Private A New Face in an Old Place

[Jack Sandrow]

Equipment: Casual wear | Breather | Pistol

---

Her facial journey spoke volumes despite her silence. She truly was displaced from her time.

"Coruscant is not a terrible place to live," he agreed. "It might be a bit much for me... but yes, this world has plenty of dark corners to eke out a living." Jack had a feeling she wanted to do a bit more than simply make a living here, though.

He pushed off the wall to follow her as she made her way out of the alley, walking with purpose now. "I think my story really begins in 835 ABY... My introduction to Omega Pyre began with flying into the airspace of a besieged city to extract their leaders. Barely two months later I'm coming back into the thick of it, and I end up losing my hand to a laser grid..."

It had been a while since he had told the whole story, but Boe had been more than kind enough to share her side; it felt appropriate to give his own in return.

---

Boe

 

[Boe]

They walked and they talked, and Boe listened throughout.

Their walk continued through the back alleys and access roads where little in the way of foot traffic existed. Only the occasional street rat and gonk droid, funny how that model continued to find use no matter what regime was in charge. Eventually, they made their way to an elevator, which took them lower into the city.

Jack still had much to say at this point, and Boe nodded or made the quick remark here and there, and then finally they arrived in the perfect sort of spot. A run-down neighborhood in a run-down sector, which already reeked of overfilled garbage compactors, dangerous levels of exhaust, and the manufacturing of illicit drugs and other things.

Though as Boe pushed forward, their path was stopped short when a man with a bludgeoning device--a large metal pipe--stepped in front of them.

"This is Akk Dog territory," the near-human hissed. "Turn around the way you came."

A local gang, undoubtedly. The man himself was backed up by two others, each carrying similarly improvised devices. Given the clear signs of graffiti depicting the Akk Dog and the way the locals pretended not to notice, Boe already had a solid idea that these were low-level grunts. They likely reported to higher-ups, who likely had better enforcers, armed with weapons designed to kill at that.

Still, the young woman was not one to shy away from her goals. Old instincts died hard, and her knee-jerk reaction was to wave her hand and send the man flying back. He slid into a container with a cry and a thud. Of the other two, one rushed in immediately while the second froze in place. Boe merely turned her gaze towards the charger, and suddenly, he dropped his weapon and began to scratch and swipe at his body while he screamed.

The third watched, and their face showed much fear indeed. They turned around and began to run, but Boe wasn't going to have it. She reached out and tripped them up by adding slightly more weight to one foot. Then, she began to drag him towards her.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Equipment: Casual wear | Breather | Pistol

---

"...About that time was when I ended up on Tython helping out with the relief efforts," he added, keeping pace with her walk. "Last I heard it was going well - oh!" They were being held up. It was kind of an inevitability in the seedier parts of the planet; frankly Jack was surprised it hadn't happened sooner.

He bit back a grin, hand falling to his side as he prepared to reach for his pistol - but Boe had already beat him to it, flinging one body against a dumpster as casually as brushing a fleck of cotton off her shoulder. The second one seemed to be... burning? Jack saw no fire, but perhaps for that mook the fire was real enough. The third one tripped over absolutely nothing, and was pulled back again just as easily.

"Damn." He snorted softly as he watched her dispatch them with surprising ease. "I was going to help, but..."

There was a clatter above and to the left, as a similarly outfitted tattoo-emblazoned lookout dropped their vibroshiv and raced back to inform someone, probably. Jack drew the pistol and lazily popped off a round in their direction. "So.... are you still planning on setting up here? Cause last I checked, gang-infested territories are low on the resale value for prospective home-buyers." There was a distant thud of a body hitting the ground, and a quiet whistle through the air, before Jack raised his pistol again, letting the smart seeker round embed back in the base of the gun with a satisfying 'thunk'. "No judgement either way! House-flipping is a venerable job, especially in a place like.... this," he gestured around. "Real fixer-upper, though."

---

Boe

 

[Boe]

Boe turned with some surprise as Jack managed to drop the fourth. She was even more intrigued by the projectile's return.

"That is... an interesting weapon," she remarked.

It was rare that she was impressed by one, as she had become far too accustomed to the usual suspects: blasters, lightsabers, vibroblades, and stun sticks, you name it. To see something novel was a sight for sore eyes, apparently.

Boe watched as the majority of locals cleared the streets or tried their best to placate her by simply paying no mind to what she had done, but fear lingered in the air. She had become a dangerous, ultimately unpredictable variable at this point.

"This location is ideal," Boe answered. "The people here are unlikely to alert the law. If I don't push them, they won't push me."

That may have been true for the majority, but they still had a gang to contend with. She just declared a turf war, and there weren't going to be negotiations at this point. A moment later, a familiar sound rang in her ears. A jetpack. Rudimentary when it came into view, experimental, made from junk. No Mandalorian, but a savvy opponent nonetheless.

She also carried a large disruptor rifle.

Not good.

Boe threw herself out of the way as the weapon fired, a near-miss judging by the vaporized grill behind her. For all she had, the Force being a lot, she was still without a weapon in her hand. Boe ducked into a cramped little alleyway and looked at Jack expectantly.

You have a gun, use it! She projected the words into his head, or at least tried to if his mind was open.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Equipment: Casual wear | Breather | Pistol

---

Jack tilted his head to the side a bit as the disruptor fired, and fired two shots at the jetpack owner in retaliation, casually stepping to the side behind some cover. "If I had known we were going to get into a fight, I would have brought something a bit more protective than slacks and a waterproof jacket," he called out to Boe, holding the gun out to the side to let the two rounds slam back into place a moment later. "Hang on."

He shucked a small sliver of green from his arm, wincing a bit as he shaped it into a long needle, longer than the bullets he was shooting. Flicking it up and to the right a bit, he managed to stick it to a durasteel archway, the small patch of green 'welding' itself to the metal with a bit of biotech magic.

Light-sensing patches were a novel development for him - Eyes were rather complex, and plants were not known for having them. This was the next best thing, however. Closing one eye, he could sort of sense out of the green patch, and now he could triangulate for the jetpack exhaust flare.

Without needing to look, he fired off several rounds in various orientations, all three rounds zipping through the air towards the armored foe. With the additional perspective of the biotech nodule, these rounds struck true at the unarmored neck of the jetpack gunner and shredded right through the weak-spot like gelatin.

Jack opened his eyes a moment after the explosion of a fuel-laden jetpack hitting the ground, and gave Boe a warm grin. "No scope needed."

---

Boe

 

[Boe]

Until now, this wasn't a side Boe had suspected to see in Jack, but she was otherwise pleased to be witness.

"I did not plan this fight," she said as if she didn't start it.

Boe stepped out into the street, and sure enough, no one fired at them. It was unlikely just the four, so she approached a terrified bystander--an old man who looked up at Boe with much fear.

"Please, don't kill me! I'm not with them!" He pleaded.

She took his chin so as to tilt his gaze to meet her own. "Where do the Akk Dogs make base? Any primary hideouts, safe houses?" Once again, a display of her sorcery, where eye contact proved a powerful tool.

The man blinked. It was clear he didn't want to snitch, but he had no choice; he wasn't strong or experienced enough to fight it.

"I... I..." Futile. His head turned against his will to face a familiar direction, then he raised a single shaky finger to point. "There. Around the corner, 'A New Place', apartment complex, sub-level 3." As soon as she had what she wanted, she dropped the connection and then put him to sleep.

Right then and there, the man simply slouched over and was unconscious, from what appeared to be a look alone. Boe looked to Jack, her eyes as determined as ever, and then she started to walk in the direction of this apartment. When she got there, the doorman already seemed to know something was up. Undoubtedly, word had traveled in the moments of their fight. He abandoned his post and scrambled off into the streets.

"Try the front door, I'll find another way in." She barked at Jack.

Then Boe leapt with some oomph behind her step and began to climb the outer facade of the building.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Equipment: Casual wear | Breather | Pistol

---

Jack watched her scramble up the outside of the apartment building with an amused smile; Boe was certainly a character. That and her apparent mastery over the mental effects of the Force had him chuckling a bit as he walked through the front door. No wonder that bystander got sent to dreamland, and no wonder she had no difficulty communing with his alien mind.

Potshots rang out the second he stepped into the lobby. Quickly ducking to the side, he scanned the immediate surrounding for some sort of decorative flora, landing on a small potted succulent perched on the receptionist's desk. Well it would have to do. He reached for the teeny lil plant through the Force, pulling it close and then carefully cradling it to his chest as he curled gentle fingers over it. "Sorry little one... I need to borrow some leaves."

"Is he dead?"

"Flush him out!" A few tentative steps crossed the foyer, as the two Akk Dog 'guards' posted there pushed up to try to suss out the situation. They were met with razor-sharp plant-based throwing knives as Jack leapt over the desk towards them. His fists sprouted thick thorns, and with a few sharp blows he quickly dispatched the pair.

He needed more plants if he was going to just plow through them like this... Closing his eyes, he quietly reached out to the apartment complex as a whole, trying to get a sense for the life within it (and also re-noticing Boe on the outside for that matter). Not many plants, even for sparse Coruscant apartments.... he would have to collect them as he went.

---

Boe

 

[Boe]

Boe heard the obvious commotion of Jack downstairs. She wondered to what extent Jack would help her, and now had her answer. The witch made it up two floors above ground and used the force to unlatch and open a window, which she promptly entered.

While the apartment had been 'abandoned,' it clearly wasn't uninhabited. Families of the gang members, friends? She wasn't really sure, and she didn't allow herself to distinguish as she threw one of them against the wall as she forced her way out of the room, and proceeded down the hall. A grunt had already sprinted up the stairs, first to take cover from Jack, and then to try and stop Boe, whom he believed might've been a better match.

It was not his day.

She swung her left foot up and then across the right, and struck his head, which promptly cracked against the wall. Her footsteps could be heard as she marched down the next stairwell and towards the ground floor, where Jack undoubtedly had his hands full with the main crowd.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Equipment: Casual wear | Breather | Pistol

---

The pistol was extremely effective at close ranges like this, but in terms of room clearing it was moderately ineffective. And with no armor, Jack was having to take his time, work strategically, clearing room after room methodically and as quietly as possible.

'As quietly as possible' was often not very quiet. Blasters and slugthrowers made for very loud weaponry, and dying was rarely a silent thing. Jack continued to push onwards and upwards; from what he was gathering, Boe was now inside and working her own way down. They'd probably meet in the middle, or wherever the greatest concentration of enemies would be.

Yanking a plant-stiletto out of the back of one grunt who got a little too close for comfort, Jack quietly scooted over to the wall next to a door, listening for approaching footsteps. One pair of feet, moving slow and steady. Armored, probably. Confident. Gotta make it quick, then. He let out a stealthy breath in preparation and whirled around out the door -

And thanked his lucky stars he had his finger off the trigger. "Feth, Boe... almost put your eye out," he sighed, lowering the pistol immediately and relaxing visibly at the sight of the familiar woman. "I think that's most of them... Probably a few holed up in the nooks and crannies, but I've yet to see any sort of leadership. Thoughts?"

---

Boe

 

[Boe]

Boe blinked as Jack almost went for the kill, and would've likely reacted more if she hadn't been drunk on adrenaline and narrowly focused.

"The man said their main hold-up was in the sub-levels," she replied.

She waved to Jack as she began to look around the main floor for any signs. A single straggler tried to get the jump on her, only to be consumed by a dark vision of his own death from a myriad of perspectives. Such was the weakness of untrained minds when faced with a witch's illusions. Then, she noticed what appeared to be a painting with scratch marks all along the edges. It had to have been removed and replaced many times over the years to get this way.

Indeed, as she removed it there was a control panel for a hidden lift. Code-activated though... Boe was no slicer, and she looked to Jack with confused eyes. Unfortunately, she was quite ignorant with technology.

"Do you know how to get past this?"

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Equipment: Casual wear | Breather | Pistol

---

Jack eyed the control panel thoughtfully. When it came to technology made with steel and wire, he was unfortunately sorely lacking. While he could boost into a weak link with a bio-scomp he had taken several months to develop, that bio-scomp was currently secured in his armor's gauntlet... in his ship. Which was a few dozen klicks away in the spaceport.

"Sure... just gimme a sec." He closed his eyes as he walked along the walls of the room, tap-tap-tapping on the wall. He was feeling for something, anything out of place.

Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tock. Tock tock tock.

Jack nodded in satisfaction and pried his fingers around the baseboards. The faintest hint of an air current graced his fingernails, and he hummed softly in satisfaction. "Hidden door here..." Standing back up, he poked around in the Force for a moment. "And as much as you want digital security, even the most secure digital locks must give way to the physical..." With a click, the door cracked open from the wall, a perfect seam in the wallpaper. Jack gave Boe a grin. "So you just pry the physical lock open."

---

Boe

 

[Boe]

The witch crossed her arms and watched Jack do his work. He was lucky that her ignorance ran so deep that she didn't notice his own compensations to try and find a way around this problem. At the same time, it meant she didn't fully appreciate his ingenuity in solving it either.

The door parted and revealed the elevator's interior. It was a spacious space, enough to fit half a dozen humanoids at least.

"Good work," she said as she stepped inside and waved Jack to come along. "I think this is where I'll stay."

At the very least, Boe wasn't ignorant enough to not know how an elevator worked, and pressed the button all the way down to sub-level 3 just like the old man said. The door shut and the lift began to descend quite rapidly. It only began to slow as it approached the destination some seconds later.

"Hey, hey... About time you--" Said a guard whose surprise was not nearly quick enough to avoid a solid punch to the temple.

Boe stepped out of the elevator and looked around. It was an open space, unlike the floor they came from, and the entire space was filled with various equipment all used to produce illicit substances. A small operation, likely to serve a limited territory in Coruscant's underbelly and no more, but absolutely the lifeblood of the Akk Dog's and the entire center of their operation.

A handful of civilian workers looked at the two with panic. They watched and waited as their only escape was blocked by the presence of two strangers who quickly subdued their only guard.

Placation made sense for one of them. "Boss is in there! That way!" She pointed a shaky finger at a lone doorway in the back.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Equipment: Casual wear | Breather | Pistol

---

Jack had kept his breather on this whole time; the air on Coruscant was so consistently cloying and recycled. Down here, there was something else, too. Acrid, sour, saccharine. Like too-sweet vinegar.

There it was, of course. He should have guessed - drug labs and gangs went together like stink on a bantha. He winced behind the breather, before moving forward into the room after Boe. She took care of the lone guard, and with the direction of the boss now known, stepped aside to allow the workers to leave. They were no quarrel, and besides, most of them were probably indentured to a degree. About as innocent as it could get, here.

Jack took the lead towards the door, hand resting near his pistol as he moved close. No telling how many guards may be inside - it was a sealed door, too, so no easy way to sense the room's contents. Hard breach, then? He eyed Boe inquisitively, the question unspoken but plain on his face.

---

Boe

 

[Boe]

Jack's expression told Boe everything she needed to know. With a single, curt nod in return, the witch extended one hand towards the door and closed her eyes. She decided she would use the immense pressure generated by the automated door's hydraulics against itself. While she was far from an expert on mechanics, she knew the sensations of power. The compressed energy could be felt, it could be heard if you knew how to listen.

She found where it was most vulnerable, reached out with the Force and...

Bang!

The mechanics snapped within the wall, and she directed the explosion towards the door, and the door flew into the room.

There was an audible yelp from someone inside the room who the force had undoubtedly struck, and then two grunts poured out of the room with blasters raised and anyone to fire them at.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Equipment: Casual wear | Breather | Pistol

---

Jack was ready for it, and as soon as the two silhouettes appeared in the doorway - before they had even come through the frame - his pistol was raising, snapping off two shots. They got through the doorway before immediately collapsing, each with a coin-size hole in the forehead. Jack kept the two shots embedded in the wall, somewhere beyond, in case he needed to yank them back in a moment later. Giving a nod to Boe, he rushed through the doorway into the unknown room beyond, immediately ducking to the side to preemptively avoid a hail of blaster fire.

When nothing spattered the wall he had just moved away from, he peeked up over a plush faux-leather couch to the smoke-filled room beyond. Nothing.... He got to his feet again, pistol ready but not fully raised, waiting with coiled apprehension for something, anything to make a move. He was ready for Boe to come through the door, at any speed really, but aside from that he was ready for anything. Mostly anything, anyway.

---

Boe

 

[Boe]

Boe walked towards the room, passing through the smoke like eerie fog. On the other side all seemed clear, though she heard small movement beneath the destroyed doorway. She lifted it enough to toss it aside, and sure enough there was the third and hopefully final one. Still alive, too.

A very injured Evereni at that, which would explain how he survived the impact, though Boe had little understanding of his species or their natural durability. He groaned and coughed up some blood, unable to focus on the two intruders.

"Why..." He tried to speak but collapsed from the damage.

Boe looked at the unconscious man, and then at Jack. For the first time, she asked for his advice more directly than she demanded his help.

"Should we kill him?"

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Equipment: Casual wear | Breather | Pistol

---

He hesitated. Nominally one shouldn't leave any witnesses alive, but... it felt wrong to just kill a defenseless being.

"I vote no. If he's alive, he becomes a warning to stay away from this place; you get free marketing, and a fairly defensible position to call home. If he dies here and now, this place becomes a vacuum that someone else is going to inevitably want to fill."

He gently nudged the side of the Evereni with his boot. "Your call, Boe."

---

Boe

 

[Boe]

She knelt down in front of the man as Jack spoke, and after he finished she just stayed that way for a while. A few minutes at best.

"Hmm..." She pondered.

Jack's explanation made absolute sense to her. It was almost uncanny, really, for in so few words he described the essential argument behind the warlord system that the Primeval once operated to subjugate Wild Space. He only didn't go so far as to say 'Make this man your subject, Boe.'

She sat back up. "I don't know enough about this world's gang culture... I'll need to learn so I can make him useful."

Boe looked to her companion again. "I think you're exactly right. Will you help?"

Her tone and demeanor had taken on a much more docile shift since the fighting ended, and more so than ever she began to turn to Jack for advice. This little excursion did a lot to build her trust in him, if liberation alone wasn't enough.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Equipment: Casual wear | Breather | Pistol

---

"Help you get settled here?" He nodded with a soft smile behind the mask. "That I can help with, sure. But if it's all the same to you, I need to get back into nature as soon as possible... Can't stand the cities, and Coruscant is the worst of all for me."

He adjusted his breather again, sighing a bit. "...Boe, I hate to impose on you, but I need to head back to my ship to recharge for the night. Would it be alright if I left you here until tomorrow?" Fighting without preparing for it combined with the usual tar of Coruscant's atmosphere was taxing him, and he was trying to not let it show.

---

Boe

 

[Boe]

Boe remained on her knees in front of the man they had knocked unconscious. She looked over her shoulder at Jack.

"Hmm?" Instinctively, as she hadn't processed what he said until just now. "Oh. Yes, of course. You know your way?"

The witch did not fully understand his nature or how it impacted his ability to live here. She barely noticed how terrible the air was, or that it had been damaging her lungs this whole time. Such is the ignorance of a woman who can hardly perceive her own body.

As her attention turned back to the body, she spoke to Jack one last time before he left the room.

"Thank you, Jack."

Jack Sandrow