Murder in the Holy City

[Levi Solus]

Holy City of Jedha, 1214 local time​

Music​

It was a beautiful day on Jedha. The sun was, as always, shining, and the wind was reduced to a gentle breeze that occasionally picked up now and again, cooling Levi down whenever he got hot. He was wearing loose clothing—light brown light pants made out of some sort of wool, with a khaki jacket that was so thin it was see-through. He didn't feel uncomfortable being virtually shirtless, since that tended to be the style in the Holy City, which was in the middle of the desert.

His lightsaber was clipped to his belt, and for once, he felt safe walking around with it exposed. Though Jedi activity on Jedha was unknown to the Empire, they were well out of its jurisdiction and in the last place they would think to search, so Levi was not at all worried. None of the locals gave him any weird looks for it either, used to seeing Force users go about their daily business. This was, after all, the Holy City.

A merchant they passed by caught his attention, Levi's eyes setting on the goods—pastries of various sizes and shapes. A few seconds later, he was a few credits lighter and munching on a particularly nice-looking pastry.

"Good food on Jedha," he remarked to his Jedi partner, his mouth full. Any unease from being around an inducted Jedi was more or less suppressed, his mind distracted by the hustle and bustle of the marketplace around him: the scent of spices (both for cooking and otherwise) wafted around, the sound of merchants advertising their products filling his ears, and the constant bumping into people. It was packed, but that was normal for Jedha.

He'd been on the planet for a few days, his first time since being released from imprisonment, and he was starting to seriously like it, clamoring in the marketplace aside. It was a positive environment, where he could come to escape from the chaos of the other side of the Galaxy. There were no Imperials here. There was no war, no blood. Here, there was only the Force.

@Panda

 

[Terria Cyrrl]

Terria couldn't help but wonder if someone up top had decided that the Jedi in the ranks of the alliance were in need of some serious stress testing considering the current situation. She didn't know for sure their current status, but one heard things nowadays, a whisper here, a rumor there. If what she had heard was true, she would have to start training herself and pushing herself even harder, the Alliance needed all the help it could get. It was probably why they were giving her current escort such a big chance, and also why they stuck him with her, a half-trained Jedi Padawan who still didn't even have a Lightsaber. Not that she was worried, while her guard was still up he did seem sincere in wanting to change from what others had told her.

Passing the food stall, Terria chuckled a little at his seeming awe at the city around them and bought a Pastry as well, eating it a little slower than him.
"Right?" She replied with a goofy grin. "I like it on Jedha, it's peaceful in a kind of way. The war seems so far away when you just walk around and take it all in." For a moment, her face sunk slightly, the thoughts of galactic war and slaughter rearing their ugly heads in her mind once more. "It probably won't last...but I guess that's just why we need to appreciate and enjoy it while we can." She flapped her robes as they left the Square, small coatings of sand flying off her and coming to rest on the sandstone slabs they walked on. "Did you ever have much of this as a Sith? Peace, I mean, not food, I imagine the Sith were all too happy to, um...indulge."

@vamp

 

[Levi Solus]

He nodded along to what the Padawan said, finding that he echoed the sentiment. He nodded again at the second statement. No, he thought. It won't last. It was a sad thought, but he knew that if word of the Jedi activity here reached the Empire, the skies of Jedha would turn red in less than a week. He'd seen what the Sith did to worlds, and he would hate to see Jedha reduced to burning rubble.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion," he replied, echoing the Sith Code. The words felt so familiar in his mouth, having been repeated and chanted so many times that they were embedded in his memory by now. "Part of the Sith code," Levi explained, taking another bite of the pastry. "No, there's no peace. Not for a Sith. Even in moments of boredom, when you're waiting for your next assignment, you're stressed out. Stressed about what the assignment will be, stressed about your peers—who are always and will always try to bring you down if it would be to their benefit. The Rule of Strong ensures no Sith ever feels safe—because those that do get killed." He'd been one of the more successful Acolytes, and stronger in the Force than those around him; the Rule of Strong had been something he'd been forced to live by. Levi had killed many in self-defense, and it kept him up at night—the regret, but also the constant feeling of being in danger, which he hadn't been able to shake, even as a Jedi. Days like these were rare and precious to him.

"We didn't get food either," he added, relieving the somber mood with a joke. "As for indulging..." he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Yes. There was much indulging." It was un-Jedi-like to be talking about attachment in such positive light, but it was a joke. Surely, Arda won't sprout out of the ground to berate him?

"What about the rebellion? Are rebels happy to indulge?"

They spoke as they walked, brushing past people. A group up ahead seemed to be embroiled in an argument, but Levi was only half listening. One was shouting something about the other being a murderer, but the second man seemed to be claiming he was innocent. The group was about 30 meters away but loud enough to hear, and Levi supposed they should start making their way over to mediate—it was the Jedi thing to do, wasn't it?

@Panda

 

[Terria Cyrrl]

Terria turned to look at him when he recited the Sith Code, verbatim. Though they kept moving, they seemed to sow to a snail's pace as the conversation took a more serious turn. She locked herself in, listening intently as he described the conditions of being a Sith and how it permeated every aspect of your life. In many ways, it was like Jedi Code, polar opposites yet startlingly similar. Every waking moment is spent in the heat of the moment, slave to your own passions and emotions, just as a Jedi was meant to spend their lives in peace and still in their souls for every moment. While she didn't quite agree with the latter, it seemed far more appealing than the former being described to her right now.

She furrowed her brow, confusion wrinkling into her face.
"I don't understand how anyone could live like that, not ever having a moment's respite, it sounds like torture, neverending suffering, and for what? For power that'll fade away in a few years as everything else does?" She said, her voice laden with scathing cynicism toward the Sith. Then a thought came to mind, something that made the hairs of her neck stand on end and her heart sink. She glanced toward Levi again, looking him as much in the eyes as she could from beside him. "...do you still feel that? That edge you talked about?" She hoped he didn't, it didn't seem like something anyone would enjoy, and she hoped coming back into the Light's embrace would help him find some semblance of quiet in his mind.

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, she couldn't help but blurt out chuckling as he mentioned just how much the Sith liked to light their sabers - she could picture it already. "I'm sure the parties were legendary," She observed snidely, her lip curling into a smirk. His response brought a few people to mind though, definitely one or two on the side of good that needed a little 'tender care' every now and then. "Shellshocked soldiers needing some way to cope with battle and hardship? Commanders burdened with the chains of their command? Jedi needing to spend all their lives pursuing chastity, piousness, and justice? Noooo, we don't need such indulgences, what're you talking about?" She let her words hang in the air for a few moments before she finally let loose a roar of laughter that echoed into the sky, splitting her sides. "Of karking course we do! We're only mortal."

The commotion ahead caught her attention and cut the conversation short just as quickly as it did Levi. She started to pick up the pace and, in a few moments, they came to thr throe of commoners looking like they were getting ready to start a mob. Terria was quickly to get up close and personal, sliding through the swarms until he reached the two arguing and pried them apart, screaming something fierce to get people to quiet down. "Hey! HEY! 'EY! ENOUGH! Now what's going on here!?" She demanded.

 

[Levi Solus]

Levi thought for a moment. He knew what the answer was—he was just pondering whether to tell the truth or not. Biting his lip, he finally made a decision, and nodded. "Yeah. Days like these, not so much. But when you're all alone, going about daily business, it's hard not to feel like something bad is about to happen." During his academy days, he'd been cornered by a gang of other trainees, and almost lost his life as a result. Though Levi had overpowered them all, it was hard to forget that. Especially because the marginalization had only gotten more intense as he got closer to graduating.

"Fat lot of good chastity did to the Order," he chuckled. "No wonder you can count us all on the fingers of one hand." Realizing his mistake, his smile faded. "Well, count you guys." He still wasn't an inducted Jedi. He still wasn't one of them. Why couldn't he get it into his head?

The two slowly reached the group of commoners and Terria stepped in. Levi followed, hand instinctively reaching for his lightsaber until he realized what he was doing. No. Those days are gone. He knew Jedi were meant to treat lightsabers as last resorts, not fly to conclusions and start cutting down innocents. Old habits died hard, horrific as they may be. Snapping out of it, he turned to look at a commoner that was pointing at another. Two other men held him back, and there was murderous intent in his eyes. Levi could feel it through the Force, a black stain, minuscule as it may be.

"That son of a bitch killed my daughter!" he roared, but the man—the suspect—simply raised his hands up as if in surrender.

"I didn't do it! I didn't do anything!" Levi stared at him, and reached out through the Force. There was no hint of deceit in his voice or mannerisms. From the looks of it, the man was telling the truth. Stepping forward, he placed a hand on the shoulder of the accuser, his touch soothing and gentle. He channeled the Force, aiming to calm the man. For all intents and purposes, it seemed to work, and the man no longer needed to be held back. His shoulders slumped and his expression fell. While he was angry a second ago, now he just seemed sad.

"Then who?" he asked, and Levi turned to Terria.

"We'll find out."

@Panda

 

[Terria Cyrrl]

She may have been a Jedi, but she was only Echani at the end of the day, and like it or not, the crowd was getting just a tad roudy. That is to say, she would barely be able to keep these two people off each other for more than a few seconds before they found a way around her and resumed the finger pointing and impromptu executions anew. She let out a deep sigh when her partner stepped up thankfully, his very touch seeming to sooth the guy over until he was docile as a Loth-kitten. She was a little surprised, given that he was only here for what had to be a few weeks at most, he could already channel the Light well enough to calm people down and generally act as a soothing presence. It gave a pretty good idea to what he might be able to bring to the Alliance if he could really turn and embrace the Jedi as his family. She imagined he would enjoy the peace of knowing you didn't have your back all the time too.

With the two people a little more levelheaded, the crowd started to disperse a bit. Seemed that most of them just wanted to see what was going on, maybe spectate a street brawl, but that wouldn't be happening today if they could help it. Once things were a little quieter, her brain actually started to soak in what was happening. Someone had killed this man's daughter, someone took her from him, and he seemed to think that the man opposite him had done the deed despite him saying he was innocent. She looked across at Levi, her face marked with worry, and pursed her lips, turning toward the bereaved.
"If you don't mind, can we examine your daughter's body?" She asked softly, rubbing her hands together. She didn't want to fidget too much lest she was taken as insincere or tuned out, that was the best she could do. "If we know what...well, then we might be able to track whoever did it."

His sunken features flicked up toward her, and he nodded shakily, turning and gesturing for the two (one) Jedi to follow him. Again, Terria flapped her robes to shake off the sand and went after him, looking back at Levi. He really should be coming with her...but that man has had a bit of a stressful day, and if he is the murderer then he could disappear. It was a risk...maybe. "Do you want to stay with him Levi, or do you wanna come with?"

 

[Levi Solus]

He was a bit surprised when Terria asked to see the body. They were Jedi, sure, and wanted to help, but just the question itself, taken out of context, seemed peculiar. He was a little more surprised to watch the man nodding, albeit shakily. Not moving from his position, he stood there as Terria left with the other man, shaking his head as she turned around.

"I'll stay with him," he replied. Sure, the man seemed sincere, but you never know who you're dealing with, and Levi could at least gain some more intel by conversing with the suspect—if he even was a suspect anymore. As the Jedi walked away with the accuser, Levi motioned for the suspect to walk with him, the two falling into step as they turned into an alley that lead away from the marketplace, where they could chat more privately without knocking into people every few seconds.

"No worries," he declared, noting the man's facial expression. "I don't think you did it. I just wanted to ask you more about the situation." A bit more at ease, the man nodded to himself, his shoulders lowering as he slowly calmed from his tense state.

"New wave of crimes started hitting the Holy City a few weeks ago," he began, looking over his shoulder. They were in a shady-looking alley, and though Levi appreciated the shelter from the desert sun, he could see why one would be afraid to walk here. "Nothing out of the usual—smuggling, arms sales, the works. Still, the Holy City has remained relatively free from anything like that for a long time. Some of us know the reason, but others don't, and it's got them all on edge." Others clearly referred to the man whose daughter had been killed.

"What's the reason?" Levi asked, trying to probe deeper into the issue. The man looked over his shoulder again, clearly paranoid that they were being overheard. The two kept walking, though, and Levi didn't even bat an eyelash. He knew that he could take on anyone that decided to ambush them. "It's okay, you're in safe hands," he reassured, and the man's eyes flew to Levi's lightsaber, his expression instantly more at ease.

"Girsav be Haal Gra'avagr," he replied, and Levi didn't even need a translation. This wasn't his first run in with the group, and he was Mandalorian, so he was fairly knowledgable on the gang anyhow. Still, he let the man continue. "Mandalorian criminal gang. They usually stick to the Galactic East, but Jedha recently became a target for them because of how easy it is to smuggle things in here and sell them. Our black market—though hidden—is booming. So far, they only have a small smuggling ring going, but it seems they're expanding into other branches of crime."

It was bad. Levi knew how ruthless the Fangs were, and they were clearly already disturbing the peace on Jedha. Satisfied with the information, he nodded to the man, one last question lingering. "How do you know this?" he asked.

"I have...history with them. It's also why they framed me for murdering that poor guy's daughter." They reached another crowded street, stepping out of the alleyway into the sunlight once more. Levi was about to open his mouth to say something else when he felt something.

Malicious intent. It was overpowering and his senses screamed that something bad was about to happen, but the Jedi hopeful just couldn't put his finger on it. Without warning, one of the people passing by broke from the stream of pedestrians, something glinting in his hand. Levi's eyes widened, he dived in front of his companion, between him and the would-be assassin. The rebel grabbed the man's knife hand at the wrist, his other hand forming into a fist that slammed into the assassin's face hard enough to knock his hood off and reveal his scarred face. A tattoo of the Fangs' seal flashed for a brief second on his forehead before he fell backward, face bloody.

More pedestrians broke off, about a handful, and Levi turned his head toward his companion. "Run!"

@Panda

 

[Terria Cyrrl]

The air seemed to still around the Padawan and the Father as they walked through twisting streets and back alleys, slowly making their way to something neither of them wanted to see. The Father didn't want to see it for obvious reasons, and Teria...well, it was probably the thoughts of a coward, but seeing the dead? It stirred something in her, something she hated feeling and wanted to avoid as much as possible if she could. At the end of the day though, she had a duty to life and the light, so she had to do things she knew she wouldn't like. They eventually came to a small hovel built from loosely bound sandstones, looking like it was about to fall in on anyone in an instant.
"This is home," He said, beckoning her inside, noting her hesitation to cross the threshold and the faint phantom of a smile passing over his lips. "The structure is stronger than you think, I've lived here for 16 years and it's never so much as shuddered."

After a few moments looking the place up and down (and still feeling more than a little nervous about the place collapsing), she inched through the door and looked around the place. All in all, it was cozy, more suited to one person than two, but she knew nothing about the daughter other than she was dead, so she could have moved out. When she turned toward him again, he was staring at a doorway up against the back wall, probably a bedroom. She could tell that he didn't want to go in there, nor should he have to - this was her job, and she didn't want to hurt him any more than she had to. She walked up beside him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, patting it.
"You don't need to go in there if you don't want to, I can just examine her and then come back out," She explained. His nod was the answer, and she moved past him and made for the bedroom.

The body was laying on the bed, her eyes mercifully closed, a sheet covering her from the neck down. If it weren't for the charred and blackened marks adorning her forehead and face, she would probably look like she was just asleep. Terria knelt down beside her face and just stared at her for a moment. Images of this girl interacting with her father, walking around the city, even doing something mundane like reading a book all entered her mind. This used to be a woman, with hopes and dreams and thoughts and fears and all the other minutiae that made every living person unique, and someone had decided that they didn't deserve to live. That wasn't a choice anyone should be allowed to make. She brought her hand up and laid it gently on her chest, closing her eyes and letting the Force spill and roll out from her in waves, fueled by her own manufactured serenity. "Go to the Force's embrace, be free from pain and want, carry the thoughts of your soul to the next life and back so that they might make this plane a better place..." She whispered solemnly, standing and turning back.

The cause of death was obvious; blaster fire that had practically scorched half of her skull to cinders and left barely any of it intact. It couldn't have been more than one person, there would be more burn arcs on her (a way of measuring the burn someone left from a blaster shot, red and orange being light burning, with each darker color being progressively worse), so it had to be one assailant at point blank range. She moved over to the girl's Father and sat down, leaning on her knees and looking up at his eyes. They were red and strained from crying, so she really didn't want to do this, but it was needed to determine her killer. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it-" She began, but he just held up his hand, seemingly catching on before she had asked. "I...I came in this morning and found her like that. She had been staying here the past few nights, lost her job at a stall selling water and other drinks, the desert planet you know...she lost her home, her things, everything." He turned away from Terria, bringing his hand up to his eyes. "When I found her, I wept for an hour, but when I looked her over, I found a letter on her, it was from that man I accused, Doran his name was. It looked like the two had been seeing each other and she had broken up with him. The whole thing read like a threat to her, so I...well...you saw."

So that was it huh? A dead daughter, a letter pretty much spelling out who the killer was, and a public accusation...something didn't feel right, it felt like the pieces all just fit too well. As if on cue to prove her right, the faint sound of a blaster shot cracked through the air, and soon after a few people dashed by the house, seemingly running away from someone, or something. Terria shot up and turned to the father, putting her hand on his chest. "Stay here," She ordered, leaving and focusing for a moment. The force flowed downward and moved with her feet like springs, throwing her up onto the roof of the building opposite the hut. She knew her direction, and even if she didn't, another blaster shot sounded it out, and Terria dashed forward, making her way toward the commotion...

@vamp

 

[Levi Solus]

A blaster bolt whizzed by and slammed into his shoulder before Levi could properly ignite his lightsaber, and he hissed in pain as he felt the impact through his armor. A red beam poured out of the hilt and for a second he was confused as to why it was red—then realization set in, and he had to fight back the guilt. The assassins—and anyone nearby—looked equally confused, though some had panicked and begun running away. Levi didn't let that distract him; he deflected one bolt back to its sender, hitting one of the thugs in his unarmored leg and knocking him out. The Jedi hopeful was purposefully trying to incapacitate rather than kill; there was no reason to take any more lives.

His companion had fled, and Levi hoped the man would get to safety while he distracted the bulk of the gang members. He saw Terria approach from ahead, and was about to call out to her when a hooded figure charged him, knife in hand. Levi slashed his lightsaber at the figure, cleaving off its arm and sending it reeling backwards in pain. Commotion filled the marketplace as the thugs ran at him and innocent bystanders ran away, screams and yelling replacing the previous sounds of peace.

Now on the offensive, he charged down one of the thugs and impaled him in the leg, pulling back and slashing another's arm off. Looking around, he saw that there was no more opposition—he'd taken them all out before Terria could arrive—the thugs all spread out on the floor, some groaning in pain while others were just out cold.

"Well, I guess we found out who's behind the murder," he remarked, switching his lightsaber off. Hopefully she hadn't seen that it was still red; he felt self-conscious.

@Panda

 

[Terria Cyrrl]

Little by little, she started to gain ground, the Force flowing to and fro within her as it concentrated around her feet, leaving a slight blue trail behind her as speed gathered and the world blurred. Soon enough, she was leaping entire buildings and mere meters away from the scene. It wasn't that hard to make out what was happening, but part of her wished she really couldn't. She had grown to like Levi, he had a certain charm to him that just endeared her to him - though that might just be her wanting to be friendly and mesh well with everyone. Seeing him lopping off arms and legs with his red saber proved a reminder of what he was before he came here, and just how much blood he had to atone for. She wondered if he should even still have that saber, should it not have been purified?

Regardless, the sight of it was already making things worse, people and merchants packing up and running for their lives - they probably thought that the Sith still had sleeper agents on the planet because of this now. She soon dropped back down to the ground with a hard thud, the impact a small shockwave of sand that cleared her immediate surroundings for a foot or two. Glaring daggers at Levi, she pointed at the saber quickly.
"Put that away!" She hissed harshly, turning to the wounded and looking over their injuries. The saber had cauterized their amputations, but they were still going to need medical attention. She looked around and propped them up against a wall, keeping their stumps elevated so that nothing bad happened. "They'll live, but they'll need cybernetics if they want to function normally again." She stood and stormed up to Levi, literally pushing him back like a child would do to a bully, looking none too pleased. "What the kriff were you thinking?? The Jedi only just got the damn place back and now here you are flashing the red saber like a reminder for people that the Sith are everywhere!?"

@vamp

 

[Levi Solus]

The gravity of his actions struck him only when he saw the expression on Terria's face. The guilt he was repressing surfaced, but he couldn't help another emotion from surfacing as well—annoyance. In his eyes, only taking limbs was a mercy; Sith were accustomed to going straight to taking lives. The gang members got to live and their punishment would be spending the rest of their lives with cybernetics to remind them of their crimes. It seemed, however, that not everyone saw things that way.

The annoyance rose up when he realized that he didn't know that Jedi were not supposed to take limbs either. Who was supposed to tell him? The Order had been refusing to take him in, so he had to do without any Jedi training, relying on his reflexes as a Sith to actually get anything done. It had been reflexive to draw his lightsaber, not knowing that it was supposed to be a last resort. It wasn't his fault.

But he didn't say any of that. All he could think was Shit, only now noticing the looks he was getting from the citizens of the Holy City. "Sorry," he replied, eyes looking down as he clipped his lightsaber back out of sight. "There was nothing else I could do," he added, and it was true. A whole gang had descended down on him, so it seemed natural that he would want to even the odds with a lightsaber.

@Panda

 

[Terria Cyrrl]

Just as quickly as the annoyance and sense of righteousness had come, it was gone again. She could already see a trace of guilt and annoyance on his face when she had finished speaking, but then he apologized and tried to explain himself. He sounded so much like a kicked animal howling in pain and sadness, and she couldn't help but feel like a piece of kark herself. He wasn't a very good Jedi but he was only here a few weeks and barely anyone was talking to him - she was self-trained for the most part and after a year, she could just barely use the Force competently (though Eisa's teachings had started to help her improve dramatically since).

She came forward and just pulled him into a quick hug, though one with all the intensity and strength of a Nexu.
"I'm sorry Levi," She said quickly, pulling away despite not wanting to - she didn't want him to feel embarrassed. "I'm just worried about you, I want people to actually look at you like a Jedi and not a former Sith, and whipping out the Sith Saber isn't really helping your case, you know?" She shrugged a little, moving over to a bench and slumping down on it. "I know, I know, I barely know you, I just...there's something about you I like, and I want other people to see it too...is that so foolish?" It wasn't in her mind, she thought it was part of what made her a Jedi, but some of the more cynical rebels tended to make fun of her for it.

Anyways, on to the matter at hand. "I visited the Father's house, examined the body...it was a single headshot, point-blank, practically had a hole straight through her head with burns all around the wound. She had a letter in her hand from the guy the Father accused, supposedly they had a relationship and she ended it, but I didn't believe it...felt too convenient." She looked down, twiddling her thumbs. "It's not right, what was done...she looked like a perfectly ordinary woman, nice, sweet...and someone just decided to act like he could do whatever he wanted like he was all that mattered...it makes me..." She trailed off, her fists clenching softly. She knew he'd know what she was talking about, he probably felt it himself so many times before.

@vamp

 

[Levi Solus]

The hug caught him by surprise and Levi found his arms pinned against his body—though he wasn't sure if he would have hugged back if he could, anyway. He was so unused to affection—or physical contact in general—that he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a bit uncomfortable. He did, however, appreciate the sentiment, and didn't particularly mind. As Terria pulled back, he turned to face her, shrugging a bit.

"I was the one that kriffed up," he remarked. "Others would not have been as kind as you were." He knew at least one person among the rebellion who would have used that opportunity to finally strike him down.

He blushed a bit when she said she liked him, and it was mostly because he was also unused to actually being liked. He did his best to leave a positive impression all the time, and it was something he constantly tried—but Levi rarely succeeded. He usually just left people with a neutral opinion regarding him, which, truthfully, was better than being hated.

Levi listened closely as Terria relayed what happened, shaking his head as she finished. "It wasn't the man," he replied, sure of himself. "Girsav be Ha'al Gravagr—a gang of ex-Mandalorian criminals—has recently set up camp in the Holy City. They started off simple—smuggling and the like—but this marks the catalyst to the more brutal part of their expansion. Our friend seems to have history with them as well, but I never got to find out how; assassins intercepted us and almost killed him. I'm not sure where he ran off to, but we can probably find him if need be."

Come to think of it, it was likely that the man had worked with the Fangs for some time and then tried to back out—maybe even failed a mission or two. Now on their bad side, perhaps they executed his girlfriend—or, ex—as a show of strength. It was certainly within the dar'manda's moral compass—if they had one—and Levi thought the story sounded pretty likely.

@Panda

 

[Terria Cyrrl]

Her brow bristled at the mention of certain others not taking the lightsaber action as well as she would have. It still made her weary to think that the Alliance had people that just cared more about killing Sith and Imperials than actually bringing democracy and freedom back to the Galaxy. This was bigger than any one person, it wasn't just an excuse for people to get trigger happy and start gunning down people left and right. At the end of the day, a lot of Imperials were probably hardworking men and women like everyone else, just following orders and not actually being malicious in any of their actions. If they could be made to see the suffering they're causing or the kind of evil they were serving, then they could bolster the Alliance's forces and maybe even leave some spies in their ranks.

She looked up at Levi as he explained his findings, noting that her suspicions regarding the man were indeed correct. It made her feel more confident knowing that she could trust her instincts instead of having to second guess every decision. A Mandalorian gang that smuggled, killed, and basically did most of the things that the Holy City was built to get away from - it was true, crime was everywhere. At least they knew their enemy now, so that was at least a step in the right direction after what had happened moments before. She really hoped Levi's split-second reaction wouldn't come back to bite them at some point, bad enough that the people were wary of the Jedi being back here, the reemergence of the Sith would make people panic or reach out to turn them all in. People could do some very damaging things out of fear.
"At least we know who we're fighting now," She said firmly, nodding to herself and standing up. "Let's search them, see if we can't find an indicator of a common meet spot or a warehouse or something like that." She motioned for Levi to follow her and she started picking through the dismembered goons' pockets, hoping to the Force that they would find something...

@vamp

 

[Levi Solus]

He got to searching as well, and it felt a bit strange—like looting. Levi remained silent, looking through the pockets of the bodies for a moments to no success. All he was finding so far were gum wrappers, cigarra packets, and casino receipts, until at last he found something that could potentially be of use.

"A paper with coordinates on it," he declared, holding it up. They were clearly relating to latitude and longitude so they knew it was on a planet—hopefully the one they were on now—and Levi hoped it wasn't the address of the thug's baby mama or something like that. It would be an awkward meeting that no one wanted to go through with.

Still, it was their best chance. Maybe the thugs were stupid enough to actually walk around with their address in their pockets at all times. Maybe this was just an initiate that got unlucky on the first day of the job. Nevertheless, he took out his datapad and already got to typing in the coordinates.

"Satellite imagery shows that this is some sort of building in the middle of the desert," he remarked. It was on the outskirts of the city, and definitely resembled a safehouse—judging from its roof. But hey—they might as well check it out. "Now we just gotta find some speeders."

@Panda

Fin.​