Private A Call Home

[Katja Javik]

A Call Home​

Despite no official imprisonment, the Jedi had certainly taken a degree of liberty from her. She had been continuously met with cold distrustfulness from those she encountered since she had arrived, though there were occasional moments of kindness and today was one of them.

Following her last escapade, she did not expect to be allowed to leave the Jedi's custody again until a decision had been made about her future, but in a surprise compromise she had been allowed out for one hour, which she reluctantly agreed to abide to, using the time to seek substances to fund the habit that she was beginning to develop.

Had she been aware of the bounty on her head, she may have chosen to be more wise about walking out onto the Coruscanti streets alone, but in blissful ignorance, she took off on a midday embark. The last time she had been found after leaving was late night, arguing in a bar – There was no chance the Jedi would allow that to repeat.

To satisfy her cravings, she was familiar with the process and the people. People that were nowhere near this high up on the planet, leaving the only option to descend into the heart of Coruscant into the less savoury levels.

The air felt heavy, almost toxic with fumes from various pollutants and the sweet smoke of substances which was almost alluring. It was more lawless down here. The effectiveness of Coruscanti police was... questionable. She pulled her hood up and joined th3 other shifty figures in the streets, with a purpose.

Varm Nul

 

[Varm Nul]

CORUSCANT
CORNER EATERY

The bustling crowds of Coruscant were in constant motion, an endless sea of faces and aliens and all sorts of sentients. Thousands and thousands of individuals, each living their lives, doing whatever it was they did, moving to and fro. That wasn't to say much about the billions of others scattered about the planet, but Varm Nul didn't care about those ones.

He only sought one.

Imperial traitor, deserter, someone high up enough on the food chain to know too much to be left to her own devices. Special forces, someone who was part of the - now defunct - SCAR Squadron. Varm Nul had met their sort before, had even fought alongside some of those spec ops types, so he knew what he was in for.

Tactical, strategic and capable.

The Duros sat on a durawood stool, as he absently chewed on some grilled meat from a plate on the table at his elbow. His other hand was held before him, HUD of the gauntlet screen positioned so he could view it, as a number of small feeds played across it. Those visual feeds were linked directly - in real time - to his ID9 Seeker Droids. A number of them had been sent out to seek the bounty acquisition, using facial recognition and high processing power of droids suited to the task.

Smarter, not harder.

Varm Nul had been at the bounty hunting game a long time, he knew how to maximize his time. Besides, a few contacts with some bribes and given him a smaller area of Coruscant to begin his search, as some reports had been leaked to the Duros. Nothing substantial, nothing that would raise alarms or incite immediate Alliance response, but just enough to provide a grid to narrow down. And it had been almost a week, one filled with constant searching and droid pattern scans, but the contract reward was worth the time.

"Another serve," Varm Nul called out, as he slid the empty plate to one side. "And extra spice this time."

The cook nodded and began sizzling up the next round, even as Varm Nul returned to his gauntlet screen and continued to observe...

Katja Javik​

 

[Katja Javik]

It hadn't taken her long to connect with the right, or wrong depending on perspective, people in the Coruscant underworld. She still had a decent amount of money remaining before it would inevitably dry up and leave her truly in trouble but she wasn't particularly skilled at planning ahead, or rather made a conscious decision not to.

Looking over her shoulder to ensure she wasn't being followed by any Jedi who seemed to have a habit of following her every move, she caught a glimpse of a droid speeding past but didn't for a second consider the possibility of it being a threat, ignorant to the kind of droid it was, including its purpose.

Ducking into an alleyway between two streets, the irony of her newfound habit was not lost on her, considering what she had done or rather who she had killed in order to provoke such emotional anguish, no less because of her mother's own history. It was a shady underworld that she was familiar with but it was not one that she sought to take roots in.

In a shady bar, nestled away from the main street, her gaze scanned the crowd for a familiar face. Upon spotting the Twi'lek, she approached the woman with her query. "You got any glitteryll?" She asked in a hushed tone, not that anyone around would bat an eyelid in an establishment full of illegality. "That depends, how much you got?" She responded as she served drinks to a table, continuing the conversation as they walked to the bar.

"200." Katja replied. Accepting the offer, the Twi'lek produced a small package from behind the bar. "That all?" She asked, picking the package up and placing the credits down in its place. "One of my smugglers got arrested this week. It happens." The other woman shrugged and scooped the money off of the bar. "Right, well... Thanks." Katja stuffed the package into her pocket and headed towards the exit.

Varm Nul

 

[Varm Nul]

CORUSCANT
CORNER EATERY

Mid bite, Varm Nul heard the alert on his wrist pad.

The bounty hunter's large red eyes looked down to his forearm, as he silenced the beep with a press of a button, and then looked at the feed. It seemed one of his droid had had a partial match, enough that it raised the alert, and required a decision on whether to pursue or continue tracking. Obviously Varm Nul would have it look into the possibility, especially given the odds of getting a solid ping on a city world like Coruscant, and rerouted the droid to double back and observe.

"Here's yer order, buddy," said the cook, as the alien slid another meat plate to the Duros. "Enjoy!"

"Yeah, it's good stuff," Varm Nul muttered, as he watched the footage feed and gathered some more meat strips. "And looks like it might get a whole lot better..."

The ID9 droid entered an alleyway, as it hovered high overhead, and kept the shadows. It followed the potential suspect, all the way to a bar off the main circuit, then moved into position nearer some windows for a chance at positive I.D. And after several minutes, the floating droid zeroed in on a - familiar - face, which allowed it to run diagnostic scans, and the result was sent to Varm Nul a dozen blocks away:

>> Identification confirmed; JAVIK, Katja.

At the table, Varm Nul smirked, as he finished up his meal and wiped his dark lips with a sleeve edge.

"Gotcha."

The bounty hunter stood up without a sound, tossed a cred chip onto the table, then began to walk at a quickened pace; he now had his target, he was relatively close, and just had to reach his speeder. And as he did so, Varm Nul quickly pressed a sequence of buttons on his wrist pad, which brought the other ID9 seeker droids, which were in other sectors and levels nearby, back to join in...

Katja Javik​