The Assassin, the Jedi and the Wardrobe Update *

[Adia Issoris]

“You would need to lie precisely once.” Adia countered. But she wasn’t pitching an operation. There was no need to convince Lianna one way or the other. It was up to her, after all. She pursed her lips together. “Okay.” She said, and took in a deep breath. “You don’t have to do this. We can leave and go to the Outer Rim.”

Lianna was clearly conflicted, but Adia had no idea what to do other than reassure her that there was an out and that she didn’t have to do this. She put her elbow on the table and half her face in her hand for a minute before she collected herself.

“And you don’t have to make a decision now, or even a month from now.” She said earnestly.

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

She bit her lower lip, rolling the soft texture back and forth in thought. It was one of the nervous habits that Lianna had as a child that she never grew out of. Drin would often kid her that she'd make a terrible sabbacc player, but the gesture was calming. Her fractured thoughts were starting to be reigned in. She needed focus and think on the situation with clarity.

A Jedi's greatest enemy is fear. It can lead you down the path of the Dark Side of the Force. But also, it can strengthen you Lianna. If you are calm and at peace when facing your fears, you can accomplish anything.

Her Master's earliest lesson echoed inside her mind, trying to help give her the resolve needed to see this through. On Bakura when Adia had first mentioned going to see her mother, it felt like the right course of action. The new surroundings, clothes and the stares were trying to place doubt; and successfully too.

Lianna relaxed and quit biting her lip, "How long until we are ready to go to Coruscant?"

Going there was still the right thing to do. She just needed to believe in herself and was grateful that Adia was so understanding. Her indecisions must be looked upon as strange, but she could not have seen this through without the Assassin's help. There was still doubt and lingering fear and it would remain a stain upon her heart unless she confronted it.

"I apologize for my ... indecisiveness." She frowned, "I must seem like a fool acting this way."

[Adia Issoris]

“Well, I’m not sure. You’ll need to fake being comfortable in the Core, and you’ll need to have your hair cut.” Adia smiled wryly.

“You’re in a nearly alien environment where the language has the same words but sometimes mean different things. Of course you’re going to be overwhelmed. I’ve been down this road before. But first we need to finish lunch and get that mop of yours trimmed. One objective at a time.”

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

Lianna's eyes drifted downwards towards her shoulder. Her dark mousy brown hair lay there limp with countless split ends. It wasn't too far from the ragged mess that Adia had first seen the Jedi with, all long and wild. A product of Lianna's life, her nomadic nature didn't require conditioners and cream rinses for survival.

She went back to eating, hoping that Adia wouldn't make her cut it too short, but that was dependant on Miranda's current hairstyle. Just that the Jedi was rather fond of it being long ...

[Adia Issoris]

“We’ll save the haircut for last. Besides, I don’t know how your sister wears her hair right now.” They finished lunch, both more intent on enjoying the food and scenery than talking. Schools of fish flitted by, chasing smaller fish, with the occasional larger solitary fish cruised and then disappeared with a pulse of movement.

“Let’s go to the fun store.” Adia said as they both deposited the paper their food came on in the trash.

Adia’s fun store was Omniwa’s Outdoors Equipment. It offered specialized goods for hiking in all environments, climbing gear, hang gliders, aquatic gear and even spacewalk gear. It, however, did not sell any weapons beyond vibroblades. Not that Adia really wanted any beyond her personal modified arsenal.

“Find some hiking gear and clothing you find comfortable.” Everything in this store emphasized function over form. The clothing all claimed to wick away water quickly. Or collect it, desert intended. It either retained heat or made it easier to expel, depending on how you wore it. Everything was stain, tear, and wear resistant. Most everything was either a tan color, or it was various forms of camouflage.

“I thought you might enjoy this before we move on to other stores.”

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

Finally a store that sold wares Lianna was comfortable with and wouldn't have to keep close to Adia like a lost puppy. Her eyes lit up in approval as she wandered the store. Several clerks asked if she needed assistance but the Jedi politely refused their service. She could find her way around the store well enough with the holodisplays overhead.

Her first objective was boots and finding them was easy. Trying to decide on a pair was a bit more difficult. There were dozens of brands and dozens of styles related to those brands. It made her head spin momentarily. She narrowed down the focus for a similar style of boot she was wearing, brown and calf length that supported her ankles well and provided good traction. Surprisingly, well at least to Lianna, there were still several types to choose from. She narrowed it down to three choices based upon aesthetic likes and tried them on in turn, walking back and forth several meters to get a feel for them. In the end, she decided on the Borell Steer line. The boots were saddle brown leather with no shine. There was no point in having glossy boots that were only going to be ruined with wear and tear.

Finding clothing was much easier then picking out a pair of boots. She chose a soft tan shirt and pants, deciding on a darker tunic to match her boots. As much as she wanted to get another robe, that really wouldn't be feasible since Lianna was trying to hide her identity. What she did find to her liking was a long all weather desert style trench coat. Not only did it match her clothing, it provided enough length that it almost touched the floor. The Jedi was used to having such 'confining' attire that this was a good compromise.

Everything else was easy enough to find in the terms of hiking gear. Lianna picked out a backpack, glow sticks, flashlight, sleeping bag, a new hunting knife, a canteen, compass and first-aid kit. She survived on a lot less out in the Rim so these items were more then enough for Jedi.

Done with her own shopping, she pushed her hover cart towards an open section of the store and waited for Adia.

[Alexander Bane]

The typical mall hubbub filled the building until it was suddenly pierced by a blood curdling scream. Next to Omniwa’s Outdoors Equipment was a dark video arcade by the name of "Zim's". At the present moment there was a mad rush of people of all shapes and sizes fighting to get out of the arcade. Screams of confusion and terror filled the air as the mass of bodies pushed their way through in a desperate sprint towards safety. Once the entrance was cleared one could see two figures walking slowly out of the arcade. The first one was a tall man with long white hair and wild gray eyes. He was dressed in a simple black trench coat that stretched down to his knees, below it could be seen his black combat boots. A medium sized bag was hanging from his shoulder and there were splashing of a crimson liquid on his coat, blood. With his left hand he held onto the arm of a woman who was standing in front of him and his right hand held a wicked looking knife to her throat. His hands were covered with black gloves and quite a bit of blood coated them as well, "Yes, go ahead, run!" He screamed at the people around him, "Run back to your mother and hide behind her skirt, it won't protect you when I rip it from her body!" He put a little pressure behind the knife blade and listened to the girl scream. A faint cut could be seen, but there the cut was not deep enough to be deadly.

Alexander had only been on Umgul for a few days. He had left Corellia when the city watch started catching up with him. He had stowed aboard a merchant vessel in a cargo crate and waited quietly until the vessel had landed. Upon landing he had killed the crew and ran out into the streets before anyone could catch him. He somehow managed to resist killing someone long enough to sneak into the mall and enter the arcade. Once inside he had held the owner up at knifepoint and demanded all his credits, upon getting them, though, he killed the owner and whoever else he could get his hands on. From there he had grabbed a girl who had stumbled and fell and here he was now, standing out in the open waiting for security to show up so he could have fun killing them.

Eventually a lone security officer appeared rushing towards the arcade. Alex released his left hand from the girls arm and reached into his pocket with it. He drew out a small holdout pistol and aimed it at the officer. He grinned and then pulled the trigger; blowing a small hole through the man's chest. The guard fell, not dead, but down for the count. Alex giggled madly and then started to inch towards the closest exit, the girl being hopelessly pulled along with him.

[Adia Issoris]

OOC: I have had a very crazy week! Sorry for not posting sooner.
Adia pulled Lianna down behind the shopping cart and then drew her boot blaster. It was slender, but nearly the length of a regular blaster.

“I want you to run back into the store while I use the cart as cover.” She did not doubt Lianna’s abilities, but when she took the madman down she did not want the Jedi on any of the news agencies.

“Go.” She said quietly, but firmly. The man turned toward the source of the noise of Lianna sprinting back into the store, and Adia popped up with practiced speed and precision, presenting a blaster bolt inches away from his face. It left a bright afterimage.

“Let the girl go.” Adia commanded firmly, standing behind her adequate cover. She could kill him, but it might end up killing the little girl in the process.

[Alexander Bane]

A blaster bolt went whizzing past and Alexander had to muster all his strength to stop himself from wetting his pants. He turned to face his attacker, dragging the girl with him, "Threatening me with popguns?" Alex giggled, "Why don't you go and play with kids your own size!" He returned his own blaster to his pocket so he could maintain a better grip on the girl. He pushed the blade further into her throat and listened to her scream, "Shoot again and she dies!" He threatened and then continued to move towards the door, "Your mother was a...er... Wossname!" Alex said with a laugh as he moved his knife blade over slightly so that Adia could see the faint cut in the girls neck. Alex looked at her and amidst the insanity in his eyes was a clear message 'Push me and she dies'.

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

She did not like leaving Adia alone, but the Assassin was correct. Their entire plan meant nothing if the news media obtained footage of her. Questions would be raised as to why Miranda Tarkin was saving a child with seemingly Force like abilities.

No. She needed to stay hidden but the Jedi was going to help regardless.

People were panicking inside the store. Many were pushing and shoving towards the emergency exits, stumbling over one another. No one was seriously hurt yet but it would only be a matter of time.

Lianna ran up to the front of the crowd, her presence provided a calming effect to those present, allowing them to be more receptive to what she had to say. "Everyone needs to leave one at a time! All you are doing is delaying your escape!"

To add emphasis to her next words, she helped pick up a young girl of four off the ground, "And you are going to get hurt."

The girl smiled up at Lianna as the Jedi picked her up and straightened her jacket. Murmurs of embarrassment and agreement passed throughout the crowd and everyone started to hastily leave. They were still terribly frightened but at least they weren't going to cause each other harm.

"Jessika!"

The girl in Lianna's arms turned around and happily cried out, "Mommy!!!"

The child's mother scooped up girl from Lianna's arms, "Thank you so much for finding her! I'm so glad you're all right honey." Little arms wrapped tightly around her mother's neck.

Lianna pressed her hand against the mother's shoulder, "Hurry and get going. The authorities should be here soon."

"But what abou-" Lianna silenced her with a raised hand. "You just need to worry about your daughter's safety."

A flicker of understanding flashed in the mother's eyes and she nodded firmly, "Thank you again," and she quickly removed herself and her daughter from the scene.

Lianna returned to helping the rest of the patrons evacuate, stealing a gaze now and again to where Adia was confronting the lunatic kidnapper.

[Adia Issoris]

Adia's eyes narrowed. She did not move at all, making no gesture agression or aquiesence. The blaster stayed stone steady. She stared at the madman.

There was no motion aside from her finger squeezing the trigger in one flawless, smooth motion. The blaster spat one single bolt at her target. Upon impact, the girl screamed, and Bane dropped his knife. The bolt charred his hand, and the girl was seeing badly from the afterflash.

Adia lept at the pair.

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

After some time explaining what had happened and Adia being debriefed, the Assassin was allowed to leave with much gratitude. The local authorities were more then pleased to have an Imperial Agent diffuse the situation before more fatalities occurred.

Lianna hovered around the police station at a safe distance, making sure to keep unnoticed. Something she was well adept at doing. It only took a few minutes for the paperwork to be processed and met Adia at the bottom of the steps, wondering what they were to do.

"Your hair!" The Hand answered the unspoken question and carted Lianna off to a salon she was familiar with.

An hour later of wet hair being sprayed down repeatedly with even more water, snippings, brushings, and some odd gel that smelled of berries being applied to her hair, Sola, the owner of the salon, turned the chair around for Lianna to see the new creation that was crafted out of the unruly mop of hair that she had come in with.

She held her eyes shut like a little girl, afraid of what the mirror was going to reveal. The clothes could always be taken off, or rather, covered up to hide her body, but her hair was something that could not be so easily replaced.

"Come on, dearie." Sola nudge her shoulder. "Trust me. You're gonna love it! Take a look."

One eye relaxed and slowly peeled opened, quickly followed by the other one. She sat there slacked jawed. The girl, No, the woman that she saw was barely recognizable. Her curly fuzzy head of hair was pulled down severely straight that hugged her just below the shoulders. And she had bangs! They were just as straight and fell below her eyebrows enough to not take away the beauty of her eyes.

She leaned forward and picked up a few strands of hair by the hand and felt how silky smooth the texture was. It looked as soft as it felt and was so shiny.

Sola patted either of her shoulders and winked at Adia. "I think she likes it."

[Adia Issoris]

The haircut had gone surprisingly well. Lianna had been pliant, even if her winced-shut eyes would have looked more appropriate on a defiant, squirming 6-year old. The wild headed young woman with the frontier mop had been replaced by something far more metropolitan. While the haircut wasn’t “the new trend” it was easily accepted in any “normal” circle. Lianna could have stepped of the page of a fashion magazine advertising something practical for the business woman. She would have been more nondescript if she had not been so stunning.

Adia left a more than generous tip on their way out. Lianna occasionally ran her fingers through her hair experimentally while they walked out of the mall. She was the same mix of nervous and fascinated. One moment to the next was experimental for the young woman.

“Let’s get a hotel room before the men around start to do something stupid like walking into a light post.” Adia said with a smile that implied mischief.

Like some other tourist planets, Umgul had visitor centers scattered around the main attractions. They contained a wealth of somewhat biased information about hotels, activities, shopping, and transportation. In the park above the mall, a low lying building of wood and stone was surprisingly soft and spacious inside. Adia queued up a geographical map. Their current location was centered. A scale in single kilometers lined the edges of the map. She scrolled the map to a valley about ten clicks away that began the transition into mountains. Adia turned on the buildings. As she remembered, that valley was part of a nature preserve, and only three hotels overlooked it.

One was traditional Core Worlds architecture, which Adia dismissed outright. Another was a thoroughly modern affair, but neither fit the valley like the third. It was subtly carved and terraced into the steeper part of the valley wall, with most of the construction being of the stone it displaced. Trees sprung up between the many sections of suites, connected by winding wooded paths, while the central dining hall was a graceful, large windowed monument of the native stone and large amounts of glass.

“We can go hiking tomorrow, if you like.” Lianna nodded, awed by just the pictures.

Lianna’s jaw hung open the moment she stepped out of the hotel provided transport. The smell of trees and earth filled the air. The valley ran east to west, and the hotel faced to the south, which meant every day, weather permitting, granted stunning sunrises and sunsets.

The double suite shared the same stone, glass and wood theme as the rest of the hotel. They were only one terrace away from the valley’s edge, but the view was nonetheless spectactular. The line of sight was clear to the other side. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen, more than serviceable to make an evening meal for a family of four. However, of immediate interest was a ten meter by ten meter common area with a real fireplace (coil or wood, coil preferred) on one wall, an entertainment center on the opposite, more brochures, mostly relating to the valley below, and warm reddish leather furnishing and a table between the couches and the kitchen. Of course, the best part was the window. Even though there was a servant droid to carry the luggage, Adia still carried some of theirs, out of habit, and because some of it was rather important. They both planted themselves on the couch, and stared out the window for a while, taking in the view some more. When their attention broke, Adia turned the holoprojector to the news, which she hadn’t seen in a while. Normally, she read, as it was far faster and more accurate.

“…today spokesperson Miranda Tarkin delivered a speech regarding the Chancellor’s new social initiatives…”

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

Lianna had remained awestruck since her eyes first looked upon the amazing landscape by the hotel. She walked around in a daze, especially when entering their suite. It was bigger then some beings homes. The accommodations here were obscene, making her feel rather sheepish that she was allowed to stay in such luxury while others had to suffer. It was just wasted space to the Jedi.

She stopped dead in her tracks as her sister's name was mentioned.

" ... Emphasize the importance of the Empire standing together strong in the coming months."

Quietly, Lianna made her way behind Adia, her eyes were fixated on the image of Miranda giving her speech on Imperial Center. The situation made her queasy. It felt as if she was having an out of body experience and was forced to watch herself do something terrible.

"... the loss of life at Endor will never be forgotten, but we must rebuild our proud Empire and defeat the Rebel Alliance before more of our brothers and sisters are lost to their acts of terror.

I have lost family as I know all of you have and I will not stand having their crimes go unpunished! And neither does Chancellor Anar. It is why he is asking you good people to fight ... "

She was listening to her twin convince everyone that the military draft set in place by Anar was voluntary. Miranda was martyring those that died at Endor and twisting the circumstances around to make people believe they had a choice, when in reality they didn't. She also talked about taking private citizens from the work force and placing them into public works. Anything to increase their man power so they could rebuild. The worse part was, the people who were there live ate it up and cheered her for her warmth and compassion.

"Off." The image of Miranda fizzled out of existence and Lianna felt numb. In the back of her mind she toyed with the notion of being able to help her sister see the error of her ways. That the Empire was evil and corrupt and used their citizens. But after seeing that snippet of her sister the politician, her hopes came crashing down.

[Adia Issoris]

“Lianna.” The girl may as well have been hit by a stunner. Her shock was terrible and deep.

“Lianna.” Adia repeated evenly. The young woman turned to look at her, but it was more of an instinctual reaction than a genuine response. She was in deep emotional shock. Even though she must have been familiar with Imperial propaganda to a degree, there was less of it in the Rim, where people were too busy just getting buy to be affected by central governments.

She put a hand on Lianna’s shoulder. Lianna looked up, her face numb but her eyes displayed a deep wound.

“Lianna, listen. You’re not responsible for your sister. You aren’t her, and you’re not in control of her. She made her own choices. Right?”

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

She flinched when Adia touched her shoulder but didn't shy away. Everything that the Assassin was saying made perfect logical sense and Lianna agreed, it was just that she had been following the wishes of her heart. Drin had told her to be mindful of her emotions. A Jedi can feel; just mastering the emotions was the difficult part. Emotions could end up being the master of the Jedi and that was turn towards the Dark Side.

The loss of her Master she had accepted a long time ago when he had to confront Vader. He did it to save her life. Yet still she clung to the possibility that he was alive. Not merely because her heart told her so, but because she would have known if he had died. The knowledge of her sister had given her hope in filling a void for companionship.

"Are you so sure?" She said matter-of-factly. "That could have easily been me. It's the argument we had on Bakura."

Lianna walked away from Adia and stared off into the distant landscape. The sun was just starting to fall into the horizon. Rays of orange and red were cascading across the blue backdrop.

The silence between them almost turned awkward ... "I entertained the silly notion I could change her." The Jedi sighed wearily, "Maybe I still do ..."

[Adia Issoris]

“I never said you couldn’t. But she has to want to change first.” Adia had tried to tell her that she was different from her sister, and took after their grandfather, the Grand Moff. If it was the environment it was the environment. But twins raised in the same house often had different personalities. But the extent of the differences, hadn’t taken hold till Lianna had seen them for herself.

Adia opened one of her pieces of luggage and retrieved a package of herbal tea. She set some water to boil, and retrieved two mugs from the cabinet. The water boiled a moment later, and she set the tea bags into the mugs and poured. The lemon-honey tea was mild.

She sat on the couch and set the mugs on the coffee table. She looked at Lianna against the window of deepening red, gold, orange and pinks. She picked up a mug for a moment and put it back down before standing again. Adia stood next to Lianna and smiled sadly for a moment. Lianna was focused on the fantastic sunset. Awkwardly at first, she put an arm around the Jedi’s shoulders.

“You’re too hard on yourself sometimes.”

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

The sunset was beautiful and Lianna found herself lost within the bright colors that dulled slowly. It gave her time to relax and refocus her mind, to find her center and when Adia allowed herself to offer some comfort, the Jedi didn't flinch. Instead she smiled softly.

With a clear mind, Lianna knew she couldn't focus on what ifs. She needed to do what she felt was right and prepare herself for possible disappointment. "You're right."

She leaned into Adia, wrapping her arms around the redhead's waist and rested her head against her shoulder. "Thank you."

The Force didn't have her meet Adia just to learn about Miranda. She was certain it was for the comfort and support that the older woman could give her. She had been alone for so long.

[Adia Issoris]

Adia was stunned at first, unsure of what to do. Her arms hung limply at her sides. Her contact with other beings typically involved at least 10 kilos of force. Slowly, she put her arms around Lianna, who was beginning to relax. Adia said nothing because she had no idea what to say.

The sky darkened and stars began to wink in. Lianna’s grip loosened, and Adia’s did too.

“Tea?” She asked the Jedi, who now had regained her composure.

[Lianna Mal Pannis]

Lianna nodded before pulling away and smiled up at Adia with a measure of peace. "That sounds lovely."

She noticed the mugs on the table, the steam long since gone. "Though it has grown cold. Let me fix that."

The Jedi took the mugs into the kitchen and warmed them to a desirable temperature inside the food heater. A few minutes later, she returned and offered a mug to Adia who was sitting back down.