Echoes of Power

Still pulling his jacket on, Niklos ran into the docking section of the Ahto Luxury Resort, hoping he wasnt too late. Stopping to catch a breath, he saw one of the Selkath native to the planet of Manaan walk towards him. Despite the planet being under Imperial rule, few were actually stationed here, leaving the Selkath to run the resort.


"You're late again Thorson" said the humanoid creature in a tone that showed no anger.
"I'm sorry Ranaat, my chrono was broken" replied Niklos, still gasping for air. In truth he had been up late practicing with his Lightsabre, but for obvious reasons the truth had to be kept quiet.
"Always with the excuses! I need you here on time. When people land, we need people making sure they get anything they need. People like you."
"Wont happen again." Niklos replied, now standing up straight once more.
"You said that yesterday." came the reply, as the amphibian walked away to deal with more pressing matters.


Straightening his clothes, Niklos sat down in one of the seats provided to wait for visitors.

Lilaena De'Ville followed the beacon in to her designated landing pad, taking the time to settle her modified pleasure yacht Finality gently onto the duracrete. Unsnapping her saftey harness, she pulled her woolen robe around her shoulders, and made her way to the hatch.

Once she'd extended the ramp and started walking down it, the humidity of the planet hit her. The cloak was a mistake, but she stubbornly kept it on. The tears in it had been carefully repaired, and the blood washed out of it, but she would go nowhere without her master's robe.

Feet on the ground of the Ahto Luxury Resort, Lilaena keyed the ramp to close up Finality.

Hearing the doors to the nearest landing bay begin to open, Niklos sat up straight. Visitors gave tips, and that was the only way to make a decent living in this job. A single female walked out from the bay. She wore a thick cloak around her body with dark markings around her eyes that matched her hair. There was something about her...

Looking to his side, he saw one of his Selkath workmates getting up to see to her. Quicking stamping on his foot and offering an apology, Niklos walked briskly over to her.

"Um, high, welcome to...Manaan. Is there anything I can do to, er, for you?" he asked her, trying to keep a friendly smile as he struggled to perform a siimple welcome.

Lilaena turned to face the man who'd approached her, and offered him a crooked half-smile. "Well, it's actually my first time to Manaan, and I'm heard this was one of the best resorts on the planet. Thing is, I don't have a room reservation. Think you can help me get one?"

She had only one bag, and it hung from her slim shoulder. It wasn't very full.

Pulling a datapad out of his pocket, Niklos began cycling through the various options.

"Okay, a normal room is 70 credits a night, but because of space I'll give you a free upgrade. There's a datapad in your room, you can use that to tell reception how long you intend to stay for. You're on the eleventh floor, I can take you there now. Would you like me to carry your bag?" He asked, looking up.

She gripped the bag with her right hand. "No." Lilaena paused, "Thanks, but no, I have it."

They were walking as they talked, and a tall set of transparent doors opened up to allow them entrance to the Resort. "Any good restaurants around here?"

"The entire 3rd floor is restaurants and bars. I reccomend the Corellian and Naboo places, good food but not too busy." He replied, entering a turbolift.

Looking forward, Niklos found himself looking at the woman's reflection in the door.

"My name's Niklos by the way."

"Mmm. Lilaena." She focused on his reflection, and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Niklos." There was something about him...

"I'm sorry, have we met before?"

"I don't think so, sorry." replied Niklos, thinking hard about wether he had seen her face before.

"So what brings you to Manaan? Meeting someone?" he asked, checking the room number on his datapad.

She couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about him. Or perhaps there was just something familiar about the way the Force flowed around and through him. Meeting someone... yes you could say that.

Lilaena nodded, distracted from studying Niklos more closely. "Yes, a Dr. Gon'es. I believe he is staying here as well?"

"Yeah, such a lovely Rodian, sarcasm intended. Got the whole of the twentieth floor sealed off, just so no one could bother him. Even has guards patrolling." Began Niklos, before turning his head to Lilaena with a smile.

"I can get you in there if you want though, I have the turbolift codes."

She laughed, "Oh really? Well, that may be a little premature, but I'll keep it in mind."

They traveled for a few moments more in silence, and then the 'lift halted, and the doors opened. As they walked out, she felt a slght sensation... and she knew.

Knew that he was capable of touching the Force. It was one of her gifts, that her master had strengthened through rigorous training. She didn't always know when one was Force sensitive, but once she had determined someone was, she had never been wrong.

"What are you doing for dinner?" She paused, and amended, "I mean, I don't have any plans tonight..."

Niklos nearly dropped his datapad in suprise at Lilaena's question. Is she asking me out?

"Erm, I'm free tonight. Completely, whole night off."

She smiled, "The whole night?" Lilaena let that linger in the air a minute, and added, "How about seven o'clock then? Meet me in the lounge outside that Nabooian restaurant on the third floor?"

They had stopped walking in front of a door, and she looked up at the number. "This one mine?"

"Yeah, this is it" replied Niklos, pulling a keycard out of his datapad and swiping it through the door lock.

Stepping out of the way of the door as it slid open, he held out the keycard with a smile.

"Seven is great, I'll be there."

"Sounds good." She smiled again as she took the keycard, letting her fingers brush his. As the door closed behind her, Lilaena leaned against it and slid to the ground. Gods but she was tired. The trip to Manaan had been a long one, and she'd spent most of her trip reading up on Doctor Gon'es, the paranoid Rodian archaelogist.

She checked her chrono, still time for a nap before I have to get ready for dinner. The Jedi pulled herself to her feet, and crossed the carpet to the bed, laying herself over the comforter and kicking her shoes off.

A few hours later, she was on the second floor, looking for the restaurant that Niklos had told her about. She was wearing a simple, light green dress and casual sandals, much more appropriate to the weather. It was a few minutes before seven when she finally caught sight of the garishly decorated restaurant, complete with faux marble pillars and decorations. It was like someone had put Naboo's ancestrial architecture through a funhouse.