One of Our Own

[Liam Vos]

Liam had been on duty when the murder had happened but had been nowhere near the hangar it had occurred. He now was in the hangar, not sure if he could do anything, but wanting to help in the investigation.

The Rodian who lay dead on the floor was a good friend to Liam, they had been together in rebellion since almost the beginning. Vrek was as nice as they come and didn't deserve whatever this was.

It was important to find out what had happened, was this a Sith? Accident? Something else? They needed to know so the Rebellion could react appropriately. They were on the clock, and that clock had already started ticking before anyone had found the body.

Liam shifted, rifle still hung over his shoulder. He pulled the armor chest plate away from his neck to allow him to breathe easier.

A briefing about what everyone knew so far was about to begin.

 

[Ner Giza]

Nera had been down at the cantina with Slippken celebrating another day of living. At least that is what she called it these days for despite her very public confession before Master Reach and all the Jedi gathered round, she wasn’t done yet running away from her heart. It really wasn’t until the next day that she even heard of the death in the hangar next to her ship. She hadn’t caught the man’s name but was being summoned to the briefing anyway.

Having found some clean clothes in the jumble on the floor of her cabin she took time to at least get cleaned up in the ship’s sonic shower. Although the new base here on Endor had room to spare she hadn’t taken up one and lived off the Tempest Hunter. She hadn’t bothered moving into an actual house, not since Hoth; not since Naboo…

Thinking of Naboo was likely to make her start drinking again so she did what she always did when it came to difficult emotional situations; she ignored the kark clear out of it, got drunk, or threw herself into another mission. At any rate this strategy had not failed her thus far, and by the time she was sinking down into a chair at the briefing her head had pretty much cleared from the night’s adventures. Clad in her scout’s armour she had chosen the dun trousers and a brown undershirt that left her arms bare.

Her gunner had already arrived at the meeting and had the nerve to look clear eyes and fully rested. As he leaned against a support beam in the center of the briefing room, arms crossed over his chest, he gave her a wink and was visibly chuckling at her discomfort. She didn’t know why she bothered to try and keep up with him certain he had some sort of racial advantage when it came to drinking. For certain she wasn’t going to ask him what they had gotten up to after the game of darts. Nera frowned recalling there had been a Rodian at the cantina last night, hadn’t there? Such musings were cut short as the duty officer began the briefing. Hopefully they would get to the bottom of this thing.

@Raydo

 

[Liam Vos]

The gruff older officer addressed the small group. It wasn't much because they didn't really know anything beyond he had been stabbed with what to be a pretty un-remarkable blade.

"We need to find out who is responsible, and fast. Use whatever resources you can. Until then, I am placing the base on lockdown, no one is to go anywhere alone. I want to keep everything contained so I am only assigning you all." he said addressing the small group "to the investigation." he said. "Find out who did this." he said.

He split the group into teams of two, Liam was assigned to a Twi'lek Lieutenant by the name of Ner Giza. He had heard of her, and was familiar with her work but had never actually met the woman before.

As they were dismissed, Liam approached the woman. "Lieutenant." he said with a nod. "Liam Vos." he introduced himself. "Any idea where we should start? I had talked to some of the guys and they said Vrek was at the bar last night, the security footage there may give us something?" he suggested. There were no security cameras in the hanger the murder had taken place in, that would have been to easy, and things were never easy.

The cantina was an old mess hall that had been converted into a makeshift bar for the soldiers who were off duty. It wasn't much, but it gave some semblance of normalcy to the rebels.

He looked to the woman to make the call, she held the rank, perhaps she knew something he didn't.

 

[Ner Giza]

It was a good plan, she thought offhandedly as there was no sense in sending a panic round the base while keeping it on lockdown. That was if the killer hadn’t already vacated the planet for good. Already having a couple of notions of her own and where to investigate she began appraising her assigned partner for the mission. As soon as he opened his mouth she smiled, his rich Coruscanti accent reminding her of her brother, and although she had heard his name since coming to Endor she had as yet to work with the man. Her smile rapidly faded as he greeted her and shared his thoughts.

“Security footage”, she said with a bit of alarm in her voice, “yeah that’s a good idea.” Up until then the full ramifications of last night had not sunk home.

Holy karken mynock hair, she inwardly cursed. She wasn’t all that sure she wanted to see an instant replay of last night let alone have it be viewed by others. For the most part she was sure there would be nothing shameful going on, at least as far as that first few pitchers of brew were concerned. She did recall singing at one point but at least this time the bar had not erupted into a melee like that one night on Savareen or on Nul Hutta after the liberation. Not that her singing and bar fights had anything to do with each other.

Her right hand came up to rub at the back of her neck before falling to her side once more. Looking at Vos she knew there was nothing for it. ”Call me Ner’Giza”, she said and extended her hand toward him in greeting. ”We should also check with the duty officer to see what ships were logged heading out and the crews on board. At least we will know who has ‘officially’ left the base or if anything suspicious turns up on that end.”

Already she was resigning herself to the up and coming humiliation. But then she was a big girl and not prone to explaining or apologizing for much of anything. It was best to just get on with it. Turning she gave Slippken the nod drawing the man’s attention and motioning him over. To Liam she said, ”My gunner can check out the space port while we head over to the cantina, unless you have other ideas?” Yeah, this was going to be a delightful hangover.

@Raydo

 

[Liam Vos]

He raised an eyebrow, picking up on her hesitation. She didn't seem entirely comfortable with his plan of action. He waited for her to suggest something else, but she agreed with the plan, albeit with some reluctance. He wasn't sure what the make of it, but for now he decided to roll with things as they came. The more skeptical part of him wondered if there was anything she didn't want to be seen by those cameras.

He grabbed her hand and shook it, "Yes, Ma'am." he said with another nod. It wasn't uncommon for rebels to not use their given ranks as one would in a more formal military but it was something that Liam always defaulted to. She was a hero of the rebellion and had heard whatever titles she had been given.

He started walking towards the security room that would have footage for the entire base. He nodded with her addition to the plan. He wouldn't guess someone would murder someone and then sign their name to leaving, but it was something they would need to rule out, plus if they could leave normally before the body had been discovered it would have raised a lot less suspicion if they departed using proper protocol.

"No Ma'am." he said shifting the rifle around slung around his neck to a more comfortable position. They arrived at the room a moment later and were granted access. "The Lieutenant and I need to review footage from last night. We have been given permission from Commander Nerza." he told the guard inside. The man nodded "We figured someone would be coming by." he said ushering them in.

"I can stay if you think you will need help with the system, or leave if you wish to view it alone." the man asked directing the question towards the blue-skinned woman.

 

[Ner Giza]

After a few words to Slippken in Huttese, her gunner ran off to harass the duty officer and whoever else he could about traffic from the base, leaving her in the company of this very polite man. Yes Ma’am, No ma’am; she was not that much older than him. Shoot, he was probably older! Accompanying him to the security room, she thought about what little she had heard about the man, which wasn’t much. He had been with the alliance for a good while and she knew he had the trust of Commander Nerza or he would not have been assigned to this investigation. Since the evacuation of Hoth she had been on the move from one assignment to the next with scarcely enough time to get to know anyone and Star Squadron had been scattered to the winds.

Upon reaching the security room she let her thoughts center at last upon the task at hand. Once they were inside she looked around seeing the control board with its numerous monitors while images of various locations about the base flickered upon the screens. Shaking her head she addressed the guard saying, ”No thank you, I think we can handle things from here.” The guard headed toward the door intent on leaving them to their business with a respectful ”Yes Ma’am”, on his lips before pulling the door shut behind him as he left. The honorific was beginning to get on her nerves and she glared at the guard as his image drifted across one of the view screens which showed the corridor outside the control room through which they had just arrived.

Taking up one of the seats at the panel, she began calling up the menu in search of the feed which monitored the cantina. As she found the file directory and entered the date of the murder she asked Liam, ”What can you tell me about Vrek? What kind of man was he, did he have any enemies, gambling debts, that sort of thing?” Even as she finished speaking she cued up the file on the date in question and images of the cantina began to stream across the display screen.

@Raydo

 

[Liam Vos]

Ner dismissed the soldier and he left with a nod. Liam noticed the glare she gave the man as he left. A small grin crawled across his face for a moment, piecing together the source of her annoyance. Liam would never use a superior's annoyances against them, but it was useful information to know what made them tick.

He leaned his rifle against a wall and took his helmet off and placed it the desk beside them. "He was competent enough. had the trust of the others, seemed liked enough." he said as the images were being pulled up. "I think he had a family somewhere." he said, a frown spreading across his face. Vrek had fought in several battles against the Empire, sacrificed much and to see him be taken in one of the places he was supposed to be relatively safe, it was disturbing. He thought about who might want to hurt him. "I never heard of him having issues with anyone, but that doesn't mean he didn't have any..." he said.

"There." he said pointing out the Rodian on the screen. He was sitting at the makeshift bar by himself drinking. Liam scanned the rest of the screen, seeing the Lieutenant on the small platform that was used as a stage. She was...singing? Liam leaned over, reaching in front of her and flipped the switch to turn on the audio for the display.

The camera wasn't designed to record ultra high-quality audio, but it was plenty to capture the somewhat drunken singing of the Twi'Lek woman. Liam coughed back a chuckle. "Not bad.." he said, unable to keep the smile from his face.

He turned his attention back towards Vrek as they progressed through the footage. The Rodian was joined by a man that Liam barely knew. "That's...uhh.." he said trying to remember his name. It was hard to keep up with the constant new faces that were added to the Rebellion. "...Belin...no...Belik.." he said finally remembering the name.

 

[Ner Giza]

Folding her arms across her chest, Nera leaned back in the seat as she viewed the screen playback the events of last night. Familiar faces flitted before her as Liam spoke on who the dead Rodian had been in life. For the most part there was nothing obvious in all of that which might indicate he had gotten on the wrong side of someone; despite the obvious fact that this is indeed what had occurred.

Her left hand came to her face, cupping her chin lightly in thought with her index finger riding over her upper lip, while she studied Vrek’s face and demeanor. She shook her head thoughtfully knowing that a full review of all this man’s missions would be in order. If it was revenge motivated, his killer could have been planning this thing for months even years. What a colossal mess. It wasn’t until Liam leaned forward to turn on the audio that she lowered her hand, slightly clearing her throat. As she was treated to a rather embarrassing rendition of a Mandalorean drinking song by none other than hers truly, she snorted thinking he should have heard her mother. Now that woman could sing. Somehow the thought only soured her demeanor, though. Family; it was problematic at best.

She cued her comm link and said rather abruptly, ”Hey Janith? Yeah, Nera here. Seems Vrek might have family, find out what you can and if he does ascertain their status. Have them watched as they may or may not be in danger. Inform Commander Nerza so that a notification of death can be delivered. Get back to me when you find something out.” Belik… she leaned in to the desk a bit to get a better look at the man wondering why his name sounded so familiar then she grimaced. Oh yeah, later she would stuff his creds into the tip jar before breaking a bottle of cheap booze over the man’s head at the bar. Cheeky bastard that he was.

Looking down at her right hand she saw she still had a small sliver of glass embedded in one of her knuckles. ”I suppose we will end up speaking to Belik...well would you look at that? Did Vrek just give him some creds?”, she asked before tapping the screen to replay the last 15 seconds of footage. Sure enough Vrek slid a small stack of creds across the table to Belik and didn’t looked very pleased by the exchange. She wondered out loud, ”Who runs the betting pool here on Endor anyway? Was Vrek a gambler you think?” It was too soon to tell and she knew they would have to just keep watching. It didn’t add up, her speculation. You didn’t kill a guy for paying off a debt, and being lewd didn’t make you a murderer..

@Raydo

 

[Liam Vos]

Nera dispatched...someone. He thought about Vrek's family, remembering the time he had told them about his kid. There was no good way to learn your father, your husband was dead but for him to die surrounded by those he had called friends. It was heartbreaking.

Liam crossed his arms, solemn expression on his face as he forced himself to put that aside for now. They would obviously need to track down Belik. He raised an eyebrow when she asked about betting pools. "There is nothing as organized as all that. Sure, soldiers gamble, as soldiers everywhere do. It helps pass the time, but its always pretty small time. Its not like anyone has a whole lot extra to gamble.." he said. No one joined the rebellion to get rich, or at least if they were smart. They all joined because of the vision, not credits.

"And I am not sure how much Vrek would be involved in such things. I saw him give away more credits to people who needed more than anything but who knows what the guy did in secret.." Liam said shrugging. It felt bad to talk bad to even suggest that the fallen soldier had done something to contribute to his own death but he knew it was necessary to explore anything possible.

Minutes later both Belik and Vrek left the bar, together. There was no sign that one of them would end up dead a short time later. They looked friendly with one another, how Liam would expect two soldiers to act. That only left the singing Lieutenant on stage. "Well, we might as well go see if we can track down Belik." he said standing and picking up his helmet. "If I had to guess he will be in the barracks."

 

[Ner Giza]

Liam had a point she realized for she didn’t know of anyone who was getting fat off the Rebellion save ship builders. Even so, lack of funds didn’t keep an addict from making bets they couldn’t afford. She shook her head and said, ”Well it’s not very likely if he had a problem like that it would have remained secret for very long. I just feel like I am grasping at straws here.” It was still very early in their investigation and there were leads yet to follow; it was not like they had come to a dead end just yet.

Even so, she began to wonder if maybe it wasn’t about Vrek but perhaps it was more about the murderer and what the Rodian may have been unlucky enough to witness. He could have just been at the wrong place at the wrong time as not. She watched as the two at men got up from the table and walked out of the cantina expecting to see the altercation between herself and Belik, so when the man just left she frowned. Perhaps he had come back later on or she was losing her mind and it was some other guy she had clocked with a bottle.

Speculation; it was not a very profitable venue when one needed facts. Rising to her feet she said, ”Yeah we had best head on over there, we can check out Vrek’s things while we are there if the quartermaster hasn’t had them packed up yet. I hope they haven’t disturbed the crime scene too much cause I think we should look around there too. The briefing really didn’t give us too many details there.”

She shut off the surveillance feed and exited the security room waiting for Liam to lead the way. The security guard was waiting and she thanked him before heading on out.

@Raydo

 

[Liam Vos]

She was right to ask the questions. If they were going to get to the bottom of this, they would need to ask any and all questions, no matter how difficult. As they walked through hallways, Liam was quiet, lost in his own thoughts about what may have happened. It was hard to believe any of the men could do such a thing to one of their own brothers.

"Hopefully Belik is there and can give us an explanation to sheds some light on this whole thing." he said as he scratched at the stubble on his face. There wasn't going to be an explanation that made any of this okay, but if stopping it from happening again and ensuring the safety of Rebellion was their top priority.

They entered the barracks. "Liam, whats going on." asked a man as he sat up from his bunk. "Cutter." Liam responded using the man's nickname. "We need to talk to Belik, you seen him?" Liam asked. The man thought for a second "Yeah...I saw him around here a while ago, he was pacing around." he said scanning the room. "I don't see him..."

Before he could continue, alarms sounded again for the second time that morning. "Security teams to the hangar." Liam gave Nera a look before taking off towards the hangar.

They would arrive a few moments later, seeing the gruff looking commander sitting on the floor holding an arm that had received a nasty blaster burn. "One soldier snuck in and took a swoop bike and headed off into the forest." he told their pair. "Go after him." he said. "I'll be fine."

 

[Ner Giza]

She wasn’t enjoying this anymore than Liam, but that went without saying. No one liked the idea that one of their own had turned against them, whatever the cause. An attack against one of them might be something personal or might just be happenstance, but what if it was more? What is someone had infiltrated their numbers and maybe finding this out was what got Vrek killed? Nera could jump to conclusions all day long and still not get a clear picture without a great deal more leg work involved.

When they entered the barracks she resolved to not stop until they ot to the bottom of this thing. They needed to know; Vrek’s family deserved to know too. They would want justice, at least she knew she would if it was her kin lying in the morgue right now. Unfortunately before they found out much more than that Belik was around somewhere, the alarm went off sending them running.

Looking around, seeing the commander on the floor, she noticed the lack of guards in the room! She was beginning to fume a bit wondering what idiot didn’t think to put a detail on the hangar of all places suspecting that maybe she fell into that category. Even as the injured Nerza bade them go after his assailant, another detail of guards entered the hangar. ”See Commander Nerza to the medic, despite his assurances he will be ok. Lock this hanger down and don’t let anyone else leave. Liam and I are going after the man who did this.”

She tipped her head toward the row of speeders and headed over to the nearest one. Even as she climbed into the seat she cued her comm link and said, ”Slippken, get the Harlot up in the sky. We got a runner. One man on a swoop bike, headed into the forest. Await my orders before firing. I got questions for this one.” She powered up the bike and looked to Liam once he joined her. ”Ready whenever you are, trooper”, she said being more than gone with fooling around. If the rider managed to give them the slip with Slippken scanning from the skies she would hang up her wings and crawl into a hole.

@Raydo

 

[Liam Vos]

Liam was already moving when the Luietenant pointed out the speeders. It was their best bet to catch up to the man. A ship could track the fleeing criminal but it would take precious minutes, minutes that the assailant could use to hide from sensors.

Liam jumped on a bike and threw the helmet on. He was no expert rider but had received a fair amount of training during his time on Endor. He kick-started the bike as it roared to life. The Lieutenant was calling one of her people to get a ship up in the sky. "Let's go." he said giving the woman a nod.

He bared down on the throttle and the bike shot towards the entrance. As they exited the base, the received a scout report of a lone rider leaving the base and heading towards the North several minutes ago. That was a huge head start and while the ships scanner would be able to help them scan for a time, the tree canopy was too thick for them to go much else. There was also a more mountainous reason not too far from the base with large mineral deposits that messed with ships scanners.

They had to catch him before he got there and could lose them. Liam turned to the North and held opened the throttle up. It was a dumb thing. The forests on Endor were incredibly thick. One wrong move at these speeds and he would be done for but there was no other option if they were going to catch up.

 

[Ner Giza]

Once she had confirmation from Slippken she headed out after Liam into the wilderness of Endor. It rather reminded her a bit of the Shadowlands of Kashyyyk, only it wasn’t sinister and full of monstrous spiders. At least the part about dense forest, though at the speeds she and her partner were traveling it was not much of a sightseeing tour. The blurring terrain forced her to focus upon her flying in order to keep from crashing…

”Holy Mynock Spit!” she cursed suddenly as she had to duck down underneath a fallen tree in order to keep from killing herself. Who the kark decided to put a tree there anyway, she fumed in a ridiculous manner. The maneuver slowed her down just enough to give Liam quite a lead on her and she had to speed up to so the man wouldn’t lose her in the forest.

Northward he lead them, based on the communication they received, and he was for outdistancing her. A bit of a competitive streak awoke in her as she bore down on the throttle to catch up. Her focus wasn’t leaving her much room for idle thought and soon enough she found a certain rhythm to the trees. It reminded her a bit of playing hide and seek amid the asteroid belts during her smuggling days. Though there was a huge difference; in the asteroid belts she didn’t have to worry about wind shear and debris flicking into her face.

The impact of dying insects was probably the worst, each splat on her form felt like a sting; she was sure she would be covered in bug goo before the day was through. Her attention was caught by motion up ahead and the feeling of anticipation began to grow. Unfortunately the rider had caught sight of them and began firing a blaster at them. ”Look out!, she yelled to Liam rather than letting go to cue her comm link. No doubt it was lost in the wind and a wasted gesture at best. No way he could miss detecting the blaster fire on his own.

She veered left to evade the fired bolts ripping through the trees and then angled herself higher into the the air just below the canopy and came to a halt. Cuing her comm link she singled Slippken, ”Lock onto my signal. We found him heading north through the forest. We are taking fire. Block off his escape!” Her gunner responded in the affirmative leaving her to descend to the forest floor once more and try to catch up to Liam and the suspect.

@Raydo

 

[Liam Vos]

They headed deeper and deeper into the forest, pressing their luck the entire way to even have a chance at catching up to the fleeing man. Liam dodged in and out of trees, acting on instinct more than anything. Nera caught up to him quickly enough as they progressed even deeper. They were nearing the mountain ranges where Belik could lose them, even with ships scanning the sky.

Liam came around a large tree when he heard Nera yelling, not catching any actual words but the meaning quickly made itself apparent when blaster fire erupted from up ahead. Nera veered off course, avoiding the fire, the smart choice. Liam drew his own blaster pistol and went to return fire. He fired off on shot at the speeder bike in front of him before a bolt caught him square in the chest plate. If he hadn't been wearing his armor from earlier he would have been done for.

Even still, he was vaguely aware of the burn wound on his chest as he was thrown from his speeder bike. The bike continued forward, slamming into a tree and exploding in a bright flash. Liam hit the ground hard on his back, bouncing several times before sliding to a stop. He groaned into the comm link as Belik raced away. Liam lay stunned on the ground, staring at the tree canopy above, too dazed to realize the air had been knocked from his lungs. He groaned again as sensation began to come back to him, pain flooding his senses.

If Nera stopped they could very well lose Belik, and who knows if or when they would catch up to him again.