Ask Naboo On the Streets of Theed

[Quin Leonkri]

Quin wasn’t surprised that Elidan had never heard of Agrovale— the place really didn’t have a name except for what the locals had given it. Whoever was in charge of Naboo’s tourism industry certainly wouldn’t be advertising a few crime-ridden streets at the edge of the city. As for Elidan’s comment about Jakku, the knight could only smile.

“I hope so too,” he responded, looking over at his friend. At the very least they would be able to explore the place together this time.

“Nope. All I know is what she told us… so not a lot.” Quin gave Elidan a sideways smile. “You could be right about that. Hutts do tend to be behind a lot more than you’d expect.” He’d almost met Nor’baal himself once, though he was glad that he hadn’t in the end.

A while later, the two Jedi would find themselves at the gates of Agrovale. They weren’t “gates” per se, but it was obvious that one side was the Theed that was advertised while just across the street was the unspoken-of crime sector. The latter side looked gray and bland, trash littering the streets, not at all like the elegant blue-green rooftops and sprawling architecture that characterized the rest of the city.

“This is it,” said Quin, glancing over at Elidan. Then at Nyssa. “Do you think it would be a good idea to bring her in?” He was a little concerned considering that the poachers who had killed her mother most likely hung out here, but surely they wouldn’t dare to attack when she was with two Jedi knights. “I can arrange for her to be picked up if it would be safer.”

His parents wouldn’t mind. Probably.

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

”I’m still unsure about what the woman said.” Elidan frowned, looking at the landscape. The grasslands and lakes were idyllic, the half-Annfyn couldn’t believe that there was a criminal hub in a place like this one. “I mean, she barely knew anything about the kidnaper and was already blaming the Jedi! I thought that people from the ISC trusted us more these days.”

Quin talked about the Hutts with such familiarity that Elidan turned to stare at him, an eyebrow raised. “Did you deal with Hutts before?” he asked, curious to know the experiences of his friend with the famous criminal species. “They don’t seem to be the crowd that you are used to dealing with.” the half-Annfyn teased the human, a smirk appearing at his lips.

When they arrived at Agrovale, Elidan had to take a moment to digest what was in front of him. It looked like the rest of Theed, but the colors of the buildings were so dull. It was also obviously poorer than the rest of the city. The half-Annfyn suddenly felt the urge to offer his help to the people that lived in these conditions.

“Yeah, I think that we should leave her in a safe place.” he said, offering Nyssa’s reins to Quin. It wasn’t safe for her to stay in a place like this one, where poachers could stay. “So, are we simply going to walk inside it? Or do you have a plan?”

@Sicadorito

 

[Quin Leonkri]

Quin couldn’t blame Elidan for doubting what the woman was saying— he had his own doubts too. Although, he was quite familiar with the distrust that the Naboo had for Force-users in general. His own family had their biases, as both Jedi knew, even if the overall attitude had gotten slightly better over the recent years.

“History’s hard to change, I guess,” Quin responded with a half smile at Elidan. At his friend’s comment about the Hutts, he grinned a little more.

“And I’m glad for that. I’ve never actually met a Hutt, but I came pretty close once.” He’d dodged a bullet with that one. At his friend’s smirk, Quin elbowed him lightly in the side before letting out a chuckle himself.

As for Nyssa, the knight had already called for someone to take her back to his family estate. Fortunately, the gualama’s handlers didn’t ask questions about what he and Elidan were doing here at Agrovale, and instead took the reins from him and left quickly. Once they were gone and took Nyssa to a safer place, Quin would answer Elidan’s question with a grin.

“You know me, Eli. When do I ever have a plan?” He puffed out his chest in pride. But they would need to get started soon, so he took the first few steps into the area. Backwards. “Walk in here it is,” he said, spreading his arms. That was when he heard some kind of commotion behind him.

A scream!

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

”I bet that it wasn’t a good experience.” Elidan never met a Hutt, but he had heard a lot of stories about them while working in the Outer Rim. Nothing that was said to him was pleasant, to the point that he half-Annfyn believed that there were little redeeming qualities in that species.

They waited some time for people that worked for Quin’s family to arrive and retrieve Nyssa. Elidan gave her a smile and petted the animal’s head. “It’ll be fine girl, we are going to see you later.” he said, before she was carried away. The gualama seemed very calm with it, which was comforting. He didn’t want to see her in panic.

“Oh, I forgot about your lack of strategy.” Elidan said playfully, while shaking his head. By this point, the half-Annfyn should have gotten used to the fact that his friend really didn’t plan anything beforehand. It meant that they would need to be extra careful when entering Agrovale.

They had barely crossed the entrance of Agrovale and they already found trouble. The screams of a person attracted Elidan’s attention. “We need to see what is happening.” he grabbed Quin’s arm and dragged him toward it. The two Jedi would see a crowd, where a pair of Weequays seemed to be attacking two teenagers.

@Sicadorito

 

[Quin Leonkri]

For a place with such an idyllic sounding name, it was anything but. Quin nearly fell over as he twisted around to see where the scream had come from. Then he almost fell again as Elidan spoke about checking out the situation, grabbed his arm, and then dragged him over. Some things never changed, he thought ruefully— he would always be terrible at strategizing and apparently eager to trip on his own feet too.

However, he managed to regain his balance just in time to see two Weequays assaulting two teenagers.

“Hey! Leave them alone!” Quin yelled. That was enough to get their attention, and one of the Weequays let go of the Mirialan boy in his grasp. The other had the Aqualish girl’s bag in his hands.

Clearly the two didn’t want to have a conversation because they both took off running after that. Concentrating on the Weequay with the bag, Quin would extend a hand and curl his fingers, pulling the thief’s legs out from underneath him. The other continued to run, however, and didn’t even look behind at his partner.

“No! Don’t leave me!” The Weequay with the bag shouted at his friend, and Quin almost felt sorry for him as he dragged him back with the Force.

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan stared at the scene with disgust. These Weequays were full grown adults and were attacking a pair of teenagers that were visibly smaller than them. He saw them fighting for a bag and immediately imagined that the entire situation was a case of theft. Obviously the two Jedi weren’t going to allow that to happen.

Alerted by Quin’s shout, the two Weequays tried to flee in different directions and the Jedi split to deal with them. While his friend went after the one that was carrying the bag, Elidan rushed after the other one. He wasn’t going to let him flee, even if there was nothing stolen in his possessions.

He didn’t deserve to escape from justice.

Before the Weequay could get away, Elidan immobilized him with the Force. Since he was in movement, the criminal didn’t expect the sudden immobilization and he immediately tripped, falling face first on the floor. Then, the half-Annfyn dragged him back using his power. In the end, the two criminals weren’t going to get separated.

“What was happening here?” Elidan said, being one of the few times that he talked to strangers. With his hands busy in maintaining the focus of the Force over the criminal, the half-Annfyn wasn’t able to sign.

@Sicadorito

 

[Quin Leonkri]

As both Weequays were dragged back kicking and screaming like children, Quin glanced at the teenagers to make sure that they were okay. The Mirialan was trying to comfort the Aqualish, who was standing there in utter shock.

The Jedi couldn’t blame them. As he and Elidan brought the criminals back, the two teenagers stopped their conversation and looked down at them, eyes wide. Quin handed the girl’s bag back as Elidan asked the question.

“We were just walking, but then... they were robbing us.” The boy pointed at Elidan’s Weequay. “He grabbed me and tried to take my wallet.” Quin glanced at the girl, but it didn’t look like she was in the mood for talking. Her eyes were as wide as moons and everyone could see that she was still shaking.

“He took her bag.” The Mirialan elaborated for her instead, looking at Quin’s Weequay. His gaze lingered there for a while before finally going up from Quin to Elidan.

“Are you… Jedi?” His voice was awestruck.

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

The Mirialan and Aqualish were visibly nervous with what had happened, with the second being in shock. Elidan couldn’t blame them, they went through a rough moment. Another thing that the half-Annfyn disliked, people that traumatized others. He had a lot of experience with that to know how terrible it was.

The Aqualish girl was so nervous with the situation that she couldn’t talk with them, with the Mirialan boy being the one that explained what had happened. Elidan turned to look at the Weequays, wondering why they were stealing from people that already lived in a place that was poor. Did they even live here too?

Suddenly the crowd started to whisper again, attracting Elidan's attention. He saw how the crowd parted and three figures walked through it. There was a person wearing some type of strange helmet, being surrounded by a large Trandoshan and a Zabrak. The way that people looked at them made the half-Annfyn deduce that they were important here in Agrovale.

They approached them right in the moment that the Mirialan asked if Elidan and Quin were Jedi. “I heard that there had been trouble here.” the helmeted person said, their voice was being muffled by the helmet, but the half-Annfyn was sure that there was a masculine tone here. They looked at the Weekquays, who curled in fear.

Then, they turned to look at the two Knights. “Are you two Jedi?”

@Sicadorito

 

[Quin Leonkri]

Quin had just been about to answer the boy’s question when he suddenly realized that they had drawn a crowd. He exchanged a glance with Elidan, and it seemed that his friend had noticed it too.

His eyes immediately went to the parting in the crowd, where he saw a figure with a very shiny mask helmet thing over their face moving toward the two Jedi. Flanked by a Zabrak and Trandoshan, it did make them appear rather intimidating. Quin’s hand felt drawn to his lightsaber, but he didn’t pick it up just yet.

“I heard that there had been trouble here.” No one answered. Judging by the Weequays’ reactions, Quin knew that there would be more trouble for them if they did. “Are you two Jedi?” Quin’s gaze shot up to meet that of the helmeted man.

“We are.” He shifted to face the newcomer. A quick skim of his outfit gave Quin pause when he saw what looked like a lightsaber hilt at his hip. How odd. “And who are you, sir?”

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

The person with the helmet tilted their head when Quin called them sir, as if they were amused with what they were hearing. “Well, Jedi, I should thank you for taking care of these two trouble makers. Stealing isn’t allowed here in the Agrovale.” they said, turning their attention back to the Weequays.

They were trembling now.

“Now we are going to deal with these two.” the helmeted figure snapped their fingers, signaling for the Trandoshan and the Zabrak to act. The two grabbed the Weequays, prepared to drag them away. Elidan wondered what they were going to do with the criminals, suspecting that it wasn’t going to be something good.

“My name is Zero. Agrovale is now under my administration.” they said, their attention back to the two Knights. “Now is my time to ask questions. What are two Jedi doing on this side of Theed? It isn’t the type of place that people like you are used to visiting. Did you two get lost? Or are you tired of flattering the Queen and decided to visit the poor?” there was sarcasm in their voice.

Elidan already dislikes that person.

@Sicadorito

 

[Quin Leonkri]

Quin hid a frown when the helmeted figure said that stealing wasn’t allowed. Considering that this place had a crime rate higher than the rest of the planet(probably), it was strange to hear. Unless this person meant that there was no stealing allowed… if it wasn’t sanctioned by them.

As the Trandoshan and the Zabrak each grabbed a Weequay by the back of their shirts the way a mother cat carried a naughty kitten, Quin almost felt sorry for them. Even the teenagers looked frightened when the person introduced themselves.

“Thank you for your help, Zero.” Quin didn’t trust this person one bit, especially not with the sarcasm in their voice, and one quick glance at Elidan told him his friend felt the same. “What we’re doing here is Jedi business. Once we’re finished, you won’t have to worry about us.” Despite the overwhelming urge to insult him right back, it wouldn’t be very fitting of a Jedi knight. He was just glad that Nyssa wasn’t here, because if she were he wouldn’t have minded if she planted a solid kick into Zero’s face.

He had to bite his cheek to stop himself from smiling at that image.

“So I’m guessing we’re done here? You have your thieves, and we can go about our business.” Quin crossed his arms, staring back at Zero.

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Zero remained in silence until Quin finished talking. Since they were wearing a helmet, both Jedi couldn’t see how they were reacting to it. Even sensing their feelings through the Force was tricky. The half-Annfyn was nearly certain that they were hiding those in some way, because he could only feel a dull presence.

“It was nothing, Jedi.” Zero said, their voice even sounding a bit sincere. However, Elidan didn’t believe it. “But, I’m worrying about you two now. See, every business that happens in Agrovale leaves me worried.” once he said that, the half-Annfyn immediately understood that they had found the local crime boss.

“Now, Jedi, I want to know what you two are doing here.” Zero crossed their arms, waiting for the answer. “Perhaps I can even help you deal with it.” during this entire conversation, this was the only moment that Elidan felt that the other was being sincere. It was so strange to hear a crime boss offering help.

@Sicadorito

 

[Quin Leonkri]

Despite Zero’s sarcasm, at least they were civil and waited until after Quin had finished to speak back. But that didn’t make them any less of a crime boss, or whatever they were or saw themselves as. This person’s identity was a mystery in itself.

Zero mirrored Quin’s motion of crossing his arms, and gaze remained locked into gaze. So that’s how you want to play it? The Jedi, however, did notice the slight shift in tone of the masked figure. It almost sounded sincere. Whether that was true or not they would soon find out, because maybe Zero would be able to provide some clues if they were genuinely concerned.

“We’re looking for a young human boy. He was kidnapped earlier today and we have reason to believe he may be here.” Quin left out the fact that the only “reason” was because his gut told him so, but Zero didn’t need to know that.

“Would you happen to know anything about it?” Though he wasn’t able to see or sense behind the mask, maybe Zero would give some indication through his body language.

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Zero remained in silence for a moment after Quin revealed why they were in Agrovale. Even if he couldn’t see their face, Elidan was sure that they were deep in thought. The half-Annfyn wondered if it was because they were surprised with the information or because they were behind it.

“Yes, I know.” they say, the visor of the helmet staring at the two Jedi. In Elidan’s opinion, it made Zero look like a lifeless droid. “It’s the third case in this month. Children had been disappearing from Agrovale too, even with all the security that I had put in place.” there was frustration in their voice. It meant that they weren’t behind.

For some reason, Elidan wasn’t surprised that it was the case.

“Perhaps we could help each other.” Zero said, their voice was calm. “I don’t want the people of Agrovale getting in danger, but I alone couldn’t find the kidnappers. Maybe we could be more successful together.”

@Sicadorito

 

[Quin Leonkri]

All the security? Quin didn’t know if Zero’s “security” was something that Agrovale wanted… or needed, depending on what exactly they meant by that. However, despite all his misgivings about this person, they genuinely didn’t seem like they were responsible for the kidnapping. At least, not this one.

So you say. Growing up in a household of politicians and going to school with even more, Quin recognized that kind of “keeping the people safe” rhetoric and knew that most didn’t mean it. Despite his hesitation, though, he and Elidan didn’t have much of an option, and however horrible Zero might or might not be, he knew more about this neighborhood than both of them combined. After a conflicted glance at his friend, Quin decided that working together might really be their best bet for finding the missing child.

He just hoped that he wasn’t being convinced too easily.

“Okay.” Quin’s eyebrows creased a little as he looked at Zero. “Let’s say that you’re telling the truth about all this, and we do decide to work together. What would you have us do?” He just hoped that Elidan was on board with all this, and that the Jedi weren’t just walking into a trap.

@LouJoVi