Ask Nal Hutta A Knife in the Dark

[Jon Halleck]

Jon stood leaning against the wall next to the main entrance of the Hutt palace that he and his partner were supposed to investigate, chewing on a piece of jerky he had picked up on the way here from the spaceport. A rather nervous looking twi'lek stood nearby, their escort and from the looks of it a fairly new hire. The hutts wouldn't have been eager to agree to this investigation, so they had probably thrown someone disposable to help them out. But dislike them as they might, Jon had a feeling that they wouldn't impede their investigation. They wanted the laser sword wielding monks off the streets, and better for them that rangers arrest them than some bounty hunter pick them off and come in to claim a bounty. This little courtesy was the more profitable route for them.

"Relax," He said to the twi'lek as he continued to fidget about, "this will be over soon enough and you can go back to whatever shit they've got you doing on a daily basis. Heck, can even tell them you dissed us real nice, might get you some points with your lot." That last bit made his eyes widen, and a slight smile appeared on his face as he realized he could actually do that with no one the wiser. Jon chuckled as he pushed off from the wall and started walking around to stretch his legs, patting the fellow on the shoulder as he passed him.

"Will your partner be long? We should get going."

Jon took another bite of the jerky before shrugging in reply, a little surprised by how well spoken and polite the twi'lek was. He wasn't being evasive, he really didn't know. Rangers were notoriously independent, and you could never tell what sort of person you'd be working with. All they could do was wait.

@Raydo

 

[Nick Shaw]

This wasn't his sort of thing. He tended to stick to the core worlds, cities and the criminals that tended to congregate there but Trys had asked him out here to investigate so he came. Whatever these players were in the game, it could be big trouble for everyone if they couldn't get ahead of it.

He stepped out of the speeder, pulling the cigarette from his mouth and exhaling before dropping the spent cigarette on the ground. He stepped on it, even though he was fairly certain nothing could catch fire on the swampy world. He noted just how humid it was, it was uncomfortable. Not two seconds had passed when some bug landed on him and bit him. Nick swatted the thing away before making his way to his partner for this outing. He had never met the man before, but it was easy enough to pick him out.

Nick outstretched a hand towards Jon's "Nick Shaw." he said introducing himself. He turned to the uneasy looking Twi'lek female "Miss." he said nodding his head.

Not wanting to roll the dice for long on how long the Hutt's would tolerate them he decided it would be best if they moved quickly. "Unless you have any objections.." he said looking over at Jon. "...I would like to see where the intruders gained access to the palace." he said looking towards the Twi'lek woman. "Of course." she said as she pointed to her left and began walking in that direction.

As they walked, he glanced back over at his partner. "You spend much time in the Outer Rim?" he asked, making conversation as they went.

@Wit

 

[Jon Halleck]

Jon swapped the piece of jerky from his right hand to his left as he saw Nick arrive, holding his right hand out to grasp the other Ranger's preferred hand in a firm grip. "The name's Jon Halleck," he replied with a smile, shaking Nick's hand, "pleased to make you acquaintance partner."

As Nick asked the Twi'lek to lead them to where the intruders had made their entrance, Jon raised no objection, it was a good place to begin and what he himself would have asked. As they started walking Jon put away the jerky, hand resting on the grip of his weapon as he walked. "Spent my fair share in the neighbourhood, been all over the place. This your first time out of the Core?"

Jon had been born and raised in the Core, and had spent a fair amount of time outside the Core, so he was able to catch the Core accent in Nick's voice and got the feeling this was his first visit this far out of the Core. But while he was curious in his partner, he also had some questions to ask their Twi'lek guide as the approached the service entrance the intruders had entered the palace through.

"Did anyone see them enter? I am sure a place this big would have guards at all entrances. The intruders got by all of them unseen?"

The Twi'lek looked a little uncomfortable at the question, probably trying to decide how much to tell them. "There was an incursion by the local wildlife during their intrusion, they slipped in while the guards were occupied with the beasts."

Jon titled his head a little at that, trying to remember what little he could of Jedi and their ilk. They had all sorts of fantastical powers attributed to them, but he wasn't sure how much of that was fantasy and how much was actually real.

"Was it a common occurrence? This animal attack?" He asked the Twi'lek, who shook her head in reply, at which point he turned to address Nick. "So they just happened to be lucky enough to have an attack just when they want to break in? Or do you reckon we can add animal control to the confirmed list of powers for the Jedi?" He pulled out a notepad, an actual paper and pen contraption that drew a look of surprise from the Twi'lek. He took down a note, to put into their report. The more they knew about what these red sabers were capable off the better prepared they would be. For whatever eventuality.

@Raydo

 

[Nick Shaw]

"A couple of times." he said as they walked down the path. "Actually I found myself out here more and more these days." he continued as another blood-sucking insect landed on his neck. He swatted it after feeling slight stinging pain. "Though why anyone would live in a swamp-like this is beyond me," he said as they arrived.

Nick scanned the scene as Jon asked their Twi'lek guide several questions. He wasn't sure he was ready to believe all this business about people with magic powers. The Jedi had been nearly extinct for nearly a century if they had so-called powers, wouldn't they have used them already? "Animal control"? he said with a bit of a chuckle. "That seems a bit...whimsical." he said. Though it didn't seem like a bit of a coincidence.

Nick ran his hand along the scatches on the wall just outside the door, looking down he still saw the remnants of a bloodstain. He turned to look out into the swamp beyond. "You got some nasty neighbors out there." he said, looking towards the Twi'lek. She nodded, looking nervously out as well.

"Do you have any data on where they went first?" he asked. Their guide thought for a second before replying. "We think they first went to a holding area." she said. "And what was being held there?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow. "Slaves." she replied.

Nick was strongly opposed to slavery of any kind, but there were no laws out here forbidding such actions. Though he wouldn't morne the Hutt's loss. "Perhaps we should take a look around this...holding area." he said.

@Wit (Sorry didn't have the thread watched and got no notification about it)

 

[Jon Halleck]

Jon shrugged and raised an eyebrow in a noncommittal fashion at Nick's skepticism regarding the possibility of animal control. "Some of the things these blokes have been accused off, I don't know what to believe anymore. We'll report it, let someone else figure out how likely it is."

He was looking around as Nick questioned the Twi'lek, and stopped mid step at the mention of slaves. He didn't like the concept of slavery, and despised anyone who participated in it, like the Hutts. His hand dropped to his blaster, grip tightening around it before he brought himself under control and turned towards the Twi'lek as she answered Nick's question.

"Umm..." she was hesitant for a moment as she realized that two sector rangers might not respond positively to slavery, but then remembered her orders to accommodate them in any way possible, "yes, of course. This way."

As they were lead to the holding area, Jon fought the temptation to pull out a cigarra and light it, instead focusing on their surroundings, keeping an eye out for anything that might help. As they were brought to the holding area, Jon turned to the Twi'lek as a thought hit him. "Where are the slaves? If they saw what happened then can we question them?" She nodded and nervously lead him to one of the smaller cells where a lone human woman was curled up in the corner.

"The others were killed, or managed to run away."

Conflicted at the fact that he was glad at the actions of these intruders if some of the slaves managed to get their freedom, he moved towards the woman's cell and gestured for the twi'lek to open the door. Stepping inside, he slowly walked up to the young woman and knelt before her.

"Ma'am?" He asked politely, and the tone of his voice must have shocked her as she bolted upright and pulled back in surprise. "Please, don't be scared. I'm here to help. I'm a Sector Ranger." He pulled out his badge and held it out for her, her eyes widened at the revelation. She opened and shut her mouth a few times, as if trying to speak, but words escaped her. "I have a few questions for you, if that's okay with you." She nodded, still clutching his badge tightly in her hands. "You were here when the intruders were here. Did you see what happened?"

She was quiet for a few moments before breaking into tears. "The men," she finally said, "the two of them came in after the beasts. They did something to the control terminal, all the doors opened up. I, I fell as I ran, got knocked out. When I woke up I was back here." She started slow, with sobs and sniffles breaking her words, till she broke down completely at the end.

Jon got to his feet and held out his hand for her. "It's alright," he said as he pulled her to her feet, pulling off his jacket and draping it over her shoulders, "you're safe now. I'm taking you out of here." The Twi'lek and the young woman let out a gasp at that, the Twi'lek started objecting, and he noticed the young woman's expression change, prepared to lose hope once more.

"She's a material witness in an active investigation. She's coming with us." He said it simply as he continued walking, the look in his eyes daring the Twi'lek to try and stop him. He lead the two women back to where Nick was and found a place for the young woman could sit before moving towards his fellow Ranger.

"There were definitely two of them, witness confirms it. And they messed with that," he said with a gesture towards the terminal, "check if out. Maybe we'll get lucky and find something useful."

@Raydo

 

[Nick Shaw]

There wasn't anyone who disliked slavery more than Nick, but he still internally winced a bit as Jon announced they would be taking the slave with them. He gave his fellow Ranger a hard stare.

He stepped closer and spoke in a hushed tone. "You sure you know what you are doing. We piss a Hutt and none of us may see the light of day again." he said as he glanced over at the slave before eyeing the handful of Gamorrean Guard's that were in the vicinity.

He sighed and then nodded. "Yeah, I'll check it out. Don't do anything stupid in the meantime." he said before making his way towards the terminal. Nick turned towards there Twi'lek guide. "I wouldn't guess you would have any cameras in this area." he said tilting his head slightly. "We actually do, my Master takes care to make sure his most...prized possessions are well looked after." he said. Nick ignored the fact that the possessions she was talking about were slaves. "Can you provide us a copy from the time a few minutes the attack started until it finished?" he asked. "Having video evidence would go a long way to putting these intruders away and perhaps locating any stolen property," he added.

The woman squirmed for a moment before finally nodding her head. "Of course." she said stepping up the terminal beside him. "Here." she said as she started hitting a series of keys to bring up the footage.

@Wit

 

[Jon Halleck]

Jon understood where Nick was coming from, but understanding something wasn't the same as being okay with it. And the matter of the woman was one of those things, he knew he was right and he would not budge on the matter. "They need us more than they need one slave. Even the Hutts aren't stupid enough to try and kill two Rangers and piss off the Free Worlds."

As Nick handled the terminal, Jon was content with waiting behind, letting him do his thing. But when he asked about the footage and the Twi'lek offered to bring it up he stepped up to peek at the screen. As the footage started rolling, showing the two intruders facing off against a droid and another guard. He had to say, he was impressed with the firepower the Hutts had brought into play to guard the vault, seeing the flamethrower and jetpack being used by the two Jon couldn't deny that the Hutts didn't slack when it came to security. But even then, the two men cut through them fairly easily. As one slipped into the vault, the other chased down the Hutt.

"Have you taken inventory of the items in the vault? Any idea what was taken? He was in and out fairly quickly, and must have been someting he carried out on his person. Can you bring up what happened in the vault?"

@Raydo

 

[Nick Shaw]

The Twi'lek brought up the fight near the vault room and Nick crossed his arms as he continued to watch, looking hard for any clues.

The one-man began to cut through the heavy vault door. Nick let out a whistle. "That must be one of those laser swords. Thats some pretty big fire power to bring to the table." he said as they continued to watch. As the fight progressed, the man cutting through the door deactivated the sword and spun back towards the fight. "Stop." he said looking at the Twi'lek. Go back to just before he moved away and go frame by frame.

As she played back the footage, there was a single frame where part of the vault door had fallen away and there was a glimpse at the blue lightsaber blade beneath. "Looks like this may be our guy." he said as he glanced over at Jon.

He then asked their guide about any items missing from the vault. He was only in there for a handful of seconds before they fled. "Well, there was really only one item missing. A crystal that belonged to my Master's collection. There were far more valuable items in there he could have carried out." she admitted.

"Seems like a lot of trouble for a piece of crystal." he said to Jon. "Any idea what that could be used for. Its obvious they were here for that specifically becuase they leave right after and it doesn't look like they leave with any of the slaves." he said as he tried to make sense of the scene.

 

[Jon Halleck]

Jon had tried to read up a little about the Jedi on his way to Nal Hutta when he got this assignment, but it had been a lot of heresay and very little factual information. All he knew was they had magical powers, could heal people, and make things float if they wanted to. But there had been one bit that might help. "They say Jedi use kyber crystals. For what I don't really know for sure, but most probably something to do with their blades. This guy already has a blade though.." he traied off for a bit as he thought on the matter, "the Jedi seemed to be eager to help, right? Maybe we ask one of them what our friend here wants to accomplish with the crystal."

Turning to the Twi'lek, he asked her to continue playing the recording. "Please continue playing, there is more right?"

"Uhh, yes. There's the.." She seemed to be very uncomfortable with whatever was coming up in the recordings, and knowing how the visit by the intruders ended he could guess at why. She started playing the recording and turned away, as the screen showed images of the prime suspect's companion killing the Hutt, before the two men made their exit via the elevator.

"Thank you," he said to the Twi'lek, "I think we got what we needed from the recording." And they had. They had confirmation on identifying one of the assailants as a previously identified suspect, and now had another associate to add to his profile, along with enough to start building a profile on that associate.

"Do you have the data from the vault sweep?" He asked the Twi'lek, who nodded and held out a datapad for him. He was impressed by the data on the screen, the Hutts were obviously taking this seriously and had been thorough with their sweep. Unfortunately there was nothing there to help them, no prints, no fabric residues, nothing. He copied the data to his datapad nonetheless before returning it to the Twi'lek.

"I think we're done here," he said to Nick, "unless there's something else you want to check?"

@Raydo

 

[Nick Shaw]

They gathered up everything the Hutts had gathered on their suspects. It wasn't anything definitive and left more questions than answers, but it was significantly more than they normally got on an initial investigation. "I think we are good." he said pulling out a card and handing it to the Twi'lek. "Here is my contact information, if anything else is discovered please reach out." he said with a smile. "I will. Thank you both for your time. I don't believe I have to mention that my Master will be very eager to reclaim his property when her part in the investigation is done." he said looking somewhat nervously at Jon.

With that, they turned to leave. While the Hutts had accommodated this investigation since it benefited them, there was no doubt they were still hostile towards the two Sector Rangers. It was hard to turn his back to the guards as they left, but they weren't given any trouble.

As they exited, Nick let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He was ready to get off this planet. "I'll work on the paperwork on my way back to Coruscant if you want to start working on accommodations for our guest," he said to Jon.

After that, they parted ways and Nick made to leave the planet, but before one last bug took a bite out of him. He really hated this planet.

@Wit @Sreeya (tagged since we are finished)

Spoiler: Report

Location: Nal Hutta

Date: xx-xx-xxx

Time: 1345 Local

Officers: Halleck, Jon and Shaw, Nicholas

Narrative: Officers responded to the scene where they were led around by a Twi'Lek guide. After seeing obvious damage caused by local wildlife at the intruder's point of entry, it was revealed that just prior to the break-in, there was an unusually large and seemingly coordinated attack by the local fauna which served as a diversion for the intruders.

Officers then investigated a slave holding area where the intruders had set several slaves free. Their motive for doing so is unknown but an eye witness was located and is being placed in our care in the event a testimony is needed at a later time.

Lastly, an investigation of the vault revealed only one item was taken, a crystal of some sort. Little is know about the crystal and why it would have interested the suspects. Video footage of the area was obtained which confirmed this break in was carried out by one of the laser sword-wielding individuals.