Ask Coruscant Payback

[Talak Rand]

Talak watched the police come in and secure the scene with a surprising level of efficiency. Of the six officers he saw, four were dressed in full riot gear, and the other two looked jumpy. He didn't have to use the Force to tell that they were spooked, but he didn't know why yet.

Normally, he wouldn't have spent more than a few fleeting minutes on the issue, but this wasn't just any crime scene. The man who owned the shop was actually a friend or at least as close as Talak had. He'd spent a significant amount of time on Coruscant since his first night here, and this shop - a small caf shop - was one of the only places he'd returned to repeatedly. It was the perfect combination of familiar and private. Although saying that he "knew" the owner was a stretch, he had liked the man - a Bothan - and he didn't like the idea that whoever had done this was going to get away with it.

When he'd shown up to the shop for the third time that week, this was the sight that greeted him: a holostrip that read "crime scene, do not cross" and well armed police. He knew there were a couple of major gangs that operated in this area, and chalked the additional security up to that.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys would never admit how much this case hurt her. Ollie was about one of the nicest people she had ever met. There had been many times she had stayed up all night working on a case, and she had stopped by for a cup of coffee as the sun began to break through the sky. She couldn’t imagine who could have it out for such a kind-hearted Bothan, but Trys had long stopped believing that everyone didn’t keep secrets.

As the crime scene was being patched up, she arrived in a speeder. Trys already knew he had been found dead, but she didn’t know the details of what happened. She stepped out of the speeder and flashed her badge before preparing to enter the shop.

However, that was when she noticed a man showing up near where the tape was, “Whoa whoa,” She called out to the man who looked incredibly out of place, “Can’t you tell this is a crime scene?” She asked briskly, scowling at him.

“Are you with the media?” She eyed him up and down, looking for any lanyards, and she looked past him to see if there was any camera crew following.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak watched as a speeder pulled up and a woman climbed out. Badge, but normal clothes. Detective? he wondered. Most likely, and the fact that she didn't fail to notice him - a man standing outside the holotape - spoke to her observational skills. Definitely a detective of some sort.

No, he said, shaking his head. But I liked to come here, he said, looking up at the shop with a somber expression. He knew he shouldn't have been attached to a place like this and he shouldn't have come back here at all and he certainly shouldn't have been talking to a detective, but there was something about it that drew him back like a magnet.

He reached out through the Force to sense the woman in front of him... and she was a closed book. In fact, there was something about her mind that was downright foreign to him, but he could sense some emotion lying below the surface. A sadness, perhaps at the mention of coming here. Maybe she had enjoyed coming here as well.

He thought about his next words, trying to pick ones that belied his true purpose of wanting to murder who had done this, but might help him gain some information.

Truthfully, I stuck around in the hopes that I could think of a way to help, but I have yet to think of one, he said, partially truthfully. He was trying to figure out a way to get inside the crime scene, but he had a nagging suspicion that the woman in front of him was anything but weak minded.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys’ features softened when he answered her calmly, and she had no reason to believe he was lying. She put her hands in her pockets, looking around to confirm that he was indeed alone. She glanced over towards the caution tape, “I used to come here too,” Trys muttered softly before looking at him, “But you really do need to clear out. This is a crime scene now.”

She hoped he would understand and begin to turn away. Trys focused on the shop again, but something the man had said stuck in her mind. Ways to help? He had arrived earlier in the area and he had no qualms with being seen, so she had no reason to believe he was a guilty party.

“Wait!” She called out after him, jogging slightly to catch up, “You implied you came here a lot?” Trys quickly drew out a datapad, “Can I ask you a few questions?”

Assuming that he would cooperate, she gazed at him for a moment, silently memorizing and noting down his profile, “Did you notice anything unusual today? How often do you come around here? Have you ever seen any suspicious characters hanging around these parts?”

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak nodded as he started heading toward the exit, eyes darting around to find a way to break back in later and pick up his own clues. There was a moment of panic when she called out for him to stop as he assumed that she had somehow figured out what he was, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case.

Yeah, I've come here a lot in the last few weeks, he said.

If you think it'll help, he consented with a shrug.

Today? he repeated quietly as he thought, looking up to the sky in "thought." In reality, he was trying to sense anything in the Force that might have been helpful to the cause. It was made all the trickier by the fact that he didn't want to close his eyes while doing so.

I didn't get here today until after... this, he began, but now that I think about it, I did notice someone hanging around outside for the last couple of days. He tried to sense an impression of the man in the Force that might have been left behind, but he'd never tried anything like that before... and it didn't work.

I'm not sure what species he was. Umm... kind of reptilian-looking, he said. He'd only noticed the man - a Barabel, though Talak wasn't familiar with the species - because he thought the man had been following him. At the time - once he was satisfied he wasn't being followed - he'd simply written it off as being some sort of weird hired security for the local businesses. But now he realized the Barabel wasn't here anymore.

 

[Trys Aran]

“Reptilian?” Trys repeated, “Like was he a Rodian? Bossk? Trandoshan?” She rattled off a few more, but it was clear he wouldn’t know by name even if she said the correct one. She jotted all the details down in her datapad, mulling over the revelation. This was certainly more information than anyone else had been able to offer. The shop was located in an area where no one actually lived or lingered long enough to notice patterns or suspicious behavior.

“Where did this person hang about?” She queried as she glanced back up at him. Trys noticed whenever she asked a question, he took a very long time to respond. It was as if he receded into his mind and rifled through countless folders, pulled out the right one and read from it directly. She watched it all play out, patiently waiting until he would point her towards where the man had been seen.

Their steps took them towards a path that led towards the mouth of an alley that opened up behind the shop. Trys looked down at the ground before proceeding, spotting a cigarra butt on the ground. She had been a smoker long enough to know it wasn’t entirely old. It was oddly out of place, as this didn’t look like a place someone would idly stand around in.

Trys pulled up her comlink and spoke into it, “Can I get a forensic out in the back of the shop? We have some possible evidence,” She put the comlink away and turned to the man, “Don’t step on that,” Trys warned him before she kept walking, looking throughout the alley. This left him momentarily alone on his own as she continued to gaze ahead.

“Was there anyone else other than this reptilian person?” She asked without looking at him, focused on finding more clues on the ground. The forensic analyst would show up any moment to collect the cigarra on the ground.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak thought back to the people he had seen here and there. It wasn't information at the forefront of his mind, but there it was: every suspicious person he had every seen on Coruscant. He recalled the feeling of the being, not entirely unlike his own. He moved like a predator, a mind streaked with primal feelings and perspective on the world. Surely, he would remember it if he felt it again.

Over there, he said, motioning to the building across the way and the alleyway next to it. He followed her over, surprised but glad that he was actually getting a chance to contribute to the investigation, and his eyes swept quickly over the area. It seemed the detectives eyes were even keener than his own as he'd failed to notice the cigarra butt on the ground.

He nodded as she told him not to step on it, and he knelt down to look at it. That was when he noticed something else: the aura to this place seemed etched in stripes of red. The Force flowed differently here, as if this single spot was now permanently soiled with a primal evil. It left no doubt in Talak's mind that this was who they were after.

He crouched there a moment, his mind focusing in on the sensation. His eyes slipped closed and he followed that trail. It was difficult, and the world they were on was filled with so many minds, but he saw... something. It looked like a hotel building perhaps, in a run down area, not far from here maybe?

He actually failed to notice her second question before he was shaken from his thoughts by a member of the forensics team coming up and yelling at him.

Hey, get away from that. You didn't touch that did you? the man said, evidently having figured out that the butt was the evidence.

Uh... no, he said, standing up and backing away. His mind snapped back through the present, and he realized only now that he'd failed to answer her question.

Sorry, I was just thinking, he lied, trying to figure out how to work what he'd seen in his tracking into his answer to her question.

I don't think I ever saw him with anyone, but I think I saw him get off of one of those public hotel shuttles once, he said. He doubted the seedy hotel actually had a public shuttle, but it made an excuse for why he would know the name. Hopefully she wouldn't get there and ask about a shuttle.

It... uh... it was blue, he said squinting, as if trying to remember the details. The name was an... an O... Odyssey? Yeah, Odyssey, I think, he said. At least they had their next clue, but he somewhat doubted their suspect would be there anymore.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys was distracted by the forensics that called out and told the man not to touch anything. She turned around for the first time, kicking herself for taking her eyes off a bystander. Trys smiled apologetically to the analyst, watching as he took the cigarra butt and put it into a packet before walking away.

She listened as he spoke, rubbing her chin in thought. As usual, her eyes watched him like a hawk, observing for where his eyes gazed when he talked or any fidgeting from him. Trys was impressed by the level of detail he recalled, but something was slightly suspicious about that as well. For someone that just happened to come here for coffee, it was curious he managed to spot someone right before the incident and also saw them get off a shuttle...and recall the name.

Of course, more information was always a good thing, but Trys had a few alarms going off. She simply nodded in response to his words, “Okay, that’s all good information. I’ll follow up with the hotel.”

Trys looked at him for a moment, “Let’s talk a bit about you. What’s your name? Are you from around here? What do you do?” His timing and memory recollection, and the fact that a forensic had to tell him to step back from evidence all looked odd to her. Externally Trys smiled at him, “Just want to get to know some of the people around here. I’m actually from Coruscant, but it’s been a long time since I lived out in these parts.”

She looked around in the alleys, “Unfortunately nothing really changes around these parts,” Trys didn’t let on that he piqued her curiosity. Even more curiously, he would find her mind difficult to read, far more difficult than the average person.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak watched her equally as curious, but he relied more on the Force than just his eyes. Instead of reading body language he read thoughts that escaped from people's minds and the emotions that surrounded and swirled in the Force. But she was something else entirely. Far more complicated than most people.

When the questions turned to him, he grew uncomfortable. He didn't need her poking into who he was as a person, but if he ignored the questions outright it would only draw far more suspicion.

Talak, he said, extending a hand for her to shake. He was no one and had come from nowhere. There was no history attached to his name that could track back to him yet.

No, I'm not from around here, he said. I'm from a little backwater world in the Outer Rim that you'd probably never have heard of, he said. It was almost true. It was really a world in the Unknown Region that no one had heard of.

I'd never been to a world this big until I came here, he said, shaking his head in genuine awe. He didn't understand how anyone could come from a place like this and think nothing changed. It was so... alive. It pulsed with the Force in a way that few places did.

I did... soldiering work out there, he said. He could pass off as a mercenary if he had to, and it kind of explained his ridiculous attention to detail. People who went to war didn't always come back the same.

Did you ever visit this shop? he asked. The two of them hadn't ever crossed paths that he recalled, but she seemed to have a personal investment in this case.

 

[Trys Aran]

Planet she had never heard of? Yeah okay. Trys was growing more and more suspicious, but she wouldn’t let any of it show just yet. She didn’t speak once more until he was done. It was a habit of hers he could catch onto rather quick - she often allowed a dialogue to play out entirely, mull it over and then offer a response. She didn’t engage in a lot of back and forth, always analyzing and dissecting.

“Coruscant can be pretty overwhelming,” She said at last, looking up at the sky scrapers looming above from the upper levels. Trys had lived only a few districts away from here. She could practically see herself as a child ducking into a shop to steal a loaf of bread and running away. The days seemed to be centuries away.

She hadn’t missed that he chose his words carefully when he mentioned what he did for a living. Trys was more than a little caught off guard when he asked about her visiting the shop. She couldn’t help but smile at him, “I’d have thought that someone that could recall the name of a shuttle just passing by randomly would recall something I had mentioned just moments ago,” She winked at him, referring to when she first walked up next to him and mentioned she used to come to the shop.

Before she could say anything else, she saw a figure dip in to gaze into the alley from the opposite end. Trys immediately noticed that he was a Barabel, and he looked terrified to spot the two of them standing there. He quickly ducked out of view once more and disappeared from sight.

“Shit! Was that him?” Trys cried out, hoping Talak had been following her line of sight. She broke into a chase, pulling her comlink up, “Possible suspect fleeing the scene! I’m in pursuit on foot and he just turned into the alley behind 8th street!”

 

[Talak Rand]

Wait, she had said that, hadn't she? Was he really that distracted by trying to recall what had happened and in searching the Force? It was sloppy.

Oh... uh, yeah, sorry. I'm a little distracted, he admitted. Somehow he got the nagging suspicion that she was growing suspicious of him to top it all off. He was beginning to consider just leaving like a normal civilian would. He opened his mouth to make an excuse to leave when suddenly she was shouting.

There was a comical moment where Talak actually jumped in surprise from her shouting and then realized what was going on. He turned around, but by then the... whoever it was... was already gone.

She was off running after the target, and Talak considered leaving for a moment. No, that would just make me look more guilty, he decided, and started running after her.

They were gaining on him, but she rounded the corner ahead just before him. Apparently, the backup didn't know who they were chasing. Seeing him running in the same way that she had said and not seeing her, one of the men in riot gear launched into a full body tackle.

Talak's face bashed against the duracrete and blood began to run down his chin as another man jumped on top of him. What the kriff! I'm not the one she's chasing! he shouted, but they didn't seem excited about letting him go.

Ma'am, we've apprehended the suspect, one of the men said into the comlink emphatically. With Trys having the actual suspect in sight up ahead and most certainly not apprehended, it was obvious they were incorrect.

Up ahead, the Barabel was very much not apprehended, and it was clear that he wasn't just some common thug. He ran at high speeds and pulled free a blaster pistol, firing behind him without breaking stride. Firing at a police officer may not have been a great idea, but he couldn't afford to be caught. He'd never be free again if he was.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys kept chasing the barabel, not bothering to look back. She quickly realized Talak hadn’t been looking the same direction and hadn’t picked up on the cue. However, it was probably best for him to remain behind - he was only a civilian. Trys kept running and cursed as the barabel continued to pick up speed.

When her comlink buzzed and someone reported catching the suspect, Trys’ face scrunched up in confusion. She pulled the comlink up as she ran, her breathless voice chirping for Talak to clearly hear, “I’m on pursuit right now, you idiot! You have got someone else! Stop kriffing around and help me! He just turned onto Kipp St and 9th and- shit he’s armed and firing!”

Her voice broke off as she ducked to the side, a bolt grazing the side of her jacket. It was a very close call, but she didn’t let it stop her. She had ducked behind a dumpster, but she jumped out again and continued the chase. Trys reached for her gun - a blaster that was stun only.

“Stop!” She screamed behind the barabel, firing a shot which missed him. He turned towards her and began to fire again, forcing her to duck to the side. He sprang up and jumped up to a fire escape, quickly rushing up to make his way up towards a roof.

"I'm about to lose him!" Trys screamed into the comlink, "Need backup stat!"

 

[Talak Rand]

Apparently they had been told to stand down because moment's later Talak - now bleeding slightly from the small gash across his chin - was back up and in pursuit. He wanted to use the Force to boost his speed, but he knew he couldn't afford it. He'd already drawn too much attention to himself as it was.

The other cops were at least coming along as well, and one of them seemed smart enough to know a shortcut for how to get in position to cut the man off.

Talak followed in close pursuit, realizing he had no idea where he was going. Luckily, they came around just in time to see the man climbing a fire escape.

Pull his foot to make him trip? Cause him to slip and fall? Collapse part of the ladder? he ran through the options in his head, but couldn't come up with one that didn't risk exposing him. I should have just claimed to be a Jedi...

The Barabel turned again and fired, but this time he didn't miss. One of the officers who had just arrived took the round to the bottom part of his face and went down in a heap. Talak ducked to the side before reaching out and grabbing the officer and dragging him out of the line of fire and into cover.

Out of instinct, he pulled out his medpack and began bandaging the man up before realizing that it might have been weird to most people that he carried one at all. Kriff it, too late now, he thought to himself. With blaster fire raining down, no one was likely to question it anyway... hopefully.

He slapped bacta onto the injury, stemming the bleeding as best he could as a pool of red began to spill out onto the alley floor. We need a med speeder! he shouted.

The Barabel, meanwhile, had made the top of the roof and was intent on discouraging pursuit. A small orb dropped from the roof, and an explosion followed. Grenades were a rare enough sight for criminals in the Outer Rim, but on Coruscant it would be all but unheard of. But here they were, luckily out of the blast radius after having taken cover from the blaster fire.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys was used to crime, but she was not used to criminals that were well armed. She heard of some Rangers that operated in the Outer Rim and had run ins with the Syndicate, and they had some horror stories to tell. Many of them ended up dead, and very few were brave enough to take jobs out there. Trys counted herself among that, and with a son to provide for, she had no intention of putting herself at a ton of risk.

That all went out the window when that small orb dropped down. It didn’t even immediately register what it was till moments later. Trys’ eyes widened and she jumped back, the explosion going off at once. The shock of it sent her flying back, and she hit her head against a dumpster behind her. She slumped to the floor from the hit, her vision blurry and ears ringing.

Trys slowly raised her comms up, “Suspect...very...dangerous...on roof of building end of Kipp and 9th…” Her consciousness faded in and out. She vaguely heard Talak’s voice, but her vision began to go black. Her head throbbed painfully, and she knew she was in no immediate condition to spring up and chase.

“Too...dangerous...to pursue..” She spoke into the channels, not wanting to risk the lives of other Rangers that were usually not properly outfitted for explosions. They were always underfunded, and she knew anyone chasing after such a criminal would wind up dead, “We need to get civilians out of here…”

 

[Talak Rand]

The detonation of the grenade shook Talak's gut and left his ears ringing. He jumped and instinctively tried to take cover to shield himself, though he realized he was out of range.

However, it seemed Trys was not. The first wounded officer was about as patched up as he was going to get, and more men were arriving on scene. His partner had taken up a position at his side, and Talak turned his attention toward the only person here he actually knew.

She was muttering something into her comlink, but he couldn't hear it. He was acting on instinct now far more than thought, and nothing that wasn't critical to his survival entered his brain. His mind was on getting them both out of the line of further fire, and to that end he had his arms under her shoulders, dragging her back to their makeshift staging area for wounded.

---​

By the time the med speeders had shown up, Trys had lost consciousness. Although the other officers who had been there when the gunfire started knew that Talak was more or less an ally, he got more than a few odd looks from the reinforcements showing up on scene.

He'd done his best to clean the blood off of his hands, face, and clothes while he waited in the medcenter for the detective to regain consciousness, but he'd not been allowed by either medical staff or the officers outside her room to enter. So he'd waited.

Anxiously and frustrated pacing the halls had only worked for so many hours. The nasty smell of the medcenter was getting old already, so he decided to let his mind go somewhere else. Moving to a seat in the lobby, he closed his eyes and began to "sleep" though in reality it was meditation. He hoped that after the... words he had exchanged with the officers outside her room, they would let him know when either she or the other wounded officer woke.

 

[Trys Aran]

He wouldn’t need to be told by any officers about her condition because he would abruptly hear her shouting from her room. She was awake and yelling to have the other officers report on the status of the suspect they apprehended. The last she recalled was that he jumped up some stairs and tossed an explosive. She had woken up with several injuries and bruises, and she had a concussion.

Despite all that, she was worried the case had gone cold. No one in the room had been able to explain what happened as the chaos clouded the scene. Trys sat up in her bed and attempted to climb out, but was given a stern warning from the nurse for doing so.

One of the officers piped up about a gentleman that had been waiting outside, and he described Talak. Curious, Trys asked to have him brought in. She wondered if he hung around because he actually saw what happened. Why would a random civilian follow up all the way to the medical bay?

Once he would enter her room, he would see her bandaged up and with a curious look on her face. The officers had spoken highly of him, one of them talking about how he had patched him up. Just who was this guy?

“I hear you’re the local hero,” She said to Talak, quirking an eyebrow, “You mentioned you’d done some soldiering work...were you in a military of some sort?” Trys was genuinely curious about him now - curious or suspicious, she couldn’t tell, “And...did you by any chance see what happened with that damn dinosaur?”

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak's attention was broken and his eyes snapped open in alarm at the sound of shouting from down the hall. He was on his feet out of instinct, and looking around, much to the alarm of the elderly lady next to him who was jolted awake with a start, dropping her cane over onto the floor. He waved his hand apologetically and gave a sheepish smile, mouthing "sorry" before heading down the hall toward Trys's room.

It seemed that she had wanted to see him, too, because the officers met him halfway there and showed him inside. She was looking better than when she'd been brought in, but it was clear she still wasn't back to normal. A day in a bacta tank would get her back to normal without difficulty, though.

Local hero? he said, genuinely surprised. Apart from being allowed to come along to the hospital, he had mostly stayed away from the other officers for fear of being asked a lot of questions.

It was instinct mostly, he said, trying to shrug off what he had done. At least the "history" he claimed had explained some of it away. The history she asked him about now.

Yeah... well, somewhat. Not organized military. I was more... freelancer, he said hesitantly. Mercenaries in the Core weren't exactly well looked on, and there was no telling what an officer would think of it, but it was a better cover than what he really was.

He was thankful for the questions about the lizard, but he didn't have much by way of answers for her. He shook his head and crinkled his lips with a heavy sigh, genuine frustration seeping through.

After the grenade he ran across the rooftops and we lost him. But I thought we might be able to check out his hotel or use security footage to identify him, he said before catching himself. He wasn't actually an officer or officially involved in this investigation, but he was about as deep into it at this point as she was.

Is fancy holo facial recognition a thing? he asked. It was clear he had given this some thought already and he was more than interested in staying in this "fight."

Are you feeling okay? he asked, slowing down all of his jumps to conclusion. This was all assuming she was "fit to fight." He hadn't actually been given much of an update on her status.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys simply stared at him as he spoke, quirking an eyebrow. He didn’t spend too much time explaining his background and went right to chasing the suspect down. Did he forget that this was a police investigation and he was only a bystander?

“What do you mean we?” She asked quietly at last. The ghost of a smile threatened to tug at the corner of her lips. She couldn’t help but find this a bit amusing, and she was more than curious on his interest on the case.

“I have to ask, Talak,” She said a bit louder, looking around to ensure no one else was around, “Are you uhhh interested in this case because you were especially close to the cafe owner…” She paused, “...A lover perhaps?”

Trys wasn’t one to judge, but she was suspicious at all times. Not only was he extremely invested, but he had even hunted down the suspect with them. On top of that, he followed her here and made sure the Rangers were okay to keep tracking this.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak wasn't a man who was typically caught off guard by many things. He liked to pride himself on being prepared for any situation, but that was not a question he had been anticipating and it showed on his face. His eyebrows scrunched up and there was utter shock on his face.

What?! No! he said. I... no, he said, shaking his head. He was at a complete loss as to how to even respond to that. Could he just... move along like the question hadn't been asked?

I'm gonna take that to mean you're feeling okay, he said after a moment.

Look, I'm just your "average guy" who wants to help get some justice in the galaxy, he said, this time it was his turn to try not to laugh. It was pretty clear that he wasn't an average guy, but his better judgments also told him that he was putting himself at irresponsible risk by sticking around this case.

I suppose I probably should leave this to the professionals, he said. In reality, if he actually walked out of here he was just as likely to keep hunting this guy down on his own as not.

Although, am I even allowed to go anywhere? Do I count as one of those... uh... material witnesses or whatever? he asked. He'd heard that word thrown around before, but truth be told, he didn't really know what it meant. He figured if he was one, then he wouldn't likely be allowed to go anywhere. Oh boy, that could be a problem actually....

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys had to grin at his flustered response. She found the picture of him and a Bothan lover slightly comical, though her face wouldn’t reveal that. Trys sat up straighter in bed and nodded along to everything he said, “Yes, it’s best to leave it to the professionals,” She explained, “We have people that are eager to help on these things, but it can be very dangerous as you’ve seen. We don’t want to endanger civilians.”

After a while, she offered him a warm smile, “Thank you for everything, though,” She said quietly, “And for making sure my team and I were okay. It’s not often we see good men around these parts of Coruscant,” Trys sighed, “Especially in my line of work…”

She reached into her pocket and extended a card out to him, “It’s my contact information if you remember or notice anything else, let me know please. It was nice to meet you, Talak.”

It was then that the nurse walked in, ushering Talak out. Trys was given a lecture on resting and the day went down the drain.

---

Trys was sitting outside a warehouse, looking through macrobinoculars. They had traced this place to the last known location of the barabel. After the last incident, she was worried about the kinds of weapons he had. Trys and the others were much better armored and prepared this time, but they were still out of their element. If the warehouse had a lot of armed guards, she was worried about casualties.

It was late at night, and she couldn’t see any movements yet. She sighed as she lowered the binocs, glancing over at the officer next to her, “We’re so out of our element…”