Ask Coruscant What is an Ideal?

Kal Zyn Dross

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Coruscant. Such a filthy city. A few years ago, Kal would have been honored to have represented his family's business on the city-planet, yet it was interesting how the events of just a couple of years could make to one's view of...well, everything. Where once he saw challenges to be solved and money to be made, now all he saw was the law being broken and people being hurt because others were uncaring. With how much the galaxy had gone through, the reptilian couldn't really blame people for being so self-centered. It was a hard life to live, even on wealthy worlds. Didn't make it any less depressing, though. Especially because of the reason he was on the planet to begin with.

A Jedi had reached out to him, having heard of his analytical skills somehow, and had wanted some help with some human traffickers hiding on Coruscant. Kal had seen the case, yet it had been relegated to the low-priority list because of how many resources it would take to catch a seemingly small group. That was one thing that bothered him about the Sector Rangers, yet again he could understand why they would focus on threats in the way they did. Still, he jumped at the chance to work on the case. Maybe this way he'd be able to do some good for once, something that felt...real. For now, he was waiting in the bar on a lower level for the Jedi. He wouldn't be hard to miss, at least.


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Maxims Tionson

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Coruscant was a place that Max had honestly never pictured himself but a few years ago the same would have been true of Nar Shaddaa so what did that say except that the Galaxy had a funny little way or twisting everything around, eh? It was shiny and it was sleek in ways that the smuggler's moon was not but it was, in some ways, even more deplorable than the favorite vacation home for Hutts was. There was a darkness that ran deep in the former capital of the Old Republic.

Something that made the whole place stank.

He had followed one particular brand of stink to the planet all the way from Nar Shadda however. A band of human traffickers was making a name for itself in the core and the outer rim as the go-to outfit to get you what sentient flavours you wanted. Specifically, they focused on 'high end' goods. Part of the reason he had been alerted to this was the fact that none of the people being taken were 'nobodies'.

And that made him uneasy.

Entering the bar, Max moved towards the bar itself without pausing. His appearance didn't raise any eyebrows as he had, as was his custom, hidden his lightsaber with the hope he would not have to use it at all. The contact he was here for was a Sector Ranger and he was a reptile-like young man.

And there was only one at the bar.

"Dross?"



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Kal Zyn Dross

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There was only one person in this place that was going to know his name, so when Kal heard it he knew that this man had to be the Jedi he was going to work with. He couldn't help but look the man over with an analytical eye, taking in his seemingly aged appearance and everything from the tone of his voice to how he carried himself. While not fully certain just from a look, Kal got the impression that this man didn't like to fight, or at least to kill. There was a lack of hardness in the eyes, as well as a spark of life that was still to be seen in the otherwise melancholic gaze. Most people wouldn't notice these kinds of things, yet for the Ranger this was his job. To be honest, it was refreshing to work with someone who seemed to value life, even if it was the enemy. Justice couldn't be served on a corpse, after all.

"Yes, though you can call me Kal. It's nice to meet you, good sir." With a smile, the Tiss'shar raised his hand out to shake. He didn't perceive this man to be a threat nor did he detect anything false about him, so for now he would place his trust in him. That meant the charm was turned up, trying to let his warmth and friendship seep through that smile and the handshake. "Sir Tionson, correct? I've studied up on the case as much as I could, but I welcome any insight you may have. Though..." He looked around, noting that none were paying attention...yet. "Perhaps we should speak on the move? You can take the lead, if you wish. It'll give me a chance to...see how you move, in case we get jumped." The flirting was a mask, though maybe one day it'd be reciprocated.


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Maxims Tionson

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Max knew he was being observed but he didn't try and hide himself in any way, instead leaving himself an open book for Dross to try and see whatever it was he needed to see to continue. There wasn't any point in being uncomfortable about being observed on such a level considering what the two of them were likely going to be investigating in a short enough time.

So he just waited.

And when Dross had seemingly seen something in him that made him worth his time, Max allowed himself a small smile as he took the scaled hand in his own without a moment's hesitation. He squeezed it gently in the motion of the handshake before releasing. Unlike most ex-cops and detective types, Max never really understood the macho handshake thing that people did either so he didn't apply much pressure.

"Kal then - it's Max, not Tionson or sir."
he assured the reptilian with a little laugh, "I'm nothing special and I'm not here as your superior or anything like that."

The flirting was noted.

And politely ignored.

"I've got a scene we should look over."
he agreed as he started leading the way, "Done much crime scene work Kal?"


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Kal Zyn Dross

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Kal noted the fact his flirting was ignored and respected the decision. It spoke a bit to Max's mindset and sensibilities, helping the Ranger to know the man just a bit better. "Sure, lead the way. And to answer about me, I've only been with the Rangers for a little while, so I haven't been on many crime scenes. At my parents' company, though, I was an analyst and auditor for the top-tier accounts. I know how to look for things out of place, or attempting to be hidden. I was a bit too good at that, as I found the corruption my parents were trying to hide. Even with my evidence, how they did things still made it legal for them, and I couldn't be a part of that..."

He trailed off, thinking of what was still wounding his heart. He'd believed in the skill and integrity of his parents, yet the whole thing had just destroyed that view. It was hard to find something else to believe in, especially when Justice was stalled because criminals used the law to cover their tracks. Was the law flawed? How could that be fixed? The people controlling the law could be just as corrupt. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Sorry, that's still a rough topic for me. I wish I could have the kind of legendary clarity and serenity I've been told the Jedi possess. If I had the Force, I'd see about joining them, but alas, I'm just a powerless lizard.


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Maxims Tionson

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Analyst and auditor to sector ranger huh? Well he supposed that details were details no matter what profession you were in and if you were a detail-orientated person you could adapt to whatever type of details you were looking for. Not everyone had come from compatible backgrounds to be where they were after all. Max had come from being a cop straight to being a Jedi but, really, he probably still acted too much like a cop and too little like a Jedi.

He patted Kal lightly on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry you saw it Kal - the gulf of distance that sometimes exists between what is legal and what is Right."
he commiserated with his new ally, "I was an outer rim cop so believe me, I know exactly how much that can sting."

On his planet various forms of slavery were legal after all. Of course they weren't named slavery - they all had different names to ensure that nothing ever came of it all. As they approached the crime scene, Max frowned ever so slightly.

"Serenity comes from within Kal. Jedi are better at reaching it because we have to look into ourselves every time we want to use the Force, you can do it yourself and one day I'm sure you will."
he stopped outside the cafe, "How are you with blood?"

There was a lot inside.

Walls and floors covered in the stuff in fact and only two bodies present, making it clear that they had been especially brutally killed.


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Kal Zyn Dross

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There was still something wistful for Kal about having access to a power that could do so much more than what a normal being could. Sure, his skill with analytics was above most others he had met, but when he heard of stories of the Jedi and their darker counterparts he started to realize how outclassed he could become if they used the Force to augment themselves. The only way he could think of to approach the same effect would be the use of drugs or other illicit means, which was definitely out of the question. At the very least he would keep an eye on what Max did with their work, trying to gain some insight that could be useful for future cases.

“I’ve been on enough cases to not be affected by blood anymore, but thank you. Though, just from looking at this place from the outside it seems quite excessive, what’s been done.” His mind was already switching over to his analytical processes, looking at everything he could to glean what information there was to find. Even if he had to go through gore and other unpleasant things, he’d do what he could to find any clues that could lead to whoever had done this terrible deed. He may not have been affected by the brutality, yet that didn’t mean he liked it one bit. He just resolved to find whoever had done this and bring them to the justice they deserved. Actual justice, not a vigilante execution. That wasn’t justice, that was just indulging revenge or other negative feelings. That was an injustice in and of itself, to him.


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Maxims Tionson

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He held out a hand to stop Kal from going any further - one of the officers who had secured the crime scene handed them a set of plastic boot-wraps and gloves. The officer herself looked pale and Max wasn't sure if it was because of the scene before them or if it was just part of her species. He didn't comment as he started to equip himself. It was something he remembered the old CSI guys doing back when he was a cop himself.

Once both himself and Kal were wearing protective rubber and plastic, Max stepped into the cafe and almost slipped on the floor it was that slick with blood. Instead he managed to maintain his balance as he looked around.

Two bodies.

An older woman behind the diner counter.

A young man in a booth on the opposite wall.

Both of them had been hacked and torn at and beaten both prior to and following their deaths. Grimacing, Max knew what he had to do when he spotted several knives that he been used in the attack. How did he know they were used in the attack? Because they were still deeply embedded into the corpses.

Apparently too deeply to quickly remove so the killer had just gotten another one instead of wasting the effort.

Max paused for a moment.

"Kal - see if you can access their security footage. I'm... I'm going to try and see what happened through the Force by viewing the past of the murder weapons."


Saying it aloud made it real and made him shiver slightly.

"Who could do such a thing...?"



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Kal Zyn Dross

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Kal knew he got too absorbed sometimes in the investigation, appreciative that Max had stopped him to put on the gear needed to process the crime scene. It was indeed brutal, a sight that would have driven him to illness and nightmares under normal circumstances. He was in work mode, though, so he pushed everything else as far aside as he could for the sake of bringing justice to whoever had done this atrocity. He took in every detail he could during the time allotted to him, then when Max asked him to get the security tapes he nodded at the idea. He had a feeling they wouldn't be as helpful as he would hope, yet something was better than nothing. Sometimes the smallest clues could solve the biggest cases.

"Kal-Zyn-Dross, Sector Ranger. I'm going to need the Security Tapes for this establishment and any reports or tests done from before we got here. This is Max, my deputy." It was within his ability to temporarily deputize someone if they were needed in the moment to help with cases, and this was more a ceremonial thing to make sure Max was covered in case anything unexpected happened. The local police officer gave a nod after seeing the legitimate badge and went off to procure those things. At least his organization had SOME respect, even this far down on Coruscant.


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Maxims Tionson

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Max reached out with his hand and in with the Force.

Even through the thin gloves he could feel how cold the handle of the knife was. Through the Force the cold seeped into him from the weapon and it was clear that it had been used to great effect in an effort of massive violence. It took Max a moment to consider if he wanted to even try and view it on a deeper level. If he wanted to see the history of the object he now held in his hand and knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, to be a murder weapon.

He glanced up into the shocked face of the victim and he knew his answer.

Taking a deep breath, he dove into the Force and into the history of the object. He saw flashes and sounds. The terrible sound of a blade passing through wet flesh, of it being stabbed in repeatedly, of the victim begging for mercy... and of the deranged but calm words of the murderer.

The breath left his body in a rattling gasp as he released the hold on the blade and took a step back.

"... suspect is a human male. Approximately six foot in height with... long arms... short... manicured...? Fingernails."
he groaned, "He felt no remorse for his actions at all."

A monster wearing human skin.


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Kal Zyn Dross

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Kal had just returned with the recordings and any information and evidence that had been gathered already when he heard Max describe the killer. THIS was one of the reasons having this Force would be useful, even if it seemed to have disturbed the Jedi to gather the information. It could save time, which could save lives or prevent further crimes, and if it weighed on his mind then it was a burden he would gladly make in pursuit of the law. He'd heard that the Jedi used to be the peacekeepers of the Old Republic, before the whole uprising happened. He didn't know much more than that, but what could have led peacekeepers like them to fall as they did? Perhaps a question to ask at a later time.

"A monster than a man, perhaps. Manicured fingernails show it is someone that at least cares for his hygiene, if not his looks. Did you see what he looked like, more than just the hands? You seem distressed, so I apologize for asking, but anything that can hasten our work could save others from meeting this same fate. Ah, yes, 'Deputy', here are the security holos." He held up a datapad with the cards already inside with the information. He would start playing them when Max was ready, feeling the Jedi needed a moment to calm down from what he had just been through. If what was on the security feeds was what he thought, Kal knew that it would only make Max relive what he'd just seen in a way. Better to take a moment to fortify one's self than risk breaking and becoming worthless for the investigation.


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Maxims Tionson

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Taking deep breaths after the dive into the past of the murder weapon, Max bagged the weapon as part of the evidence and left it to be cataloged by the team responsible for the crime scene. He shuddered slightly as he looked at it for a little bit longer before it left his sight.

It would take quite a bit longer before it left his memories.

"Thank you, Kal."
he spoke softly, rubbing at his eyes, "I'm sorry if I am not as helpful as I should be. Seeing the murder happen from the point of view of the weapon is... jarring."

Hells it was far more than jarring but he wasn't going to tell Kal that. His Sector Ranger ally needed to know that he could count on Max to continue the investigation and that might be a little bit harder if he thought that the Jedi no longer had the stomach for real policing. Looking over the scene again, he nodded.

"We got something we can watch them on? I don't think this man was... well his arrogance... I don't think he bothered to hide."


Which was either really good or really bad.


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Kal Zyn Dross

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Arrogant...He looked at the bodies again, pondering again. This person was becoming more defined, yet decisively more complex and dangerous. It was a combination of qualities that painted a very grisly picture, where this room had been used as a canvas, already. The datapad he'd put the data sticks into had a holoprojector attached to it, one just big enough for the two of them to watch. He waited until Max was ready to continue, giving him a little break to further ground himself before starting the recording. Already Kal was processing what they'd learned so far, trying to recreate the scene in his head and try to expose anything they may have missed or overlooked.


[[OOC: Sorry for the short post, I don't know what to put on the recording, so feel free to describe it]]
 

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The scene was... violent.

But that was expected - what was not expected was for the culprit of the violence to look so out of place in such a scene. There was an odd lack of emotion on his face as he slaughtered the two people who were now cooling corpses in the other room. The confrontation before the violence had been brief and the escalation sudden.

Max stared down at the holo as the killer seemed to almost know he was going to be watched and he looked up at the holo cam and... and smiled.

MV5BMzdjODQxOTAtYzg0YS00ODJhLTkyOTgtMGU1ZGJlOTc2NDM3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzYyMjE5NTI@._V1_UX214_CR0,0,214,317_AL_.jpg

The holo cut out.

Max rocked backwards on his heels slightly as he thought to who that could possibly have been. Running a hand through his beard, he turned to Kal.

"What have we learned about the killer."


He ticked off a few things on his fingers.

"He's human. Well dressed. Well groomed. Appears to be quick to anger..."
Max cursed slightly, "There's just something about him... something about him feels familiar."


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Kal Zyn Dross

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Kal watched the holo as well, though also Max out of the corner of his eye. He was serious about making sure his Deputy was okay, a responsibility he put on himself. The scene was indeed gruesome, the perpetrator brazen and...inhuman, from what his body language and reactions told Kal. Not like he was pretending to be human, he didn't have any care or morals or anything that would suggest he had empathy. A pure sociopath. Kal took down every detail, though also got the clearest shot of the man's face in a file to send back to HQ. He requested them search for any facial recognition in any system they had. The problem was it would take a while, but he had decided to start now.

"He most likely has some kind of mental disorder, something like sociopathy to cause his lack of empathy in the pain and deaths of others. He may be someone of a decent level of economic or political power, believing that committing such a brazen act like this wouldn't cause him any trouble as he could just have it be dealt with. I'm currently having HQ try to match the face to a name, but that may take time. There didn't appear to be any tracks outside, and with how well traveled this area is, I am unsure where to find a trail...Hmm, did he purchase anything, or otherwise interact with anyone else?"


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Maxims Tionson

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Seeing someone like this in action was enough to remind Max about why he had decided to become a cop in the first place and to reinforce his belief that a Jedi could help with things such as this. Sometimes detectives needed the assistance of people able to see the Galaxy in a different light, so that there were no shadows for monsters like this to be able to hide in. He hated to admit it but part of him thought, in that moment, of joining the Rangers.

To become a detective again.

To do something to stop the tide of filth that seemed to be springing up across the Galaxy... he supposed being a Jedi would help with that as well but he couldn't help the thought. He didn't linger on it however, resolving quickly to move on.

"I think we should be able to find an ID."
he decided after a moment of silence, "Someone like that? Someone so brazen? They want to be found, they want to be known."

It was a pattern in serial killers and that held troubling implications.


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Kal Zyn Dross

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Just wanting to be found out...Something about that made Kal think his idea might actually have some merit. He pulled up the recording again, noting the timestamp, and went over to the register that transactions were processed at. Using his computer spike, as he didn't have the time to have it be manually decrypted, he gained access to the transactions and the information of everyone who had made purchases that day. Those with just straight credit chits weren't recorded, but this man didn't seem the type to just keep small amounts of money on him. That was something those beneath him would do, HE would have his finances in order and all it would take was the swipe of a bank card and...

Ah, there, just as he thought. Around that time there were four people that had made transactions using one of those cards, with no credit chit transactions for at least an hour in between. Of those names that were listed, two of them were female, and while this man was meticulously well groomed he didn't seem feminine in the slightest, so no chance of a disguise for his gender. Pulling up the two names, he got back on the line to HQ to have them run profiles on them, pull what information they could. Being a Ranger gave him quite the latitude in these situations. When done, he showed his results to Max as he looked at them as well, also wondering if any of the names jumped out to the Jedi.



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Max just waited while Kal gathered the data and ran it through his official channels.

Though he himself was bound by little in the way of paperwork and bureaucracy as a Jedi, he had been right there with Kal in the struggle before he became a Jedi. Local police forces might not have the gravitas and the remit that the Sector Rangers had but by the Force they certainly had the same level of unnecessary paperwork it felt like.

So he waited.

And was rewarded... kind of.

"Ah."


On the plus side, the results were conclusive. On the down side? They didn't show anything good at all. Instead of being someone with a record or something like that, the results were complicating matters.

"Krast Thul, member of House Thul formerly of Alderaan, philanthropist and an aide to a political dignitary here on Coruscant."
he breathed out a long sigh, "So. He's a blue blood from a refugee family, wealthy but charitable, well-to-do, working in politics here on Coruscant... and enjoys killing people in diners."

Max rubbed at his beard.

"Give it to me straight Kal - what are the chances we can get this to trial? All we've got is holocam footage and that can been faked."



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Kal Zyn Dross

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"Ah, hells. Not in the normal way, if word of his connections is true. His lawyers would run this evidence into the ground or get it thrown out for one reason or another." Kal grimaced, trying to think of what could be done. He hated when the more privileged on Coruscant decided to commit crimes, as it made it harder for justice to be done. "We'd need some kind of evidence or something that would be irrefutable in court...Like several eye witnesses to a crime, or...Hmm..." An idea was forming, a stupid one most likely, but it might be effective.

"He wants to be caught, or at least seemingly be caught...Perhaps it's an ego thing, that if he's caught but escapes justice it proves how much supposedly he is better than everyone else. So, perhaps I show up at his home, asking about the diner, just checking in with patrons around the time for statements. Make it known I'm working on the case, but that I don't know it's him, yet. I get him to come after me, as the next target in his escalating need to prove his superiority. Only, instead of it being done in a place he thinks is obscured, there's other officers and you there as backup to stop him and prove beyond a doubt he's a murderer...Just an idea, I don't mind being bait."


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Force damn it.

Max knew that the evidence against someone like this needed to be airtight in order to stand a chance at getting a conviction and the evidence simply wasn't strong enough for that kind of a case. It burned to admit it but he had to. They needed something more or there was nothing that could be permanently done about him.

Of course a small voice in the back of his mind whispered that killing him in secret would avoid all of this drama and be very much the definition of permanent... and he ignored that little whisper instantly.

Max ran a hand through his hair and exhaled deeply.

"It's worrying that I don't have much in the way of a better idea."
he muttered tiredly, "I don't know how to make sure we catch him and get it secure. The worry is... if we leave any slither of doubt and he wriggles free..."

He eyed Kal.

"He's going to keep doing this." he scowled, "Alright Kal, we'll try it your way."



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