Nar Shadaa – The Confrontation

No more running.

Darth Firias stood in the street and observed the lone entrance to the cantina. Karr had given him a good chase, but he had reached the end of his road. Karr was inside. But something was wrong. This was a popular cantina in a populated area. There should be obnoxious music coming from inside, and a steady stream of people coming and going, but there was nothing. Firias thought it odd that there was no sound of rabble wasting their lives, but there was nothing. It was quiet, and not a single soul had come or gone in the time since he had arrived. For a moment, Firias thought that perhaps his information had been wrong, but he immediately pushed the thought from his mind. No. His information was good. The trail of soulless husks that he had left drooling on themselves had made sure of that. Karr was here. Firias pushed away his doubts and embraced the passion of the hunt.

Firias casually opened the door, not wanting to alert his prey and give him a chance to escape. He was completely unprepared for the scene that awaited him.

The cantina was empty. There were no bartenders, no barmaids, no customers, and no music. It was silent as the grave. Even most of the lights were off. Only a single overhead lamp, and the soft glow of a game table in the back of the cantina, broke the darkness.

Even more surprising was the fact that sitting there, completely at ease, was Dargo Karr.

Karr had an open bottle of high-end alcohol in front of him. Across the table was an empty chair and another bottle of the same liquor, this one unopened and sealed.

Karr was alone, unarmed… and entirely unshaken.

He tipped his bottle toward the empty chair, and looked Firias right in the eyes.

“Please, join me. It’s about time we talked.”

Firias was doubly surprised that not only was the place devoid of lesser beings, but that his quarry sat there looking for all the galaxy like he had invited Firias there.

“Either you are very powerful, or vastly idiotic. I sense no others present, yet you know exactly what I am.”

Karr looked at Firias evenly.

“Of course. I have been aware of you for weeks. Who did you think it was that left the bread crumbs that allowed you to find your way to this exact place, at this exact time, and arranged to make sure that we would not be disturbed?”

Karr gestured again to the empty seat.

“Please, sit.”

Firias returned Karr’s gaze.

“Your words may ring with truth. Yet what is preventing me from destroying you now? Or have you brilliantly engineered your own death?”

“Simple analysis of the facts. If you prefer the challenge and the thrill of the chase, then you would be willing to fight me unarmed. If you care only about the completion of your mission, then there is nothing I can do to stop you anyway. So until this little episode reaches its conclusion, there is no reason we can’t talk and share a drink.”

Karr gestured to the game board.

“Do you play?”

Firias regarded the man before him in new light. There was no fear in this man. Only calm, despite his obvious bluff about hand to hand combat, Firias thought. Absurd.

“For the very reason that you intrigue me do I not crush you where you sit.”

He seemed at war with himself, but finally Firias sat in the offered chair and looked thoughtfully at the game board illuminated before him.

“And no,” he said at last “I do not.”

“Very well. I am given to understand that the Force gives you some guidance provided you understand the idea.”

Karr explained the rules briefly and simply, then raised his bottle to his opponent.

“May the Force be with you.”

And then Karr made the first move.

Something clicked in the back of Firias’s mind. A side of his consciousness long buried. This game could not be won by power and tyranny of will alone. It would take true cunning. Now that his curiosity was piqued, Firias threw himself into the game. For the Force did indeed give a small glimmer of insight and clarity. Not as much as his anger and rage could drive fear in an individual, but close.

Firias looked at Karr and said “This game is a very accurate verisimilitude to our previous game of cat and mouse it would seem.”

Karr answered calmly “Of course, on the surface, parallels could be made to our own recent history. But, of course, you learn more of your opponent by looking beyond the surface.”

Karr began to shift his stratagem, moving pieces in the back outwards, while he continued to speak.

“But, of course, despite that, there is always more to find in the big picture than the depth of any single action. Take our short association, for example. Given what you know of me, and what you have experienced, what would your assessment be?”

Firias took a moment before answering.

“That you calculated the risk in allowing me to find you so vulnerable, but for what purpose I wonder? Do you believe you can hold sway over me? Or that I will find you to be a source of wisdom? That is what you hope is it not?”

Karr seemed to shift his tactics yet again, seeming to favor a more aggressive center charge.

“Partially. You have gleaned much from the depths of a single action, and yet the bigger picture remains shrouded. Shall I tell you what I have learned by your actions?”

Firias arranged his pieces in an array before him that would provide maximum defense and chance for a counterattack.

“Do tell.”

Karr slowed the pace of his attack, while also moving the back pieces further out and away from the combat.

“You have great power. Too much raw power in fact. In your race to find me you encountered a series of obstacles. Some could have been easily detected or avoided, and, in so doing, would have brought you here much sooner than tonight. But you didn’t. You destroyed every obstacle before you, because you could.”

Karr gestured to the relatively straight-forward defensive line of his opponent, and continued.

“You favor the straight-forward path. This tells me that you are confident and proud of your power, and this in itself tells me that you crave more.”

Karr began to pull back from his aggressive center charge and re-group, while moving the outer pieces into a cone-like formation.

“But there is a downside to having too much power…”

Firias said “Oh? What makes you think so?”

As emphasis, a few of the tables and chairs in the room began to float. As Firias moved his pieces to flank and counter the deviant cones, the tables and chairs were crushed into splinters and twisted metal.

“I’ve beaten you with power.”

Karr was calm and unmoved by the display, and delivered his answer.

“An over-abundance of power makes you think uni-laterally.”

The cone formations swarmed around the back through the now open gap in his defensive line. The regrouped center force charged once more. His opponents forces were wiped out in a devastating pincer attack. As emphasis, in one swift move, Karr shattered his bottle and surged forward to place it at Firias’s throat.

“Power is all well and good, but it is a poor teacher in the ways of tact and patience.”

Karr lowered his hand and sat back down.

“If you would like to play again, I have a proposition for you.”

A smile played at the edges of Firias’s lips. Then a chuckle emerged, followed by true laughter.

“You are the first man to surprise me in over twenty years, let alone the first to be so bold and brutally honest!”

His laughter died as his eyes burned with fury nearly unrestrained.

“Again” and he arranged his pieces once more before Dargo Karr.