Ask Tracking the Untrackable

Vizim

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Sith Order
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Sith Master

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Phoenix
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Cyberpunk-2077-Concept-Art-Unveils-Heywood-Neighborhood-Of-Night-City.jpg
This city was scummy even by Vizim's standards. He'd already been awake for nearly 24 hours and once again pulled out the image of his target. Apparently the guy liked to cosplay in some old Republic Commando armor, and after doing a little research, he could see why. That stuff was rock solid and able to stand up to even heavy blaster shots. The hunter supposed it made sense why he had started garnering such a reputation.

He continued scrolling through the data: seemed to be have made quite a name for himself as a gun-for-hire and assassin. He'd recently ambushed and killed the governor, which garnered attention from all the way at the top. They were paying good money for his head on a platter. Or more specifically, his helmet since no one knew what he looked like.

There was just one catch: the assassin didn't have any leads. So he did what any good bounty hunter did and headed for the scene of the crime. Although it had been over 48 hours since the assassination, the scene was still quarantined. The bustle of the city didn't even rally seem to stop anymore. Forty-eight hours was long enough that everyone in a city this packed and impoverished was getting back to work as if nothing had happened. For most it had simply turned into another nuisance that needed to be pushed around.
 

Livi Cross

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Refugee

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Sreeya
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Be a Ranger they said. It would fit her skillset they said.

And all Livi saw was bureaucracy and red tape. She was used to a world where there were no ifs or buts. There was no process or paperwork to apprehend someone. She had become a hunter against her will when her planet was over 90% overrun by AMS. Her biggest enemies were other survivors that got creative. As a result, she became an expert in tracking down others whether they were disguised or not.

The concept of arriving on a scene and filing a report seemed ridiculous to her. However, she had been given a second chance at life with the opportunity to enlist within the ISC ranks. She pulled and tugged at her new uniform, still not used to wearing clothing like this. Livi also had to take several showers before anyone else would come near her.

Fortunately she was finally given a cybernetic arm to cover up the stump. She was even issued a blaster, which meant that the authorities finally trusted her not to lash out. Livi was almost considered feral because of her rather savage background.

She was at the crime scene telling media to clear out of the scene. They were trampling all over the place and ruining evidence. Livi grumbled as she set up tape perimeters. These were all processes she found silly, but she would do nonetheless.

Through it all, her eyes gazed over the scene, already spotting scuff marks along a nearby dumpster leading up to a building. She could tell the target fled in that direction, hoisted himself up and likely was hunkering down somewhere.
 

Vizim

Character
Sith Order
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Sith Master

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Phoenix
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Vizim was taking full advantage of the people who were still stomping over the scene in order to poke around for himself. The authorities hadn't done a very good job of securing the area until this new girl showed up. She was shooing people out with a will, and that meant Vizim's time in the area was likely to be up soon.

Yeah, yeah, I'm going, I'm going, he growled at her as she all but shoved him out of the crime zone.

It wasn't the sight of scuff marks that told him he should be looking at the dumpster, but the way her eyes trailed that direction and the slight fluctuation in the Force told him that was the direction. That was how he tracked his prey: through the Force.

Others weren't taking their rejection from the crime scene with as much enthusiasm. Middle aged woman with short hair whose handbag was stitched with her name - Kare En - was screaming at the Ranger. YOU CAN'T DO THIS! THIS IS HARASSMENT! I WANT TO SPEAK WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR, NOW! YOU CANNOT TREAT ME LIKE THIS! I HAVE RIGHTS!

As for Vizim, after being all-but-shoved out of the crime zone, he popped over in the direction of the dumpster and began poking around. He tried to gain an impression of it in the Force, but still felt little. The violence that stained this place was pervasive, and pinpointing an area was less than easy.

It was only as he drew over to the area that he saw a boot print that looked a great deal like what he would imagine a republic command boot to look like. Vizim's eyes flashed upwards, and he decided he needed to find a way onto the roof, making his way over to a side building. Of course, the culprit would be long gone by now, but something told Vizim that he was on planet somewhere. Call it instinct or the Force or something else.

He glanced up and down the street before reaching out to the Force to pop the lock on the door and slip inside. Now all he needed was to find the stairs up to the top. Easy.
 

Livi Cross

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Refugee

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Sreeya
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As the woman screamed in her face, another Ranger swiftly ran over to intercept. The others that arrived on the scene with her were warned many times over that Livi was volatile. She had no tolerance for belligerent and loud behavior, and it was her automatic nature to silence people like that. In a world full of AMS where silence was the difference between life and death, someone like Kare En would be stabbed repeatedly and muffled at once.

Livi spun on her heel and went back to surveying the scene, going back towards the marks she saw from earlier. To her surprise, she saw the same guy from earlier lurking around the scene. Her blood began to boil, and she made her way over to him, but paused shortly. These people were relentless and for what? To record some delicious gossip on their comlinks? However, as she didn’t go through any police academy and had no particular loyalty to ISC just yet, she decided to follow the man quietly. Livi knew how to be discreet far better than most people, and she stalked silently behind him.

She watched him stare upwards for a moment. Livi followed his gaze, spotting a doorway in. From what she could tell, this was the path of the suspect. Was this man in league with him? She stepped behind a dumpster for now, quietly watching him to see what he did.
 

Vizim

Character
Sith Order
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Sith Master

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Phoenix
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Vizim couldn't quite make out the woman crouching behind the dumpster. After years of having to be stealthy to stay alive, it seemed her skills had been well-honed. He popped the door to the building open and slipped inside, heading through the halls and looking for the stairs that would lead up.

It took him longer than he expected wandering around inside the otherwise empty building (was this a school? He was pretty sure it was) before finding what he was looking for and starting to ascend. He took the steps by twos before coming out onto the roof of the building.

He frowned as he started to look around, glancing first at where the man appeared to have hoisted himself up and over and where he seemed to land on the roof. The roof was lined with a thin layer of pebbles and the imprint of a man was fairly easy to see.

Vizim's eyes followed the path of the boots, not disturbing anything as he headed in the same direction they went, looking at the gap between buildings that the man had... probably leapt across. It was an impressive jump to make in 50+ lbs of armor, and it made Vizim stop for a moment to question just what he was getting himself into. A fight with some sort of cyborg? That'd be just his luck...
 

Livi Cross

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Livi could rival most trained professionals when it came to stealth. Unfortunately, she had to learn purely to survive in an entire world where a single wrong move could spell death. She silently followed him up and through the door, stalking like a cat as he clearly appeared to be retracing steps. The way he moved, however, suggested that he was stopping to study details and rapidly placing together a scene in his mind. He didn’t confidently stride forth as if he knew where the culprit went. Everything was trial and error. Her initial suspicion was tossed aside and she soon believed he was also hunting this man. Why?

She followed him until he came to the edge of the building, staring at the gap and the drop in between. Livi stared in that direction for a while, the man not moving either. After a few seconds, she stepped out with her blaster in her hand, though she didn’t level it as a Ranger would.

“You gonna jump or what?” She called out to the man quite casually. It wasn’t till after she spoke that she realized she likely startled someone while they were standing at the edge of a roof. Damn. Would she get fired if he toppled over and died? Oh well, she knew how to make a quick escape.
 

Vizim

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Sith Master

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Phoenix
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It was incredibly rare that someone snuck up on Vizim. He couldn't decide if he should be angry with himself or impressed with her. Probably a little of both, but the voice behind him made him jump slightly and turn around abruptly.

Within seconds he had sized her up. Uniform and blaster. Not raised. Arrest for B&E? Short and lighter, but she's got that stance. The thoughts swept through his mind in an instant, not even fully registering in his consciousness. Too much training and still that spike of adrenaline from being surprised.

Hey, hey, hey, he said, raising both hands out slightly up and to the side to show he wasn't holding a weapon. He really wasn't interested in a fight and certainly not one with a Ranger. Too much attention for when he was traveling on legitimate business. This wasn't a Sith job.

No, I'm not going to jump, he said. I'm with the Guild, he said. It was a cover he had intentionally established long ago because Guild work coincided perfectly with the other work he did. He pointed toward his jacket to indicate he was going to reach into his pocket. Assuming he wasn't shot, he produced the holodisplay with the target on it and the rather hefty sum that was plastered over top.

I didn't mess up your crime scene, he said.
 

Livi Cross

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The man likely expected a look of recognition or a look of familiarity when he mentioned the Guild and held up his holodisplay. Instead, Livi stared back blankly, blinking a few times at the miniature picture of her target.

“What the hell’s the Guild?” She asked after a while. Was this some sort of video game group? What did the numbers under the display mean? Livi was a high school student when her planet began to go to hell. The rest of her time she spent surviving in an AMS ridden world. There was no knowledge of the greater galaxy or its intricacies. Not everyone knew about a bounty hunting guild.

“Start explaining yourself before I take that puck and shove it so far up your ass that you'll be vomiting a Life Day light show,” Livi spat out quite eloquently. For all the ways Vizim was crass, perhaps he had met his match.
 

Vizim

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Sith Master

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Phoenix
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He half expected to still be arrested or more likely simply told to get lost with a slap on the wrist. What hadn't crossed his mind was the question she asked, and it was pretty obvious on his face.

He blinked twice before realizing it was a real question, and he decided it was best to get on with answering it sooner rather than later. Vizim was used to dealing with other Sith, but she seemed volatile enough to put most of them to shame.

Well... that's a vivid description, he said. He'd heard worse, but usually for worse offenses.

The Bounty Hunter's Guild, he said, pointing to the string of numbers under the display.

He's got a big price on his head, so I came here to get on his trail, he said before hitting the button to make the display disappear and giving a shrug.
 

Livi Cross

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Livi had heard of bounty hunting before, but not any sort of guild. The man was largely worthless in actually elaborating, but he also didn’t seem the talkative type. She was quiet for a moment, sizing him up and considering the various angles here. On one hand, she could tell him to get lost and stop encroaching on a crime scene. With that option, she would be comming her fellow rangers - all of whom had a stick up their ass about process - and wait for them to come up here. By then the target would have put more mileage between himself and the crime scene.

Or she could see what this guy could dig up and get herself some brownie points if it ended in a capture. The guy was clearly adept at tracking and he wasn’t afraid to climb and move into spaces. Livi put her blaster away, eyeing him for a moment.

“Can we work out a deal where I take the guy back in cuffs but you also get credit for the bounty?” There had to be some sort of mutually exclusive deal they could work out. He had to make his choice fast, “If so, lead the way.”
 

Vizim

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Sith Order
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Sith Master

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Phoenix
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Vizim really wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but what it ended up being wasn't what he had expected. He had fully expected one of these Rangers to get all high and mighty, waving their proverbial... well, you got the idea. Instead, he got an offer of partnership, and he was all over that.

He didn't entirely know how collecting the bounty and her taking credit would work, but he was sure that something could be worked out.

Deal, he said without a moment's hesitation. This was a mutually advantageous situation for both of them, and he paused for a moment to think just how preposterous it was that he was here helping a Ranger. Even if she was an ISC Ranger, in any other setting the pair probably would have been trying to kill each other. Maybe this wasn't so bad, but he also knew they were never going to be on the same side of the fence. Not really.

There's no way a guy in high-end armor like that is going to go unnoticed. It looks like he made the jump to the opposite roof... he said and squinted at the roof across. There looked like there were some sort of burn marks on the other side and it looked fresh.

I wonder if he had a speeder on the other side. Some sort of modified getup with boosted engines that we can track, he said. He wasn't sure if Rangers here tracked that or if they could simply use surveillance cameras to follow something so fancy.
 

Livi Cross

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Livi thought for a moment, “You’re right, he won’t get far with that obvious armor,” She nodded, “The Rangers have set up checkpoints and monitoring for major spaceports,” She wasn’t sure what kind of speeder he could have escaped in. She scanned the other building, spotting the burn marks. Of course, she was not a Force user and had no way to jump across.

“All right, we better get down and investigate the roof in that other building,” Livi said simply before walking forth and glancing down at the fire escape ladder. She kicked it down and climbed over the edge of the roof. She glanced over at the other man who was still standing on the roof.

“Are you coming?”
 
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