Coronet City

'Jetii?' Jade positively smiled, though there was no warmth in her eyes. Only one group of people referred to Jedi as such. She was curious how a Gungan had embraced that lifestyle, but it passed quickly. The two of them entered the building in which the Lastdark was located.

She pressed the button to summon the lift, and while they waited, came to a decision. There had been more than enough banter, and she was tired of his blustering. Adieumus Matango had once questioned her for a similar slip of the tongue. She'd given him the truth, but not nearly all of it. In fact, what her current companion could not know was that she herself was fluent in Mando'a. It was much closer to her own language than Basic ever would be, particularly in its grammar and syntax, as well as its use of apostrophes within words. Jade spoke quietly, but distinctly enough that he'd have questions about what she'd said, "Copaani mirshmure'cye?" as she turned to face him, eyes crackling with emerald fire in their depths. Seconds later the lift doors 'whooshed' open and she stepped inside, automatically keying the lift for the topmost floor, which was where one entered the Lastdark.

His insolence was most offensive. By this point, I'd almost welcome a conflict. However, I realize that this is probably not wise. Still, how is it possible for one to be so arrogant and still alive? He is most definitely an unpleasant contrast from the Mando'ade that I have dealt with so far. Still... always in motion, the future is.

In any case, Jade would not have made the attempt to dodge such a close-quarters headbutt, not when 'down' was clearly on the table as a viable option. In fact, it probably looked funny to anyone watching, a Gungan, vastly taller than the petite Jedi, really it was almost laughable. Jade was only surprised it had taken him this long to attempt a more 'intimate' acquaintance. Warning bells going off as his aura was flooded with overt hostility gave her plenty of time, since gravity was after all, her ally in this case. Not one to simply tolerate such, she slammed her folded fist up in the direction of his stomach roughly as she straightened back to her feet.

Seconds later, she was aligning her robes more precisely as she stepped back and tilted her head slightly, allowing him to precede her into the lift. She followed, of course. "Do not try that again, Gungan." This was Corellia after all, notably Jedi-aligned, and he was a Mandalorian warrior without his beskar'gam.

Once they were underway, she slipped a sideways gaze at him before speaking in a low hiss, "Tionad hukaat'kama, Marsune?" she inquired with understated politeness as if they were discussing nothing more than the weather. Though, as warrior to warrior, she knew he would read the underlying threat. She would not provoke further conflict, but she would not accept wanton insult either.

I contemplated telling him I would not even need my lightsaber for what I had in mind. This is after all, what my knife is for, and I have long felt that there is nothing quite like the feel of a good blade in one's hand. However, speaking of this would be more suited to a youngster fresh into his military training.

Jade was her normal meticulously arrayed self when the lift doors opened and they stepped out into the Lastdark proper. She stopped at the front desk and displayed a small chit denoting membership, and then the two of them continued through a pair of double doors into the main room occupying the top of the building. It was fairly quiet at this time of day as it would be four or five hours yet till the evening was properly underway. Quiet music filtered through the cosy atmosphere from a band onstage over towards the left.

Jade lead the Gungan over to the bar and turned towards him to ask what he'd have, then thinking better of it, simply addressed the bartender instead, "Two Corellian brandies, if you please." When the two of them had received their drinks, Jade went over to one of the large windows that separated the Lastdark from the outside and stood there, calmly surveying Coronet from the place to be. A couple hundred feet below a maglev train sped past only to disappear a bit further down the line. She took a drink of the rich amber liquid that filled a curiously wrought crystal glass and enjoyed the smoothness of the vintage followed by the fiery tingle it left in her esophagus as it warmed her inside.

Jade signaled a passing waiter to refill Non-Com's glass. "Coronet itself is older than the Empire, but the Capitol building suffered from sudden demolition in the form of Han Solo. It has since been rebuilt." She was not as informative as a tour guide, but she had made a point of familiarizing herself with points of interest on the world she called 'home.' As the Gungan examined the city she fancied she could guess the tenor of his thoughts, "Not many cities are designed to withstand a sustained attack from both land and sky. Not even old Bela Vistal, though it was a firm Imperial stronghold." The most unique city she had seen in this regard was Mondder on Etti IV, but she was not going to give details to someone she didn't even know.

She took another sip of her own brandy, savoring the smoothness and slow burn of the liquid. If he hadn't had a bit of alcohol with more on the way, she probably would not even attempt further conversation. She gave it a shot however, "I find cities to be interesting in the variety of design that goes into various structures. Some of it is quite hideous naturally," she half-smiled, "but the infrastructure necessary to run a giant city-planet like Coruscant is a bit mind-boggling if you take the time to actually think about it."

"In terms of the balance between high-powered defensive capability and aesthetic grace, I'd have to conclude that Mondder is a fascinating specimen, although it has nothing like the rugged beauty that can be found in Bela Vistal valley," she continued, half-introspectively, "and then, there is Tyrena, a twin-city brought together by long bridges. It is mainly a tourist destination and commercial center."

Jade was perfectly capable of holding her liquor. She came from a race of people that drank heavily. So, if she was talking, it was because she chose to do so. 

Interesting. Mondder is the only thing I have said that has provoked a response other than annoyance.

Green eyes met the much taller Gungan's gaze directly as she replied, "About three weeks, give or take a few days. Nice place," was her direct, though not voluble answer.

She took another drink, noting how the sunlight turned golden and then red as it sunk through the clouds towards the horizon. It refracted off the windows of the Capitol building in a fashion that was nearly blinding if one caught it in the eyes at the wrong angle. "I assume then that you are familiar with this city?" she inquired casually.

Jade contemplated Marsune narrowly over the top of her glass. She suspected there was more in what he was not saying, as opposed to his studied, casual response. She arched an eyebrow at him, "Not particularly so, I was collecting a bounty, not sightseeing." She shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm sure you understand." He didn't seem the type to engage in casual tourism, unless he was dragged along under duress like as in this visit to the Lastdark. "How do you know it?"

She knew he was suspicious of a Jedi visit to a city that was Mandalorian. Or if he wasn't, he would be as soon as he realized what that meant. The fun would begin when he determined what he'd do about it.

"Oh, I wasn't strictly speaking hunting anyone," Jade replied enigmatically, "not by the time I reached Mondder, that's just where I was paid." She smiled in a predatory fashion reminiscent of a hunting feline, a positively wicked gleam sparkled in her emerald eyes.

She had told the truth, not all of it to be sure. But then, NC had not been open and up front with her either. If he wanted more information, he'd have to work for it. This was a game, a trading of information in a sort of chess, each of them taking turns with something new and interesting to the other. But how much was true and how much was careful misdirection. Frankly, Jade was enjoying herself. Here was someone who had literally no clue of who she was and what rank she held within the Jedi Order, aside from the basics. A few minutes earlier she had been annoyed to the point of pleasantly contemplating pulling his long ears for him. To be sure, that had remained a thought only.

"Just how far beyond the Outer Rim were you exactly?" She decided to follow up on his remarks. Did he really think that she was not aware that the delineations of planetary regions were not spherical in shape? 

For the third time, Non-Com's glass was filled with the rich amber liquid the Lastdark was famous for.

"If your location and business mattered that much to me, I could find out for myself where you were much more easily than you imagine." Jade informed him. Frankly, his affairs were his own as far as she was concerned. This wasn't a business meeting.

"Who is your father?" she inquired casually, not that she expected any particular result from the question. She was simply intrigued by the difference between this specimen of the Gungan species as opposed to the general species as a whole, most notably Jar-Jar Binks and Boss Nass. So far, she was impressed. Gungan culture wasn't something she would have thought of as translating easily to a Mandalorian lifestyle. Jade wondered if NC missed an aquatic home. Mandalorians tended to live on the surface of a planet as opposed to under its oceans.

Z'har Dizen Or'dinii. Jade blinked, momentarily taken aback and not even bothering to hide it. She was positively dying to know how that relationship had come about, but she was not going to tell Marsune that. As for herself, a wickedly detailed memory of the intimacy she and Z'har had shared on Mondder came to mind, and she found herself both blushing a bit and highly amused imagining the Gungan soldier's reaction if he had any idea! In fact, she played for time in drinking a bit more.

"My father?" Jade repeated, taken aback. Of all the things he could have said, an inquiry into her own past was not something she'd have put him down for.

Her family was not something she thought about given the circumstances of her departure from her homeworld. It was not something she had chosen, but it had been the only way. Against a corrupt Empire she had taken a stand. What she had not seen was how far the corruption had extended into her own family, including even the husband they had sold her to and the child she had raised. A son that she had later killed. All these thoughts and more flashed through her mind. And it was with an underlying steel in her tone that she replied, "I have no father."

And then, because for the first time in their conversation he had seemed genuinely curious about this, she asked a question gently, with none of the human female's tendency to seek for compliments. "How old do you think I am, ner'vod?" Many assumed at first glance that she was human, though upon closer acquaintance they might discern the differences between the species.