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A Second Cantina, Perhaps Some Ale, but No Sandstorm


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Nalaen snorted at Nadira's words and lifted up the strong smelling drink that had appeared before her. This waitress was amazing. She hadn't even seen the woman put the drink down: she had felt her, but had ignored it, not sensing a threat. "I don't need anyone to drive me to drink," she replied, downing the dark amber liquid. "I can do that on my own." A quick grin and a warm feeling settled over her for a brief moment. She let the feeling fade before speaking on the matter. "As for the whole time thingie, I don't have a problem with it." She hiccuped and laughed. Maybe that drink had been one too many . . . well, only one way to find out. She lifted her glass up in silent demand for yet another drink.

 

"I think," Nalaen pontificated slowly, swirling the drink once it arrived, then downing it quickly like its cousins; her eyes swam for a moment. "I think that this doesn't matter. What needs to be done? Furthermore, why am I helping you? I know," she stressed, leaning over to use the table to help support herself, "that you're tied into this as usual. But I still wanna know the facts. What's going on? Why are you here? What needs to be done? And why in the Gods names are two Sith supposed to help?"

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"You're supposed to help because I can get you what was stolen from you," Nadira answered quietly. "In answer to your other questions, let me put it very simply; I don't know. I don't know why I'm here. I'm not even truly sure what needs to be done... now do you see why we can't simply kill somebody?"

 

"So what do we do?" Kira demanded downing the drink she'd been given.

 

"First thing's first," Nadira answered. "We have to find Lachlan." She grinned. "Then you'll have somebody to torture. We need information. He has it."

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Kira stared at the man who had oh so casually offered to play pazaak with Nalaen, her jaw nearly hitting the table. In the end, it was actually Teri who asked the question. The girl's eyes darkened to a deeper blue and her hair changed color slightly... to a very dark brown.

 

"How can you do that?" she asked. As soon as the question was out of her mouth, Kira's black hair and pale blue eyes returned. Nadira stared at her, unable to hide her curiosity about what just happened, but she knew that one of them would have to wait. She turned to the man.

 

"If you can find him, by all means, please explain," Nadira agreed.

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Nalaen stared at the man for a moment, completely ignoring Kira's transformation. She had seen it enough to not find any specific horror in it any longer. After the moment was up, she leapt to her feet, hurling her glass at the table.

 

"I'm sick of this!" she shouted, not caring if the whole cantina could hear her, or were staring; which she could feel anyhow. "The Sith Lord sending me off to do work that I don't know about. These damned people always being here at the right time. What the hell is going on? Why is it no matter where I go, there's someone just waiting for me? Actually wanting me to get my job done? To help?" First she screeched, tearing at her hair then she turned on the man. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him none-too-gently, eyes wild. "What the hell is going on here?!"

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Kira put a hand on Nalaen's shoulder in an attempt to calm her and said, "If the Jedi girl has taught me anything, it is that patience is important, no matter what side you're on. Relax, Nalaen. Think about this rationally. Let your anger fill you, but do not let it overflow. You'll need the overflow later. Do not waste it now."

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"Of course," Nadira said quickly before Kira could continue making demands that were sure to evolve into threats. "But let me ask you one question..." She leaned forward. "Did Adar and Lachlan do something to you that makes you so eager to help us find Lachlan?"

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Kira was not content with the little information the man had given them... Nadira knew it and was intent on getting the man's help, though she too was curious to know why he wanted to help them.

 

"Of course," she said quickly, before Kira could say anything. "Thank you."

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Nadira glanced at Nalaen and Kira before standing. "If he can help in any way, I want to trust him as much as I can."

 

With that, she turned and followed the man. Kira watched them move toward the door before turning to Nalaen.

 

"What do you think?" she asked quietly. "Should we help?"

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The man led her to the docks, where a ship like nothing she had ever seen before waited. He reached into his pocket, took out a remote and pressed a button. The ship's loading ramp opened and they walked in.

 

"I'm going to need you to describe the men, any ships they used, the holocron they have, everything."

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Nalaen growled low in her throat, a primeval sound as her shoulders hunched slightly, body instinctively ready for the attack.

 

"Who follows someone hiding information? Who in their right mind follows blindly? Risking one's life on the off-chance they're telling the truth is utter stupidity." The last thing she wanted was to follow. On top of that, he would be demanding information from them. He could be an assassin sent to wipe them out and then either protect or take out their marks. She didn't want help from someone lying to them.

 

Looking at Kira, she added, "And who says he knows anything about what we need? That he can really help? What if we're just wasting time? I don't trust him. I don't trust him." She shook her head trying to free herself of these feelings, the panic, the heaviness. But they just wouldn't go. She would be damned if she followed some pseudo-amnesiac into oblivion.

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"Do we have another choice?" Kira asked quietly. "We don't know anything about this 'Lachlan'. We have absolutely no information about him. A holocron has been stolen from you and you're concerned about an assassin?"

 

She smiled. "Come on, Nalaen! If anybody can outthink and outmove an assassin, it's you. Don't focus on your panic. What happened to the Nalaen I knew? The one who felt power from the panic of others rather than panicking herself?"

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The man led Nadira inside and into a comm station. He sat down and contacted his closest source. The man popped on screen.

"Hey, Frep, how you've been?"

"I need some help" said 'Frep'.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"I'm looking for a man, he's got a holocron."

"Anything more specific?"

"Hold on." He turned to Nadira.

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"His name is Lachlan," Nadira said. "He stole the holocron from a Sith woman. Aside from that, he's also been messing with space, time, and other dimensions of space. He's tall... something like six feet tall. Dark hair, blue eyes, square chin, average forehead. His nose isn't particularly big or small. Thanks to me, he's missing the index finger on his left hand."

 

She raised an eyebrow. "Detailed enough?"

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"Who's that?" asked the contact.

"No one you need to know." said 'Frep'

"All right, all right. There may be someone. Doesn't call himself Lachlan though. I'll need to check. "

"All right."

'Frep' cut off the connection. He punched in antoher number and a young Republic officer appeared on-screen.

"Rom, what do you need? "asked the officer.

"Information on a guy named Lachlan. Missing an index finger, has a holocron, know him?

"I know of him. We haven't heard of him in a long long time. "

"Look for anywhere he might be for me, will ya?"

"Will do."

'Frep/Rom' cut the connection off again.

"Well, we've got smugglers and the republic looking for him. I can try crime syndicates, the hutts, but you tell me. Who is he more likely to try to contact?"

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Nalaen stared blankly at Kira for a while. Then she sighed, shoulders slumping somewhat. "Yeah, I know, you're right." Lifting herself up somewhat, she studied Kira. "Still . . . He's done nothing to prove his worth, his loyalty." Shrugging and drawing her sabre into her hand with the Force, she gave in. "Alright, we'll follow him. But if he makes any wrong moves, I'm removing his extremities."

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"As I thought you would," Kira said grinning. She stood, flicked a coin at the bartender and walked out. In a few moments, she and Nalaen had caught up with Nadira and the man who had still not given his name. They were just in time to hear Nadira tell the man, "Frep and Rom... makes me wonder how many other names you use."

 

Kira glowered, but said nothing. Nadira noticed her approach and smiled.

 

"Our Sith friends decided to join us," she told the man.

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