Ask The Game

[Trys Aran]

The girl’s words gave Trys pause, but she didn’t display any concerns externally, “Witness confidentiality is our number one priority. You’ll always be protected and safe,” She explained and was genuine about it. There had been more than a few share of corrupt Rangers that let things slip for some extra cash.

After Lena began revealing some very insightful information, Trys quickly noted it all down. When the girl began to break down, Trys reached a hand over to place on her shoulder to comfort her, “It’s okay, none of this was your fault. Elyna made her own choices and you couldn’t have done anything to change that,” Trys drew back when Lena stopped crying enough to be able to speak again.

“Did she say anything else about this guy? Was he a lot older? Anything about his profession? Did he take her places?” She knew she was peppering the questions, but Trys needed a lead on the guy.

---​

“Oh my god!” Reyna gasped and clasped her hands to her mouth at the news. A few other workers looked over, and she quickly looked down, allowing a moment before people stopped glancing over. She looked mortified, shaking her head before looking at Nick again.

“That’s...that’s awful,” She said after a while, “Mr. Quinn didn’t act off really,” Reyna thought for a long moment, her eyes widening slightly, “But I do have some insight on the daughter. There was one night… Mr. Quinn got me a job working as a server at this very fancy gala he and other important people were attending. I had to pretend he and I weren’t..” She was clearly ashamed of everything from the past, “But I did notice him there with his daughter then. When I was coming back with a tray of drinks down a corridor, I saw her and this much older businessman arguing. She was demanding to know about the plans to move out to Naboo and when he would leave his wife,” Reyna grimaced, “I felt vile eavesdropping, but I remember it was so bizarre because she was just a teen and he was easily in his forties or early fifties.”

 

[Nick Shaw]

Lena was still worried but something about the Sector Ranger was reassuring to her. When she was told it wasn't her fault, a massive weight was lifted off her shoulders and her crying doubled in intensity. Emotions she had bottled up now finally free.

A few moments passed and the Ranger asked a few more questions. Lena rubbed about her eyes, sniffling as she tried to calm herself down. "I..uhhh.." she said thinking about the question. "I saw him once, kind of through a speeder window. He was older, kind of bald. He gave me the creeps." she said before answering the other questions after taking a second to breathe. "She said something about him working in the government and that they were going to leave Coruscant someday."

"There was also something..." she was interrupted when there was a pounding at the door. Lena nearly jumped out of her skin as she looked at Trys in panic.

---

He let the woman think for a moment after he had told her what happened, giving her time to process it. She seemed genially surprised by the news.

Nick wrote down her story, not interrupting the woman. This was something he would need to follow up on. "Do you have any idea who this man was? A name? or maybe a description?" he asked looking up from his pad.

 

[Trys Aran]

As soon as the pounding on the door began, Trys quickly looked back. She turned to look at Lena and spoke very quietly, “Are you expecting anyone?” She didn’t guess so by the way she looked so afraid. Trys reached for the blaster on her waist and urged her to go into one of the side rooms.

Meanwhile, Trys cautiously approached the door, maintaining enough distance to where her shadow couldn’t be seen below the door to suggest anyone was home. She walked over to one of the side windows and pressed herself against the adjacent wall, peeking through a sliver of the curtain to see who was outside.

---​

Reyna shrugged helplessly, “He was starting to bald and I remember her yelling at him about how he could be involved in the tibanna gas trade and still not manage to get them off planet. I would be able to describe him to an artist or something if that helps...but I really didn’t stick around to figure out who he was. I felt bad enough eavesdropping like that,” Her bottom lip began to quiver, “I just..” Reyna looked around nervously, “Promise me none of this will get out. I will get fired if I get mixed up in some criminal case.”

 

[Nick Shaw]

"Noo." the girl said in a hushed whisper. The panic was obvious in her voice. She ducked behind a table, whispering to herself as she started to rock slightly.

When Trys looked out of the curtain she would see two men wearing suits but it was obvious they had some body armor underneath as well. They both wore earpieces and both had their blasters drawn. One man took a step forward and banged on the door again. He turned to the other man. "Get this door open," he said, the sound muffled through the wall. The second man looked both directions before pulling out a small slicer's deck and started peeling back the door panel.

--

He jotted down the information before folding the note pad and placing it back in his jacket pocket. She wouldn't be the first person to be worried about the repercussions of cooperating with Law Enforcement.

"The secret is safe with me," he said with a bit of a grin. "You have been a great help," he spoke before pulling out a business card and handing it to the woman. "Here is my card. If anything else comes to mind please reach out," he said as he moved to stand.

"Thank you for your time, mam," he spoke with a nod before leaving.

He pulled out his communicator and started typing a message to his partner. "Got a lead on another suspect. Hows your angle coming?" he hit sent and put his communicator away as he stepped out into the sunlight.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys spotted that they had lethal blasters on them, and she could make out armor under their clothing. She cursed to herself mentally and quietly stepped away from the window. Trys made her way towards where she had sent Lena, bringing a finger to her lips to tell the twi’lek to be quiet. She leaned in close to the girl, “It’s dangerous,” She whispered, “Is there another way out of this place?”

Granted that she had an idea, Trys would quietly follow her to the back. She did her best to remain quiet and not let on that there was anybody home. They only had precious moments to get out before the people up front burst in. Trys was counting on the two men bursting in and looking around aimlessly for Lena for a while.

Of course this was all up to how calm Lena was throughout the ordeal…

When Nick’s message came in, Trys rapidly sent a message back - “Need backup stat - two armed men,” followed by the address of her location.

 

[Nick Shaw]

The message came just as he reached his speeder bike. "On my way." he sent back. He sprinted the rest of the way and sped off, weaving in and out of traffic. He wasn't far, but it would still take precious minutes for him to arrive. He cursed as he zipped around, over and under the heavy Coruscant traffic. He transmitted the location and code indicating an officer was in urgent need of back up. CSF was usually pretty slow but atleast they would be on the way if there was more than they could handle.

---
​

Lena stared at the floor, breathing heavily before she regained control. She had been in bad spots before, and panicking never helped anything. She looked up at the Sector Ranger as she warned of the danger. Lena nodded as she pushed herself up to her feet.

"There is a fire escape outside the bedroom window, but its really old and broken in spots. I have only tried it once...It wasn't good." she said.

Even as they talked, the slicing deck was hacking the door. They would only have a minute or so at best to decide if they were going to run or fight.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys nodded at Lena, more than impressed at how calm she appeared, “Okay, let’s go. I’ll go down first and tell you what to watch for,” She turned and rushed towards the bedroom window, opening it looking down. The fire escape was rickety, but she thought it could still support her weight. The back led down into an alleyway with dumpsters on it.

“Okay, here I go,” She looked at Lena reassuringly before she climbed out of the window, “We have to move quick,” Trys said as she began to climb down. The fire escape was shaky, but she thought it could support-

CRAAAAAAASSSSSH!

Trys didn’t make a sound, but she suddenly felt the entire escape just freefall with her on it. She disappeared from Lena’s field of vision and crashed to the bottom of the alley, the escape landing atop her. Trys bit down in pain, and she looked down at her leg. One of them was broken and she could see where the bone pierced through skin and was poking out. She wasn’t going to be going anywhere. The other legs was also badly injured, though not shattered like her left leg.

Worse - Lena was trapped above and the people up front would have heard all of this. Trys tried not to look at her injuries, lying on the ground as severe pain coursed through her entire body. She couldn’t move the escape on her own. She brought a shaky hand up and dialed Shaw, “I’m….badly….hurt and immobile….The girl here needs your help...Do anything you can to get the two men up front away from her,” Trys was fading in and out of consciousness from shock.

 

[Nick Shaw]

Every minute felt like an eternity. He was still several minutes away when his communicator buzzed again. Trys' voice came through. It was obvious she was in pain. "Where are you, Trys. I'm coming to get you," he responded. You always looked out for your partner, in the end, she was his highest priority. "Trys? Are you there? Dammit Trys!" he said pushing his bike even harder.

He switched to a frequency monitored by the local CSF. "This is Sector Ranger Nick Shaw. I have an officer down and am in need of immediate backup and medical assistance," he said as he transmitted her last known location.

When Nick arrived he stormed towards the apartment she had told him they were at. When he arrived, the door was open. With his blaster drawn, he went inside, clearing the apartment. There was no one but he found the lone open window. Looking outside, he spotted the fallen Sector Ranger at the bottom, metal all around her.

He sprinted downstairs as he made his way down towards her. He finally reached her, lifting a bit of the fallen fire escape off of her leg. "Trys, can you hear me?" he asked kneeling beside her as he checked her pulse. "Where the kriff is that ambulance?!" he spoke to himself out loud. "Trys, what happened?" he asked as he started checking her wounds.

 

[Trys Aran]

Trys had lost track of time, and she faded in and out of reality. She could suddenly hear her name echoing as if from far away, and she slowly opened her eyes to see the skies above. The excruciating pain came back to her, and she winced as tears formed at the corners of her eyes. She tilted her head till she could make out a vague profile that slowly took the shape of Nick Shaw.

A whole new wave of pain overwhelmed her when he moved the part of the fire escape. She couldn’t hold her cry back then, her injuries becoming apparent at once. There was blood and bits of bone, and she was entirely incapable of moving.

Trys turned to regard Shaw, feeling a sense of both relief and alarm upon seeing him, “Lena?” She said weakly, “Where is...Lena? The girl….she was in danger…” Why was Nick here instead of chasing after her? She winced as he checked her wounds, the slightest touch causing excruciating agony.

“She was giving me details when two armed men started to break in,” Trys explained weakly, “The fire escape was the only way out,” She paused for a moment, “Thank god I went first...she could have been seriously hurt,” Trys murmured softly, “But she’s probably still in danger,” If he were still checking over her wounds, Trys reached a shaky hand to place over his to stop what he was doing, “You...need to help her...she would have had no chance against those men..”

 

[Nick Shaw]

He listened to her as she spoke but his main attention was on her wounds and stabilizing her the best he could. She winced in pain as he checked her, the sensation of pain was good, it meant shock hadn't settled in.

He listened to his comm, noting the medical assistance he had requested would be arriving soon. He turned back to his partner, "You couldn't let me just have my battle scar, huh, had to go and throw yourself out of a building." he said with a weak laugh as he continued checking her. She reached up and grabbed his hand, cuasing him to give her a worried look. He nodded after she spoke, placing a hand over hers. "We will find her, Trys," he said reassuringly.

A speeder with two medics and a medical droid arrived, and CSF arrived just after they did. As they loaded her onto a stretcher, he stood beside her. "We are gonna catch these goons," he promised her. They loaded her onto a transport and sped off. He wanted to go with her, but they needed to find this girl. It couldn't have been a coincidence that these two showed up the second they started finding leads.