didn't know better Allerick, I'd think you want to have them attack us."
Seeing everyone standing as she comes back in, Kess says "Ah, that's good. We've got some nice swoop bikers outside that would like to 'welcome' us to Zarra. Some help would be nice."
Eyeing the swoop bikers a touch nervously, Kess whispers to Colvin, "Do you think you can sweet talk them while I grab the others?"
"Certainly, Colvin. Finding this 'Womp Rat' should prove an interesting endeavor."
Kess does her best to contain her disbelief as Allerick not only avoids putting his foot in his mouth, but apparently starts shooting gold out of it. Once all the rampant dealing finishes, she simply gives him a pat on the shoulder. "Nice to see that you can deal with some people well, Allerick. Now if only you could work on dealing with women in distress, you'd be aces."
Everybody follow the silly Jedi!
"We could begin by asking around, you know. I'm certain we can find some sort of terrible bar or catina around here somewhere." With that, Kess begins heading further into the practically dead city and starts hunting for dive bars to ask nosy questions.
"Colvin, I admire your determination, but perhaps we should relent for now. They have little reason to put such trust in us right now." To the captain, Kess says, "Please, begin the briefing. We are ready."
"We may be able to attempt such a thing, though that lies somewhat outside my capabilities," Kess says with a quizzical look on her face. "Sensing intentions below the surface of someone's mind is difficult at best, but I am willing to attempt it."
Wrinkling her brow in thought Kess says, "It is...very odd. I formed some sort of connection with it almost instantly, but then it began...resonating, I think. Like hitting a bell. Seen through the Force, it was drawing my aura into itself. It was such a strange feeling, Alistair. Not harmful, but certainly out of the ordinary. I don't think I've ever experienced such a feeling."
Hands on her knees, Kess pants heavily. "I haven't had to work like that in a long time. I think it's obvious which one of us spends more time on their combat training." She smiles as she finishes. Stretching her arms above her head, Kess listens to Alistair comment on the crystals. Kess blushes slightly as she says, "I had forgotten all about them! Yes, let's do that". Excitedly, Kess rushes back to her quarters to gather her crystals.
Chuckling slightly, Kess places her hand on Alistair's. "Thank you Alistair. I am grateful for your companionship." Squeezing his hand once, Kess let a small smile onto her face as she turns toward him. "I am...I am glad to have you still with us, Alistair. I...do not know what I would have done without you." After a long moment, Kess laughs. "But come, enough deep thoughts for today." Letting go of Alistair's hand, Kess stands. "Perhaps I can find some relief in action. Might we spar?"
"I do not mean to worry you. I am...disturbed by my actions during our attempted rescue of Jade." Kess stops a moment. She seems lost in thought, piecing together fragments of emotion into words. "When I saw that man attack you, I...I thought your were dead. I was scared that I had lost the only other Jedi I had seen since the war ended. I reacted not out of duty, or defense, but out of anger, and fear. The Force sang within me like it has never done before. It was beautiful, but also...terrifying. What I felt was not the brightness of the Light, but...Darkness." Biting back tears, Kess continues on, "I'm frightened, Alistair. Is that what lies within me? The Dark side?"
Alistair finds Kess meditating in her quarters. As he moves into the room, Kess' eyes snap open, seeming to pierce him with the intensity of her stare. As she comes to her senses, her eyes soften, and when they realize Alistair is there, Kess gives him a bleak smile. "Welcome, Alistair. Thank you for coming. I had to discuss this with you, and you alone. The others...they do not touch the Force as we do, and would not understand." |
