ShockHelix
Administrator
Deity of Death
No mercy for the weak. No pity for the dying. No tears for the slain.
Posts: 666,666,949
Likes: 27
|
Post by ShockHelix on Apr 9, 2016 14:32:09 GMT -5
Blink stood up from her seat and stretched, then pressed a few buttons on her console as the three of them entered the room. The multitude of holoscreens all began playing the same news channel briefly, then each of them took a specific portion of the screen, turning her holoscreen wall into one big display of the news station. The scene showed a reporter standing outside Swindon's apartment, CSF holotape cordoning off the scene with a scrolling 'Do Not Enter' message. Meanwhile, Homicide had taken to clearing the table of the clutter, while Rhithia set down the plastene bag and passed out the white boxes after reading Mandalorian text written on the top of the disposable boxes.
Homicide was the first to remove his helmet as Rhit tossed him and Blink packs of sealed plastene forks and knives. It was the first time he'd done so in front of Swindon, and as he did it was likely he'd have worn some kind of mask even if he'd not been Mandalorian. His pale, chalk-white face was more scarred then the older cook's had been, his bald head riddled with scars. He had a crooked nose that looked as if it had been broken far too many times, covered by a scar that stretched from the top left of his scalp to his bottom left jaw. It looked like whoever had delivered the blow had been trying to cut his head in half with a vibroblade. The other scars were not so noticeable on their own, a small cut here, a once gash over his right eye there, a burn patch atop the right side of his bald head. Resting in the center of it all were his cold black eyes, slight bags resting beneath pupils that seemed as though black holes, devoid of light or life. His mouth did not frown or smile, devoid of any sign of emotion.
Without a word the cold Mandalorian opened his box, and a pungent aroma of spice and cooked meat wafted upwards, the spice so strong that it burned the nostrils to inhale it. Homicide took a deep breath, and then smiled. The expression on the dead face from moments ago seemed wrong, as if painted on as a joke by some cruel artist. “I hate to leave Brax behind,” he said, as Rhit distributed the drinks to each of them. “Plackett's tiinglar doesn't have half as good noseburn as Brax's.”
“That's the Ghost of Solitude's head cook,” Rhithia said at the mention of Plackett for Swindon's expense.
Blink let out a small laugh, then pulled her own helmet off as well. Her own features were quite the contrast to Homicide's, brown flowing hair falling down over her shoulder. Her deep brown skin seemed to accentuate her full lips, and her deep brown eyes seemed to sparkle in the light of the room as she sat across the table from Homicide. Of the three Mandalorians, she was without question the most beautiful, and her smile seemed to warm the room as she sat down, flipping her own box open and grinning at the contents.
Rhit pulled her own helmet from her head, fingers ruffling her red locks as the other two began to eat their tiinglar with the plastene silverware. She pulled her gloves off as well, before opening her box and grabbing a large looking sandwich with a thick meat patty and a number of vegetables and toppings in between two square pieces of toasted bread. There was a crunch as the woman bit into her meal, and she grinned with satisfaction, letting out a sigh of contentment as she swallowed down her first bite. Cold-blooded murderers or not, in that moment the Mandalorian's were simply regular people enjoying a well cooked meal.
Stormrider scowled at Buhel as the duros began giving what seemed to be orders, but he kept his outh shut, darkening by the word. It seemed he was ready to erupt in a fury by the time Buhel finished, speaking, but Ralak seemed to either sense the tension, or just have a desire to speak on his own. “Crash scenes been went over,” he cut in, as soon as Buhel had finished saying they needed a link to be found. Stormrider shot the Zabrak a puzzled look, and Ralak gave him a grunt. “I read the report.”
Stormrider seemed puzzled, but nodded, and Ralak carried on. “There was plenty of debris, and a discarded power pack. BlasTech make. Obviously the murder weapon isn't BlasTech make, and no organic evidence was found, as is typical with Mandalorian cases. Judging by the weapon we saw the girl use, we can guess the weapons are illegally modified anyway, so no point trying to pursue that angle. If we couldn't locate where the killer took his shot from, I doubt they're going to leave behind evidence anywhere else either.”
“So I'm with Buhel on this one. But based on your report, you already know what that means, don't you Stormrider.”
The detetcive scowled again, this time at Ralak. “I already told you. The politicians are off limits.”
Aria coughed, having moved to stand up at some point, and gave them both a frown while tapping a foot impatiently. Her arms had crossed over her chest, with head tilted to one side. “Mind sharing with the class?”
Stormrider shook his head in frustration, giving all three of them a glare. “Senator Omigrapgh was arguing that Belderone was being highly aggressive to Galidraan, and trying to get the Republic to intervene. It's a touchy subject, since people still remember the Stenax massacres. Senator Farruzola, Belderone's, claims it's all lies and racism. I put forward a request to question him, being the closest lead we have to someone with actual motive, but that was shut down quickly. No politicians Ralak.”
The Zabrak grunted clearly not satisfied, while Aria seemed amused, sitting down on one of the tables and crossing her legs. “Senator's always have something to hide,” she said with a grin, looking at her nails casually. “If we can't question him, let's implicate him. A few leaks to the right reporters. . . “
Both Stormrider and Ralak went aghast at that suggestion, both of them staring at her with open mouths. Aria just shrugged in reply, giving them both a smile and glancing to Buhel to see what he thought of her idea.
|
|
Wake
Infant
^ Little Lore-Stalker ^
Posts: 131 Likes: 3 
|
Post by Wake on Apr 9, 2016 17:54:06 GMT -5
It seemed all too nice to Swindon. Her cheerful nature was almost disguised in this environment. She didn't pay too much mind to the news- it bothered her, under her skin, how much popularity that one attack did... still, the death of a Senator being connected to the murder of two officers through herself put the Mandalorian's at risk even further, Swindon wasn't blind to that fact. She was being quiet about it. The last thing she'd want is to be fed to the law in order to cover the Mandalorian's escape... but one thing lurked on Swindon's mind in defense: the energy source.
"puurb" Cuddles rubbed himself against the engineer happily. Swindon smiled and stroked Cuddles on the head, causing the cat to gaze up crosseyed before closing his eyes and laying down, falling asleep. Cuddles knew he always got dinner after others and wasn't at all rebellious about getting fed.
Carefully, Swindon took her Caf and drank most of it in a single 'sip'. She needed it for how tired she was becoming. Placing it down, she quickly went for her sandwich, taking it gently, biting into it silently without any noise, chewing with her mouth closed. It was delicious, Swindon gave Brax that much.
Swindon didn't speak for the entire time she was eating- or for when everyone else was eating. The moment of peace was soaked in, it made for a nice tale, a small calm while the storm was circling them. Running from the law can be quite tiresome, even if the worst was yet to come. When Swindon finished her small meal, she opened her bag and took out a small bowl. Cuddles blinked and stood to attention. With behavior in mind, Swindon stepped away from where everyone was eating to the rooms corner, opening a can of cat food and sliding it all into the bowl. The ginger cat was more than pleased, chewing away while purring.
It bought a smile- a real, true smile- to the engineer's face.
She rose from the corner and seemed content with her cat being fed, walking back over to the table and sitting down back next to Homicide. "Cuddles is happy" Swindon announced joyfully. "I didn't even name him Cuddles, you know. It was on his collar when I found him. I asked my entire neighborhood, even putting up signs asking if anyone owned him: no one. He was scruffy and abandoned when he found me....and he never left." (Edited post)
|
|
|
|
Post by Zelus on Apr 10, 2016 7:24:06 GMT -5
With word from the Zabrak, Buhel turned to look him over. There seemed to be a statuesque stare from the Duros as he listened. He quickly nodded in agreement. BlasTech power packs were pretty universal, and widely available, due to use by multiple weapons used by nearly all sides of the galactic political spectrum. It wasn’t unusual, and it didn’t entirely surprise him. What also didn’t surprise him was the lack of biological evidence. Mandalorian Armour was seemingly sealed up from head to toe. The only thing you’d expect to see from a scene with a Mandalorian is maybe a bit of paint scraped on the wall – if that. Their use of jetpacks also didn’t make investigating their crimes any easier. Evidence was a no go seemingly this time. So they had to look for other means of investigation.
It soon was made blatantly apparent that the Zabrak was in agreement with him. Though headquarters didn’t want the politicians involved, they would most likely have to investigate them nonetheless. The assassination wouldn’t be solved if they had walls of red tape blocking them from avenues of investigation. Buhel grumbled quite a bit as he went back to glaring at the holodisplay.
He glanced up when he heard the only female on the team speak up. He raised a brow at her. “Hmmm?” He murmured, glancing between both Aria and Stormrider. As Stormrider began talking about the Senator and his accusations against Belderone, Buhel stepped across to the holodisplay and activated the console. The display of the crime scene was swished away and replaced with a galactic map. Soon the map focused on the areas between Belderone and Galidraan, with the Perlemian Trade Route cutting between them. Several other planets lit up close by such as Rhen Var, Columex and Arcan. It was an area of space far from the Galactic Core. Perhaps it was only part of the Republic because of the trade route’s connection to Dac, the homeworld of the Mon Calamari. The proximity of Greater Tion also further made the area a very particular political quagmire. Buhel was not surprised when he began reading the various feeds of recent history in the sector. They had avoided the New Republic, falling into the various isolationists states, any one of them could want the representatives of Belderone and Galidraan to be caught up in political strife on Coruscant. There was also Columex, a trade planet located on the trade route itself. He couldn’t imagine the planet benefitting from political instability.
As Aria spoke of her plan, Buhel turned his attention from the map before him. “I would agree with her… Senators have something to hide… we have the last fifty years as evidence of that.” Buhel told, turning to Aria. “Her suggestion has merit. Though, we need to have the appropriate protection measures in place should this go awry. It would most definitely be on all of our heads should our investigation sour.” Buhel glanced back over to the map, eying the Arcan system. “Hm.” He muttered, before glancing to Stormrider. “What happened to the ship? The one belonging to the smuggler, has it been impounded as evidence or?” He asked recalling his earlier inquiry into the smuggler. They still had to investigate the other deaths, whilst they weren’t as important as the senator’s death, it could no doubt lead them to some answers.
|
|
ShockHelix
Administrator
Deity of Death
No mercy for the weak. No pity for the dying. No tears for the slain.
Posts: 666,666,949
Likes: 27
|
Post by ShockHelix on Apr 12, 2016 0:55:15 GMT -5
Homicide raised an eyebrow as Swindon sat back down and spoke of her cat, before ignoring her and sipping his black ale. Rhithia merely nodded in understanding, and surprisingly Blink seemed the most interested, peering at Swindon with a warm smile over her own cup of ale. “He's cute. And surprisingly smart for a cat. Most I've heard about tend to wander too far. I don't think he even got out into the hangar while you were gone.”
“She'd best keep an eye on him then. Strills on the solitude will make a quick meal out of him,” Homicide grunted, clearly not pleased by the presence of the feline. Then again, he hadn't seemed pleased with anything but his food so far. With the tiinglar and uj cake finished, his face was back to it's natural state of scowling.
Rhithia had just taken a bite of her own cake when her companion spoke, and she frowned at him while she chewed. The nuts made a crunching noise in her mouth while Blink shared her distaste at Homicide's comment. With large gulp, she swallowed the piece of the fruity cake she'd bitten into. “Strills are hunting animals from Mandalore. Kind of like akk dogs. Six legs, about a meter long. Homicide raises a good point though, we've got quite a few of them on the Solitude. You'll have to keep a close eye on Cuddles when we get there until he's familiar with where they go. They usually stay out of the lounge, quarters, armory, tech lab. They're all over the hangar though, so you'd best carry him past that. You'll what I mean when we get there.”
“Which may be a bit longer then we thought,” Blink cut in, sighing as her eyes drifted to the television. “Going to be harder to get off-world now. I don't trust the customs officer I had lined up to keep his mouth shut now that you two are on the news as well. Stark black armor isn't too out of the ordinary, but I don't think anyone's stupid enough not to realize exactly who we are with all three of you together.”
“What's the plan then?” Rhit asked, before munching on another bite of her cake.
Blink shrugged, drinking a bit of her ale to buy herself some time. “Just going to keep looking for now. If I don't come up with anything I'll start reaching out to some Syndicate contacts, see what they can do.”
Stormrider still seemed very displeased in the way the conversation was progressing, but he managed to begrudgingly answer Buhel's question. “It has. Forensics is going over it now, but I don't know how you plan to determine what's relative to our case. There's enough contraband on board to make a Devaronian proud.”
“Still the question of the electrician, too,” Ralak added.
“He worked at a weapon shop. Merr-Sonn Munitions owned. It got checked out after the murder, being a disruptor rifle death, but if the owner had his hands in anything illegal there was nothing at the shop and he has a clean record. Whatever the information was, he was trying to sell to to the . . . Galactic Inquirer.”
Ralak snorted at that, and Aria laughed. The Galactic Inquirer was know for being full of worthless, nonsensical articles that walked a fine line between free speech and defamation. Stormrider put his hands up defensively at their reactions, before continuing. “I know. I wouldn't put stock in any of it, except it's the only thing we have on his murder. No priors, no enemies, no other suspects. Unless our assassin is tying up lose ends, someone payed to have him silenced.”
|
|
Wake
Infant
^ Little Lore-Stalker ^
Posts: 131 Likes: 3
|
Post by Wake on Apr 12, 2016 12:04:37 GMT -5
"I'll carry him, don't worry about the Strills getting him. Cuddles will learn. Once I carry him through the hanger, he'll see the Strills and know to stay away from them. We've had a similar situation when our next door neighbor had got a Barghest to stop thieves. Once Cuddles saw the Barghest, he rarely left my home until the neighbor was killed by a thief..." Swindon gave a soft smile while telling the short tale before taking a long sip from her Caf, finishing her drink. Swindon didn't seem to mind Homicide's response- she was internally thankful he actually warned her. When she took the sip, for a short pause, the cat made an extra-loud chewing noise that echoed from the corner, mixed with it's cheerful purr. Needless to say- the mechanic wasn't worried about her cat getting eaten, though it's quite clear she doesn't want him to get eaten.
Swindon's smile weakened when Blink shrugged. The clockwork cogs began grinding together in Swindon's mind as she began to think creatively on how to get offworld. As a mechanic, her knowledge about speeders was a little heightened than... well, nearly anything else she knew. Visibly, she looked quite in thought for a few moments, staring at the durasteel table.
"..Does your ship have hyperdrive?- stupid question, I wager it does... what grade? I've got a plan, b--but it's chaotic and I really d-don't want you to do it.." she said rather hesitantly, warning everyone first. "It's like a plan B if plan A doesn't work, okay?... W-we could- in theory- if your ship got the skyline of Coruscant- rip through the skyline by entering hyperspace as soon as it was .. somewhat safe. Customs wouldn't be able to ask in time, we wouldn't intercepted because we'd enter hyperspace. It's chaotic, but I've got a feeling it would work.. if.. you know, it didn't horribly backfire.."
|
|
|
|
Post by Zelus on Apr 13, 2016 11:14:01 GMT -5
Buhel nodded at Stormrider’s comment about the Devaronian. “It is no doubt weird for a Smuggler to have a full cargo coming to Coruscant… We can only guess that the goods came from here. Maybe if we can figure out where his goods are going we’ll have a better idea of why he was killed. His flight recorder and database will also have some interesting finds… the hidden ones, if he was any sort of decent smuggler, he’ll no doubt have some.” His wife did, she had all sorts of hidden compartments in her ship. Buhel looked troubled for a moment; Irdii’s memory still burned his mind whenever he thought of her. Since she’d come into his life, Buhel always had a soft spot for smugglers. Sure they broke the law, but without smugglers the Empire certainly wouldn’t have fallen. He didn’t trust the forensic droids to really look at the ship. They didn’t have biological eyes or a gut to tell them when something was wrong. More importantly, they didn’t have his gut. At the same time he didn’t exactly want to second guess Stormrider in his own neighbourhood. He doubted he would’ve liked it if the situation was reversed.
“The vessel is worth a look… once forensics is done with it, I suppose,” was all he spoke of the matter, before falling silent when Ralak spoke.
Merr-Sonn Munitions, huh? They were one of the top munitions companies in the galaxy. Big companies often had their secrets, everyone knew that. The bigger the company, the easier it was for them to hide their secrets. So the owner of the weapons shop was aligned to those guys, huh? Buhel frowned at the mention of the Galactic Inquirer, he was all too familiar with the rag, some of his precinct bought it and it was often laid around the office. Why there of all places? Was it because they were the only ones to listen? Maybe someone in the Inquirer actually had a sense of ethics… that’d be the day… Still, a broken chronometer is right twice a day. Maybe they would’ve been about this? Buhel nodded to Stormrider. “It might well be our only lead, till forensics is done with the ship. Want one or two of us to go down to the Inquirer and ask some questions? Maybe the electrician’s contact knows something."
|
|
ShockHelix
Administrator
Deity of Death
No mercy for the weak. No pity for the dying. No tears for the slain.
Posts: 666,666,949
Likes: 27
|
Post by ShockHelix on Apr 16, 2016 23:57:02 GMT -5
At Swindon's suggestion, Homicide scoffed, Blink laughed, and Rhit just smiled and shook her head. Homicide stood up, food finished, clearing having no desire to be a part of the conversation. He grabbed his helmet as Rhithia began to speak, fitting it over his head and departing back into the hangar to continue loading the non-essentials on their ship.
“That's on the table, but that's more of a plan z then a plan b. I'm a good pilot, but I only know of one person who claims to actually be capable of pulling that off. Kriff, if we even clipped something on our way out we could level half of Coruscant. Maybe take out the whole planet if we collide with an actual ship. You ever hear about Pammant? Back in the Clone Wars? Hyperdrive malfunction in a battle caused a battlecruiser to jump to hyperspace – aimed right at the surface. Killed everything on the planet and cracked the surface like an egg.”
“That's our last resort,” Blink cut in, picking back up on the actual explanation. Rhit took the opportunity to finish her cake, letting Blink give a full explanation. “Life or death situation. Even then it might be better to surrender. I wouldn't worry about it though Swindon. Bribery is our easiest way off planet. If that doesn't pan out, there's plenty of other options. Falsified authorization, smugglers, blackmail. If I don't see any of those panning out, I contact our handler. Then they call in favors, make arrangements, and you three ride out in style on a minor senator's private ship and I pick you up with our ship on whatever planet. Worst case scenario the Syndicate sends an actual team to extract us.”
Rhit finished chewing her food, then yawned, rubbing one of her eyes slightly. “Not very exciting, I know, but jobs about 99% sit and wait and 1% action. Nothing like the holofilms. Truth be told, this is more excitement then we've had in about a year.”
Blink grinned at that, pushing a few strands of hair over her shoulder. “When you're as good as us, it's hard for anyone else to keep up.” Rhithia rolled her eyes at that, but it had her grinning nonetheless.
Stormrider put a hand on his chin, seeming to think, but finally nodded. He didn't appear happy about the decision, but there it was anyway. “I suppose it's better then sitting here waiting. Aria, since it was your idea, you can drop hints about the senator to the news. And as far as anyone is concerned, they better have come up with the connection themselves. If command so much as suspects we're giving tips to the news we'll be lucky to be on traffic for the rest of our miserable lives.”
“Fine by me. Way too much testerone in here for me anyway.” She stood and left then before Stormrider had even finished confirming assignments. The detective glared at her back while she disappeared through the door, but kept on anyway. “You two can go go have a word at the Inquirer. I don't know that it'll give us any help, but that's the most solid lead we have.”
“And you?” Ralak asked, clearly not satisfied without having the whole picture himself.
“I'm going to ask around about our killer, try and get a list of actual suspects for our shooter. There aren't too many in the galaxy that can make a shot like that. And being a Mandalorian narrows it down quite a bit. If this was a contract killing, then whoever our shooter is has already made a name for himself, and someone has to know who he is.”
|
|
Wake
Infant
^ Little Lore-Stalker ^
Posts: 131 Likes: 3
|
Post by Wake on Apr 17, 2016 15:31:05 GMT -5
The reactions of the Mandelorian's was not at all what Swindon had thought- At least two of them realized before Swindon bursted out laughing- an honest, hearty laugh- that she was joking. "I know, Plan Z" the mad woman giggled. "Breaking into an alternate dimension isn't easy! But yes, I was j- joking! I'm putting a lot of faith into you-" she addressed them all, even if Homicide walked off- "-as you've ... uhm.. gi- gifted me a new life!"
It wasn't easy for Swindon to say this. She wasn't good at speeches- or, in reality, anything socially. For some reason, this made it much easier to pull the trigger on two officers (and lie to one) than anyone else who would've been in her position.
Cuddles finished purring as he hurriedly finished his meal before giving out a small mew in thanks, followed by a beast-like yawn. The mechanic stood up and rubbed the back of her neck, brushing the red hair somewhat aside as she looked down at Blink and Rhit. "I.. don't suppose you'd have somewhere I and Cuddles can sleep?" As she asked this, the ginger cat hopped up, with great agility, onto the table and sat before Swindon, giving everyone a grin with crystal clear whiskers. "If you don't, that's fine!" she added with a cheerful tone.
Meanwhile, the Durasteel box containing the energy source slowly began to heat up. At the moment, it wasn't very much of a heat... more or less a tiny temperature and the item contained began to rise in heat through containment.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zelus on Apr 21, 2016 7:57:10 GMT -5
There was a slight smirk on Buhel’s face upon Stormrider’s concession. Progress was about to be made, so Buhel was happy. He glanced over at Aria, and nodded at her. “At least traffic’s easy work,” Buhel stated, though there wasn’t a hint of humour in his almost synthesised sounding voice, it was clear he was joking. “Better make sure the senator’s guards are up to snuff afterwards though. We don’t want the death of a second senator on our hands.” He then watched as the woman departed.
When Stormrider gave them their orders, he glanced over at Ralak and nodded. “The Inquirer, eh? We can do that, sure.” Buhel agreed, though he knew he didn’t really have a choice. As he was at the panel, he quickly pulled up a map of the local area and plotted in a route to the Inquirer. Once he examined it enough, he took out a datachip from the console and stowed it in his coat.
As he listened to the conversation between Ralak and Stormrider, he folded his arms behind his back. “Maybe you could try some of the old Clone bars. If anyone’s gonna recognise a Mandalorian… It’ll be someone who runs one of them. Might get you where you need to start. Closest one up here would be… Kolack’s. Might still get some Mandalorian patrons.” Buhel stated glancing around. Back during his military days, he had gotten used to visiting similar bars. Some of them had been… persuaded for use by soldiers even back during the Clone Wars. Some held onto their ‘heritage’. Buhel even knew of a few cantinas that were still favourable to Stormtroopers and other Imperials. It wasn’t any secret that the Clones had been taught by Mandalorians way back when. Hell some bars were quite open about their Mandalorian customers. Buhel had ended up in such bars over his time; places like that usually got real quiet when a Mandalorian walked in, shame it couldn’t have been said for the CSF. Then again CSF bars had a reputation of getting pretty rowdy after a particularly rough night.
With the conversation seemingly over, Buhel turned to look at Ralak. “I trust you’ve got transport here. I only brought a speeder bike, and well. There’s only enough room for one of us on it. Not to mention we might end up needing to bring someone back with us for questioning.” He didn’t really wait for a response; he just started to head out after briefly turning to Stormrider. “Good luck with your hunt, detective,” He stated on his way out in the direction of what he assumed was the garage.
|
|
ShockHelix
Administrator
Deity of Death
No mercy for the weak. No pity for the dying. No tears for the slain.
Posts: 666,666,949
Likes: 27
|
Post by ShockHelix on Apr 24, 2016 1:28:05 GMT -5
“There's two cots in the rooms down the hallway,” Rhit told her at Swindon's question, pointing towards the only other way out of the room. “They're pretty stark, not like the bed in your apartment, but I could guess you're tired enough that it won't matter much.”
Homicide returned from the hangar, then began packing up the excess weapons on the rack into one of the storage crates. The guns made a clatter as they went into the metal box, but Rhit ignored it. Both her and Blink's eyes were paying attention to the soundless mass of holoscreens and the news file rolling across it.
A human was standing outside Swindon's apartment, mouth moving in silent words on the muted screen as a reporter stood nearby, nodding her head with a look of understanding and compassion on her face. Likely the man was taking advantage of the situation to give himself some time on screen, speaking about what a horrible experience it was to have officers killed by your home. It wasn't the one they had passed leaving the elevator however, likely that one had already been taken to one of the CSF stations to give a statement. Hearing laser fire wouldn't qualify someone as a witness, at least not when there was video evidence to be had.
“You can sleep as long as you need,” Rhit offered, glancing at Swindon. “We'll wake you up if anything comes up. I'll probably be using the other cot pretty soon myself,” Rhit told her, stifling another yawn. “Might have to cut your sleep short if Blink finds us a way off world.”
Ralak nodded at Buhel's question, and fell in beside him after wishing Stormrider luck as well. This precinct was designed in a similar fashion to nearly every station on Coruscant, and Buhel's assumption was spot on. Their path took them past the remainder of the briefing rooms, past the interrogation rooms, and eventually turning down a hallway. On their left they passed the entrance to the precinct's holding cells, and finally passed the threshold into the hangar.
The open area was filled with BARC speeders and Police speeders, two patrolmen pushing a stuncuffed Corellian towards the entrance they'd just departed. Ralak pushed a button on his wrist link, and one of the police speeders, painted with the standard CSF colors, rose from where he'd left it, the cockpit cover rising to permit entry. "It's only got the one seat for suspects, but it should suit our purposes well enough. On a case like this, I'll be surprised if there's not more shooting done then talking anyway," Ralak said as they walked to the speeder.
As they reached it, he put a hand on the edge and climbed up the step and into his seat, waiting for the other detective to seat himself. He glanced around the hangar a moment, then spoke again, turning to Buhel with a frown on his face. "Stormrider's going to be a problem, mark my words. Has a lightsaber up his ass. He's complaining about command, but I've heard about him. He used to work for IA. He'll report us if he thinks we step too far out of line. Just thought I'd warn you."
Ralak shrugged, hitting the button to close the cover over them, before tapping some buttons to enter their destination for the speeder's autopilot. "Anyway, they issue you armor down at your precinct? We can drop by and pick it up if you want. Either way, it's a long ride to the Galactic Inquirer office our victim was trying to sell info at. Probably going to sleep on the way there myself."
|
|
Wake
Infant
^ Little Lore-Stalker ^
Posts: 131 Likes: 3
|
Post by Wake on Apr 30, 2016 16:57:31 GMT -5
(I'll make Swindon go to bed so you two can continue with the detective RP! Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on the forum. See when it's best to rejoin!)
Swindon smiled happily and stood up, the ginger cat hopped gracefully off her lap and stretched, preparing to follow. "Thank you" she said in a joyful tone before yawning- the yawn itself was soft. "My bed was second-hand anyway!" With that, the mechanic disappears down the hallway, taking note of her surroundings as she passed. Cuddles followed almost systematically, tail shaking as it disappeared behind her.
"You know, Cuddles, I've never been this deep into Coruscant before."
When the teal blue eyes of hers poked into a room and spotted a cot, Swindon almost immediately entered the room and took her boots off, undoing a few buttons to relax easier and laying down on the cot. Cuddles, a little upset he doesn't have his little mat, hopped up onto Swindon's body and simply sat there on her belly. She couldn't help but giggle at the ginger cat getting comfortable on her, tiredly laying her head back and closing her eyes. Within that moment, the redhead was asleep, quiet as a feather... the cat, on the other hand, purred quietly as it curled up on it's owner to sleep.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zelus on May 4, 2016 4:02:38 GMT -5
“It’s about time they gave us something more armoured if we’re gonna be dealing with Mandalorians with blasters that turn you to ash.” Buhel told his companion grumpily. He gave a sideways glance to the passing Corellian, snorting a bit at the accent of the guy as he complained. Of course it was a Corellian. He often wondered if the folks back on Corellia got mad at the stereotype their spacers gave them… or if they were all just inherently like that. Probably not, he thought. Despite Duros’s proximity to Corellia, he’d never quite made it there, due to the Empire’s occupation and his role in a rebel cell. Even now that Corellia was independent of either big faction, he still hadn’t made it ther… but then he couldn’t really remember the last time he was off world.
Buhel climbed into his seat, he glanced over at Ralak. “It would not surprise me, the man seems rather hot headed… His mind is in the right place, but like you said, he has something lodged quite up there. I dunno how you guys handle up here… I moved down to the lower levels to get away from this political mess, and IA really has no pull. No one cares for guys like me or the guys that live down on the levels around thirteen-thirteen. I’d say I’m pretty safe… If I find myself an early retiree though, I’ll probably just go work security, or create my own private investigations bureau.”
As the roof came down over them, the Duros shook his head at the question. “I don’t think any armour is gonna protect us from what the Mandalorians are packing. I’d rather be light on my feet anyway.” He stated, glancing over at Ralak. “Alright,” was all Buhel had said in response to Ralak’s statement of sleep. Buhel wouldn’t. He’d only woken up a few hours ago. His patrols were usually in the night anyway, plus he had a lot on his mind. The woman with the Mandalorians, Mandalorians themselves, the politics and the politicians, what little evidence they had, all of it floated about in his mind. There was also the cases waiting for him back home, though he assumed his cases were either on hold, or had been passed on to someone else. What in the world could the ‘victim’ have been trying to sell to the GI of all people? Why not go to the CSF? Or the Jedi or any else? Surely whatever they had was worth killing over. The Duro’s mathematical mind started reeling through the information, and would likely not stop until they were nearing their destination.
|
|
ShockHelix
Administrator
Deity of Death
No mercy for the weak. No pity for the dying. No tears for the slain.
Posts: 666,666,949
Likes: 27
|
Post by ShockHelix on May 23, 2016 14:28:29 GMT -5
“If you don't sleep, let me know if anything turns up when we arrive. I don't like being left in the dark, and we've got few enough things to go on as it is,” Ralak requested, as the speeder began it's path out of the precinct hanger and into the airways. With that out of the way, the zabrak leaned back in his seat and put his feet up on console, before closing his eyes and trying to get the sleep.
Meanwhile, almost five hundred levels lower, the Mandalorians prepared for their eventual departure. Blink stayed hard at work monitoring systems and speaking with contacts, while Homicide finished packing all the storage crates but the one containing Swindon's astounding invention. Rhithia retired to the second cot for some much needed sleep, and for the time being the safehouse fell silent.
At the 712 precinct, Stormrider continued rubbing his temples in frustration, making call after call to his underworld contacts, hunting for any sign of who their killer might be. The droid at his side was preoccupied with scanning the CSF databases, looking for previous murders or any additional information that might aid in the detective's search.
Detective Aria went about leaking the information with relative ease, a few anonymous e-mail's to some major news networks, with enough information to have them put forward what suspicions a good reporter might already have. Another anonymous e-mail joined the others, sent to the 614 District Mayor, though this one encrypted. Being on the payroll let her live like a queen compared to the other 614 residents, and she could always pretend that she wasn't feeding information to the Black Sun, since her leaks only ever went to the district mayor. The information would find its way out without her help, it always did, so why shouldn't she be the one to make a profit off of it?
Six hours later, Level 259, Ramikad Syndicate Safehouse 259. . .
Blink banged her metal plate hard on the duracrete door frame, causing a loud banging noise to reverberate through the rooms where Rhithia and Swindon were resting. Rhit sat up quickly in surprise, knocking her helmet over and hand going for her gun before she realized what had happened, Blink grinning at her through the doorway.
“Time to wake up you two,” the woman said, pointing her finger over her shoulder. “Homicide picked us up some food, then we're moving. Got someone to meet.” For the moment that was all the explanation that Blink offered, leaving the two of them behind and heading back to the main room.
The sounds of a news report sounded back through the duracrete hallways, echoing into both of the rooms as Rhithia retrieved her helmet and headed for the main room.
“. . . and events continue to spiral out of control since Senator Omigrapgh's assassination. Citizens continue to ask, why hasn't Senator Farruzola been approached by the CSF for questioning yet? Senior Commissioner Pa'tow, who has reportedly put a task force together to handle this investigation, had this to say:”
“Reports that Senator Farruzola has been linked to Omigrapgh's tragic murder are largely exaggerated. The senator has offered his full cooperation with this department, and I can assure you that there is no evidence to suggest that the senator was in any way involved.”
“These accusations bring light a larger issue. Many claim that racism still heavily influences decisions on Coruscant, remnant from Emperor Palpatine's Galactic Empire. Racism that even influences the CSF. Feline races and their supporters have gathered outside the Senate Plaza, calling for the end on the restriction of feline races departing Coruscant. We go now to a live broadcast of Senator Mrrowvn of Togoria, speaking on behalf of the protestors:”
”-this type of restriction cannot continue. Whatever the CSF might believe about this assassin, whether they be Togorian or Cathar or another feline race, to prevent the departure of ships world-wide on information they've not even made public, is simply atrocious. The senator from Cathar has already expressed his agreement, and the Senate will be convening shortly on how to handle this matter. Rest assured that this injustice will not continue.”[/b][/i]
Level 4178, just outside the Galactic Inquirer headquarters. . .
Things had went from bad to worse during the detectives trip to the Galactic Inquirer. Ralak's sleep had been cut short when the first piece of bad news came from Stormrider who had just spoken with a very displeased commissioner. He had promised to give them as much time as possible before rescinding their order on investigating feline signatures leaving the planet, but there were doubts the commissioner could stall any longer then it took the senate to convene on the matter.
Then there was the report of another body found. The customs officer had been found dead in his home, though it was difficult to be certain if it was indeed the customs officer. No one had seen this pile of ash meet its untimely demise, but the report was clear on what had happened. A quick look at the officers financial records had shown a significantly large number of transactions, far more then the man should have been capable of with his salary. The verdict was clear, the victim must have been taking bribes to let smuggler's through. Stormrider had assigned Aria to dig up any more information that she could, but so far she'd not given them anything more to go on.
The spot of good news didn't reach them until they were nearly at the Inquirer, as Stormrider called them again, waking Ralak yet again. With a yawn, he answered the holocommunicator, setting it to feed through the speeder. The projection of Stormrider looking pleased appeared in between the two of them on the front console. “Judging by your face, it's not bad news this time?”
Stormrider's grin seemed to grow even wider, if that was even possible, and he even laughed a bit. “Not this time. We've gotten the go ahead to question Senator Farruzola. I'll be heading that way soon. Better news is, we have a suspect.”
Ralak's eyes widened at that, and he rubbed them a bit as Stormrider continued. “Name is Vrax Selkot. Mandalorian killer imprisoned quite awhile back. Presumed dead after the prison ship he was on went missing. Except, since then, three known Black Sun also imprisoned on that same ship have been reported to be alive. Most likely, he's under the employ of the Black Sun. Vrax has the m.o. as our current killer. Hard to be certain, but I think he's our man. Though I still don't see what ties Swindon to him. As for the other woman, still no word on her, but I'm having forensics go over all our footage, see if they can identify a Black Sun symbol anywhere on the armor.”
As Stormrider finishes his report, a fluorescent sign rose before the speeder momentarily, broadcasting that the two detectives had arrived at the Galactic Inquirer headquarters. The speeder departed the airlane, swooping down and around the building, eventually entering the structures hangar and docking at the front entrance.
|
|
Wake
Infant
^ Little Lore-Stalker ^
Posts: 131 Likes: 3
|
Post by Wake on May 24, 2016 8:55:42 GMT -5
The feeling was strange to the newcomer to the group. She had never really been woken up in such a way before- at least not in a very long time since the orphanage, but that was a lifetime ago. The voice addressing her and Rhithia woke her up almost instantly, much to Cuddles hatred as his owner sat up instantly, forcing the cat to evacuate from his rest spot on Swindon's belly. She blinked open her teal, bright eyes as Blink explained. "nnmmm" groaned Swindon was she stretched from where she was led, Cuddles purred and circled the bed, the small predator being one with it's family member. She looked over at Rhit with a weak smile, having seen her jump at her gun. "Sho- Should I expect to be woken up by people trying to kill me?" she asked softly, in a polite and somewhat well-rested voice... despite the small amount of sleep.
Swindon swung her legs around to stand up and instantly began to regret going to bed so quickly. She rubbed one side of her face and looked over at Rhit, looking a bit embarrassed. "Left my bag in the other room. I'll.. get it and get changed." It must have been an odd concept to them, Swindon reminded herself- the Mandoalorian's almost always wore armour. She, of course, didn't own any. Perhaps it was refreshing to them to have someone around who didn't know what they were doing- or perhaps, the other way around? If they liked her or not, the mechanic could only do her best to attempt and impress them to keep her around.
"Come on Cuddles." The cat began to follow her as Swindon began walking into the corridor, allowing Rhithia to get up on her own accord. The ginger cat gave Rhit one last 'mew' before disappearing into the corridor.
Hearing the news headlines, most of it didn't make much sense to Swindon. Senators, for all she knew, were just governmental bodies. Cathar? Cat people? Racism? What did that have to do with anything? They seemed to speak about it a lot, but it wasn't a problem yesterday... Swindon kept it in mind. Emperor Pappy? The namedrop bothered her. Were they referring the little Mandalorian group to an emperor that took over the galaxy? Were they the evil ones?
Swindon wasn't, by any means, stupid. She wasn't exactly a genius either. But she concluded in her head that what they were doing had nothing to do with being 'evil' or 'good'. The concepts were loose in her own mind. When has Swindon ever seen anything 'good?' Well, Cuddles. Cuddles was good. He obeyed her every movement, followed her and never made a mess. So what was 'evil'? Swindon concluded her parents- why would they leave her alone on Coruscant? Also her bosses from various jobs. They were evil. Didn't pay her enough and replaced her with droids. Droids! The thoughts made Swindon conclude she didn't really care who was right and wrong.... she had made her choice- she is staying with the Mandalorians.
Walking into the main room full of durasteel tables, the redhead quickly found her bag- exactly where she left it. Not wearing any footwear and her clothes unbuttoned for relaxation, she looked quite fitting for someone who just got out of bed. Digging into her bag, she withdrew a few clothes, put them over her shoulder and held a tin of cat food (not like she had enough of them). Smiling softly, she looked across the room, wandering what Homicide and Blink were up to.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zelus on May 24, 2016 12:39:33 GMT -5
Having felt the need to monitor the reports coming in from the media after a few hours of thinking, Buhel pulled out a holopad from the console and began flicking through it. Soon it became clear that their plan to halt the transports of felines off world were causing a rather significant strain on the planet. Protestors had appeared at the spaceports and the senate plaza. Seemingly the leak had been a success, but the consequences of it had yet to reach them. Buhel scoffed, however at the claims of racism in the CSF. It was a distraction from the important issue, obviously pushed by those with political gain from such a comment. Still it’s not like they had as much information as he did. To outside eyes it would look as if they were singling out the feline species… which they weren’t. It must’ve been quite the headache for their superiors. Not that the rest of the case wasn’t. He bet they weren’t very happy with the group currently.
Hours later the confirmation came through. Stormrider had apparently received an ear bashing from his commissioner, leaving them with precious little time to find the killer before they could stall them any longer. Once they were off planet, their jurisdiction faltered, and then it’d be up to the Sector Rangers, or perhaps even the Jedi to find the Mandalorians and deal with them. If that was the case, their investigation would be for nothing. Whilst that wasn’t entirely unusual, it would have been a further embarrassment due to the political mishap they had chosen to create based off one of their slight leads in the case.
The Duros had stated intently at Stormrider as he updated them on the events, leaning forward at the news of a new body. So a customs officer was killed, huh? From the sounds of it he was on the pay roll of smugglers, why was he killed though? Did he refuse to help them due to the heightened security, or were they covering their tracks? Buhel made a thoughtful sound, rubbing his chin as he read the data. Buhel decided to wait on the thought; he had a mind to release the information about the customs official’s death early, to get the others too scared to help the murders off planet, making it harder for them to get out quietly. Still issuing such information was likely to cause a panic. They weren’t really sure he was dead either. Not to mention now his post would be free and his office would be weakened some by the apparent death. Buhel then elected to sit on the matter, thoughts and ideas racing through his head. The new death was odd. He was a corrupt official, not one, who’d likely get in their way. Someone they could pay off or bribe. Either he knew too much and they were coving their tracks… or perhaps he was a target? The mechanic also knew something and was apparently killed for it. Why not this guy too? Smugglers weren’t always just the ones who used corrupt customs officials… pay the right person and you could get anything through.
The troubled look on Buhel’s face continued until Stormrider appeared before them, looking in a better mood. Buhel snorted a bit at the man. “Good news I suppose… unless he is behind all this. Take someone with you and hide a locator beacon on you. Don’t take any chances unless necessary.” Buhel told the man cautiously.
The real highlight was news of a suspect. Buhel immediately shifted in his seat. They had kept the Mandalorian with Black Sun pirates… wonderful. Though, what stake did the Black Suns have in all this? Last Buhel had heard, the Black Suns were fighting something of a shadow war with the Hutts. “Perhaps an inquiry to the Mandalorian enclave-is there still an enclave? I haven’t been to the surface in a number of years.”
As the sign revealed itself, Buhel nodded to his companion. “Looks like we’ve arrived. We’ll check back in with you when we’re done here.” He told, unclasping his seatbelt.
Once they landed and the speeder’s roof had opened up, Buhel hopped out and glanced around at the various vehicles stored in the hangar.
|
|
