Ask Sernpidal Cry for Help

[Hailee Lightwood]

Sernpidal


Hailee couldn't believe that she had entered the ship to start her second official mission as a Jedi Padawan. She was not only leaving the temple grounds grounds, but this time they were also leaving the planet and they were heading to the Junevial system. Hailee was extremely excited but she tried to suppress her emotions as best as she could, but as soon as they had left the atmosphere and were jumping into hyperspace, it became increasingly more difficult. The last mission on Yavin had been intense beyond believe and none of the four Jedi had left the fight unscathed...

She was hoping that it would be different this time, since it was only the two of them anyways. They had received a call from the planet Sernpidal and had immediately started their journey. The Jedi there were in desperate need for urgent help as they were dealing with a series of hideous, still unsolved cases of crime and the pure act of listening to their reports had triggered Hailee immensely. Due to her past, she could perhaps relate better than anyone involved so far. She had been entlanged in the dark structures of Corellia's crime for many years, so she knew a lot about dirty tricks and strategies and that was why she felt rather confidently with this mission. She wanted to help the people there above all else and so she was very eager to get started. Once they had made it into hyperspace, she glanced over to her master, Pêro, who seemed extremely calm and balanced as always. "Are we going to start the investigations on our own, or will there by other Jedi joining us?", she asked him curiously, a slight, excited smile on her lips.


@LouJoVi

 

[Pêro Erval]

During their entire trip to Sernpidal, Pêro noticed how Hailee was excited about it. The Knight was happy that she was feeling this way. While her first mission had been successful, facing a ferocious beast wasn’t something that a Padawan should face so early on in their training.

At least this time they were going to deal with typical criminal cases, even if a bit disturbing. Sernpidal was one of the few openly pro-Jedi planets in the Galaxy. With how the people were being hostile to the Order these days, they couldn’t ignore when one of their allies asked for help.

“No, this will be only the two of us.” Pêro answered his Padawan, while watching the ship leave hyperspace. The Council had considered that it wasn’t necessary to send more Jedi to investigate what was happening at the planet. Of course, they could still call for help if necessary.

While the ship started to land, Pêro gave more instructions to his Padawan. “Once we land, we are going to meet with a representative of the government. They will give us more details about the investigation.” the G’weneen only hoped that it would not be gruesome like what was said to them back in the temple.

@LadyRen

 

[Hailee Lightwood]

It had seemed like after defeating the beast and saving the youngling she had hardly gotten any rest, but she hadn't even wanted to take a break. Her life had become exciting in different, much more positive ways and she enjoyed every last part of it.

Pêro did a great job as her master. Of course she couldn't compare her experience with him to anything else, but she was still completely satisfied with what he was doing and how she carried out her training. He was still rather serious, but also soft and sensitive enough and she was still unbelievably grateful for what he had done for her.

She nodded when he answered her question before she found herself drifting into thoughts. She was indeed wondering how this mission would commence. Those behind crimes were usually shitty scumbags to she couldn't wait to interfere with their plans, but she also knew how dangerous that could be, especially if it was only the two of them.

On Corellia, the criminal bosses had been all well connected and manipulating their work had been indeed difficult, but she wanted to remain optimistic for the sake of this mission. "Okay fair enough. If we don't get enough information out of it, we might as have to start investigating on our own", she then answered more serious than usual. If they wanted to stop them, they had to be careful...They were now already approaching the spaceport but Hailee was not actually nervous. She was rather confident to get started.

@LouJoVi

 

[Pêro Erval]

”Well, if it ends being the case, we are lucky that I brought it.” Pêro pointed to a box that was in one of the empty seats of the ship. It was full of items that the Jedi Investigators used during their missions. Before they left the Temple, the G’weneen had picked it with the Investigators. There could be useful things inside it that they could use during their investigation.

After the ship landed, Pêro left it with Hailee. As soon as they walked down the landing ramp, the two Jedi were met by a finely dressed male Sernpidalian. The Knight considered that he was the representative that they were going to meet “Hello, sir. I’m Jedi Knight Pêro Erval and this is my Padawan, Hailee Lightwood. We came to help.”

The Sernpidalian approached them with a smile on his lips. “Welcome! My name is Marth Luska, secretary of the governor. I welcome you two to Senrpidal!” he said, while opening his arms as if wanting to show the city behind him. “She sent me to guide you two to her office. Follow me, please.” he hurried toward the exit of the spaceport.

“We are happy to be able to help.” he said, before following the Sernpidalian. Pêro was carrying the box with the material that they would need to use for the investigation. Hopefully the authorities would be able to give them more details about what was happening.

@LadyRen

 

[Hailee Lightwood]

Hailee curiosly eyed the box, wondering what exactly he had managed to borrow but she figured she'd find out soon enough and all she needed was a little patience, so she simply glanced down at it before she looked at him with a smile on her lips. "Let's just hope we won't encounter any problems".

Soon they were already on the ground and leaving the ship and Hailee put on a friendly smile as she approached the Sernpidalian representative. She nodded and slightly bowed politely when Pêro introduced her before she listened attentively to what he had to say. Hailee immediately followed the secretary while she let her gaze wander across the scenery of this unknown city.

Once they were starting to move towards the port's exit, she shifted her gaze onto the secretary, wondering whether she should already chime in, but she managed to hold herself back for now. She had a thousand questions, but it seemed like they would get their information once they were inside the governor's office.

@LouJoVi

 

[Pêro Erval]

They followed the secretary out of the spaceport. There was a speeder waiting for them outside. Marth entered first, with the Jedi soon following him. The Sernpidalian would remain in silence during the entire trip to the gubernatorial building. Pêro could feel that he was apprehensive about something.

When they arrived in front of the building, Marth was fast in leaving the speeder. Pêro thought that it made the Sernpidalian look as if he was afraid of staying in the street. The G’weneen wondered if he was acting this way because of the investigation. Were the things on the planet so terrible that it was dangerous to walk in the streets?

Marth guided the two Jedi through the building. While they walked, Pêro noticed that some of the workers were staring at them. The way that they looked at them wasn’t aggressive. It seemed to be more close to hopeful. Now the Knight was concerned about what could be happening to make them act this way.

They would stop in front of agread door made of wood. “Excuse me, I’ll tell the governor that we have arrived.” then, he entered the room. Now that they were alone, Pêro turned to look at his Padawan. “Did you notice how the people around here are acting? I believe that things here are worse than they told the Council.”

Before he could say anything else, the Sernpidalian returned. “You can enter! The governor is waiting for you two.” Marth said, before moving to give them access to the room. Pêro would walk toward it, expecting that Hailee would follow him. He was curious to know what was happening on this planet.

@LadyRen

 

[Hailee Lightwood]

They walked in silence but Hailee could not only dense the secretary's inner tension and nervousity, but even see it in his every movement. She watched him attentively, perhaps even eyed him slightly critically as she was subtlety suspicious of this whole situation.

She wondered how bad the situation here on Sernpidal actually was since the secretary seemed to be afraid of even staying outside on the streets for too long, but she also knew that they would be entrusted with details soon. Or least she hoped so, that was why she kept holding herself back, not asking the anxious secretary questions right away.

While they were in the speeder she observed the surroundings carefully, but everything seemed rather calm for now...However, she knew far too well that the calm could be deceptive and thus she remained cautious and observant, even when they alighted and entered the building.

It didn't go unnoticed that the workers watched them closely, but rather with a mix of hope and curiosity instead of suspicion. Hailee couldn't shake the feeling that the situation on Sernpidal was worse than assumed. "I agree. They all seem frightened...", she replied in a low voice, not wanting to be overheard by anyone while she frowned a bit worriedly. So far, it didn't seem like they were watched or that danger was close, but she couldn't deny that there was something about this place that didn't feel right.

Before she could continue the conversation with her master, however, they were allowed to enter and so she followed him inside, her eyes immediately landing on the governor who turned out to be a middle aged, grey haired woman who was forcing herself to a welcoming smile. Behind her fassade, Hailee could sense that she was deeply worried to and she wasted no time before she started to talk.

"Welcome, Jedi, and thank you very much for your coming. We are in...admittedly urgent need for help as Sernpidal is hit by a wave of terrible, unrelenting crimes. I'm not talking about spice trading, but there are open assaults on the streets. The civilization is frightened and the attackers seem to strike out of nowhere, evoking terror everywhere they attack. The authorities are assuming that they are looking for a specific target, but we struggle to find a pattern...". The more she said, the more excited her voice got. It was obvious that she was desperate, otherwise she probably wouldn't had been this direct, but what she described sounded indeed odd and brutal. Hailee wondered whether those criminals were simply attempting to provoke chaos and fear or whether they were indeed aiming at an obvious target, perhaps like the governor herself. Hailee glanced back at her master, wanting to allow him to do the talking first.

@LouJoVi

 

[Pêro Erval]

After hearing what his Padawan had said, Pêro nodded in agreement. Hailee's ability in feeling the emotions of those around her was getting better. Marth could be acting as if he was calm, but the Jedi could feel perfectly what he was trying to hide. He was nervous and even afraid.

When they entered the room to meet the governor, Pêro could feel that she was also trying to hide her apprehension behind a sympathetic smile. If even the leader of the planet was feeling this way, then he was right in believing that the problem was larger than they had been informed previously.

While the Governor talked, Pêro rubbed his chin thoughtfully. People being assaulted in the streets and attacks coming from nowhere. It was no surprise that the citizens were so afraid in the streets. All that was happening here was very strange and didn’t match the way of acting of any normal criminal, not even the Syndicates of the crime.

Once the Governor finished talking, the Knight turned to her. “We’ll do everything that we can to help stop these attacks.” a Jedi would never deny help for those in need. “To begin, I would like to visit the place of the most recent attack and a list of those that were attacked. There could clues left behind.”

@LadyRen

 

[Hailee Lightwood]

This just became more and more terrifying. Also interesting in a waybas Hailee was eager to put a quick end to that, but one the other hand this sounded like so much more than expected.

She tried her best to maintain her composure, but this somehow reminded her too much of Corellia...Those crimes sounded terrible and they had to be stopped, but at the same time it seemed like they had many traces to following and that it was almost difficult to determine where to start.

It worried Hailee that the Govenor seemed so fully desperate and frightened as this was probably exactly what those behind those crimes wanted: To spread terror and intimidate the authorities. Hailee nodded in agreement as Pêro outlined exactly what she had in mind herself.

They needed evidence, if the local authorities had managed to collect anything yet and at the same time they needed to investigate, trying to find patterns or even motives. "Sure...I'll transmit all the data and footage we have...but it's hardly anything useful. Those attacks were so scattered and there were too many, so that it was hard to keep track. That's why we sent for help. There is so much going on and we really need help...Perhaps the people can help", the desperation in her voice grew even more.

@LouJoVi

 

[Pêro Erval]

Pêro wanted to sigh when the Governor answered his question. The lack of information about the attacks would make the investigation more difficult, but not impossible. The two Jedi would only need to work more to find the necessary information to solve these crimes.

Once the Governor finished talking, Pêro nodded. “I understand. We are going to start searching immediately. You and your people have my word that we are going to make these attacks stop and the responsible will be delivered to justice.” even if it took many days, the Knight would bring some peace to these people. After all, this was the mission of the Jedi.

With the meeting coming to an end, Pêro reassured the Governor that they were going to end the attacks and left the room. While he walked through the corridors, the G’weneen picked his datapad and saw the information that was sent to it. As the Sernpidalian woman had said, there weren’t many things there.

“Well, it’s going to be more difficult than I expected.” he said to Hailee, before passing the Datapad for her to see the data. “However, we need to help these people, even if it’s difficult. This is the mission of the Jedi. We are going to start by talking with the survivors of the attacks. Perhaps they saw who attacked them.”

@LadyRen

 

[Hailee Lightwood]

Of course the situation didn't seem to be easy, but Hailee was eager to put an end to this madness. The case turned out to be much more violent and complicated than assumed, but she was still optimistic to fix this.

After the governor was finished, Hailee nodded affirmatively to signal her understanding, still rather holding herself and allowing her master to do the talking. "Thank you, Govenor. We will help your people", she still ensured her politely with a warm, encouraging smile once they were done with her before they actually started to head out.

Once outside, she immediately turned to her master, slightly frowning while she glanced at his datapad. "Definitely. I completely agree. I might know a thing or two about how they arrange their structures, but it's not so good that we basically start off with nothing. But you're right. Let's change that. Witnesses are always a good place to start", she then agreed with him him a hint of worry in her voice.

She was assuming that the people wouldn't be delighted to see them, or perhaps they would even be afraid to talk to them at all, but they would sure be able to soothe them. After all, they were trying to help and hopefully, they would be able to deal with this problem. "It seems like the first survivor is rather close. It says he's a Nautolan working in a Café close to us", Hailee explained, giving him the data pad back before she let a rather attentive gaze wander across their surroundings.

@LouJoVi

 

[Pêro Erval]

Pêro only nodded at Hailee's answer. He had forgotten that she had a past with criminal groups. While such knowledge could be useful for their investigation, the Knight didn’t want to make her think about it. From their conversations, he came to believe that this part of her life was painful.

“Good idea. We can start by talking with him.” Pêro agreded with Hailee. They should start talking with those that were close to them. Hopefully the Nautolan would talk to them without any problem. However, the G’weneen believed that they should be carefull or they could end up scaring him.

Once they left the building, the two Jedi walked toward the cafe where the victim worked. The place wasn’t different from any other cafe that Pêro had seen on other planets. Even the part of the city that it was located in wasn't seedy or dangerous. It was only a few blocks away from the gubernatorial office. The G’weneen wondered if the attack had happened here.

After they entered the cafe, Pêro saw the Nautolan. He was working by taking orders from the customers and didn’t look as if he was the victim of an attack. The Knight stopped walking and turned to his Padawan. “I’ll let you talk with him first.” this was the first time that she went on such a mission, he wanted to see how she would deal with it.

@LadyRen

 

[Hailee Lightwood]

Hailee immediately nodded to signal her agreement, but she was still not sure whether such a direct approach would be helpful. They unmistakably looked like Jedi and even though Sernpidal was known to be Jedi friendly, Hailee assumed that once anyone would realize that they were trying to investigate the hideous crimes, the people would back off, but she still tried to remain optimistic for now.

It didn't take long for them to reach the designated Café and once they entered, she immediately spotted the Nautolan they were looking for. " Sure, I can do that", she immediately replied confidently with a soft smile as her master urged her to begin and so she cleared her throat before she casually made her way over to the victim.

She kept her voice soft and polite, but waited for him to take the order of the humanoid in front of her first before she raised her own voice. "Hi,-" she began, before he monotonously chimed in: Hi there. May I take your order?". She could not only sense his tension, but there was something in her voice that just told her that he wasn't loving his job and he seemed rather off in general.

Additionally, something in his gaze changed when he eyed her robes for a moment until he also glanced behind her towards Pêro. Suddenly, all that was left was anxiety."Don't worry. We are here to help but perhaps we could take this conversation somewhere else" she suggested, anticipating that he would probably prefer not to be seen together with them. The Nautolan nodded hesitantly before he nervously glanced around, but as far as Hailee could see it, they were not watched yet."S-Sure...We've got a small room for us waiters. I can take you there...my coworker can take over". His eyes still widened he still looked around rather nervously but it seemed like he would be willing to talk. Hailee nodded softly, trying to keep her presence calming but she quickly glanced but to her master to see whether he was approving of entering the back room.

@LouJoVi

 

[Pêro Erval]

”I believe in you.” Pêro smiled at Hailee. While she wasn’t a very talkative type, the G’weneen believed that his Padawan was still outgoing enough to proceed with talking with the victim. Even if she wasn’t, doing it here would be a good experience for her to use in the future.

With a last encouraging nod of his head, Pêro watched Hailee walk toward the Nautolan. While she was going to ask the questions alone, the Knight would still remain watching her closely. There weren't many details about this Nautolan. As far as they know, the guy could be dangerous.

He paid close attention to the interaction of his Padawan with the Nautolan. Pêro watched the guy’s reaction to Hailee. As the Knight had expected, the victim seemed to be surprised or even afraid with the presence of the two Jedi. Such reactions are becoming unpleasantly common these days.

When the Nautolan mentioned that he could talk with Hailee in the back room, Pêro immediately walked toward the two. “Of course. As my Padawan said, we want to help.’” he would allow the girl to proceed, but he was going to stay close to her. Who knows if the other wasn’t planning something against the two.

@LadyRen

 

[Hailee Lightwood]

Hailee had appreciated her master's encouragement strongly, but she was confident nonetheless herself anyway. It was her specialty. For most of her life she had been forced to make people talk, one way or another even though she knew exactly which ways she usually preferred.

So far, however, everything seemed to work according to their plan anyway. The Nautolan was still, uncertain, but she couldn't sense any bad intentions and she was convinced that Pêro had reacted differently if he had sensed something shady. She smiled warmly at the Nautolan, hoping to encourage him further while she still tried to soothe him with her aura. She had learnt this trick from her master as he always used to do the same to her, and now she could finally gain some first hand experience.

Once Pêro supported her statement he started moving before he went over to his coworker and informed her to take over for a moment. He then led them towards the back until they've reached a small kitchen area with a couch in the left corner. He nervously gestured for them to sit while he did the same but Hailee could still see how uncomfortable he felt.

"Okay...so I really...don't want any trouble", he began with a shaky voice. "It's okay. We will guarantee your protection. All we want is to stop those hideous crimes so we would need a few information on the attackers", Hailee replied softly, her voice as calm as possible.

@LouJoVi

 

[Pêro Erval]

Pêro saw the Nautolan walk toward one of his coworkers, probably to ask her to cover his spot while they talked. The G’weneen could feel how he was still nervous, even after the two Jedi reassured him that they were there to help. He wondered if this fear was because of the attack or because they were part of the Order.

Once he finished talking, the Nautolan guided them toward the back room. It wasn’t more than a small kitchen with an old couch. The workers of the cafe probably come here to have a break. Since it wasn’t time for lunch, there was few chances that someone would arrive here to disturb them.

As he had said to Hailee, Pêro would remain quiet while she questioned the Nautolan. The G’weneen would only say something if his Padawan started to have problems with it. This trip wasn’t only a mission, but also an opportunity for her to learn how ro act during an investigation.

@LadyRen

 

[Hailee Lightwood]

Hailee noticed that her Master was still keeping himself in the background, but that was completely fine with her. She was confident to deal with the scared Nautolan on her own, not only in terms of receiving thr information they needed but also in terms of soothing him.

She kept her gaze soft while she was still keeping eye contact, yet his struggle was still visible. "I-I might have something helpful. I've requested the footage from the scene because I knew the shop owner next to the scene. I wanted to visit the local securities, but a friend has given me his words of warning. If I would start contacting them, they would kill me. That's what he said and so I kept it to myself...", he went on quietly and still very nervously.

Now that was interesting. Not that he passed footage, but Hailee definitely wanted to talk to this friend as even words of warning could be deceitful. "Would you ming handing the footage over to us? We are no local authorities, so no one would notice anything. We really want to help and this footage could support our investigations strongly. Also, would you be willing to share details of that friend of yours? Perhaps asking him would also help us", Hailee replied softly, giving him another encouraging nod. He considered her statement for a while before he hesitantly reached inside his pocket to pull ot his datapad. "I can transmit it...".

@LouJoVi

 

[Pêro Erval]

Pêro remained in silence while the Nautolan answered Hailee. If he really had the footage of what happened that day, then their investigation was going to become a bit easier. The Knight could feel how uncertain the Nautolan was about what he was saying. He was still afraid, even if they were in this safe place.

“Thank you, it would be very helpful.” the G’weneen finally said, after the Nautolan said that he could transmit the footage for them. Pêro picked his Datapad and gave the other his contact. While shaking a bit, the Nautolan transmitted the information for them. Now the two Jedi would only need to find a place to see it.

“Once again, thank you for your cooperation. We are going to do everything in our power to discover what is happening and stop it.” Pêro wasn’t going to allow more people to be attacked or to live in fear like the Nautolan. It was the mission of the Jedi to protect the innocent and it was what they were going to do now.

He turned to Hailee. “We need to go now. We need to watch this footage and see what can help us with the investigation.” hopefully there would be more clues on it that they could use, or perhaps even the face of the culprits for the attacks.

@LadyRen

 

[Hailee Lightwood]

Hailee softly smiled at the Nautolan in order to encourage him but his hands were actually shaking. Whatever was going on here and whatever happened to him was terrible. He finally did transmit the data but she was almost feeling bad for all those emotions the Nautolan radiated.

"Thank you. Yes, we truly appreciate your help. We will end this and this is a promise", she assured him softly before she slowly got up. He nodded, but he still realized rather hesitant. She appreciated his openness and bravery nonetheless and nodded at her master's statement again.

With one last glance at the frightened Nautolan she headed towards the door with Pêro, not quite sure where they should go next. "Yes...we need to find a place that hasn't got any surveillance cameras...It might be gross but I've seen a public restroom" she suggested, actually being serious about it.

She still shrugged as this idea was rather unconventional but it was indeed not a bad idea. She glanced up to her master and waited for his answer and if he would agree they'd be headed towards the said restroom. Otherwise they would still made their way out.

@LouJoVi

 

[Pêro Erval]

Suddenly Pêro stopped walking. He slowly turned to look at his Padawan, as if a third eye had appeared in the middle of her forehead. “Why should we use a public restroom? I was going to propose that we should return to the ship.” it would be the most obvious thing for them to do, after all they have the devices and items given by the Jedi Investigators to be used in the investigation.

If Hailee had no objection to this idea, Pêro would guide his Padawan out of the cafe and toward the street. There, the two Jedi would take a cab and travel back to the spaceport where they had landed. Inside the ship they would have privacity, without the foul smell of a public restroom.

Once inside the ship, Pêro would prepare his Datapad to transmit the recording of the attack to the shuttle’s screen. This way they would have a better vision of it, while being capable to discuss what they were seeing. He also programmed it to give them the best resolution possible.

After he finished, the Knight turned to Hailee. “I’ll start the video of the attack. Pay attention to any detail that could be useful for the investigation.” hopefully, two pairs of eyes would be good enough to find any clue to help end these attacks.

@LadyRen