The nightclub was not safest place on Coruscant, that much was obvious. But for Vodo-Siosk Baas, decendant of the legendary Jedi Master and Jedi Apprentice, it was an excellent place to observe without being noticed.

He was on leave from the Jedi Academy at Naboo for a few weeks, and had come to Coruscant, in search of a notorius criminal that had been pirating the space lanes near Naboo. He had tracked the criminal to a nightclub in Coruscant's underlevels.

A scantly-clad waitress approached the corner booth in the darkest parts of the nightclub, where Vodo sat. He motioned for her to come closer, she did som but he felt through the Force that she was nervous.

Probably his appearence...oh well.

"Who is that man sitting at the bar, the one with the death stick in his hand." Vodo said. She looked quickly, then turned back to the Jedi trainee.

"Derk Simman...I think." She said.

"You think?" He asked.

She nodded and he waved her off. Vodo fixed his eyes on the man, he now knew for sure was the pirate who had been bothering Naboo's space lanes.

Simman looked over his shoulder, and in Vodo's general direction, Vodo reached out with the Force and touched the man's mind with it. He felt some suspicion, that was steadily growing.

A minute later, Simman stood, focused on Vodo for a moment, and then left.

Vodo payed his bill, and left as well, following the criminal. Outside it was raining, and he saw a shape dissapearing into the night. Vodo reached out with the Force and allowed it to guide him as he followed the criminal...


After a few moments settled into an easy pace behind the man.

Vodo was the decendent of the famous Holocron Gatekeeper of the same name. The ancient Vodo was an insect-like being with reddish-brown skin and pincers for hands. But the Vodo Baas that was tracking the criminal Derk Simman, was evolved. He was unable to explain it, but sometime in the thousands of years, his species changed slightly in their appearance.

Instead of pincers, this Vodo had hands, a better sense of smell and sight, and an enhanced agility. He was also over 6 feet tall. But like his ancestor, the Jedi Apprentice still carried a walking stick, and used it to, apparently, help him walk better. It was all a ruse though.

Simman looked back and saw the hooded, cloaked Jedi Apprentice and broke into a full fledged run.

Vodo, using the Force, easily caught up to the criminal, who finally decided to stop running. Simman turned and withdrew a blaster pistol.

Vodo ignited his blue lightsaber just as Simman fired. Vodo blocked one blast high, and the other at Simman. The man caught a grazing wound on his face, which would leave a scar.

Simman fell down and Vodo picked up his blaster and tossed it away. He deactivated his lightsaber and stood over the man.

"You are Derk Simman." The insect Jedi said.

"Yes...just don't kill me!"

"I am not going to hurt you. I want you to stop your activities near Naboo." Vodo said.

Simman nodded.

Vodo walked into the Coruscant night, the rain falling heavily...

((ooc: Mind if I join?))

"How...disappointing."

The cloaked man seemed to emerge from the darkness. He didn't say anything else. The man just stood there, in front of the Jedi. Silent. He waited a few moments, before speaking again.

"Tell me, why did you spare that man?"

Silus had followed the Jedi for some time, hiding his own force signature. Silus had studied the creature, the Jedi. It was like an insect, a simple bug. Silus had decided to study the Jedi a bit more closely. Find out his intentions, his beliefs. It made it all the easier to toy with him, before he eventually had to end the creatures life.

OOC: By all means. Glad to have you.

Vodo did not look at the man who had just appeared, and blocked his way. Vodo reached out with the Force and tried to discover the man's identity. To some surprise, he could feel nothing, really. Just a few tendrils of emotion that seemed to leak out of the man.

Lack of Force presence meant that he was hiding or distorting it himself. And coupled with the man's arrogance, Vodo made one assumption as to who it could be.

He was quite ready.

Placing his walking stick in front of him and keeping one hand near his lightsaber, he smiled.

"Usually it is polite to introduce onese;f before demanding information out of them." He said, "The Force is life, and I do not want to destroy a part of the Force."

"The name is Silus, if you must know."

Silus eyed the man's walking stick. It was an illusion, its only reason was to trick the Jedi's enemies, make them underestimate the man. It was a clever trick, he would give him that.

He smiled at the answer. "The Force is life. You do not want to destroy a part of the Force. How noble. How foolish."

Silus began pacing around the Jedi, "That man you let go, you spared, he was a pirate, a smuggler, frankly I don't care. But whatever he did to you, he will go back to. Yes, scaring him with pretty lights may keep him away for a time. But he will come back, with bigger guns, more thugs. He will then start taking lives. This one life you spared will lead to many being lost. Eventually, someone will destroy him, but by then, it will be too late."

Silus finally stopped behind the man. "So, you see, though you may consider your actions noble, it merely started a chain of events that will eventually take place," Silus began clapping, "Bravo, Jedi."

Silus is it? Vodo thought. He tried to think if he had heard the name before, but the name was unfamiliar.

"So certain, you are." Vodo said in response, leaning a bit more on the walking stick, making it appear as if he needed it, "Simman may go back to his life, but now he knows that I am watching him. If he does continue his operations, then I will find him again, and then again, and then again. Untill he is so afraid that he will go away and never return.

"But you seem to know alot about me, and I know nothing about you." Vodo said, knowing full well what the other was.

"Very well. Then he will go away and never return, as you put it, by continuing his operations on another planet. One that isn't watched by Jedi. After a while, someone might fight back, play hero. Perhaps the local authorities will take care of him. But, you completed your mission Jedi. You stopped him from doing whatever it was at your pathetic planet. All it cost you was a few lives, nothing more."

Typical Jedi. Perhaps an apprentice? I shall see...

"You claim I know much about you, Jedi, but I don't even know your name. And I'm growing tired of calling you Jedi."

"I am Vodo, and to answer your question, yes I am a Jedi Apprentice." He said flatly, "I do not particularly care to hide it."

He looked around the area, carefully, noting the walls of the alley way, the individual things. He stretched his sphere of responsibility to a full thirty meters, allowing him to sense everything.

"And let us get the obvious out of the way, shall we?" He said, "You are a Sith, and I am a Jedi. Logic dictates that we are enemies, and I know you wish to destroy me. SO let us stop the talk and do what we are meant to do." He said, withdrawing his lightsaber and raising it.

And then he tossed it away.

"Yes, I suppose it was inevitable, wasn't it? Very well then. It is your funeral."

Time for this bug to be squished.

He was expecting the Jedi to ignite his lightsaber, prepare for an attack. He wasn't as predictable as he guessed. Vodo was planning something, perhaps a trap. No matter, it would only make things interesting.

"So, what are you going to do now, enlighten me with your Jedi wisdom?"

Silus began reaching out and taking hold of the invisible ropes of the force. He began to focus in a small radius around himself and the Jedi.

Vodo smiled.

"Jedi wisdom is a gift, Silus." He said flatly, "And it is only given to those the Force deems worthy. You, sir, certainly are not worthy."

As he spoke, he raised a hand, palm facing outward. The Force swirled around him and Silus, the light drowning out the darkness. He used the light side to usurp Silus's expanding power.

So now he stood, unarmed, with the exception for his walking stick. He dropped his palm to his side.

"The move is yours." He said.

"My, my. Your parents wouldn't happen to have been mosquitos?"

Silus felt his hold on the dark side weakening, and he could only guess that it was the Jedi's outstretched palm causing it. He lifted his hands, a small object flying into each. He then rushed forward, using the force to propel him. His sabers ignited, the black blades coming down on the Jedi's hand.