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| - Remote Landing Pad - Yavin IV This is a large, grey platform with black burn marks that could only be made from ship's engines. At the far north of the platform, there is an entry ramp leading to a set of blast doors which have long since corroded and are blocked by a cave-in of the mountain into which they lead. Surrounding the landing pad is a ten foot high, hi-voltage fence. All around you are the forests of the planet, and you barely are able to catch glimpses of ancient stone structures hidden deep within the foliage of the lush jungles. Lando Lando Calrissian possesses a natural grace--something inherited and certainly not a product of the places he frequents. Every one of his feature is in one way or another exudes this gracefulness: his long elegant gait, the way his hair cascades from front to back, the smoothness of his split-moustach, indeed even his cape seems to move in perfect syncronization with the rest of his body. Yet his most impressive feature must be his eyes--those dark brown orbs that seem to look through and into whatever they gaze upon, and yet also serve to bar anyone from looking into him. Perhaps this was born from the many long nights at a sabacc table. He wears a simple outfit comprised of a long sleeve shirt, trousers, boots, and of course topped off with a cape. The shirt is a medium hue of blue and outlined in black along the V-neck collar and cuff. The trousers are beige and flare ever so slightly at the bottom to allow boots to be worn with them. The boots are knee high and shined to a glossy black. The cape is a slighter darker shade of blue on the outside and the inside is a darker shade of beige. The cape's collar too is outlined in black. Jessalyn The composure of this young human woman is probably the most striking thing about her. Though otherwise unassuming, her expression is one of surprising coherence and calm, belied only by the slightly mischievous gleam in her leaf green eyes. Shining dark red hair falls in unruly silken waves down to the middle of her back, framing her wide cheekbones and smooth, pale skin not as fragile as most redheads'. She is relatively tall for a human woman, with long-boned limbs and a natural grace amplified by her skills. Jessa is dressed in a drab green sleeveless shirt, and a pair of kakhi pants with plenty of pockets. Around her waist is a black leather utility belt. Her hair is held back from her face and clipped behind her head, though stray curling locks continue to fall into her eyes. The fit of her trousers and the sturdy brown suede boots on her legs emphasize her narrow waist and the long-legged rhythm of her strides. Drew Drew is a tall, leggy blonde. You know the type; legs up to her chin, arms down to her ankles, lots and lots of crazy blonde hair. Her bedroom eyes are of a grayish, peridot green, her skin is a peachy tan, and her nose is heavily freckled. The hair is of a honey color, in artfully disheveled waves down to her shoulders. She's past her teens, and probably most of her twenties too, but it's hard to tell with her. She has the kind of body an athlete would have, good shoulders, a narrow waist, and coltish limbs. Her cheeks have a constant blush to them, much like some who live in cold weather; her nose seems to have been broken sometime, it is a tad long and slightly hooked. She wears a standard spacer's outfit. Comfortable brown pants reinforced at the knee with darker leather, tucked into soft ankle boots and a tan, stretchy shirt. If weather and situation call for them, she carries a blaster in a shoulder holster under a dark brown leather jacket. As the craft comes closer and closer it further resembles a flying house. If the cockpit were removed, it wouldn't look much different that a high-priced/high-rise Coruscant apartment. Everything about this craft screams excess, luxury, and bravado. It's really no wonder that its owner chose her as his preferred medium of interstellar travel. With a 'HISS' the landing thrusters activate to slow the craft's descent and set her softly on the ground. One by one a different humming noise ceases as the craft's pilot begins the shut down cycle. A few minutes of silence are broken by the "Wirring" of the landing ramp and it slowly opens towards the ground and reveals a tall, shadowy figure perched atop. Almost ceremoniously the figure waits until the landing ramp has completed its journey. At last, as the "Wirring" stops, the figure emerges from the shadows and his features and shape become more clearly defined. Lando Calrissian has returned to Yavin IV. This isn't the first time there has been an unexpected arrival on Yavin since Jessalyn and her companions have come here. This time, however, the Jedi finds that she is alone, the others having disappeared to their various tasks as they prepare for their imminent departure, and she glances up from where she sits in the shadow of the Uwannabuyim, rummaging through a toolkit and balancing some kind of engine component in her lap. She lifts a hand to shield her eyes from the misted sunlight, a small gasp of surprise coming from her lips at the sheer size and obvious luxury of the craft that approaches and comes in for a landing not too far off. The Uwannabuyim and Cronos' ship are the only two vessels still parked on the old landing pad; one little corner of the area is still partitioned off by an electric fence, protecting some project which is draped by a concealing tarp. Setting aside the engine parts she was working on, Jessalyn claps her gloved hands together, suppressing a worried frown as she moves closer to the Lady Luck, afraid that the appearance of this particular individual can only mean he comes bearing bad news. Someone who can 'Read' him; a gambler's worst nightmare. Calrissian isn't too sold on all this Force talk yet, but there is one thing he knows for sure: The cards aren't going to randomize your way all the time, so if you can't 'bluff' through to a win every now and again you're going to be in trouble. For that reason (and another big one formerly named Vader) Lando has never quite been comfortable around any Force-user whose lastname wasn't "Skywalker" (and whose first name started with an 'L'). Granted Lando had never been around too many Force-users, but he'd been around enough to have made up his mind about most of them. Jessalyn Valios was different though. While Lando isn't quite as comfortable around her as he is around Luke and Leia, she seems to emit the same kind of serenity that Luke does. Their contact had been brief to this point, but enough for him to have made up his mind about her. "Jessalyn Valios." Calrissian declares, both as a greeting and verfying that he's found who he was looking for. "If you keep disappearing on us the way you have been," he continues; smiling growing brighter with every step, "I'm going to start to suspect that you have some Skywalker in you." The young woman's brows arch first skeptically, and then with laughter as she begins tugging off her gloves one finger at a time. Her pale eyes, the same green as the rainforest around them, dance with amusement. As surprised and uneasy as she is by Calrissian's sudden appearance on their doorstep, this pronouncement makes her laugh aloud. "Is that some sort of insult?" Jessalyn says with a wide grin, teasing, and straightening her shoulders as if in defense of some slight. "What brings you to Yavin, Mr. Calrissian?" Reputations aren't always deserved. Slip up just once and embarrass yourself in public and you're branded for life. Sometimes reputations are earned, a series of behavior over an extended period of time. Reputations are a funny thing, sort of like charicatures of a real person. It's said that a reputation can precede someone; In Lando Calrissian's case, he precedes his reputation. "Call me Lando." he insists as his long gait carries him gracefully across the distance between the two. The man is a caricature in himself: a character straight out of some novel (you choose which). "I woke up not too long ago and decided that I had deprived myself of those sparkling green eyes and enchanting smile for too long. so here I am." It's a line, everyone knows it's a line (creative one that that). Read straight off of a data screen it might sound like winner of the 'Cheesiest Line' contest, but this caricature of man has a way of carrying it off. Just the right amount of sincerity, good delivery, and of course that smile. Even as Jessalyn draws breath to test out the feel of Lando's first name on her tongue, she pauses, genuinely surprised by his response. She's well aware of the man's reputation, and it's never been difficult to pick up on his debonair mannerisms and easy way around women, but the Jedi had never seen herself as the object of any of that kind of attention. As it's applied to her, she blinks almost dumbly, and looks over her shoulder as if, perhaps, he's actually addressing someone else. That thought makes her laugh again, since the only other woman in the vicinity is Mira; she can't even bring herself to imagine the former Baron of Bespin using a line like that on the grubby girl who seems determined each day to add a new layer of mud to her person. Composing herself, Jessa meets those dark eyes and puts on a pleasant, amused smile. "You're far too kind... Lando. I find it difficult to believe that's your real reason for coming here, but..." Shrugging, she stuffs her work gloves in a back pocket and glances towards the Uwannabuyim. "Had a long trip? Would you like something to drink?" "Not too long a trip." he answers, taking a few moments to take the young woman's features in. "You sell yourself short Jessalyn." Though not necessarily adept at 'Reading' minds like a Force-user, Lando can read behavior--he never would have accumulated half as much as he has if he couldn't. The polite smile that graces the gambler's lips turns upwards into a wry grin as he adds, "Besides, if I was lying you'd know right? I would love a drink." he transitions smoothly from wry grin to cordial guest. Still unconvinced, Jessalyn gives Lando a curious look before she turns and leads him back to the Uwannabuyim, pausing near the ramp to pick up the toolkit and the engine component she'd been working on before. Tucking the piece of machinery underneath one arm, she pauses under the shadow of the ship. "I don't think we have anything too, uh... exotic to drink on board. Water. And I think I saw a bottle of Bothan wine that looked like it had turned to vinegar." She grins, not climbing the ramp just yet, and briefly wondering where in the nine hells everyone else had disappeared to. Drew hasn't been around much, has she? That limp can't be much of an excuse anymore, it's turned into more of a swagger. She swerves past a few flight crew, squeezes through some crates on her way to the Uwannabuyim, shopping bags in either hand. "Jessa, hullo," she calls out to her once she is close enough to the ship for her to hear, and gives Lando an appraising glance. It's not that he's exactly Galaxy-renowned, well maybe among the seedier types, though he's been working real hard at that, but Calrissian does love attention. He loves walking into a room (usually a casino) and having all eyes focusing in on him. He knows how to maintain a low profile but just prefers not to. It's that type of bravado that has earned him various reputations (some deserved others not). And just like anything else, to earn something you usually have to give something else up. In Lando's case it's usually any and every ounce of credibility with women. "Water will do just fine." he comments while making a mental note of having Han and Luke spaced for running their collective mouths too much. No matter what he does, Lando tries to do it with grace and bravado; trying to make every move, every word, even every thought seem effortless. Thus, he takes his place by Jessalyn's side and follows her towards the waiting water as if it were the key to ridding the galaxy of the latest Imperial instrument of destruction. A brow arches, a voice heard, smooth and effortless he turns to face the voice, "Well what have we here?" he half-comments, half-asks. Before Jessalyn can go up the ramp, she hears Drew's voice, and pivots on her heel to lock gazes almost gratefully with her. She beams a smile toward the honey-haired woman, releasing a pent-up breath. It's not that she doesn't like Lando's attention, but it's not the kind that she's used to, and her social skills aren't exactly up to par with the Princess of Alderaan. It's all a bit daunting for a girl who still considers herself a virtually nameless orphan who was never educated in anything beyond her flight school instruction. "Ah! Drew! We have yet another visitor," she calls out as Drew approaches. "This is Lando Calrissian. Lando, Drew Carvallo. She's an employee of Talon Karrde's." "Hello. Nice to meet you, Mr. Calrissian." she says briskly, flashing Lando a cautious, but goodnatured smile. His 'What have we here?' seemed to her like a rather cloying way to greet someone, and it shows. Her eyebrows shoot up at the relieved look Jessa gives her, then scrunch up slightly in curiosity. Lando Calrissian, /here/? And Jessalyn, looking like a deer in headlights? She walks up the entrance ramp to the Uwannabuyim, her limp more obvious then. Her eyes bug out slightly and she lets out a puff of breath that shoots up some hair on her forehead, for emphasis. She does not like to shop. "Got those things we needed," she remarks. There aren't too many things that can make Lando's suave exterior falter (Hey, having your neck nearly detached from your body by a Wookiee will do it to anyone!), but mention of Karrde's does it, if only for a second. People who work for Karrde seem to like him, heck even a few people who know him don't completely hate him. Lando's been where Karrde is, he knows the business and from his perspective you can never be totally neutral. Those who claim neutrality are usually doing to try to gain the upperhand on someone else. "You work for Karrde huh? Well I'll try not to hold that against you." he adds with a wry little grin as he regains some of that suave exterior. "Thanks Drew," Jessa murmurs under her breath, adjusting the toolbox and the components that she's carrying so that she can add one of Drew's bags to her load, reaching out and smiling as she takes it from her. With a little chuckle, she tosses back her hair and grins at Lando. "This is Karrde's ship, actually," she explains, wishing suddenly that Orson was around to hear her tell him this. Maybe he would be proud that she mentioned that before she did anything about the Jedi. The thought makes her lips twist only briefly, but she hides any discomfort about the issue of Karrde. "Come in and have something to eat with us, Drew?" she offers, looking at the blonde woman again. Drew's smile broadens into a saccharine grin. Hm...neutrality? Not so true anymore. But she's in no mood to argue, so she doesn't reply. Her eyes turn to Jessalyn, and she shakes her head, "I can't, I have more errands to run. I might join you later though." She punches in the access code to the Uwannabuyim and tosses in the other bag. Must not be breakable. Then she strides back down the ramp, "I should go. Nice to meet you, Mr. Calrissian." "It was a pleasure to meet you Drew." he adds one of those charming smiles for emphasis on the word 'pleasure'--while Karrde's name did happen to break his suave exterior for a moment, it was nothing he couldn't recover from. Jedi are all about control, in every facet of their lives. One of Lando's little evil pleasures was making Luke lose control by steering the conversation towards the opposite sex. It's a similar pleasure that he derives from making the young female Jedi so uncomfortable with compliments and innuendos, but truth be told some of it is even sincere. "Alone again." he comments with a wicked little grin that could only taken one way. But enough of that, making Jessalyn nervous wasn't his sole purpose for visiting Yavin IV, "You know, I haven't been back here in a long time." he transitions into a more serious (if Lando could ever be serious) tone. The redhead turns her head as she watches Drew leave, focusing on the way the woman's limp seems to be improving rather than on the fact that she's once again alone with Lando Calrissian. "See you later, Drew," she calls to her departing figure, a little nervous chuckle erupting from her throat at Lando's pronouncement. "Come on, I'm parched," she says, realizing all at once just how warm and muggy it is out here in the fullblown, afternoon summer heat. Or is it something else that's making her so flushed? Her boots echo as she stomps up the ramp of the Uwannabuyim, leaving Calrissian in her wake. Calrissian follows behind the Jedi at his own pace, knowing he's produced the desired effect. Doesn't look like there's much left here on Yavin," he comments on the desolate conditions of the moon. "Who could have thought it would all start here. A new beginning for the galaxy starting in the ruins of an ancient temple." Lando has always been a believer in YTs, very durable, upgradable, and most importantly affordable, but there was something about this one that just didn't sit right with him (probably won't take long to guess what that is). "So," he starts as he props himself up against the object nearest to Jessalyn, never letting her get too far out of reach, "You wanna tell me about your latest little adventure? Leia didn't quite fill in all the gaps." Jessa moves to a group of storage lockers not far inside the ship, where she disposes of the things she's been carrying, including Drew's bag, which she crams inside without even looking in it. "Ah, my adventure," she repeats, a barely detectable tremor in her voice. Leia probably didn't know all that much about the details of her recent life, either, so Jessalyn isn't too surprised. In fact, other than a couple of people from the NRI who briefed her, and those who lived through the ordeal with her, Jessa hasn't shared very much with anyone else. It's not the most pleasant of topics. But she doesn't resent the question, and smiles sincerely at Lando as she pulls a jacket off the hook of her storage locker and wraps it around her bare arms. It's a lot cooler and dryer on board the ship, and she's suddenly chilled. "Well, it's sort of... complicated," she begins. "I guess you knew I was gone for a while... a long while. One of Valak's henchman beat me in a lightsaber duel, and he decided I would make a nice wall hanging for a couple of years," she says in a wry voice that does little to hide her anguish at the very thought of it. Well add another thing to the list of things that can make Lando's smooth exterior crack, "Oh jeez...I'm sorry Jessa...I didn't mean to make you re-live those things...it was just...just my roundabout way of trying to get to why I'm really here." Almost every word is stumbled on, every sentence proceeded by awkward pauses. Why even the charming smile is replaced with a haphazard gawk/frown. He looks and sounds more like Luke Skywalker than Lando Calrissian at the moment. He draws in a deep breath, trying to regain some semblence of that smooth exterior he possessed till just a few minutes ago (might take a while though since it's lying scattered all over the floor). "What I was trying to get at," he gets that without any major problems, "is how you became involved with Karrde." Jessalyn shakes her dark red head, trying to put him at ease with her friendly smile, and she touches Lando's arm. She's much better at dealing with shy, awkward types than with the suave, debonaire man he usually is. "It's all right," she says with a slight chuckle, leading him into the main hold and going to the small refrigeration unit next to the holochess table. A moment later she sets a pitcher of water and two tall glasses on it, and sits down, mulling thoughtfully over how to reply to this question. "It was all sort of an accident," she begins. "I was 'rescued' from Valak by... a very unlikely group of people. Among them was Simon Sezirok and Mira... they brought me to Corellia, and finally woke me up. I had been... caught inside a Sith mind trap, you see, and they had to destroy it before I could really be set free...." Drawing a deep breath, Jessalyn glances at Lando, folding her hands tightly on top of the table, and gauging his response. She has no idea how much sense any of this makes to someone who was not there to see it firsthand. "One of Karrde's operatives, Orson Tighe, was there on the beach when it all happened. He offered to help us... he thought we could be useful to Karrde, because Luke asked him to help find the Death Star." More composed, not exactly suave and debonair but not quite shy and awkward either, Calrissian can't help but comment, "I don't think it's finding the Death Star we have to worry about. I'd be more worried about it finding us first." He's usually a better diplomat than that. But there's something about Karrde that brings out this side of Calrissian. Not much of Jessa's explanation of her ordeal makes sense to Lando, he'd like to ask questions but he just can't shake this yet. "It's not like Luke has to clear anything with me, but he could have consulted me before bringing Karrde into all of this. Who, afterall knows that pirate better than I do?" Not too many see this side of the smuggler/gambler/businessman. It's not often that he lets that exterior slip, but it's already fallen off and exposed another layer. "I'm sorry to be dumping all of this on you and making you re-live those memories. It's just that I don't TRUST Karrde." It's taken a long time for him to learn, but Calrissian eventually learned that the most precious commodity in the galaxy aren't credits or any minerals but trust. And he utters the word as if speaking of the most fundamental yet most rare thing in the galaxy. Jessalyn can't help but glance nervously around the hold, grateful that none of the other crewmembers are about when Lando makes his feelings about Karrde known. She gives him a tight smile, some of her own discomfort about the smuggler chief showing in her eyes. "I know," she says, her voice hesitant. "I mean. Luke knows what he's doing. But it's all rather moot now. Once Valak found out Karrde was dealing with us... and once Karrde blasted him on that asteroid... well, you probably heard about what happened." Her expression is grim as she remembers travelling with Orson to Tatooine, to witness firsthand the destruction wrought on Karrde's presence there by the Imperial forces. Because of her, so many people had died and lost their livelihoods. "Karrde made a stand whether he wants to admit it or not. And he sided with us." She tries to take some comfort in the fact that Orson, who she knows and understands better than anyone else in the galaxy, has complete faith and confidence not only in Karrde as a businessman, but as a moral compass of sorts, as well. But the thought only makes her sad, dreading the imminent conflict she knows must be coming. Who would he choose to side with in the end? "Stand or no stand," he continues and his voice begins to rise unaware or not caring that any of Karrde's people might be around, "I still don't trust him. All his decisions are based on the bottom-line, how many creds he can pocket." Ironic to hear Lando complain about someone making decisions based on creds, but he actually seems sincere about this one. "If Han or Luke or Leia or Mon Mothma or anyone else in the Rebellion had made decisions based on the bottom-line most of us wouldn't be around today." An old wound is opened up. One that never quite healed and maybe never will. While the incident that triggered everything was only a few years ago, the events that led to it trace back much further. Maybe that's why he speaks so emphatically about not trusting Karrde, and seeming truly hurt that he had not been consulted by Luke on this one. In an instant, a revelation. He's said too much, revealed too much, opened himself up too much. "Look," he begins hastily and a little more forceful than he would have liked, "I'm sorry about what you've been through and making you re-live it," he continues in that previous awkward manner, as if to make up for the prior forcefulness in his voice, "but I don't trust Karrde. You can leave with me right now if you'd like but if you don't just promise me you'll keep a close eye on Karrde." his voice regains an even sort of keel. "I know he won't try to hurt you or use you as leverage against us, but his decision making may put you in some bad situations so just watch out okay?" None of these are thoughts that Jessalyn hasn't already had herself, and the muscles in her jaw tighten. It had been clear from the beginning that Karrde didn't trust -her-, had resented Orson's bringing them along, and had rightly wanted to distance himself from them after the debacle on Tatooine. "Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye out. He won't try anything, Lando. If he does... well. It would be shocking. Orson has become my apprentice, and... I think they've come to some sort of understanding about where we all stand. But he has no control over us here. If he wanted to sell us out to the Empire to save himself, he should have done it when he had the chance." She smiles wryly, finally reaching to pour water from the pitcher into the two glasses, and picks up one of them to take a sip. "I can take care of myself, I promise." "I know you can." Calrissian answers as if agreeing with her statement and also trying to assure himself of the truth of it. "Look if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to give me a call okay?" Enough with the opening himself up, Lando is way past his quota for the week already. So, he begins to beat a hasty retreat. "Look thanks for everything Jessa, but I really have to get going." He words come out as if he were sitting at a high-stakes sabacc table and he was just caught with a skiffer ("No really, I don't know where that came from. Someone must have planted that on me."). "I have some business to attend to." Well maybe just a little bit more won't hurt, "Let me know where you're going okay? And keep in touch." Why Lando Calrissian is so concerned all of a sudden with her well-being baffles Jessalyn, and her brows draw together over her shaded green eyes. She blinks, surprised at his abrupt need to depart. "Sure," she says, a tad uncertainly as she starts to stand back up. "Thank you for... your advice. I'll be thinking on it, I can promise you that if nothing else." Trying on a smile, she folds her hands in front of her. "Tell everyone hello for me when you get back. And -- if you see Luke --" She stops, wondering suddenly what indeed she would want him to tell the Jedi Master if he saw him. "Tell him I'm okay, would you?" "Yeah." Lando's states very un-Lando-like. He almost has to turn around to answer the young Jedi while the turns tail to run...in a manner of speaking. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Those are the sound his boots makes against the ship's floor as he attempts a very ungraceful exit. Clomp. Clomp......he stops suddenly, realizing how he must look (and probably a little afraid to accept what he feels). "Hey." he begins a new, tossing in one of his rougish grins, "You can count on me." And with that he regrains some graces as the leisurely strides through the corridor and towards the jungles of Yavin IV.
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