Open Lothal Looking For Rangers

[Sarnai Sunstrider]

Spoiler: OOC

Open to Sector Rangers and Independents

Sarnai Sunstrider was a woman on a mission, or so she told herself as she strode quietly through the quiet grasses of Lothal. Her swoopbike, a terribly illegal, hacked together piece of bantha shit, hovered almost menacingly behind her. It sputtered and groaned, but held itself aloft. Walking away from it, she made her way towards a large grouping of spiral rocks. At the base of the stones, a makeshift campsite of visitors and pilgrims mingled and spoke amongst themselves. Ever since the liberation of Lothal, this place had become one of many pilgrimage sites for travelers looking for inner peace or focus; some seeking it through the Force and some not.

However, Sarnai had no intention of seeking peace through 'the Force' or whatever. No, her desires laid elsewhere. She needed a Ranger. There were official channels to go through to enlist the assistance of sector rangers, but Sarnai couldn't risk going through official channels. There had been a murder on her homeworld of Coruscant, on her level of 1312. Well, that wasn't entirely true. There was going to be a murder, the victim still lived and breathed, but he knew not of the plot against him. But if Sarnai was going to prevent this plot, she needed someone totally outside the sphere of influence of the Capital of the New Republic.

A Sector Ranger, far away from any highly populated area, would be perfect. That is, assuming Sarnai got lucky. Standing on her hill amongst the grasses, back to the rising sun, she scanned the tents below. She would look for a ranger, and if she did not see one, she would be forced to move on.

 

[Jules]

Ever since the Liberation of Lothal, these kinds of places had been a site for travellers on a pilgrimage. Quiet, peaceful, away from the hubbub of other sentients. Perfect for quiet contemplation and meditation. It was also perfect for, say, illicit dealings that you didn't want the law to know about.

Jules stood, hand close to her blaster, as she kicked over the small case. Two others faced her; shady sorts with long jackets, heavy blasters and dangerous looks. She had a particularly bad feeling about this, but hey. She'd already agreed to take the cargo, nothing left to do now.

"First shipment is there. Two other crates are buried nearby," she told them, running through the standard arrangements. Even she wasn't stupid enough to bring the whole amount and lay it there for the taking. "You show me the payment and I'll give you the coordinates."

Nice and easy, then I can get paid and pretend this never happened.

The humanoid smiled at her, stepping forwards. Lifting the lid of the case, checking what was inside. Jules didn't know what was in there and she didn't wanna know. The less she did, the better.

"Perfect. Show her the chit."

The other man reached into his pocket, fishing out a credit chit. Jules smiled, taking a step forwards with hand outstretched to take it, when- suddenly, a blaster was pointed at her.

"You only asked to be shown the payment. Now I think you'll be telling us those coordinates," the kneeling thug said as Jules raised her hands slowly.

"You motherfu-" she started, before the thug fired a loud warning shot above her head.

"Please, young miss, the coordinates, before we have to do something... rash."

Jules scowled, looking around the near-empty horizon. Probably too much to hope someone else was here, right? Typical.

@Black Noise

 

[Akalenedat]

Akalenedat loved his job- especially the part where he beat the shit out of baddies with his bare fists. There was just something about the hard hitting contact that filled him with adrenaline. Most of his fellow Mandalorians practiced with swords when it came to close-combat situations, and Kell did too, but he greatly preferred hammering his foes with his knuckles. He had also practiced on how to fight opponents with blades and knives so he could counter attack without cutting off his hands. Kell could even disarm most opponents at this point.

Part of the reason why Kell used his callsign, Akalenedat, was because it meant "Hard Contact" in Mando'a. It fit his brute strength and controlled hits perfectly. To match his skill with his melee abilities, he had also improved his skills with blasters so he could win fights from afar as easily as he could up close.

Thanks to Kell's Luck-Gut-Instinct, he had the impression to turn his head to the right and zoom in on- A Damsel in distress! HA! That thug will rue the day he pointed a blaster at such a beautiful creature. Kell wasn't lying either, the women was indeed very pretty- probably the most stunning women Kell had ever laid eyes upon. He took to the sky with his jetpack and readied his EE-3 in his hands.

Akalenedat had the advantage of not only the high ground but of surprise. He hovered in the air to steady his aim as he peered down his scope at the back of the head of the thug when he was in range, then he squeezed the trigger and exhaled, sending a burst of three red blaster bolts headed directly for the thug. Kell had originally come to Lothal to take a quick break from fighting crime, but when duty called, duty called.

@Black Noise @Charndley

 

[Sarnai Sunstrider]

Sarnai hopped back on her swoopbike, kicking the damn thing into high gear as she practically flew away from the campsite. A sigh, inaudible above the roar of the engines, escaped her as she darted off. Mentally, she beat herself down for thinking good fortune would simply fall into her lap. 'Fortune is something handcrafted by sentients, for sentients.' Sarnai thought. Rolling her eyes beneath the thick goggles, she almost cut the engines and turned back towards town when something caught her attention.

A single shot, ringing out into the sky, brought Sarnai's focus to bear at a new location nearby. Smiling, she turned the bike and increased her speed. Maybe, for her, fortune would smile. As she rode off towards the shot, she could see someone take to the sky with a jetpack. With her swoop bike louder than the screams of a krayt dragon, it was unlikely the sound of hot fire could be heard over her approach. Within seconds, she found herself less than twenty meters from a group of three, two men and a woman.

At a glance, Sarnai could see it was some sort of illicit deal in the midst of going south. Her experience as a criminal investigator did give her good instincts, though in this situation it was experience that told her a bit more. Cutting her engines, she started to walk towards the group. But before she could open her mouth, three more shots rang out. The jetpacked mercenary slammed three bolts into the back of the head of the man holding the gun in front of the girl.

Instantly, Sarnai quick drew her own holdout blaster and sent a single shot at the second man. In truth, she didn't know who was truly in the wrong here. But she wasn't sure she cared either. If the jetpacked mercenary was targeting the men, Sarnai might as well too.

@Charles @Charndley

 

[Jules]

Jules kept quiet as she thought about it. Didn't seem like anyone was coming. Could wait until one of them got close, try to take them out... but caught short of a duelling sword, Jules was utter crap at hand-to-hand. Plus, the speaking thug had a pair of cuffs on his belt that didn't seem like they were there for his girlfriend.

"The co-ordinates?"

"Fine, they're-"

She stopped as she saw the figure rise in the sky. Her confusion turned to shock as three blaster bolts smacked right into the thug, sending him sprawling on top of her, completely dead. The other thug whirled around with a roar of anger... just as another bolt from a different blaster hit him. Without much time to think, Jules tried to establish what'd happened. Cops? Probably cops. Time to rely on an old standby.

She screamed. Scrambling from underneath the corpse, she kept screaming as she kicked the corpse off herself. Standing up and brushing herself hard, breathing heavily and looking around frantically. A couple of figures around but she couldn't study them, she had to play the part.

"HELP!" she screamed, putting on her best Chandrilan posh-girl voice. "HELP! HELP! POLICE!!" It was a role, a voice, she could do very well. Almost like she'd lived it. She even managed to force a tear out, smearing a little eyeliner.

@Charles @Black Noise

 

[Akalenedat]

Akalenedat roared with vigor as his shots ended the sad life of the thug who had kept the woman at gun point. Then, another blaster bolt from another less-beautiful but still generally pretty woman connected with the second thug that Kell had fired at a little slower than the first women, so he was only shooting the corpse as unintentional overkill.

The cries from the woman that caught his eye reminded Kell of what he was doing and dropped to the ground. He took a look at the crime scene as he dashed over to her aid, noticing a crate placed before them. Kell remembered a tip given to him by an elder officer once, about how most men have the natural urge to assist women during distress and how some women used that to their advantage. Kell had never witnessed it happen before, but the woman before him looked more than capable of handling herself with that blaster strapped to her side and the way she dressed.

His Lucky-Gut-Instinct told him something was off, but Kell refused to listen to his instincts and helped the woman to her feet- regardless of whatever she had planned, Akalenedat would do his best to void hitting that beautiful face of hers. "Don't you worry, lass! No need to shed fake tears." Kell grinned behind his helmet as he brushed the woman off. "You really are stunning..." He muttered to himself aloud as he gazed into her eyes from behind his T-visor.

@Black Noise @Charndley

 

[Sarnai Sunstrider]

The fight was over quickly, which Sarnai liked. The dust kicked up by her swoop bike could be washed off her nice suit, but blood took a lot of effort. There was cold water, special detergents, handwashing, it was a whole ordeal. Almost immediately after the man dropped dead, the girl scrambled beneath his corpse to scream for help. A believable performance. However, in Sarnai's experience, most people tended to freeze and become silent in these types of scenarios. Not to say there weren't screamers! Oh no, but they were a good one in five, and this girl didn't look the screaming type.

Ironically, she yelled for the police. As the Mandalorian approached and began his blustering, classic hero complex, Sarnai took out her badge and flashed it for a second before replacing it. "Well, it would appear that you have stumbled across great good fortune young woman, I am the police." Sarnai's adopted her professional tone when speaking. It was good to have that professional voice, though it had pros and cons. It would be an understatement to say she had botched more than a few dates by slipping into it subconsciously after work.

She put her holdout blaster back into it's holster, careful to keep her overcoat well covered over her shoulders as to hide any and all other items on her person behind her back. Smiling, she offered out a hand once the young man had helped the young woman to her feet.

"I am known as Sarnai Sunstrider. May I have the pleasure of making your acquaintances Sir and Ma'am? Also, if you would be so kind, do inform me as to what situation I am observing." Her second statement was pointedly not a question. It was the veiled threat the local authorities were always so very keen on and, in many places, actively known for. 'You will tell me,' it implied, 'or else.'

@Charles @Charndley

 

[Jules]

Just her damn luck. An actual cop, and some white knight who thought he could detect fake tears. There was nothing fake about her tears, that's where he was wrong. He wanted to see a performance? As he offered his hand, she reached out to grab it with both of her own. Making herself shake as she straightened herself up. Staring into that impassive visor, making sure her eyes went as wide and as innocent as they possibly could. His comment got little more than a nervous stare in reply from her, no matter how flattering it was.

Duh, of course I'm stunning, have you seen me?

When she saw the badge, she instantly clocked it for a CSF one. Strange, so far out here. She hadn't been tracked, had she? Who had she ticked off on Coruscant recently? Nonetheless, she still had the role to play. She nodded quickly, standing up a little straighter, as if she'd been conditioned to respect cops innately.

"I'm... I'm so glad you're... oh my... officer... I'm just like..." she rabbited quickly, still trying to hold back the fake shivers as she let out a torrent of Chandrilan-tinged word vomit. "I'm just... I'm not... I'm... I ran off from my family and... I thought it'd be fun and... boyfriend and... bad boys and.... they wanted me to carry..." she started to say, descending into sniffles again as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand.

The snot was a nice touch.

"They... they threatened me. I thought he... I thought he... I thought he loved me..." Play the dumb girl taken in by the bad boyfriend. That'd work, right? "C... Camilla Seltra..." she lied, giving one of her various aliases she'd built up. "Pl... please you can't tell my uncle, officer, he'll... he'll kill me!"

@Charles @Black Noise

 

[Akalenedat]

The woman kept the "act" up that Kell was sure was simply just an "act". But as the lady began to snivel and continue to cry, Kell began to loosen up on his instincts- namely his Lucky-Gut-Instinct that was still telling him this woman was bad news. Akalenedat then looked at the Detective who flashed her badge and asked for their business. The woman stated her story, so Kell took out his Sector Ranger ID and inclined his head into a respectful bow towards the Detective. "I am Akalenedat, Sector Ranger and Verd to Alore Srucayr."

"I have never seen a faster fire-fight than, that, Detective Sunstrider. Remind me to never get on your bad side." He complimented. The way she effortlessly flicked her blaster out to hit the second thug really was a mix between remarkable and frightening. Then his attention turned back to the victim, who was now blabbering about a crazy uncle. Kell had his fair share of psychotic family members and knew how hard and awkward it was to get away from those situations. "Cheer up, lass! You are with a detective for the CSF and a Mandalorian Sector Ranger! You're uncle- if he's even real -will stand no chance in quarrel with us." He said confidently, placing his hands on his hips and pushing out his chest a little more to create an even more regal and heroic stance.

@Charndley @Black Noise

 

[Sarnai Sunstrider]

If this encounter had occurred on Coruscant, Sarnai would be listening very carefully to the woman explain her side of the story. The Detective would be taking notes, calling in backup to analyze the crime scene, make sure no one left, and, of course, filled out a mountain of paperwork for the discharge of her weapon. However, Sarnai was not on Coruscant. So perhaps her next few actions would be considered strange by the standards of her homeworld, but Sarnai found herself to be perfectly reasonable.

As the woman spoke, crying and stuttering, Sarnai moved away from her and occasionally nodded to show she was listening. Walking towards the corpses of the two men, she began patting them down, taking their weapons and any credits off their corpses. Credits they had, quite a bit in fact, as if they were paying for something. 'They probably sought that package, I feel safe to assume,' she thought, glancing over towards the sealed container.

Reaching down, she picked up the case as the Mandalorian spoke. Her eyes and ears perked up as the man introduced himself as a sector ranger. How lucky could she be? Smiling, she carefully moved to place the case into the inside pocket of her coat and spoke. All the while she moved as to not reveal anything else she had behind her back.

"Akalenedat of the Sector Rangers? Would you believe that I have come to this very world in search of one such as you? I am in need of someone of your specific skillset. Do your people accept work for the sake of justice and payment?"

@Charndley @Charles

Spoiler: OOC

Sorry for the delay, let's get back to it.

 

[Akalenedat]

The detective was asking if his people...? The Mandalorians or the Sector Rangers? As a Mando, he would do the work for both payment and justice, but as a Sector Ranger he'd do the work for justice...and payment. Alright! This was going to be fun. "Yes of course, Ma'am! Tell me who needs a beating and I'll give them one they'll never forget." Kell replied, cracking his knuckles while he spoke. Hopefully they'd be able to figure out the strange women both the Ranger and the Detective ran into, but it sounded like that might have to late.

Kell studied the women through his T-visor, staring into her eyes to see if he could find something in them that would reveal a bit about herself- but her act was full-proof and Akalenedat couldn't spot a thing. "Tell me, lass, who is your uncle? Do you need a lift? Where do you need to go that's safe? Any friends you can trust?"

@Charndley @Black Noise