Ask Coruscant Payback

[Talak Rand]

Things didn't seem to be looking particularly good. Death and the smell of burns filled his nostrils. He found himself annoyed that they had missed their target again. He had managed to elude them yet again. He overheard that they didn't have a way to track the ship, and he wondered if tracking it through the Force was something he could manage. He had heard that some trackers were skilled enough to follow a target over great distances, but he didn't have that kind of experience yet.

No time like the present? he wondered. It wasn't likely to work, but if it could even get them a bit closer... Not only was it a problem of him questioning his own skill, but if he did find something, he would have to try to explain away his preternatural knowledge again.

He put his hands behind his back so as to silently assure Trys that he wasn't touching anything or "contaminating" the scene as she liked to call it and began to look around.

He noticed the dead body lying around and frowned. He reached out with the Force and tried to sense any residual evidence of the scene. The Force existed outside of time, but unfortunately Talak didn't. Still, just as it could give glimpses of the future, it could do so for the past as well.

The entire spaceport was laid out before him like a paint canvas. Orange. Frustration. Officers annoyed that we haven't found the killer.

Blue. Resignation and duty. No, not resignation, resoluteness. Determination. He noted that no small amount of it seemed to be emanating from none other than his impromptu partner.

Black. Violence, he recognized it all too well, but it was the thread he needed to follow. The thread that might have answers. There was the red of anger in himself and even several of the Rangers and CSF officers who were furious at the murders. No, you have to get past that. Deeper, he told himself.

A torrential vortex of rage tinted the surface beneath it all. It clung to this place on the deepest levels, and would stain the Force here for some time to come. Why? he wondered to himself, then his eyes shot open in realization. The killings weren't random. They were personal.

He turned to face Trys and motioned with his head for her to come over when she had a moment. He waited for her to join him.

What if this killing wasn't random? he asked. This lizard has the air of a professional: high end gear, evading capture by a whole team of people, giving the slip to all of us, having false IDs, he said shaking his head.

Random killings don't fit. What if this guy was his partner, and one of them double crossed the other? he asked. It was a long shot, and he couldn't use the Force to explain why he had this hunch, but if they looked into the dead Rodian he thought they might find a lead.

I know it's a long shot, but I have a hunch, he said. Hunches were common in people who worked a career field for years, but Talak was new enough to "being in law enforcement" that he probably wasn't allowed to have hunches. He expected her to just ignore him outright, which would make him trying to find evidence on his own... tricky.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys was convinced this was a hopeless cause. She would go up and profile the Barabel as best she could and put a bounty out on him. She was about to say as much when Talak mentioned something entirely different. Trys stared at him, raising her eyebrows, “Come again?” She muttered. Was he seriously trying to find links between the dead Rodian and the barabel?

“Look, I know you want to volunteer and play detective, but there’s literally nothing here to suggest that there’s a connection,” Trys explained, looking around, “He came barreling in and just shot the first poor son of a bitch getting into his ship.”

She walked over towards the guard, asking to take their statement. Trys would take the security footage and review it and go from there. Though it may have been frustrating for Talak, he would quickly realize that he would need to find ways to explain his Force senses and hunches in terms that worked for her. Trys worked by the book often, and this was one of those examples.

After a moment, she walked back towards Talak, watching the medical speeder head off. Trys shook her head, “I’ll report this up to the FWA and they should be able to track it from there,” She reached over and patted him on the shoulder, “I think we’ve done everything we can.”

 

[Talak Rand]

It turned out she was about as receptive to the idea as he had expected, which was to say that she thought it was stupid. He ran his hand through his hair as he tried to think of a way to explain or prove his thoughts without mentioning the Force, tuning out much of what she said after that.

Maybe if I can get an ID on him and it shows links to criminals? No, I'd need her clearance for that. Maybe I just break out on my own? Not a great idea, he thought, continuing to try to pick out a clue. Ugh, why does this have to be so difficult? he grumbled to himself.

As she took statements, he made his way over to the foreman again and asked to see whatever records the man had on the stolen ship. Although there was no flight plan filed for the exit, the point of origin was Nar Shaddaa, lending further credence to what Talak knew was more than a theory. But it still wouldn't be enough to convince her to go with him on this.

Holofootage, he mumbled to himself with a frown. If there was holofootage of the murder, then that meant there might be holofootage of the two arriving together as well.

When did this ship arrive? he asked the foreman. Although Talak had no badge or uniform, his presence alongside the officers seemed to lend itself to an air of authority, and the foreman didn't seem like he wanted to argue with anyone.

It was 11 rotations ago, he said.

Talak nodded and moved back toward the body when Trys said there was nothing more that they could do.

I suppose so, he said, his mind now completely fixated on watching the holofootage with her and finding a way to watch the footage from 11 rotations ago. So what do we do now? Back to the station to book the thugs from earlier? he asked, desperately trying not to blurt out "let's go watch the holofootage."

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys shrugged as he suggested on what to do next, “I’m going to stop by favorite noodle shop and take a break because I'm starving,” It was a very long night, and she already despised how many hours she had been gone from her son. In some ways she was relieved to pass the case onto the FWA so she could keep from going down a spiral. The flower killer already kept her up at night, and this was just adding on top of it.

“You can go to the station if you want and I’ll catch up later. Unless you want some late night unhealthy and greasy food,” Trys muttered quietly, “Want me to drop you off?” She said as she made her way back towards her speeder. Trys would view the footage later and use it to profile the Barabel. Once someone left the system, it was beyond difficult to ever track them down again.

She hopped into the speeder once more, her mind running through all the possibilities of where to go from here. The station wasn’t exactly nearby, but she would drop him off if that’s what he desired. The craving for spicy street side noodles was almost overwhelming, and she had a specific place she liked.

The caf place had been like that, she thought with a grimace. The Bothan had been a known, friendly face she had gotten used to. Trys began to drum her fingers on the speeder console, clearly bothered by the turn of events. Was she truly going to just let the people that did this to him run away unscathed? Had she truly overturned every stone? Had she explored every angle?

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak realized only after she mentioned it that he, too, was actually quite hungry. The constant stream of adrenaline had disguised his body's natural needs, but now that the thrill of the hunt was subsiding a bit, he realized his stomach was growling.

Sure, I'll get some noodles, he said. Greasy food wasn't typically his thing, but everyone splurged sometimes. Besides, if the locals suggested it, it had to be good. Maybe after that - or almost definitely after that - he would go review the holofootage in hopes of finding the link between the two.

He got in the speeder and they rode in silence for a while. Despite finding her difficult to read, it didn't take a lot of effort to tell that she was bothered. It practically radiated off of her in the Force, and the tapping fingers were a giveaway beyond that.

So what's good at this place? he asked, deciding that distracting her might be the best option. Also, he didn't figure she'd open up to him anyway. She'd made it pretty clear she didn't trust him, and he supposed he couldn't blame her. He wasn't exactly the most honest person.

He listened to her recommendation as they pulled up to the noodle place. It was in that type of neighborhood where the buildings all looked like they should have been condemned, but you knew the food had to be good since the restaurants stayed in business. You just might risk being mugged to get the food.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys was pleasantly surprised that he wanted to join her for the noodle run. She had her own little quirks that were her unique to her, and it wasn’t often anyone else appreciated the same. She was even more relieved when he offered to shift the topic, as the thought of the Bothan had really begun to bother her.

“It’s a place run by a Trandoshan name Guff,” She said with a smile, “I don’t know what he puts in it, but they’re the best noodles ever,” Trys explained as they finally pulled up towards the vendor stall. It was dimly lit, but it had a decent line in front of it even at this late hour.

A delicious aroma wafted from the food stall, and even then there was a hint of spices to come. Trys walked up with a smile waiting in line for her chance, “This one’s on me,” She told Talak, “Especially in case you end up being a wuss when it comes to spice.”

When it was their turn, Guff turned around and smiled widely. He wore a dirty apron and was covered in various oils and stains, “Eyyy! Trys! The usual?” He glanced over at Talak curiously.

“Yep, and make that two,” She said with a smile. He got to work right away, hands working quickly to slice and dice the meats and ingredients. Every now and then he moved over to toss the noodles in a pan and add more spices. He looked down as he talked, “How’s the boy doing?”

Trys shifted uncomfortably, her smile fading. She hadn’t wanted that bit revealed just yet, “He’s uh….he’s good,” How could she get across politely that she didn’t want him to ask more questions?

“You need to bring him around more,” He said without looking up, “I’ve been making his special snacks-”

“Hey, sorry we’re in a bit of a hurry,” Trys said apologetically, hinting that they were working on a big case. Guff caught the message finally, and handed the plates over, waving them goodbye with a smile.

Trys walked away from the stall and looked down at her steaming hot noodles, face slightly red from the earlier reveal. She dug in with her fork and raised them up, “Enjoy!” She said cheerfully before taking her first bite.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak glanced around at the little stall. The light was still on and as they drew closer he was struck with a pleasant aroma that had his stomach now audibly grumbling.

A wuss!? he said with mock offense, though she probably wasn't wrong. Although he liked spicy food, if it was like breathing fire it might not be to his particular taste. Still, he could endure anything.

I appreciate it, he said, more seriously about her covering his food. It was something he appreciated, and whether it was true or not, he decided that it was an indicator that she enjoyed his company. Whether that was the truth or not didn't actually matter to him, it had been accepted into his mind.

What caught his attention most, however, was the mention of a "boy." She seemed young to have a kid with opinions about snacks and noodles, but then, she wasn't that young. In the faint light a glance over revealed that her face was blushing slightly. It seemed she wasn't eager to talk about it. She would probably see his eyebrow quirk slightly and an inquisitive look on his face but he didn't actually say anything... yet.

They got their noodles and started to walk away when Talak took his first bite. A nice, big mouthful of fire noodles. He was chewing it at first, his face lighting up.

Mmm, this is really good! he said, but as he kept chewing, everything started to kick off in his mouth. The flames started spreading to every taste bud and as he swallowed, he started doing the puffer breathing to rush cool air over his tongue.

Oh... wow... that's hot, he said, continuing to puffer breathe like he was hyperventilating. No doubt, Trys would find this all quite amusing.

 

[Trys Aran]

She was happy he didn’t ask too many questions. For how closed off he was, he was quite perceptive about reading the situation. He made a point of not prying too much, and she found that as a refreshing change of pace. Trys looked surprised when he first mentioned that the food was really good.

“Really? You can handle it?” She said with a clearly impressed look on her face. Within the blink of an eye, he began to turn red and rapidly breathe in and out, and her face looked unamused once more, “Ah, there it is,” Trys shook her head muttering under her breath, “...wuss.”

She took a few more bites before walking over to grab a box of milk with a silly straw attached to it. Guff saved these child boxes just to poke fun at his customers that couldn’t handle the heat. She handed it over to Talak before returning to her own meal.

“I’ll give you points for at least trying it out, though,” Trys smiled at him, “I take it that your obscure backwater planet only had bland food? You almost sound like you used to be a farmer,” Most people that were from ‘no name backwater planets’ usually came from agricultural backgrounds. A city like Coruscant could then be overwhelming for someone like Talak.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak took a moment to look disgruntled as she handed him a bottle of milk before grumpily snatching it from her. But he was stubborn. He might drink the milk, but he was going to finish this food. He kept chomping away at it and wishing it weren't quite so hot. The flavor was good, after all.

Yeah, no, the food was about as bland as you would imagine. My parents were farmers, he said. He had no idea what his actual parents had done, but farmers sounded about as good as anything else. He wondered how his life would have been different if he actually had been raised by farmers. What if he'd just had a mundane life? Not the life of a Force user bent on genociding portions of the galaxy. He shook the thought from his head after a moment.

A small amount of huffing continued.

So... the words were broken up by exaggerated chomping designed to get as much air into his mouth as possible ...ever thought about living anywhere other than Coruscant? he asked. To him, this world was overwhelming and massive, but it had a certain draw to it that he couldn't explain. He liked being here. It was so vibrant even if at its literal core were many levels of corruption.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys watched him and tried not to laugh as he purposely held off drinking the milk. He looked absolutely miserable, and even under the cover of night she could see his face glistening with sweat. Then again, this was the same guy that barreled into people with speeders and not plan ahead.

When he asked whether she’d live anywhere else, she paused for a moment. She hadn’t ever thought about it, because it always seemed like such a luxury. Trys had been in the slums for her entire childhood and teen years, and raising a son by herself as a single teen meant life passed her by before she knew it. He would see her frozen in time for a moment, not eating and her thoughts far away.

What kind of life would she have lived if it hadn’t been for her son? She felt guilty for ever thinking, but regardless of how much she loved him, she was allowed to wonder the ‘what ifs’. Then again, he was the biggest reasons for her to finally leave her criminal life behind.

“I don’t think I have the luxury of even dreaming about anywhere else,” She said out loud, circling back to where she started. Trys took a couple more bites, thinking about all the planets out there, “Truth be told I have only left Coruscant once or twice in my entire life. On the planet itself, I wouldn’t want to live in the snooty rich districts, and I don’t want to live in the slums,” Live in the slums again, she thought privately.

“People in my line of work,” She smiled faintly, “We just barely scrape by. Trying to do right doesn’t allow for a life of luxury, unfortunately,” Trys said, thinking back to the choices she would have had if she had stayed in the criminal life. Would she have ended up behind bars and rotting in a cell then?

She was finally done with her meal and tossed the paper plate away. Trys looked at him and eyed him suspiciously, “You’re going to drink that milk. I don’t want to hear you hyperventilating the entire drive over to the station,” Trys looked over at the mini milk box, “Remember to punch the straw only through the designated area, or it won’t work,” She was vaguely reminded of the many times her son had done it wrong and complained.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak kept munching through the remainder of the noodles before tossing the bowl out as well. He promptly - and without further hesitation - punched the hole in the sippy milk and proceeded to guzzle down the entire thing. It only helped ease part of the burn, but it was progress.

Well... that was good, he said. He really did think it was good, but he also was still in moderate agony.

Ever think about going into bounty hunting? You seem like you'd be good at it. Seems more lucrative and still hunting down criminals, he said. It was partially true. Whether it was lucrative was highly dependent on the skill of the hunter, but she seemed like the type who'd get the hang of it in a hurry.

Although, I'm sure that lifestyle wouldn't fit if you have a family, he said. He didn't know what the extent of her family was, but it had been made obvious that she had someone by the talk of the chef. He was curious, but if she shut the conversation down outright then he wouldn't push it.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys listened to him and chuckled at his suggestion as they got back into the speeder. She couldn’t say she had never thought about the bounty hunting life. The bit he added about family caused her to suddenly jerk her head to look at him almost accusingly. However, she quickly looked away to cover up the alarmed reaction.

That was exactly she hadn’t gone into bounty hunting. She had too much to lose to wander off and chase after contracts. Trys remained silent for a moment as she revved up the engines and they began their way back towards the station.

“Bounties are usually out in the outer rims and involve running all over the galaxy,” She sighed, “Seems like a hassle to me,” Trys shrugged, looking over at him, “Besides, most bounty hunters I’ve come across seem like crooks themselves,” She managed a faint grin, “Seems more like a career opportunity for you, if you ask me.”

It wasn’t long before they finally arrived at the station. She was more than a little surprised to see Talak still wanting to press on this.

“Are you sure you don’t want to just go home?” She finally asked as they were waiting on the security footage tapes. After a moment, another officer handed him some forms and a small scanning device.

“We need you to fill out background information and give us your prints so we can vet you against our records before you access any evidence. We need to run a background check,” He said gruffly, Trys having stepped away to fetch some coffee. It was just Talak and the officer with the forms now.

 

[Talak Rand]

She wasn't wrong that bounty hunting was probably a better choice for him, and he actually had begun to give some thought to taking that as a cover. It would give credibility to his moving around the galaxy from place to place and being involved in violence. Of course, this was one of the first times he'd ever felt the need to have such an extensive cover in place.

Although he was still interested, he didn't keep pressing about family, since the impression that he got from her was that she was some sort of mama bear about ready to eat him alive.

As they got to the station, things started to get... delicate. Finger print scans and paperwork... yeah, those fell into a big "not gonna happen" category. Grumpy man handed him the information, and Trys left the room. That left Talak with an option that came to him after a moment of thinking on his feet.

He reached out to the man's mind and sensed the cracks. There were many cracks there, and this one wasn't the same type of detective that Trys was. His mind lacked the strength, discipline, and focus. He burrowed the Force into one of those cracks with a wave of his hand below the forms so that no security cameras would pick up any funny movements.

You will check the holologs from 11 cycles ago, he said.

I will... check the holologs from 11 cycles ago... he repeated.

You will look for when the Rodian arrived, he continued.

I... will look for when the Rodian arrived, the man repeated again.

Satisfied that Talak had put them on the right course and covered up the means by which he had gotten the information, it was almost inevitable that they would find another link in the chain. He rose and followed Trys out to where the coffee machine was.

I think you're right, I'm going to take a break for the night. You know, I'm not used to this whole "detective" thing yet. I hear bounty hunters get to keep their own hours, he said, using some humor to deflect. It would at least get him temporarily around all the nasty paperwork and... fingerprint scan.

But I'll be back tomorrow. Do you... work shifts or something? When's your shift? he asked, actually unsure of how the work happened.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys came back with not one, but two coffees. That was when she saw the officer walk by them with a dazed look on his face. She paid it no heed - it was late at night. She looked over at Talak and was a bit surprised to hear that he actually agreed with needing to call it a night. There was just the slightest hint of disappointment in her face, but it was as fleeting as any other real expression that ever graced her.

“Of course,” She said with a grin, “I need both cups of coffee anyway,” Trys wasn’t used to ever working with anyone, and it was actually a little refreshing. He didn’t seem to give a crap about her background as a former criminal, and that was very different than the treatment she received at the station.

“Have a good night, Talak,” She said, “Try not to do anything stupid. I’ll probably be back here in the afternoon.”

---​

Trys couldn’t remember when she finally stopped working, but she went home and crashed. She made sure she put aside time to be with her son, get him ready for school the next day and finally arrive at the station. She had even made his favorite breakfast, so she hoped he wouldn’t be too angry with her for being gone too long today.

It was around 1 pm by the time she had finished going through all the information from the night before. Trys had been through three coffees already, and she felt as if she was running on fumes. However, the case got more and more interesting.

By the time Talak showed up again and had to explain who he was all over again, Trys had muscled her way past the others to call him in. She guided him into her office where she had all the videos, files and her own scrapwork scattered.

“You’ll want to hear this,” She said with renewed enthusiasm, “I went through all the footage and the guard from last night had the brilliant idea to rewind it all the way back to when the Rodian first arrived, not just when the Barabel entered,” Trys was talking a mile a minute, “We had footage of him looking really nervous and speaking into a comlink. We amplified the audio and could make out bits of the conversation. I then cross referenced that with the comlink we collected off him and the comms history we ran.”

Trys paused for a long moment, her eyes widening, “He’s the anonymous caller that tipped us off to the Barabel’s location. He’s the reason we followed up and the reason I was there in the first place!” She paused again, “You were right. They are connected.”

Her excitement subsided for just a moment then, however. Trys paused for a long moment before looking at him, “But...how did you know about that and….” A longer pause now, “How did you know to be at the warehouse?”

 

[Talak Rand]

When Talak arrived at the station, it seemed there was already a hubbub over something. Talak was actively arguing with the guard at the front desk who refused to go get Trys, and he was relieved when she seemed to come out and get him instead.

Immediately Trys was into it again, and Talak put a hand up to his mouth "contemplatively" as the footage showed. In reality, the movement was to hide the smug smile that he was really trying to suppress at how "successful" the guard had been in looking back at the footage.

Internal mental congratulations ensued for a solid 30 seconds.

Talak hadn't been expecting to hear that the Rodian was the caller that had tipped them off. Nor was he ready for her question about why he had been at the warehouse.

Like I said, I went to the hotel he'd been staying at and got his ID. Then I went back to where we got shot at as a last known point of the Barabel because I was going to check out local space ports in the area. Then I heard shooting, he shrugged. People always said that there were two types of people: those who ran toward disaster and those who ran away from it. Talak had already well established himself as the former.

I'm like a bad penny... I always turn up, he said with another shrug. He was one of those people that she was going to have trouble getting rid of even if she wanted to.

So does this mean we have a lead on this guy? Did he file a flight plan or anything that can give us an origin on the Barabel? he asked, hoping that they might actually have a means of tracking this guy down and bring him in... or "accidentally" make him fall off of a building. Who knew? A lot of these worlds were dangerous when in a foot chase....

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys wasn’t entirely convinced, and her pause after he was done talking said as much. However, she shrugged in the end, “Whatever, I’m too tired to keep wondering about you. If Al says you’re good, you’re good,” She said, trying to convince herself. Al’s idea to look back through the old footage had been smart, after all.

She nodded to Talak’s next series of questions, “We have some information we extracted from his comlink and datapad. It suggests that there is an operation of some sort taking place on Gamorr. It sounded like that was to be a rendezvous point near Jugsmuk Station. A lot of this is encrypted information so the analysts will feed me info as they decode it.”

Trys sighed as she thought about what this meant, “Gamorr…” She said quietly, “Do I really want to chase this asshole across the galaxy?” She looked down at the datapad and her pile of files and all the work she put in.

She also thought about the Nar Shaddaa job she turned away from. The image of the victim hanging from a tree still haunted her mind, and she had walked away from it. If he had any family, they would never know what happened. She only hoped Winters closed the case.

But Trys couldn’t let the same happen to the Bothan. It was a matter of principle now.

 

[Talak Rand]

With how many times she told him that she didn't trust him, he was getting rather used to it. Maybe eventually she'd stop asking questions that she didn't want lies to. He found that unlikely... He was glad that she moved on from the topic, but he knew that it was likely only a matter of time until she was questioning him about something else again. Well, he'd enjoy the time until that point.

Are we going out there? he asked. He could sense the hesitation in her voice and he reminded himself that she had some sort of family she didn't want to leave. And she also probably wasn't eager to face down some more heavily armored thugs and assassins. He knew that he would go regardless, and he wasn't sure if it would be easier to go when he could use a lightsaber and the Force or easier with the backup of Sector Rangers.

Well, it'll be a moot point anyway, he thought. Something told him that she would be coming and bringing friends.

He pulled out his datapad and started poking at it. Gamorr wasn't a planet he was overly familiar with and... wait, it has pig people? He grimaced ever so slightly looking at the world and its people.

Looks like a lovely world... and full of trouble, he said. If there was a bright side, it looked like Gamorreans preferred melee weapons to blasters, which would work out quite well for Talak.

How does an operation like this get launched, anyway? he asked. He had no idea what type of lead time was required to get a team together, especially when they had to presumably act quickly in order to catch their opponents before they might move on.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys was not remotely thrilled to be out in Gamorr. She had made a point of only taking cases that kept her on Coruscant or in the Deep Core, but she kept being dragged out into the Outer Rim and across the galaxy. This had become a frequent occurrence lately and it kept her away from her son even more. Without a dad in the picture, she had to rely on friends and babysitters, and it was beginning to deplete her of her already low income rapidly.

As she walked off the public shuttle she had taken to get here, she was already grimacing. The planet was hot and humid, and she had no doubt that the people they had to deal with here would be atrocious. Trys glanced over to look for Talak – she had caught a shuttle alone and didn’t know if he arrived in his own ship or took another shuttle like her.

Once she spotted him, she couldn’t help but shake her head, “Financing your own way here and still relentless,” She grinned, marveling at his dedication when he had no payment for any of this. Trys glanced down at her datapad, looking at all the information being uploaded into the central database.

“So his name might be Zaltor Dris,” She read, frowning, “And that seems like a guess at best from their decoding. I’m not sure about many gangs or circles out here so I’ll pretty much have to start from scratch. I have a vague location, but that’s it.”

Trys turned to Talak, hoping for something a bit more substantial, “Do you know anything? Maybe do one of your eyes closed and pause for a moment bit and see if something jogs your memory?” She added the last bit as a quip with a half grin.

 

[Talak Rand]

This planet was disgusting. The spaceport could barely even be classified as a spaceport, and Talak wondered how it was that this particular species had ever managed to overcome the hurdle of hyperspace travel. He was convinced that another species had come along and "raised them up" giving them the scientific advancements necessary in exchange for brutish warriors.

Talak had brought the Nomad in and left it in one of the docking bays, noting that if he spent too much time around Trys he might have to go out and get a false ID transponder so that his ship couldn't be tracked or snooped into. This time, he was notably armed with a short vibrosword on his waist, which was likely to get a judgmental look from Trys who wanted him to carry a blaster.

I'm a relentless type of person, he said as a joke, though it wasn't actually false at all. He listened as she described what information they had, and it wasn't a whole lot.

He nearly blanched when she talked about him closing his eyes. He needed to be more careful about that, but he decided playing it off with humor was probably the best way to divert attention.

Unfortunately, no. My memory is pretty incredible, but that won't be happening here, he said. But I'm ready to put my incredible deductive skills to use if we get a starting location, he said, referencing the location she'd mentioned they had.

He followed her as she started making her way toward the last known location. In this case, it was a rather large area of "town" that they were said to operate out of with one cantina or particular interest. In the course of making their way to the cantina that was referenced in the intel, Talak saw no less than four confrontations between Gamorreans out in the street. Violence seemed to be an integral part of their lives here.

This planet seems... unsafe and unsavory, he said quietly, eyes glancing around. She would notice that his entire posture seemed different than it had before. As if some more predatory instinct had taken over in how his eyes, head, and body moved. He was feeling far more tense and try as he might to not show it... it showed.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys nodded at his observation, though she wasn’t entirely fazed by the surroundings. She had felt a similar vibe in the poor districts of Coruscant, and this took her right back, “This is actually the more civilized area of the planet,” Trys explained, recalling how Jugsmuk Station was tailored towards off worlders.

She turned a corner and into an alley, immediately feeling uneasy. She didn’t show it externally, but this was eerie even for her. It was abandoned and broken glass and litter were everywhere. Trys could see a few Rodian up ahead that looked as if they were up to no good.

Unfortunately, this was the only real route towards the rendezvous point identified from the information they grabbed off the dead man. Trys tried to avoid stepping on glass, ignoring the horrible stench in the alley.

“-And the three other girls we nabbed from Naboo are gonna fetch a pretty price too,” She overheard one of the Rodian mutter to the other.

“Young ones, right? Oh yeah, I can just imagine the credits roll-” He stopped abruptly when he saw the two approaching them. By now he caught the absolutely infuriated look on Trys’s face. She had a hard time controlling her anger, her fingers curled into fists. She had to remember that in order to find criminals, she had to get intel from criminals. Wasn’t that what she had been to the Rangers before she became one? Trys had to actively push thoughts of young enslaved girls for now.

“Ey boys,” She said, changing up her tone and grinning, “I was supposed to meet some kriff named Shan here so he could take some finely refined spice off my hands,” Trys immediately went into acting mode, her previous anger having subsided.

The Rodians looked suspiciously at her, “Dunno no one by that name.”

“Spice you say?” The other piped up. It was the hook Trys was looking for, and she nodded and reached down into her shoe, popping open a tiny compartment within the sole and taking out a bag of spice. She actively tried not to make eye contact with Talak as she pulled off a very clearly criminal move.

“Oh….oh that looks nice,” The Rodian’s eyes went wide.

“And it’s expensive,” Trys said, looking at them, “I’ll be happy to sell it to you for...say, 250 credits?” This resulted in loud protests and a bit of back and forth that Trys acted out. She played the wounded supplier while they complained about price gouging. In the end, she sighed and looked defeated.

“Okay we’re not getting anywhere,” Trys shook her head, “However, I really do need to get this off my hands, so I’ll make a deal. I need some information on someone that owes me money. You give me that and throw in some credits and we’ll call it even.”

The Rodian looked at one another and finally turned to her, “Okay, who you looking for?”