Ask Where the Hell Is Calix

[Drow Venn]

Drow had never properly been to Cloud City before and he regretted that he didn't really have time to enjoy it while he was here. He had to ignore all the bustling miners, beautiful imagery, and numerous casiones and cantinas that dotted the big city because today, he was here on business. Jedi Shadow business, that is.

Recently, he'd embarked on a mission to Carajam to stop a Sith warlord that had devastated a settlement. However, the mission quickly became far more complicated than that as it turned out the Sith responsible for the devastation had fled before Drow had arrived and the Ishi Tib Jedi Master had instead found a completely unrelated Sith there. After a brief duel that had ended in a stalemate, the other Sith, named Darth Caelestis, had told Drow that Calix Viritan was the name of the Sith Warlord responsible for the attack on Carajam. Viritan had once been a member of the Sith Council but after the recent rise of the Empress, he'd fled with the forces loyal to him and now was waylaying the galaxy, building up resources to one day strike back against the new Sith leadership.

Well, exile or not, Viritan was a former Sith Councilor and as First Shadow of the Jedi Order, Drow didn't want some rogue agent causing chaos across the galaxy and disrupting any plans the Jedi were making to move against the Sith. At worst, he hoped to eliminate Viritan and stop the devastation but at best, they might be able to capture the former Councilor and use his resources and information to plan a devastating blow against the Sith.

But right now, they needed to find a certain Sith captain on Cloud City. Drow currently sat with @Drastus Drahr in the Spaced Spacer bar on Cloud City. Drastus was one of the few Jedi in the Order to know that Drow Venn was still a part of the Order and hadn't quite been exiled. He and Drastus would listen in on the cantina talk and try and see if any patrons knew of Viritan's former captain. From Darth Caelistis' information and his own underworld contacts, Drow had reason to believe that one of Viritan's former captain's had deserted Viritan and had sought sanctuary here in the city amongst the clouds.

The other Jedi on the team (@Charles @Tom @Tetsu ) were supposed to be checking the landing pads on Cloud City, trying to find any ships that might have once belonged to a Sith captain. All they knew was that Drastus was meeting with an unknown source - they'd have no knowledge that it was Drow.

@Tetsu @Tom @Charles @Rhogar

 

[Drastus Drahr]

Drastus would look around the bar. Cloud City, he had never thought he would actually be here, nor could he shake the feeling that he was always seconds away from falling. Somewhere. Didnt matter, but maybe the height made him uneasy. "Darth Caelestis? Wasn't that the guy we beat at the Temple? Why didn't you take him too?" The young Padawan would ask as Drow finished the tale. To him, it didn't make sense to not take both Sith down, such a decision was above his pay grade he supposed. He just hoped the First Shadow would give him a real answer.

He would activate his comm to contact the other Jedi on the mission, who he had zero real knowledge of. "Meeting with the contact now. Any luck on the landing pads?"

@Fantasy Liver @Tom @Charles @Tetsu

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

He'd last "stepped foot" on this world years ago. That time around, the shadow of a Sith had been left in his wake, and another had hunted him down and collect the saber he'd stolen-- along with his head. Laeonas had never wanted to return to this world, and he'd almost fainted upon hearing the mission debrief. Even now, in spite of the many jokes he'd tried to tell himself about the irony that it was he who was traveling to Bespin to hunt someone down, the man had had a sleepless journey.

But the mission was to important to let himself succumb to such unfounded fear and paranoia. So, naturally, Laeonas had loaded up on caffeine and meditated through the night. Despite being sleep deprived, the man was still operating at... well, acceptable levels. His hands weren't shaking and he wasn't about to pass out from exhaustion, which was better than how most people he'd met would handle a situation like this. It also helped that he had the fear of falling off the edge of the landing pad he was currently standing on.

As it turned out, leftover from his time on Bespin was an inconspicuous set of local attire. While his coreward accent was still a dead giveaway as to the fact that he wasn't native born, it'd draw a hell of a lot less suspicion than the bright blue, silk Jedi robes he typically wore. Concealed within would be his newer saber, as well as a commlink that was tuned to the same frequency as the rest of the Jedi on the mission. The only bit of flamboyance he kept up was the presence of those large, emerald earrings of his, as well as some mascara and highlights.

When the first message came over the commlink, Laeonas blinked a few times. He tried his best to remember which of the Jedi it was that was calling, but his mind blanked at both the name and face that was paired with the voice. Regardless, Laeonas promptly answered as he looked out at the landing pad. "Err... copy. Currently, haven't found any leads yet." He declared, before adding, "I'm thinking that I'll check around the-"

"Hey!" Called a voice, cutting off Laeonas' train of thought. Clicking his comm off, Laeonas would turn to see an officer, slowly approaching. The man would tense up, aquamarines widening slightly at the sight of law enforcement. On Brentaal, the cops were always trouble, and most interactions with them usually ended with a beating, or a bribe. While Bespin's Police force had saved his life all those years ago, they hadn't done it out of the kindness of their hearts-- in fact, they'd been trying to shoot him, and only incidentally had their shots simply driven off the attacker who'd have been about to end his own life.

Regardless, Laeonas maintained his composure, fighting the urge to choke the guard out, or toss him off the edge. His facial expression was as blank as he could manage, the only visibly sign of emotion being his wide eyes. As the officer approached, Laeonas would try his best to stay calm, though he felt for his lightsaber tucked away in his jacket, just incase.

"What're you doing on this platform?" The officer asked, adding in before he could respond, "Standing near the edge of platforms for an extended period of time is risky." He'd explain, before glancing over at the ship just behind them. "...are you having issues opening this ship?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow. Laeonas stood in silence, bewildered by what was, perhaps, the first positive encounter with a police officer in his entire life.

"...um... no. I'm actually looking for..." he began, before pausing. "Umm... I happen to be looking for an associate of mine. "I had thought he'd landed on this pad, but I was mistaken. Thank you for your concern." Laeonas explained, turning to walk off, but the officer barked out a, "Wait!" Freezing him in his tracks. Laeonas felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead, hand twitching to reach up and seize the saber in his jacket-- but the officer's second comment disarmed him.

"If this person is on Cloud City, his ID and ship's transponder code should be stored in the port authority's database." the officer finished, to which Laeonas quickly turned around. "Really? Could Ai... go with ya?" He asked, accent getting a bit thicker as his fear was replaced with excitement. "Indeed. It shouldn't be an inconvenience." He added. "...that's kind of you." Laeonas replied, to which the officer would nod.

This might get a whole hell of a lot easier.

​

@Fantasy Liver @Tetsu @Charles @Rhogar

 

[Ruus’all Solus]

"You know, I was hoping this would be a little bit more exciting with who we're after and all..." Ruus trailed off through the com in his helmet. Finding a Sith deserter was supposed to be all Private Eye investigation stuff like the Bames Jond movies he watched as a kid. This was nothing like the movies. No shoot outs, no hot ladies, no nothing. Just inspecting landing pads.

It wasn't until Laeonas was offered to check the IDs of the all the recently landed ships that Ruus cheered in his head, praying for Kad to give him a little action today. All of the ships Ruus had been staring out were really fancy and tempted the Jedi Knight to maybe hotwire one to take it out on a brief joy ride. However, because of the whole Jedi Knight thingy, Ruus had to resist such petty temptations to stick with the task at hand.

A very boring search party task, but hey...

Nope. There wasn't really a bright side or silver to any of this. Ruus was bored and wanted a good old fashioned bar fight. Right now.

"Anyone got any leads?" Ruus complained through his com. "I don't know about you guys...but I'm feeling like punching a Sith Councilor right in the kisser."

@Rhogar @Tom @Tetsu @Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

Drow chuckled at Drastus' question. The kid always was one prone to action and it was something the Ishi Tib respected greatly but it could also be a bit amusing, especially since Drow had been asking himself that question ever since he'd escaped that planet.

"I tried. Damn sandstorm blew in and caused us both to break and run. That's the third time I've come close to killing that guy too." Drow said, matter-of-factly. Ordinarily he might have joked about wanting to kill such a high-up Sith, and indeed a part of him still wanted to but his last interaction with Artorigas had been a bit different. There was another side to Darth Caelistis - measured, rational, sympathetic even - that was making Drow reevaluate what it was to be a Sith.

As he continued to talk with Drastus, two figures caught the Ishi Tib's eye. One was a human with a buzzcut and a muscular body that just screamed that he used to be in the military. A likely candidate for a former Calix captain. Then again, another being walked into the bar covered head to toe in Imperial armor. Another possible candidate although they could just as likely be a mercenary with Imperial tastes in armor.

"So what's the name of this guy you're looking for?" the Cloud City security officer asked. Uh oh. Looking for a man with an unknown name had its fair share of complications and this was definitely one of them.

@Rhogar @Tom @Tetsu @Charles

 

[Drastus Drahr]

Drast had decided to forgo his armor for once, if only for the fact that two people in Mandalorian armor were sure to draw the eyes of local police and he did not want to cause.. another incident. "Yeah, that makes sense." Drast would reply as he adjusted his seating. "Apparently.. the guy that talks funny got something." he would add to Drow as he listened to the exchange over comms. "I -really- need to learn these guys names." he would laugh.

It wasn't missed on the young Padawan when Drow's attention focused on someone beyond him, to which he would casually throw an arm over the back of the booth and look like he was trying to flag down a waitress, to sneak a peek. He would smile at the waitress that shuffled over, before turning his gaze back to Drow. "Got my blaster. Can try to stun them both." he offered with a shrug. He didn't mind options.

@Tom @Fantasy Liver @Tetsu @Charles

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

As to be expected, it wasn't a long walk from the landing pads to the port authority. The officer said nothing the whole way, but that didn't calm the former gangster's nerves. Instinctively, aquamarines would remain wide open, searching for possible escape routes, ways of disarming the man, or staring at his neck and wondering how long it'd take to choke him out. None of it turned out to be necessary though. Arriving in the port authority, the officer would direct the man to a console, and Laeonas would be allowed to sit down and get to work.

"This is as far as I can get you; unless this man would be on our criminal database, this would be where you'll find him, and I'm not familiar with how to track him through here." He'd explain, prompting a confused expression from the undercover Jedi. "Ya don't know? Than 'ow am Ai supposed ta-" He began, before cutting himself off. Such blatant disrespect and indignation were liable to get the officer angry, and he did not want that to happen. Besides, Ephiny had spent many hours teaching him about etiquette, and such an outburst would be completely rude.

"...sorry, I'm just in a bit of a hurry. Your help was appreciated, officer." He apologized, giving the officer a final nod. The man had seemed entirely unimpacted by the outburst, and would simply return the nod, adding a quick "Good day" before leaving. With that out of the way, Laeonas would let out a long sigh, the threat of discovery put at bay-- for now. Turning his full attention to the screen, he'd begin getting to work.

Opening up the database, a whole list of ship's and their ID's would be presented to him-- but relevant information about what was on them, and who, went a layer deeper. Laeonas would either have to comb through these ships, or already know who they were looking for-- leaving him with only one real option. The man obviously couldn't go through every single ship (otherwise he'd be stuck there for years) so he had to find ways to filter out what he was looking for.

He started by automatically filtering out all traffic within the past two days, and and he decided he wouldn't look at anything beyond the past three months. Next, he ruled out fuel transportation, as the credentials necessary to work on a fuel ship wouldn't be nearly impossible to acquire by a traitorous Sith officer. This narrowed his search down from 159,413 ingoing and outgoing ships within the past year, to merely 3,821. Still a massive number, but from here, he could be far, far more specific.

By this point, Laeonas had flipped on his comm's vibrate function so that he would be alerted as a message played. When it began to vibrate, he'd quietly press it towards his ear, listening as one of his allies-- who he still couldn't remember the name of-- asked for leads. He quietly cursed himself, but responded, "I'm trying to narrow down what we might find this guy on. I've ruled out all fuel ships, so that'll rule out about nine of the ten ships you find out there. Do whatever you want with that." He declared, shutting off his commlink again.

This would be a long, long search.

​

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@Fantasy Liver @Charles @Rhogar @Tetsu

 

[Ruus’all Solus]

Nine out of the ten ships, huh? Well, Ruus'all was not going to search the entirety of Cloud City to find that one ship. He had already investigated more ships than he could count on his hands and toes. To make matters a little more awkward, a Cloud City security officer was walking in Ruus'all's direction, probably prepared to snoop around in the Mando-Jedi's boring business. However, considering Ruus'all's apparel garbed in his Beskar'gam, the Officer was probably going to ask him to remove his helmet. This gave the Mandalorian Knight an idea...

"Excuse me, sir, but I'll have to ask you to remove your-"

"Remove my what?" Ruus challenged in a harsher tone. This made the Officer stop and blink a few times. It looked like he wasn't really willing to get into an argument with a Mando- especially with what the Mandalorians were doing all over the galaxy right now.

"Uh, uh...Your, uh, helmet, s-sir. J-j-just so we can see, uh, your, uh, face..."

"This is my face."

"Oh, r-r-right...Sure, uh, but my boss will-"

"Your boss will lose every finger he tries to use to pry my pride off my body. That goes for you as well." Behind the opaque T-visor, Ruus'all was smiling such a big grin that he thought his dimples were going to rip holes in his cheeks. Now that the poor grunt was startled, he'd have to make his winning move.

"However, maybe if you help me out, I can help you out. I'm looking for someone- you help me find them, and I'll leave here faster than you can say 'Calrissian'. So, we have a deal?" The Officer paused for a moment, probably debating his options but didn't seem nearly as nervous as before. Maybe, with a stroke of luck, this search could go along a little bit faster.

"Sh-sure, yeah, we got a deal."

@Tom @Fantasy Liver @Rhogar @Tetsu

 

[Drow Venn]

"I got a better idea." Drow said as he hefted his E-11 blaster rifle out of his holster and into his hands. "A Sith deserter definitely has a bounty on his head. Whichever one bucks and runs is our guy."

With that, Drow Venn, Jedi Master and lover of peace, leveled his rifle and fired it at some poor passerby. The luckless Human fell to the ground but fortunately for him, Drow's rifle was set on stun and not kill. The Ishi Tib raised a placating hand as he addressed the crowd that was now staring at this scene, some of whom had stood up out of their seats.

"Not to worry folks - just a simple bounty hunter after an outlaw. Go back to your drinks." Drow reassured them, going over to the unconscious human to "inspect" his "bounty." As he did so, he noticed the muscular man with the buzzcut suddenly leave his full drink at the bar and start making his way to the exit. Drow looked at Drastus and nodded towards the fleeing man. That was their guy.

"If it helps narrow the search down, target is a dark skinned Human, about 2 meters in height, about 105 kilograms in weight. He's got a buzzcut and probably has announced some kind of weaponry at the gate." Drow rattled off over the comm to the rest of the team, spotting the Human's blaster pistol strapped to his hip. For the man to walk so freely in Cloud City with that thing, he would have had to declare it at the Cloud City gate. Hopefully, Drastus would be able to catch the man in time.

@Tom @Rhogar @Tetsu @Charles

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

3,821 ships, many of which had multiple passengers. A massive number, but as he'd narrowed down the ships to search from, he'd be able to go further. He knew first and foremost that any fugitive-- any that had gotten this far anyhow-- had to be armed. While it was possible that the weapons were hidden as contraband, those passengers that carried them openly were far more likely to be the individual they were looking for, instead of any random civilian.

Widening the search results once again, he searched for any ship that had ever been recorded carrying weapons ever. Not just on Bespin, but on any world, going back through the records... of the past few weeks. He obviously wasn't going to look for ships that had had a single passenger carrying a holdout pistol. Whether they were openly declared, or discovered by contraband, they would make the cut. He'd narrowed down his list to 1,875-- a surprisingly low number, all things considered. But it still wasn't low enough.

So, he started going through the list. The oldest first, down and down. Most obviously didn't fit the bill; captains or passengers with long, traceable histories in previous ports. Identities far to detailed to be forged. Laeonas would know well; he still had 3 different fake ID's in his wallet. He spent five seconds on each one, going through them like clockwork. Five minutes later, and he'd gotten through 237. Only one or two of them had caught his attention. At this rate, he could probably get through the rest i-

"If it helps narrow the search down, target is a dark skinned Human, about 2 meters in height, about 105 kilograms in weight. He's got a buzzcut and probably has announced some kind of weaponry at the gate."

The Padawan would pause, mouth hanging open a little. Lip quivered, and than he let out a long, frustrated groan. "Would've really laiked ta 'ear th'at faive minutes ago." He hissed, before turning on the comm and politely replying, "Copy." With the new information, he typed in a few more keywords to fit in the description that every passenger and captain had.

"Species: human. Haircut: Buzz. Height: 200 cm. Weight: 105 kilos." He paused, considering it for a moment, before adding "sex: male."

Typing it in, no perfect matches came up, but a list of a few dozen close variants came up. Information on most passports was outdated most of the time. Skimming through, he looked through the many, many photos and profiles the captains and passengers presented-- until he finally fixed on one. On the screen was a man with long, flowing dreds-- which he'd presumably shaved. His skin was dark, and his build was heavy-- tall from the indication as well, around 199 centimeters, and weighing 97 kilos. Not to far off from what the master had estimated after all.

"I have him." He called over the comms, before plugging the device into a dataport. "I'm sending you all the information on the target. Goes by 'Gurney Solnas,', though considering this guy's travel record goes back a whopping four months that probably isn't his real name." The man declared, abruptly standing from his position. "His ship isn't to far. Try getting him to go this way, assuming he isn't already."

​

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@Fantasy Liver @Charles @Rhogar @Tetsu

 

[Drow Venn]

OOC: Moving this thread along so we can continue the story because it's been a month now. Feel free to post your character interrogating this Sith captain or doing what you will with him.

Through some combination of Drastus' and Drow's pursuit, their knowledge of where his ship was courtesy of Laeonas, and Cloud City's security forces, the former Sith captain was able to be nabbed. Drow radioed as much to the other members of the Jedi team, letting them know he'd been captured. Since Cloud City was very likely going to close in on him for stunning the waiter back there and the fact that, outside of Drastus, the other Jedi weren't supposed to know about Drow's involvement, the First Shadow had to move quickly.

He growled, he threatened and he probed with the Force, and was able to snag the name of a planet - Solitair - where Calix was currently holed up at. Apparently, this former Sith captain before Drow had sworn loyalty to Calix after the Councilor's defection but quickly became scared of the Empire catching up with him and deserted.

"Handle him." Drow told Drastus as he quickly began making his escape to his Y-Wing. He trusted that any further information would be gleaned and given to him by the other Jedi and that the former Sith soldier would be dealt with appropriately by the Order. His role in this mission done for now, he'd make his escape

"Good work everyone." he commed to the other Jedi.

@Charles @Rhogar @Tetsu @Tom