Ask To Catch a Governor

[Trinity]

NAR SHADDAA - 04:16 - RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX

​

Deep within the fetid bowels of the Smuggler Moon, crime runs rampant among the populace. In every nook and cranny one can find only the worst that the galaxy has to offer. From the paupers that line the streets to the corrupt officials and syndicate leaders that control Nar Shaddaa's operations, none can lay claim to pure intentions nor a clean record. Despite the heavy rain and the early hours of the morning, one can still witness the vibrant nightlife as it hums incessantly. From behind the glass window of her dingy apartment, Trinity observed the scenery with a solemn frown upon her face. Her clothing and hair glistened with moisture in the flickering light of her room, recently having been drenched from in downpour. The young sith assassin had just returned from one of her many futile excursions into the streets of Nar Shaddaa. Her mission, to locate and capture a local governmental official from Naboo that had arrived on the Moon recently to satisfy his unsavoury delights. Her intel heavily suggested that the man was under the thumb of the local crime syndicates that held him on a tight leash and no doubt a man so easily coerced would be a valuable foothold for the Sith.

In the outset Trinity imagined the whole ordeal to be a simple matter, however the man clearly knew how to mask his trail and on a rock like Nar Shaddaa, anonymity is a given. Now a week into her search and her frustrations were reaching a climax. Not only was gathering information an arduous task but there was always a risk of him getting tipped off and quite frankly, Trinity did not have the necessary resources. Trinity had reached the end of her tether, rather than waste more of her time chasing shadows, she made the reckless decision to involve the services of a Sector Ranger. The sith assassin had sent the man the location of her apartment along with a desperate plea for assistance and he was expected to arrive at any moment. Understanding the risks involved with her decision, she would have to play the innocent client well enough to not arouse suspicion around herself. Scantily dressed with a long overcoat covering her skin, Trinity had her vibroblade sheathed within. For if the truth of her own identity and organisation were to come to light, she would hate to leave a mess behind.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

Nar Shaddaa. The world of pirates and outlaws. The Smuggler’s Moon as it was nicknamed. It was the sort of planet that formed a pit in the stomach of any decent person. Host to a vast, intricate, and long-standing criminal underworld, crime on Nar Shaddaa was as common as the Gugverm that roamed the slums of the cities. You would be hard pressed to find someone whose presence on the planet was out of pure, noble, or forthright intentions.

Kanan’s current presence on the planet was due to a desperate plea for assistance he had received. The identity of this person was unknown, but they had attached their exact location: a dingy apartment in the heart of the city. To say that something about this setup rang false would be an understatement. There was a good chance that the Sector Ranger was being led into a trap (to what intent and purpose he did not know), but the fact was that Kanan’s conscience would not allow him to ignore such a plea, if that’s what it was.

He would have to take a chance. Hopefully, upon meeting whoever it was he was to meet, all doubts and suspicions as to their would be laid to rest and the focus could be placed upon their problem. Hopefully.

For its part, the weather did not help to lighten the setting as Kanan approached the apartment building. A downpour of rain and the darkness of the early morning hour did little to ease his mind. Nor did the nightlife of the city.

Entering the apartment building, Kanan shook the rain from himself, a futile attempt considering the amount of rain, but it helped him to feel a tad more dry. The building’s dim lighting was of little help as he ascended the stairs, making his way down the hallway and to the room number he had been sent.

Sighing quietly to himself, he knocked on the door and waited.

@Bran

 

[Trinity]

The jarring sound of the door being knocked permeated the ambient silence of rain that had filled the apartment. Trinity's ears pricked up and with a high-pitched voice she called out, "I-I'll be right there!". Making sure to make enough noise while approaching the door, she stopped with her hand near the keypad. Taking a deep breath in, she released it with a wobbling chin and tears began to form in the lids of her amber eyes. Sensing the presence of the man behind the door, she knew that it was the ranger she had contacted and not some lowlife creep that manged to follow her home which had happened before. Pressing her thumb to the keypad, the metallic doors screeched their way open. Now face to face with the tall and imposing figure of the ranger, Trinity quickly met his eyes with her own the snapped away, "Y-you must be the Sector ranger." She mumbled quietly as if unsure at his arrival, her hands clasped nervously around her center.

The man seemed to be well built and of an age and stature that implied experience. Now while this was just a hunch, generally Trin had a good sense about these things. Good, Trinity thought, he might actually be of use. The young assassin stepped aside and gestured for the man to enter, "Thank you for coming... please Mr. Ranger, c-come inside." Her hand directed the man to one of the only pieces of furniture that adorned the small apartment room. An old, stained couch in the center of the room that gave off a musty smell. In truth she could have better prepared for his arrival however the state of her living conditions did little to phase her and the thought just completely passed her mind. Nevertheless she was not here to host a party, the quicker they got down to business the better for all involved.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

Kanan did not have to wait long. A high-pitched voice answered the knock, and whoever was inside could be heard moving toward the door. Moments later the keypad beeped, unlocking the door to the apartment.

A younger woman stood there, probably in her mid twenties. Her clothes were wet; she, too, must have been caught in the downpour. It had come out of nowhere.

Now face to face, Kanan’s hand reached for his identification, assuming she would want to see it before allowing him entrance. This was not the most reputable part of town, and she seemed nervous. To his surprise, she stepped aside and asked him inside instead, already pegging him as the Sector Ranger she had sent for. Was she simply too trusting or was there something else going on here?

Kanan stepped inside. The inside of the apartment somehow looked worse than the outside, if that was possible. But he had seen worse. At least here it was dry. The offered couch instilled no confidence of comfort, and he declined. “No, thank you. I don’t mind standing,” he replied, glancing briefly about the apartment before his eyes returned to the woman in dark clothes. “I would probably get it wet,” he added as way of explanation. Not that a little water would hurt it any.

By all appearances, the woman was upset and in need of help. There were tears in her eyes and a slight shake to her chin, perhaps from crying or from fear. But Kanan had been fooled by appearances before. He would need to hear her out.

“You mentioned you needed help,” he continued, awaiting an explanation

@Bran

 

[Trinity]

A faint smile of relief spread across the face of the raven-haired sith. With a quaking hand she ran a lock of wet, dark hair behind her left ear and replied, "Help... Y-yes I need help!" Her voice trembled with vigour as she stook a small step toward the ranger. "My n-name is Alana." she raised her hand as if to wave but quickly shot it down when she realised how inappropriate it looked for the circumstances, "and as you can probably tell, I'm n-new to Nar Shaddaa." Trinity began to shake, this time it wasn't a part of her act but rather because she was freezing cold and her apartment had little means to warm her. "You see I'm actually from C-Coruscant. My friends all told me about how l-lucrative this place was for girls like me and so I came here to see what it was like." A red flush spread over her cheeks as she feigned embarassment, "But its horrible! And the pay isn't even that good. But horrible!" she cried, "The things they made me do, the people I've seen!"

Trinity crossed her arms and began to shake more intensely, this time intentionally. "One man in particular... He's the r-reason I called you." Trinity became visibly distraught, "he's a monster I tell you... A monster." The young assassin took another small step toward the ranger. Her amber eyes met his and she took a deep breath to calm her trembling voice, "He came to the club I was working in, called me over and did things..." her voice trailed off, too embarrassed to continue she skipped ahead. "But that isn't the worst part, I've had loads of handsy customers before but this man..." She leaned in closer to the man, her voice dropping to a whisper as if she expected an eavesdropper to be listening in. "The other girls say that he kidnaps girls from Nar Shaddaa, especially ones he takes a liking to." leaning in even closer, her voice nearly inaudible "They also say that he might some official from Naboo." Tears began to stream down Trinity's cheeks her voice became louder and more desperate. Her cold hands reached out and clasped over his, "P-please Mr. Ranger, will you help me, I'm scared that I could be next." While the story was a fabrication, the man in question was as bad as the rest of the scum that inhabited the Smuggler's Moon. If Trinity even had a conscience to begin with, it would be sparkling clean.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

The young woman, Alana as she introduced herself by name, stood before him in earnest. At least it seemed that she stood there before him in earnest. Her voice trembled and her body shook. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, a difficult emotion to pull out of nowhere, and toward the end of her story tears stained her face. The damp clothes and hair that clung to the sides of her face only helped to make her more pitiable.

The woman’s story was not unlike many others Kanan had heard across the galaxy, but that made it no less tragic. Perhaps she stuttered through her words too much, and perhaps he should have taken that as a bad sign. A warning. But the body language and the raw emotion she expressed were... convincing.

Despite the red flags, despite his doubts, despite past experiences, Kanan found himself beginning to believe her. Foolish as it may have been, and as wary as he still intended to be, the ranger decided he had to help her. That he wanted to help her. Suspicion plagued his mind, but perhaps it was the case that Kanan had been a Sector Ranger for too many years and was beginning to become calloused and overly suspicious.

“What others abandon, we protect,” ran through his mind, the motto reminding him of his duty: to help others, not to judge wether they were worthy of his help or not.

Risk of betrayal or not, she needed his help, and that was what he would give. His mind was made up.

“This man— this politician from Naboo— has given you reason to believe you are his next target? Has he made any kind of threat against you?” Kanan glanced down at her hands, ice cold and a frigid reminder of the rain beating against the window outside. “Do you have any evidence that might incriminate him in these girls’ kidnappings?”

It wasn’t that Kanan doubted the depths of depravity a Naboo politician could sink to. Kanan did not hold many elected officials in high esteem, and it took no stretch of the imagination to believe the story he was being told. He had known of many politicians who frequented Nar Shaddaa, and none of them good men. Nonetheless, he had to ask these questions all the same.

@Bran

 

[Trinity]

Trinity processed the Ranger's words in silence then returned them with confused eyes, "I don't know about a threat but he told me that he would be back to see me again, surely that must mean what I think it means!" Not the cleanest answer, Trinity would admit but the story is all in all a shallow lie, it would be best she divert the attention away from her own character. "E-Evidence?" she muttered quietly in response to his second question as she tried to muster something. As if overwhelmed she buckled at the knees and burst into tears. "I-I didn't think to get evidence!" she said in a huff. What proceeded was what Trinity would describe as her magnum opus of feigned tantrums, directly drawn from the richest and most spoiled teenage nobles of her home planet, practiced to perfection. It was by her understanding that there were few capable of denying the demands after something like this, if only to get them to stop.

A few moments of dramatic antics later and she shot straight up, her eyes wide as an owl. "That's right!" she exclaimed in a eureka moment, "I remembered something else the other girls told me." Brushing away the last stream of tears and rogue locks of wild black hair, she went on, "They said that he orders his thugs to take the girls back to his ship rather than doing it himself." Sounding as if her excitement was rising she continued, "If we find his ship then that would be evidence enough surely." A happy smile passed quickly over her face followed by another worried frown, "I couldn't tell you where it is though." Her voice fell away and her amber eyes stared detachedly into the middle-distance. "While getting kidnapped is one thing... I've also seen what happens to girls that ask too many questions." Breaking out of her hypnotic state she focused back on the ranger. "But you look very good at your job! I'm sure you're capable of finding it... yes?!"

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

From the confusion in her eyes and the rambling that followed, it seemed that she had no evidence and no real reason to believe or accuse this politician of intending to kidnap her. With no evidence or reason, there was no chance of charging him with anything. She wasn’t giving Kanan much to work with.

But then her eyes widened, and she began to relay information to Kanan that could prove useful. The politician, if stories were to be believed, took the kidnapped girls back to his ship. Or rather, his thugs did.

In Kanan’s mind, it seemed sloppy to have them taken back to his own personal ship, but then again just because he was a politician didn’t mean he was intelligent.

If the stories Alana had been told and that she now relayed to Kanan were true, there was sure to be evidence on the politician’s ship. She was correct. Now all the ranger had to do was find the ship. He had little information to work with, but that wasn’t unusual in this line of work.

“I think so,” Kanan replied, not one to make promises easily. “What is this politician’s name? Do you know approximately when he arrived here on Nar Shaddaa for this particular visit?”

@Bran

 

[Trinity]

Delighted to see that the Sector Ranger had started to come around, Trinity proceeded to feign a small excited cheer. Unfortunately she had little to no actual information to provide, what she did have was the man's true identity but revealing that to the ranger would definitely raise a giant red flag. She would have to trust her gut and make something up and hopefully it would not throw the investigation too far out of whack. "Well, from what I recall he went by the name Derekk Klynes." she replied while her index finger scratched the side of her head, as if she were rummaging through a wad of hazy memories. The name she provided was actually a close representation of his actual name, Davik Kless. Hopefully the similarity would ring bells should his true name be discovered on some registration or other. "But I'm not sure how helpful that would be to you Mr. Ranger, everyone on Nar Shaddaa uses whatever name they please." she followed on with a shrug of her shoulders.

"As to when he arrived... I think around six days ago was when I first saw him and his squadron of thugs... Or was it five days?.. No definitely six!" It was a rough estimation but accurate as far as her own intel had provided. "The other girls say that he rarely stays longer than a week." she said confidently, "but he's definitely still here! I can feel him, its like my creep sensors are tingling." For the first time since their meeting she let off a little chuckle but quickly her smile turned solemn again and her voice grew soft again. "I'm sorry that I don't have much information to give." she added, sounding as if she was about to burst into tears again. "I'm not very useful I know." This emotional roller coaster was beginning to tire Trin out. While she felt her performance was believable, perhaps it bordered on craziness.

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

Derekk Klynes. Kanan did not recognize the name, but that wasn’t terribly surprising. The Sector Ranger did little to stay up to date with politics and politicians, keeping up with only the bare minimum.

Alana was absolutely right. It was doubtful that Klynes would use his actual name on Nar Shaddaa. He was a politician, and he had his reputation to think about. Nar Shaddaa was the type of planet that could ruin the reputation you’d spent your whole life building in a matter of minutes. If he was kidnapping young girls, he had that much more reason to remain anonymous. He might have been stupid enough to take the girls back to his own ship, but he couldn’t be that stupid.

“It’s alright,” Kanan assured her following her declaration that she wasn’t very useful. He briefly placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and then removed it. “You’ve been more than helpful.

“If he has a ship, he had to register it at the spaceport with the Bureau of Ships and Services,” he reasoned aloud. It was doubtful that the politician would feel comfortable leaving his ship in a hanger that didn’t field an office for the agency. He would want to keep his cargo safe, after all. “Even if he’s keeping a low profile, he’ll have registered with them. He wouldn’t want to risk ruffling their feathers. That would only cause him more headaches.”

The bureau kept records of all ships’ arrivals and departures. The information was entered on a datapad, stored and encrypted in computer cores, and transmitted to the appropriate agencies. Kanan could gain access to the records through the Sector Rangers agency, but that would take too long. It would be better to cut out of the middle man and go straight to the Bureau of Ships and Services’ office nearest spaceport. The pay may not have been good, but being a Sector Ranger did have some advantages.

“He may not be going by his real name here on Nar Shaddaa, but his ship will have a transponder code. It’s unlikely he’s tampered with that. It isn’t the easiest thing to do. Possible, but unlikely.” He looked at Alana again. “Are you safe here?”

@Bran

 

[Trinity]

The reassuring words of the Ranger did much to visibly lift the spirits of the young lady. It seemed as if her front had succeeded in bypassing the man's suspicions and he was willing to help her find the corrupt official. As she expected, he had the means and resources that she would not have access to. With access to the spaceports records and systems, finding her target would be a much simpler task. That being said the chances of him discovering the truth was also extremely high. Trinity would have to accompany the man and make sure that he gets shepherded in the right direction, lest he stick his nose where it doesn't belong. "I'd like to accompany you if possible." she said nervously. The amber-eyed girl pulled her coat tightly over her body and jumped up and down to psych herself up. With a raised finger and shocked expression, she remembered something of use.

Rushing to grab an umbrella from the corner of the room, she continued, "Those thugs might come looking and find me here... plus! You're going to the space port right? I want to not only see you catch this guy but I wanna book the next flight right off this kriffin' rock!" Pressing a button on the umbrella handle, the metallic frame extended and opened up, causing a huge puff of dust in its wake. This place really is fithly huh? she realised as an aside. With an outstretched hand she offered the handle to the ranger, a wry smile now plastered over her face. "I never did ask your name Mr. Ranger."

@llamallove

 

[Kanan Marek]

The expressed wish to join the investigation was not too surprising. This apartment did not make one feel safe, and if this Derekk Klynes was as dangerous as he was to be believed, it was possible that he knew Alana’s address. If she did not feel safe here (and who would?), then she by all means needed to come along.

Neither could he blame her for wanting to leave Nar Shaddaa. Very little good came from being on this planet. It was not the ideal location for anyone hoping to lead a respectable or happy life.

In all honestly it had not occurred to Kanan to introduce himself past showing his ranger identification. Taking the outstretched umbrella handle, Kanan answered, “My name is Kanan Marek.”

He led way down the apartment stairs and into the street. The rain continued to beat down, and if this rainfall continued at this rate it would not be long before minor flooding began. Luckily it was a short walk to the nearest space port.

“Will you go back to Coruscant?” he asked as the space port began to come into view.

@Bran