Bounty on a Republic Senator

[The Upright Man]

Here Julian Solo was, crouched behind the corner of a staircase in the senate residential cloudcutter, along with six others, waiting tensely as a quintet of senate guards strolled by. From the snatches of conversation Julian heard as they passed, it didn’t take a Tatooine brain spider to figure out that their night was as ordinary as any other. He pitied them, in a sense, what a boring job. Few would dare commit a direct attack on the residential suites of the senators. They would never have anything to do. Unfortunately for Julian, he was one of those few dumb enough. He glanced back at his group, signalling with a head jerk that they were following the pack. There was no hesitation among his team as they fell in behind him.

Keeping the troopers in sight, Julian moved stealthily through the deserted hallways. There was never much foot traffic in here at this time, and what little there was, was usually the senate guard, marching down the corridors. Before too long, they stopped before a half-open panel at an intersection leading into the ventilation shafts. Julian could barely hear them from this distance discussing how their recent gambling on a shock boxing match had gone, when one of the troopers pointed out that the panel had been opened quite recently, judging by the disturbed dust and grime. A single kick from another trooper was enough to open it the rest of the way. The guards remained there, calling in to their superiors of the odd occurrence.

“Let’s go,” Julian whispered. “We’ve only got a few minute window before they realise its just a decoy.”
“Could be we’ll be in for a fixing if they find out sooner, best some of us stay for recon,” Logan Boldshoulder pointed out. He was a small, compact man, full of nervous energy that always seemed on the verge of bursting like a solar flare, and his instincts were seldom wrong.
Julian considered. Logan had a point; they should at least stay behind to alert the others if something happened. “Alright, Logan and Dash, I want you two to stay here and watch them, let us know if anything goes wrong.”

The remaining four crawled across the corridor, inching towards a room of which the words engraved into its center were, ‘Senator of Carida, Nitram Ozio.’ Julian said, “We’re going in,” pulling his blaster and stepping quickly through as Julianna sliced the door. “Looks like,” May agreed as he and the rest followed.


[member="Nitram Ozio"]

 

[Jessu]

Nitram heard the shrill cry of his partner, as a squadron of humans burst into his apartment. He saw in the darkened room, perhaps half a dozen meters away, a small blaster pistol resting on his wardrobe. He shot up in his bed, resting forward as he demanded in his sleeping robes, “What is the meaning of this?”

The sound of his wife alerted the senate guards, he could hear their charging footsteps coming down the hall. Nitram squinted his eyes, trying to perceive the four men and women in his room, but they were cloaked and shadowed in darkness. Whirring lights shot past his window of his room on the 164th floor of the residential block.

The light managed to illuminate them for brief seconds, but he recognised none, but he sure as kark recognised the blasters in their hands. “Get down,” he shouted in command to his wife, leaping forward from his bed. He rolled and came up on one knee, snatching the blaster pistol from the wardrobe, extending the weapon forward, taking aim. He squeezed off a blast. The bolt showered the room with a hellish red glow as it targeted one of the unknown intruders.

[member="Julian Solo"]

 

[The Upright Man]

Julian heard the scream as they barged into the entertainment room and made way for the bedroom. Time was of the essence, and that scream meant the guard is coming. Then a moment later, Logan was buzzing over the comms, or rather shouting a series of curse words more foul than the seediest of sailors in the Rift. He turned into the bedroom and saw the senator, sitting up in bed and demanding what was the meaning of this. “You’re coming with us, senator,” Julian answered, levelling his blaster. His thumb flicked a switch and it set to stun. He didn’t want to kill him, that would only lessen the bounty. He would be losing out on credits, and a split between six men mean’t a serious loss in credits, for all of them. No, no one would be happy with that. Not at all.

“Shoot ‘im!” Julian roared as Nitram dove from his bed, after telling his wife to get down, rolling onto the ground and coming up with a blaster. Taken by sheer surprise, May was blown back, collapsing onto the carpet with a river of blood quickly oozing out. His bones and internal organs now a molten slag as the sheer heat burnt a hole through his body. Julianna cursed, diving aside, and with it she shoved Julian to the ground in cover. Julian hit the ground, a blast from Nitram’s weapon scorched the flooring where he had been, but Julian gritted his teeth and ignored it. He squeezed off a blast of his own, a blue ring emanated from the nozzle of his weapon and moved to incapsulate the senator. In the background Julian could hear the blaster fire between the remaining mercenaries and the senate guard, but all his attention was focused on that human form kneeling on the floor.

Then he heard it; the alarm was raised.
[member="Nitram Ozio"]

 

[Jessu]

The blaster fire carved through the distance between the senator and the unknown assailants. A bolt scraped along his forearm and he went down in a howl of pain, simultaneously placing a hole in the thug who had done it to him. Though the thugs damage was much more permanent. He rolled for a moment, hearing the distant fighting in the hallways as the senate guards came across the two men keeping recon on them. The battle sounded fierce, but footsteps were nearing the door, and soon the guard would be inside his apartment.

Nitram rolled over onto his back, to see if his wife was okay. He only realised as he gazed upon her body that she was screaming, and the ringing in his ears had become a deafening drumbeat that found no end. Nor could he heard the stun round spiralling towards him, only the insistent pointing of his partners figure past him, and at something. Nitram flipped over, hands cupping his wound where dried blood crusted over his fingers. A cerulean ring of energy encompassed him, his muscles became taut, flexed and loosened. He found his body going limp, and then his vision turned to darkness. The ringing subsided, he heard the screams, but so too did he heard the senate guard entering the room. And the alarm was raised.

[member="Julian Solo"]
[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus had a dim view of politicians. In fairness it was coloured by a man she conversely had a lot of time for. In his experience, Senators were only focused on pleasing those who fund their campaigns.

But rumours were rumours and had to be investigated. Corvus had once hoped to be a Jedi Consular. The present climate had dictated a more combative role but the opportunity to review the perceived threat to one or more Republic Senator allowed her to walk in the corridors of power - to observe politics in action - and to wonder what might have been.

But for now she was doing her final sweep of the area before checking in. The Force warned her a fraction of a second before the alarms sounded. As good as the sirens were, they lacked any directional assistance. Often they aided the perpetrator rather than the pursuers. And so it was, people running in various directions all at once - and none travelling the route Corvus was. But then, the Force was guiding her.

[member="Nitram Ozio"] | [member="Julian Solo"]

 

[Kana Truden]

Anaxes was new to Kana, it had replaced Coruscant in the wake of the Sith taking her real and despicable homeworld for themselves. It was still too close for comfort but when the Republic moved homes it would seemingly remain close to where it were it would started. A thought that was terrifying at best with the Sith practically sniffing the dust off their doormat. Still, it seemed safe enough so there was always that.

At least so she had thought before the alarm went off. With the alarms going off Kana froze up for a second.

"Oh no." Kana whispered to herself. "Here we go again."

The last time Kana had been present for something that required alarms was the robbery on the Praxeum. Now that had in every sense of the word been a game of cat and mouse that she had tried to forget all about. Sprinting along the corridors just like back then she forced her way through the panicking crowd. There were time for apologies later, right now there was a senator to save and a record to set straight.

"Just like the Praxeum!" Kana passed Corvus by with an unamused look on her face. "Run!"

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Nitram Ozio"] | [member="Julian Solo"]​

 

[The Upright Man]

Nitram went down like a bag of bantha fodder. Unfortunately, it was not over, not yet. They had simply jumped out from the frying pan and into the fire. Julian rushed forward, giving a sideways glance to the senators wife. How am I going to shut her up, he thought. With the senator of Carida out, he had some time, before the senate guard came through the door once they finished mopping up Logan and Dash. Julian made for the wardrobe and began to systemically tear out each drawer, revealing a variety of organised clothes. He drew back another and found a sock drawer, taking out a single pair. He moved to kneel beside the woman that had pushed herself into the corner of the room. "Shh," Julian said in a whisper, placing a silent finger to her lips. Her shrieks had become sobs, and then muffled whimpers when he shoved the sock into her mouth. "Spit that out, and I shoot you."

​The senators wife had easily been convinced to heed his demands, nodding her head enthusiastically in show that she would remain quiet. He moved towards the door leading into the entertainment room, seeing the remaining two dragging the corpse of May behind a couch, and then taking up positions behind said couch, pistols raised at the door. Julian withdrew back to Nitram, slipping a backpack onto the floor from his shoulders. He pulled the zips and revealed a harness, often used by those who sought thrills by jumping out of ships and landing on a planets surface. Now, he was using it to carry an unconscious body around like a mother with a baby, a big sweaty baby. He hooked the harness onto Nitram, and before long, he managed to pitch him onto the bed before lowering him onto his back, and clipping Nitram in. Sure, it looked like a mother carrying a baby, but no one could deny it was a lot harder; especially when the giant baby was unconscious.

[member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"]

Spoiler

((Nitram is having trouble with his account, and seeing as he is knocked out, said you guys are free to post))

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus was aware that she was about to be overtaken - by Kana! What was she doing here (although she was probably wondering the same).

Picking up her pace, she matched her friend stride for stride. "I guess you're getting the same vibes I am? Not just a rumour then?"

They'd reached the area Corvus suspected was where things were going to get interesting and closed her eyes. Using Force Sight, she slowly stretched out, creating an image in her head. Walls and doors were translucent - and she was scanning for organics.

[member="Julian Solo"] | [member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Nitram Ozio"]

 

[Kana Truden]

"Nope." Kana had the same look of determination on her face as always. "It's more real than I'd like it to be."

In a sense she was acting on her frustration. Had Kana ever done anything right? It seemed to her like no matter how she tossed and turned failure stood ready to laugh in her face. The Praxeum had been a failure in it's own sense, it truly had. She was not going to let history repeat it self. This senator would be saved and the perpetrator would be dealt with accordingly.

"What is the situation?" One of the men nodded at the senator's bedroom. "Oh greeeaaaaaaat."

Kana withdrew her saber and took a few careful steps toward the room before opening the door and turning her saber on as a warning. Hopefully the crook would know better than to try anything stupid and stand down. Hopefully.

[member="Nitram Ozio"] | [member="Julian Solo"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"]​

 

[The Upright Man]

The fighting became intense in the apartment. Bolts of concentrated crimson particle beams grazed past the couch, slamming into the wall and melting the materials used in the construction. Julianna and Joanne were returning fire, crouched beside the corpse of May. Yellow beams were returned. Julian Solo watched as a phalanx of senate guards surged through the doorway against the blasterfire. None of the guards so much as faltered, even though the particle beams had torn through a majority of them as if they’d been flimsiplast cutout dolls. Three-quarters of their numbers had been shredded in that charge, and those crawling over their brothers to try and take the room were quickly gunned down. Not only was it a total display for a lack of disregard for the safety of their own lives, but a testimony to their undying loyalty. Suspicion grew in Julian though, even the most devout sometimes had a hard time trying such an attack.

When no more guards came to the door, he tenderly stepped forward, Julianna and Joanne flanking him, carbines raised. Solo moved to a crouch, wincing at the weight of the motionless Nitram on his back. He picked at the guards, and noticed in the molten slag of their armor, there was scorched synthskin that now barely masked their true identity as human replica droids. Of course, it was always too costly to hire. Why pay an organic regularly when you could pay once for the ultimate loyalty of a droid. He surmised it wise, but in instances like these, some droids just lacked common sense. Not so common, but organics tended to have it more than droids, that was for sure.

Then came the electronic growl of an ignited lightsaber, and Julian stumbled back onto his feet, back-pedalling into the apartment. The blade appeared at the hallway, and immediately the duo backup opened fire, as they had with the senate guards. Julian knew better. There was no way out of this for him; he turned his pistol on the transparisteel window, flicked off the safety and fired into the glass. It shattered. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

[member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Nitram Ozio"]​

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus watched Kana advance. She hadn't drawn her own saber yet - she was so old school on this matter.

She'd seen a host of guards pile into the room, saw the blaster fire in her mind's eye and was aware that the perpetrators had survived the best the Republic droids could offer. She sighed, there was only one exit but she suspected the criminals wouldn't see the futility of their situation for some time yet. She suspected some lengthy negotiations were about to start.

Which was when she heard the sound of duraglass shattering. "Oh no. Not good."

[member="Julian Solo"] | [member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Kana Truden]

For once not following Corvus' example Kana raised the green blade to point up in the air as if ready for anything. The life of a senator was at stake but not only that, to fail this task would not only mean a failure to Kana but the Order as well and in turn the Republic. Things were at stake that was beyond Kana's control and that was what frustrated her.

The sound of glass shattering was never a good sign, right? No, it wasn't, the intruder must be getting desperate. With the shots coming at her she had to remind herself that the blaster bolts was no longer coming from a hovering little droid set to stun, this was the real deal. What would all of this accomplish? The intruders would get be sentenced to a lifetime at best when they were caught, was it really worth risking that much for the ransom of a senator? This was after all a kidnapping, right?

"Why are you doing this?" Kana called out.

[member="Nitram Ozio"] | [member="Julian Solo"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"]​

 

[The Upright Man]

The shattering of glass sent a gust of chill wind into the room, causing those inside to involuntarily shiver. The howl of speedsters racing by was nigh deafening to the ears. Julianna and Joanne were trying to keep the Jedi pinned down at the doorway, but he knew that such attempts would be futile at best. Julian Solo turned and approached the ledge, looking down, he was nearly two-hundred stories up, and if he fell... it wouldn't be pretty. He didn't have a jump-pack either, but it was either take his chances, and likely die, or hand in the Senator, and likely die when he gets into prison. People like him, bounty hunters, were the reason a lot of the hardest criminals were in there. He wouldn't survive a night alone. Not just that, but he needed the credits to live. He was down to his last few chips.

"Why are you doing this?" the voice of the Jedi called out. Julian turned, and saw that his two friends were quickly running low on their power packs, and they had stopped firing to conserve their ammunition. His eyes looked down at May, motionless and his eyes had grown glassy. Julian shouted back over the noise, "I need the credits. Let us go and we won't kill the senator. Dead or alive. Your choice." He took a step closer to the ledge, and the only thing helping him balance from falling off was the limp Nitram on his back. He watched the pods shoot past, too fast for him to take the risk and jump. He would become bug splatter. Then his eyes spotted something else; a probe droid, hovering nearby.

[member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Nitram Ozio"]​

 

[Corvus Raaf]

The sound of breaking glass was immediately followed by Kana’s voice and then the gust of wind that said the perpetrators had decided to double their exits from the room.

Then she heard the response. Inevitable really. “Negotiations were…short.” Realising that this was no prank and that delaying would achieve nothing, Corvus drew her saber. A brief moment of meditation and she was in Center of Being, the violet light cast by the blade illuminating her face. Not an offensive stance – her intention was not to deflect any blaster bolts back at the shooters, but to merely stop them burning a hole in her.

Stepping forward, she entered the room, allowing the Force to deal with the two waving the blasters, her own focus on the man with a Senator strapped to his back.

She briefly reached out with the Force, to check the Senator was alive – which he was.

“And they said I was cynical for suggesting that we carry our politicians at times!” Since working with Veino Garn, Corvus was able to share and receive more emotions – and in a controlled manner. The unfortunate side-effect seemed to be a fondness for really, really, really bad puns.

[member="Julian Solo"] | [member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Nitram Ozio"]

 

[Kana Truden]

Kana gave Corvus a stern stare down. This was not the time for puns! If anything it was time for punishment but not that! She turned her focus back to the man with the senator on his back. The other two were unimportant at the moment.

“That goes both ways, you know!” Kana yelled back into the room. “You realize that if you do in fact escape there will still be enough witnesses to slap you down for a life sentence, right?”

“And that’s if the judge is feeling nice. Think about it! Your face will be displayed throughout every Republic planet and inside of every bounty hunter’s office. You’re kidnapping a senator, do you really think the Republic will just sit idly by and let that happen? The bounty will be huge!”

Kana looked at Corvus. The frustration was still evident but at least no longer acted upon. She gave the girl some sort of indication that she should try to do something while they were still distracted.

“And what of your two friends here, what about them? Are you just going to cut them loose for the senator in this crazy and suicidal escape plan of yours?”

[ [member="Nitram Ozio"] | [member="Julian Solo"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] ]​

 

[The Upright Man]

Julian Solo stood there and listened. He didn't have much of an option at this point. He knew well the sentences he would serve, but on a planet of a trillion, and in a galaxy of a centillion, they could have fun trying to find him - if only he just escaped. He didn't care too much for bounty hunter offices either, he thought of them as fairly redundant. Who was to tell him what pay check he could have or cannot have. And his friends, well, he contemplated it for a brief few seconds. They were going to dip their hands into the pay check, he didn't know them much more than he knew the bartender down on Third. Which, in fact, was not very well. If he had to cut them loose, it was all the more credits for Julian. But the chances of getting this senator out alive were dwindling, they could have handled the Senate Guard, not Jedi. The pay was good if he was alive, but it didn't hurt if he lost a few credits rather than missing out altogether.

Julian Solo fell to a knee and quickly began unhooking Nitram Ozio out of the harness, his sluggish body slumping to the floor with a loud thud. There was only one option in the mind of Julian. Force the Jedi to save the Senator while he escapes, or dies trying. He knew what it was like in the penal facilities, you were just as likely to die from a shank as you were a severe beating. What better way to die, a quick painless death if he falls, or the slow death of a stab wound or beating. It was evident to Julianna and Joanne what he had decided, without even speaking a word. "Catch him if you can," Julian said, Julianna rose to her feet, shrieking in protest and firing off a series of blasts mean't to kill Julian, Joanne dived ahead to try and catch Nitram, but she was too far away. Julian kicked, hard, against Nitram and his unconscious body rolled out the shattered wall-sized window. Julian bent his knees and pounced for the probe droid, out the window, and he didn't realise just how far away it was until his arms were fully stretched out, clawing for dear life.

It wasn’t the best idea Julian had ever had. His arms narrowly missed the droid, and the sensation of falling to his death struck his stomach fully. He began to fall, then slam! he hit something with enough force to knock the wind out of his lungs, he thought he heard something pop in his left shoulder. His right hand scratched, clawed and clutched onto a metalloid arm of another droid. He swung viciously, almost loosing his grip. He tried to move his left arm but cried in pain, it was definitely dislocated. He moved to take a hold of whatever he could, then he hit a wire, the droids power failed. They dropped some fifty stories before Julian got the wire connected again, antigravity reactivating. He dangled from the metal orb as it wove in and out of speeder traffic.

[member="Kana Truden"] [member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Nitram Ozio"]

 

[Kana Truden]

"NO!" Kana exclaimed as the senator's body went out the window. "Nonono, you idiot!"

Running up to the window she tried to grab the senator. If not physically then through the force. To her great shame he was out of her reach already and she had to consider another approach. Looking down there were certainly traffic running around here. The chances of getting a little probe of her own seemed good enough but her previous experiences of falling and falling through windows in particular wasn't great. Kana touched the small cut on her right cheek as she gave Corvus an worried and almost frozen look.

"I can't reach him!"

[ [member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Julian Solo"] | [member="Nitram Ozio"] ]​

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus ran past Kana and simply dived out of the window. Perhaps she'd spent too much time around her best friend - but her usual approach of weighing up the options and deciding on the best course of action was futile - and she knew it.

So she dived after the falling Senator. He was literally a dead weight and therefore not aerodynamic and by adopting a diving positon, she was able to catch him after a few seconds - as the floors of the building sped past. Grabbing him tightly, Corvus flipped him over so she was under him. Well that was the first part of the plan resolved - now to think of a second part!

Corvus wasn't frightened of death. She knew she would one day revert to the Force, only the day was still open for debate. Or perhaps not. She held the Senator tight and called upon the Force. She knew she couldn't survive the impact of the fall but if she - and the Force - cushioned the Senator enough, he might just make it.

As she fell, she smiled. She had never been so close to the Force, so able to feel it coursing through her body. She trusted in it 100% to save the Senator's life. They banged against a few speeders on the way down - they slowed their descent but not enough.

Finally, at one with the Force, Corvus' back broke the glassteel canopy that adorned the front of the building. Shards went everywhere and her body slowed from this initial impact before the jar that was the ground took her breath away. She was was in so much pain. Ribs were definitely broken. Her skin was lacerated in more places than she could even imagine trying to count. Her right arm was fractured - as was her collarbone. But...somehow she was still alive and it made no sense.

As she lay there, she could feel the Senator breathing, his head on her chest - and she hoped the film crews didn't capture this one on camera. [member="Johnny Diamonds"] would never understand! She was a physical wreck and felt no connection to the Force. But what had happened? As she lay there - people were clearly too slow to react in these situations - she pieced it together. In giving herself to the Force totally, it clung to her and surrounded her - effectively creating a cushion for her fall. Now she wasn't ungrateful, but a softer cushion would have been nice as she now felt hands lifting the Senator off of her and she realised that some of the numb feeling was not due to his weight - but because her body was simply lacking any feeling.

'Come on Kana, get the bad guy!' These were her last thoughts before she passed out.


[member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Julian Solo"] | [member="Nitram Ozio"]

 

[Kana Truden]

“No no no! Corvus no!” Kana couldn’t do anything except watch in frozen horror as the stupid little girl jumped after the senator. “No no no.”

She kept repeating the same few words over and over as she looked around the room in panic. The senator’s wife seemed fine, maybe not psychologically but fine nonetheless. Good enough for Kana to want to rush away from her. There would be guards coming, there had to be. The two accomplices were still to be taken care of.

Her saber was still activated, she could just take care of them herself. Make them feel the pain she was experiencing. But no, that would not be what Corvus would have wanted, that is not what she want. Kana wanted to run, yet she was bound by her code to protect the people of the Republic, right? To leave the senator’s wife alone with the two women still uncared for would be irresponsible and selfish.

Kana breathed heavily, she fought the urge to act on her anger with every fibre of her being. She had done it once already and the guilt would still spark up at times. No, these two were simply unlucky enough to have been acquainted with an idiot unlike any other. Hopefully they would prove wiser and help in the investigation.

At last the guards arrived and Kana could bail.

“Arrest them!” An angry growl. “They’re in on it, give them their rights.”

She rushed for the elevators. Her foot tapped rapidly at the ground as the elevator made it’s way from the 173rd floor. It was going too slow. Kana punched the wall as if it would speed the elevator up, it didn’t.

The elevator eventually arrived and she rushed inside and started pressing the ‘ground floor’ button repeatedly until the doors closed. Why had Corvus done that? No, wait why shouldn’t she have? The senator would have died. But then again, Corvus might be dead and that was even worse.

Kana shook her head, such thoughts were selfish and she should know better. ‘Train yourself to let go of those you love the most’, something Corvus had told her during their first few sparring matches. She had tried, Kana really had, but she just couldn’t.

The bell dinged and she was about to get out of the door on the 53rd floor. Pushing the man and woman trying to enter out the door before it closed Kana opened a small control panel by the button panel to override the signals from the rest of the floors. She didn’t need the hold ups. The panel chirped in acceptance and the elevator was ‘no longer in service’ to the system. For the sake of it she made it go faster. She really, really did not need all this time to waste.

The door dinged for the last time and Kana rushed out. There was broken shards of glass all over the lobby as people stood in a circle around what Kana had already come to assume was a dead Corvus. Pushing people aside she got herself a few angry glares as she broke herself into the middle of it all.

She looked dead, was she dead? Kana pushed the senator aside and checked Corvus’ pulse. Yes, she was alive though the damage seemed bad. Maybe she would wake up if...

Kana slapped Corvus in the face to the outrage of everyone else.

“You stupid girl.” Kana looked over at the senator, he seemed to be breathing. “At least you did something right you y-y-you idiot.”

The perp would get away, a senator been saved somewhat and Kana would drag Corvus to her ship. What a horrible day.

[ [member="Nitram Ozio"] | [member="Julian Solo"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] ]​