Open Coruscant The Gontra Will Rise Again

[E-3PO "Nightstorm"]

Coruscant Level 1236 || 18:09 Hours
​

The time of day on Courscant was often hard to surmise for organics. Sure, many had timepieces, but there was no direct view of the sky on most of it's levels. No way for people to truly track the sun. What a problem for organics who needed sleep. Not so much a problem for a droid who's goal was to lie and wait. Nightstorm had positioned himself on a balcony overlooking the main street of Level 1236. He had good intel that a freighter speeder would be passing by around 18:00 with a cargo hold full of 501-Z police droids. E-3 was here to take that freighter down, and hopefully liberate those poor droids if all went to plan.

He kneeled down, his helmet's visor scanning the area as he held his right arm firmly in the direction of the road. The droid was somewhat hidden, but it was mostly just hiding in plane sight. The busy streets of Courscant did tend to help with that after all. He would count every tick, eventually reaching 18:00 on the hour. He nearly unleashed the rocket early, but alas, his quarry had yet to show. "Of course they're late, all organics are late..." The droid mumbled in frustration.

A full nine minutes would pass, before the yellow-colored transport was finally spotted. "What excellent timing." Nightstorm would jest. With that, he would flex his wrist, causing the rocket to dart off his armor and through the air. Onlookers would all gasp, as they watched the seemingly random projectile crash into the real end of the freighter. A loud boom would be heard throughout the area, and the freighter seemed to unceremoniously crash to the ground.

As the ship seemed to land however, it's crew would all immediately evacuate the vehicle. Two armored guards were also on board, and each began firing blaster rifle shots towards the balcony where the rocket came from. The droid freedom fighter quickly found himself pinned down, lovely

 

[Naxa]

Spoiler: Bounty details

Open Contract
Bounty: Airan Haren
Airan Haren is the mayor of levels 0-1000 on Coruscant. Her hardline policies in support of the impoverished have never been popular with the wealthy and influential of Coruscant. Recent taxing restrictions have finally pushed some of them to take action. Remove Airan from the equation. Be careful as her head of security is an experienced and lethal ex-bounty hunter.
Assets Assigned: 1-2 PCs
Total payout: 70,000 credits
Wanted: Dead

Things would go perfectly to plan for N4-X4. The BX commando droid had gathered intelligence on a group of police droids being moved. Contacting droid freedom fighters in the proper channels, the tactical infiltrator leaked the information. Thus, the freeing of innocent droids would be aided with intelligence from the bounty hunter, albeit anonymously.

Naxa would have contributed to the droid revolution more directly, but their presence was require elsewhere. The attack on the transport carrying their mechanical comrades would serve as a convincing distraction. A sky limo and its passenger was the BX commando droid's target and was scheduled to cross paths with the same transport, at least it would have if not for the attack. Now its driver was diverting to the safest detour.

The airspeeder was not without security. Escorting the airspeeder was a pair of razor fin swoop bikes, each with an armored rider armed with blasters. The limo itself was said to have the elite bodyguard of the mayor. That was the primary concern that N4-X4 was focused on at the moment. But they alternated to different processes since other things needed to happen before the commando droid got close.

As the limousine was come under an overpass, Naxa leapt over the side railing and expertly fired the primed ascension gun attachment on their nightstinger sidearm with their left hand. The anchor would connect to the roof of the limousine and the droid would drop onto the roof of the airspeeder with its magnetic feet providing no less than a three point hold on the roof of the rapidly flying vehicle.

The droid's right hand configured, shifting and moving to form a blaster emitter where once there was a wrist. The internal droid blaster arm packed a wallop as the two swoop bike riders would find out. The heavy blaster bolts would slam into the torsos of the two escorts. Even if they were not dead, they were out of the fight and one began losing altitude, clinging to the controls while the other just fell out of the seat they had been occupying.

The roof of the limousine tore open as a heavy blaster carbine fired repeatedly into the ceiling of the interior. The bodyguard was not waiting for Naxa to enter the vehcile. The droid caught sight through a hole made by the dangerous weapon and processed the threatening curse growled from inside. <"Damn droids. Stay down, Mayor!"> It was Mando'a. That was right. The Mayor had hired a Mandalorian to be their bodyguard. The commando droid did not hesitate to fire back through the holes but calculated it was unlikely they would hit. Instead it was meant to keep the passengers of the airspeeder pinned down.

@Where

 

[Tatjana Kaine]

The steaming mug rolled slowly between Tatjana's hands as she sat at the counter. A smile spread across her lips as the heat radiated into her palms, up her arms, and into her core. Just a little longer and it'd be cool enough to drink.

A hushed din of cafe chatter died on everyone's lips when the force of an explosion shook the windows. Murmurs of curiosity mixed with concern took the chatter's place. Tatjana merely sighed as she slowly lowered the mug down to the counter. There was no need to peek out the window to catch a glimpse of a transport losing altitude with smoke billowing out its aft compartment. She already knew it had been a deliberate strike. It was all in the timbre of the explosion.

Tatjana slowly spun as she rose from her stool. Credits bounced briefly atop the counter as their former owner stepped toward the door. An idle wave over the shoulder was all she gave the owner whom she'd come to know in recent days. So much for the peaceful break between jobs.

As she stepped into the open, Tatjana turned in the direction of the ship as it settled a relatively short distance away. With a tug to her coat's collars to stiffen them, she started in opposition to the flow of nearby pedestrian traffic. Things only got more chaotic when the actual fire fight broke out; but that afforded her a moment to engage a holonet to alter her appearance. Too many cameras in a place like Coruscant.

The weapons fire seemed to be in the direction opposite of Tatjana's side of the platform. Suited her just fine. Gave her the chance to observe. Aside from the fact there were only two guards responding to the situation, the most notable thing was a lack of immediate and overwhelming follow-up by the assailant. Was there only one person behind it? Not a team? Well that wouldn't be half as interesting if they got themselves killed before any questions could be put to them.

Moments later, a black-garbed figure in a sweeping trench coat hopped atop the downed transport. Tatjana looked down at the guards from behind them. "You're ruining the ambiance." Sure, she was in a potential line of fire if the original assailant decided to take advantage of any distraction; but that was part of the excitement.

@Where @Darasuum

 

[Preef Callo]

Until five years ago the Zaa Fenn Crime Family had ruled over hundreds of levels on Coruscant. Mayor Airan Haren had been one of its allies and personal acquientance of Marissa Zaa Fenn. So when the Mayor caught wind of a threat to his life he had chosen to reach out to his erstwhile allies. Not one to alienate friends, the Zaa Fenn replied.

One of Preef's personal crew of Mandalorian enforcers and veteran gunslingers has been on the shuttle as the Mayor's bodyguard. While pinned down by the droid's fire (@Darasuum) he used his commlink to warn his boss. <"Preef, we're under attack!">

A few hundred meters away. Preef, wearing his old signature armor sat on top of an FC-35 Razorfin Swoop Bike of his own and he appeared to be.. grinning. "On my way," the aging rodian said as he ignited the engines of his swoop and used the personav attached to the steering wheel to pinpoint the perfect intercept point.

When he got close he recognized the assaillant. After all, this particular droid had tried to kill him once before and that had gotten him control of MorataCorp's medicinal dispensors across the Core for the sales of his illicit synthetic spice. It seemed like a lifetime ago -and the droid had remarkably less signs of aging- but there was definitely still bad blood between the rodian and N4-X4.

As he flew at a small distance, matching the shuttle's speed as about forty meters, Preef unholstered his peacemaker and lined up a shot with the droid. "Pew," he aimed straight for N4-X4's back, ready to pull the trigger.

@Where @Darasuum @Chromatic

 

[Naxa]

Spoiler: Music

It was inevitable to attract attention. But the droid had made calculations in the event that a fast response was issued. It only needed a small window to accomplish its mission. The resounding thrum of the razorfin's engines joined the wine of the limo's engines, alerting the droid on the roof to the Gunslinger's approach. There was not a lot of cover or places to hide in the sky which was both a boon and a curse depending on how long Naxa remained aloft.

Still, if the droid was organic it might marvel at the chances of Preef Callo being the person to be the first to come to the Mayor, and their bodyguard's aid. The droid had files on the rodian since that fateful day on Mygeeto. The Gunslinger likely had a score to settle with the BX commando droid while N4-X4 could not care less about any personal dealings with the former asset.

The droid's right hand continued to fire twice into the already made holes, aiming the heavy blaster bolts at the Mayor while the droid skirted around the roof towards the side furthest from the approaching Syndicate gunslinger. The Mandalorian body guard would have to dive in the way of the damaging shots or the Mayor would lose their life. They were two fish in a barrel but it hardly made a difference that one of them was armored. If the Mandalorian was taken out, then it would only delay the inevitable.

Like N4-X4, Preef liked his hard hitting weaponry. The droid would keep the bottoms of its feet connected to the outer hull of the limousine while keeping the vehicle between him and the Rodian escort. The ascension gun attachment combined with Naxa's magnetic droid feet that would never tire was the droid's best defense. Moving to the far side of the limo, the droid would fire twice more into the airspeeder through a window this time.

The heavy blaster bolts would easily punch through any not-already broken windows at high speed and strike its target beyond. This was due to notable power of the blaster itself and the magnetic accelerator modified into the blaster arm. The attack would be a devastating and unexpected follow up to the earlier barrage from overhead, one that would likely kill both of the occupants.

If Preef wanted to shoot at N4-X4 they would be firing through the airspeeder and into the Mayor and their Mandalorian bodyguard, if they were still alive at this point. The droid of course, would also still have a very narrow profile, making this ideal cover while maximizing efficiency for executing their goal. Afterall, it was just such a dangerous maneuver that the droid had tried to convince Preef of completing back on Mygeeto. A one in a million shot that he had refused. The droid calculated the Rodian would try to find some other way to deal with them.

Spoiler: TL;DR

Naxa shoots into the limo 2 more times with their armblaster. They then go to the far side of the limo and are over the side of it to use it as cover against Preef whilst firing into the cabin of the airspeeder with their armblaster. They maintain a hold of the limo thanks to their magnetic feet and ascension gun.

@Eccle

 

[Preef Callo]

Although it should have been impossible to notice Preef's approach, somehow the droid did just that and seemed to change its tactics because of it. It fired twice into the speeder with the heavy blaster inside its arm. The droid was trying to shoot through earlier made holes, while standing on top of a speeder that was trying to shake an assailant and had a top speed of over a thousand kilometers per hour. Luckily for both of them, the limo was going only half of that as it swirled through Coruscant traffic, allowing Preef's swoop to keep up, but still making the intended shots more difficult than the droid had perhaps calculated.

As a result, one of its shots hit the speeder's roof, burning away another hole, but not going so far as to get through towards the Mayor. The second one was tanked by the Mandalorian's chestplate and he collided with the Mayor as the now wounded Mandalorian fell on top of him.

Meanwhile Preef was at forty meters and pulled the swoop bike backwards and lowered his body down to the right side of the bike as he reached the absolute maximum speed, allowing him both altitude and an onubstructed view. What he did next would have been impossible for anyone else but the legendary gunslinger.

As N4-X4 moved to the far side of the limo, the rodian pulled the trigger once for an aimed shot right at the droid's torso. It was slow to move out of the way due to its magnetic grip on the speeder and its calculations probably wouldn't account for the slim chance of a shot like this succeeding, regardless of whether or not he had a "file on him". Best chance it had was to abandon its attempt at the mayor's life.

Spoiler: tldr

Preef shoots once. If N4-X4 persists on its action to fire through the window the shot will hit its mark.

@Where @Darasuum @Chromatic

 

[Naxa]

The Rodian was unaware, but BX commando droids often rode on the backs of metal gunships during the clone wars at high speeds and it was one of their primary purposes. A common and effective tactic that the machines of death knew how to deal with. The unorthodox method of combat was intended to be off-putting while not limiting the droid’s own ability to execute its protocols effectively, not to mention it demoralized an enemy when their killers were flying towards them atop metal beasts sporting cannons. In this case, it worked very well to assassinate Airan Haren and defend against a renown gunslinger.

The first shot made an additional hole in the roof while the second had better results. The Mandalorian inside the limo would be subject to the receiving end of N4-X4’s blaster arm and their chestplate would do its best to attenuate the damage but the wound was fatal. The defensive armor would possibly save the Mandalorian in the long run, and prolong the Mayor’s life by a few seconds, but nothing more. Once the Mandalorian was down and out with the Mayor pinned under their mass, N4-X4 would raise the weapon toward Preef's ride and fire a shot towards the front of the gunslinger's swoop bike which extended a few meters ahead of its driver and made for an optimal target.

The droid continued to move along the roof as it fired the blaster bolt from its arm and would do its best to evade any incoming shots. Keeping a photorecptor on the Rodian, the droid moved to the front of the limo which was furthest from Preef even as they tried to maneuver to get a bead on the agile machine. But the swoop bike was struggling to keep pace and the droid was moving out of range with every few steps. This would allow them to also be out of range of Preef's peacemaker while the swoop bike's front would still be subjected to N4-X4's weapon of choice.

The shot towards the swoop bike would be singular and at high speed thanks to the nature of the integrated M3 pistol built into the droid's arm. While the weapon had significant recoil normally, the pistol was built into the solid arm of the BX commando droid which mitigated some of the recoil. Normally the ability to fire a weapon comfortably came into effect for organics, but a droid had no such cares and simply compensated for recoil regardless of how jarring it felt or how harsh the grip was.

While the droid was a relatively narrow and literally skeletal figure, the swoop bike was a much larger target and harder to maneuver without veering drastically off course and giving the droid the desired breathing room. Preef had a choice, ditch the swoop bike or fly away from the retaliating murder machine. But he was hanging awkwardly off the side which would make that difficult.

The Rodian was willing to fire down at the droid while it stood on the craft that held the individual he was hired to guard and one of their own men. It would look bad if the person in charge of protecting the politician ended up being the one responsible for killing them but the droid was not an expert on public relations. A blaster bolt fired by the rodian would risk hitting the mayor if he ended up pulling the trigger carelessly.

Commando droids were known for their slim profile and furthermore their hardy armor chassis and quick maneuvering. Even if the Rodian managed to land a single shot, at the risk of the health of those inside, the droid was not guaranteed to be permanently disabled. The two of them were both at the maximum range of their weapons but the droid had a slight advantage and continued to make it a difficult shot for Preef. The limousine was in the lead and the Rodian would be flying into Naxa's blaster bolts while his own struggled to reach the droid atop a flying airspeeder. If Naxa were not a droid they might have found it amusing to watch the Rodian's disbelief as one of his heavy bolts fizzled out before touching the droid's scatterweave coated skin. This was minor, but every aid helped when it came to calculating the odds against someone like Preef Callo.

Spoiler: TL;DR

The mando inside is more or less KOd. Naxa fires a shot up at Preef's swoop bike as he tries to keep up and moves towards the front of the limo's roof. He tries to "walk" out of range of Preef.

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

Surprisingly, the droid followed up its slow rate of firing into the speeder to turn much of its body towards the rodian as it made its way down the vehicle. It's blaster arm, though more inaccurate than a normal blaster, was turning towards the rodian -doubtless to shoot at him- so Preef wasted no time. Fortunately the rodian already had his blaster ready and pulled the trigger, firing towards the droid's torso before the latter fully managed to aim the blaster pistol hidding up its arm. Just in case the droid managed to pull off a shot before getting hit itself, Preef leaned more heavily on the right side of the speeder, forcing it to bank to the right and evade the droid's shot. Their high speed, the reduced accuracy, the moving targets and the fact the droid had been moving itself had made it less accurate and allowed for the rodian to evade it rather easily.

Preef's shot, however, would reach its mark as intended. The rodian gunslinger was legendary for his skill with a blaster pistol -notably the very blaster pistol he was shooting with now- and for him the shot that would've been impossible to pull off for anyone else, seemed mere child's play.

As the rodian banked right, it's altitude dropped back to be on the same level as the limo. "Driver, decrease power to a stop." he told the limo's driver as they decellerated together. Preef stayed alert to potential attacks, but he knew his shot would've landed and it was more likely the droid was largely unpowered to keep the magboots active. N4-X4 had been involved in their shared profession for a long time and adding it to the crew would be more useful than scrapping it.

Meanwhile the Mandalorian -while wounded- lay on top of the Mayor and thus shielded him from more blaster fire as they lay between the seats of the limo.

Spoiler: OOC

TLDR: Preef pulls the trigger of his peacemaker before N4-X4 is able to turn his arm enough towards the rodian to shoot. The timing of the shot, together with the slow rate of fire from the blaster arm, makes it nigh impossible to block. Just in case the droid gets a shot off before being hit, Preef banks to the right to avoid the shot directed at him.

@Where @Darasuum @Chromatic

 

[Naxa]

The droid only needed to hit its target once. However that would not happen as the renown marksman shot a blaster bolt at the commando droid. The contact point was none other than the blaster arm N4-X4 had been aiming at Preef Callo with. The durable metallic arm was maybe capable of weathering a blaster bolt under ordinary circumstances, but with the arm in its pistol configuration was much more susceptible to the Peacemaker's bolt. After the initial sparks disappeared, the droid's right arm was revealed to be curled back in metal pieces from just below the elbow like a shredded blunderbuss or chaotic metallic flower. Thankfully no vital systems had been damaged though the loss of a limb was significant.

The damaging affect of the heavy blaster pistol was enough to overload the droid's sensory receptors. As the Rodian began to bank and maneuver, the droid clung to the pistol in its left hand for as long as possible, its anchor not reliant on the droid's own power. The would-be assassin dropped down to its knees as its leg servos struggled to keep the machine's torso up while its photoreceptors flickered, catching its last glimpse of the Mandalorian and the Mayor inside. The magnetic bottoms of the droid's feet stuttered in their activation causing the BX commando droid to begin sliding only to fully slip off the roof of the limo and begin falling as the vehicle decelerated rapidly.

The mayor's vehicle continued to approach a rooftop garden hosting a dinner party per the gunslinger's direction, but the droid would fall into a passing open industrial airtruck carrying garbage and refuse,. The droid's nightstinger pistol would remain behind, connected to the roof via the ascension cable. The droid's scatterweave silhouette would be easily lost and neigh undetectable among the trash. It would be some time before the droid would be able to pull themselves out of the heap and make repairs. But by then they would be far away from any risk of capture or injury.

Exit Attempt

Spoiler: TL;DR

Naxa loses their right blaster arm and succumbs to sensory overload. They fall off the roof of the limo as it's slowing down and drop into a flying garbage truck below, as they glitch out which begins taking them away from the crime scene.

@Eccles

 

[Preef Callo]

By the time Preef reached the limo, the Mayor had already crawled out from underneath the Mandalorian and was applying medical help with the mandatory first aid kit inside the speeder. The Mandalorian -Wendall Solus- would survive just fine but it was fortunate that he wasn't one of the zealots following 'The Way' for the Mayor had in her effort to save the man removed his helmet. As Preef entered the speeder the Mayor was just injecting Wendall with a systech adrenal stim and immediately the Mandalorian's eyes opened.

"Good job, Airen-" the rodian smiled at her and gently patted the Mandalorian on his shoulder to signal to him that the danger was over, he did a good job and it was okay to rest a bit. Preef and the Mayor knew each other and for that very reason the latter had contacted the Zaa Fenn, but the rodian looked at her in a way that betrayed suspicion. "The attacker was N4-X4," he said, "former head of security of MorataCorp."

The gears in the Mayor's brain started turning rapidly, but didn't seem to come to an obvious conclusion. "I've never had beef with MorataCorp. I turned a blind eye to them selling spice from their dispensaries at the Zaa Fenn's request," which was her way of saying that the corporation should've been grateful to her as their guardian angel on Coruscant, and so did the Zaa Fenn owe her a favor. One she had now cashed in.

The rodian was quiet for a second as the shot-up speeder arrived at the garden party the Mayor was supposed to attend this evening. "Anything else you've done lately that would warrant sending an assassin droid after you?" he finally asked as his right hand subconsciously rested on his holstered blaster. Airen shook her head at first, but then seemed to consider something; "I increased taxes on the wealthy?" something passed between them, an understanding, that answered the question they had been trying to figure out. If anyone had the funds and the callousness to send an assassin droid after a political figure over something so trivial as taxes, then it was that one group that had so many credits they most likely didn't even notice the on their balance sheets.

Spoiler: OOC

N4-X4 succesfully escapes with the trash.

@Where @Darasuum @Chromatic