Chasing a Ghost (Coci Sinopi / Invite Only)

[Athrun Zala]

(Not sure of the title just yet. If you read this thread and feel like you can participate, send me a PM first.

Participant list:
[member="Coci Sinopi"])

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"So have you seen this girl before?"

The picture waved in front of the bartender's face was one of a little girl, about 6 years old. The bartender, a middle aged human coated in fur with a gruff expression, gave the picture a once over, then shook his head. "Not personally."

"Not personally?" A raised eyebrow lifted on a young face adorned with short brown hair, and curious emerald eyes. The man in question sat down at an empty stool, his back to the rest of the cantina, which was almost empty, save for a few aliens. "Then you know of someone who knows of her, yes?" Upon hearing the silence that followed, the man waggled the picture a little, the flimsiplast making crinkly sounds. "Come on, you know everything that goes on in this city."

"There's a rumor that this girl," the bartender indicated the picture with a stubby finger, "was the daughter of some wealthy folks who lived in some mansion a ways over. Then the girl was kidnapped by a group of thugs, and ransomed for a million credits. When the parents wouldn't pay up," the bartender snapped his fingers in a sudden manner that made the younger flinch. "Dumped her body in the lake bordering the house. Big scandal on the news. Rumor has it that the parents were so grief stricken they upped and moved. Abandoned the mansion. I don't think anyone lives there."

"Oh." The disappointment on the young man's face was evident. Just as he turned to leave, the bartender spoke again.

"But...there have been stories. Now I'm not big on this myself," the bartender waved a hand dismissively. "But there have been tales of a ghost walking the halls of the mansion and by the lake where she was found. People walking by can hear her wailing away...but I don't think there's much volume to these stories."

"You said people..." the young man said slowly. "Do you happen to know anyone?"

"Well..." the bartender began slowly, pondering as he picked up a glass to dry. "There is a guy who comes into my bar. Rodian. They're the big bug-eyed, short, green people if you're not familiar with them. Only one of his kind in this city." The man nodded impatiently and the bartender continued, "His name's Jev. Runs a stall in the marketplace selling guns. He rarely sells anything worthwhile though. Comes in here babbling nonsense about ghosts from the underworld. If there's anyone who can tell you the latest scoop on resident ghosts, it's him."

"Right, thanks," the man said, placing a credit chit on the bar as he stuffed the flimsiplast photo in his pocket.

"By the way," the bartender asked as the man slid off the stool. "Who is this girl to you?"

The man merely stared at the bartender, then shrugged as he left the small cantina. The bartender shrugged too, and went back to cleaning glasses.

The young man, also known as Athrun Zala, approached the marketplace through a winding tirade of streets that seemed to crisscross eachother every which way. He hadn't yet figured out the intricacies of the city, and he could hardly call it a "city" anyway. It was more like a small town, with a few speeders in the garage in case someone needed help from a neighboring town. The "city" was actually a few miles off, its towering skyscrapers in the distance on the horizon. The highest building he could find in this town was four stories; but that didn't really bother him. It actually gave him a change of pace, which, after living his life at the top of an apartment building, he found refreshing. That was not to say that he didn't view himself above the locals, oh no; he had far more money in his account than they ever would have.

After passing many houses, buildings, and the occasional tree, he finally came to the marketplace. It was an open market, located about the center of town, with its durasteel walkways cluttered with sentients of different races, most of which were scraggly humans. The sun was shining brightly overhead, and even with his black clothes, he did an okay job of blending in. Most of the sentients were wearing brown, black, or tan, choosing not to wear bright and fancy colors. Who knows, maybe they couldn't afford anything better. He rubbed a hand over his cleanshaven jaw as his emerald eyes perused the stalls, looking for this bug-eyed alien the bartender described. He didn't see anything resembling a rodian anywhere, and he wondered whether the bartender had lied to him. Frowning, he moved through the stalls, glancing at the items in each basket or crate, and ignoring anyone who tried to sell him anything. When he finally got to a stall with weapons, he noticed its occupant was gone.

Disappointed, Athrun hung around, focusing his gaze on the racks which held different kinds of rifles. They were alright, if one wanted to go hunting for local animals. They were alright, if one wanted to protect their houses from burglars. But they certainly weren't clean, he noted as he ran his finger along the barrel, pulling away a finger full of dirt which he rubbed off on his coat.

Just as he bored of examining low-grade weapons, and turned to leave, a loud commotion arose from somewhere behind the wooden racks. He turned, rose an eyebrow, and before he had even found the source of the disruption, he found himself smack on the floor, with several guns on top of him. A rodian was on the floor nearby, along with several racks of guns and power cells. Subconsciously, Athrun placed a hand to his chest, checking the armor he wore underneath his loose-fitting clothes for dents. Not finding any, he shoved the weapons off of him, and leapt to his feet, just as the Rodian was making way to his. He was terribly excited, and would've run out of the marketplace had Athrun not grabbed him by the collar and his arm.

"What's up with you?" demanded Athrun, far more irritated than he meant to be. "Is this how you treat your customers?"

"Let me go!" the Rodian shrieked in basic, though his "L" was a bit faint, leaning more towards a "T" sound. "I'm being chased!"

As much as Athrun really wanted to let go of the Rodian, who was giving off an overwhelming scent that reminded him way too much of an animal, he didn't. He could always wait until he'd calmed down, but if the Rodian packed up his bags and left, he'd be no closer to his objective than before. So he shoved the Rodian into the seat behind the gun racks, and tapped him on the forehead with a gloved, armored hand. "Relax!"

Amazingly, it worked, and the Rodian slumped down in his chair as if the fight had been knocked out of him. He looked absolutely exhausted, and Athrun stared at him silently until the bug eyes finally looked up at him. Athrun was conscious of quite a few people looking in his direction, but he ignored him as he leaned over to grab a chair and set it in front of the Rodian. "Now I heard you're the local storyteller around here. Tell me, what do you know about a Lisa Trape?"

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Athrun Zala"]


So different since joining Order of the Silver Jedi, much had changed. It has been some time for Coci to be on a mission, solo, the days of moving within the shadows remaining silent very few compared to her work with the Republic. She is at her best in these situations, the cold, hard and blunt girl not left behind entirely and this is how she walks today. No emotions, no distractions only the purpose of her visit to this planet.

I could be all for nothing of course, the information received regarding the possible operations of an illegal arms dealer, said to be supplying the enemy, the Sith, rumours at best, but one had to take a look. If there is an operation, her directive is to 'remove' the threat by any means possible. Coci walks the streets of the town with her force presence concealed, she is master at this skill and very few would be strong enough to detect her. However, she remains physically visible.. for now. Her black body suit left at home, not needed for this type of assignment, rather she is clad in her cream trousers and white shirt, brown boots that clipped along the hard surface of the pavement. Her belt holds her blaster and lightsaber, all concealed beneath her cream cowled cloak.

The market stall are visible as she approached the trading quarters, their wares on display for those wishing to peruse the trinkets, the smell of street food wafting through the air fills her senses but does little to entice her. Coci pays little attention to the calls of the stall owners issuing an invitation to her to come and look. She passes them without even a slight turn of her head. Her black eyes focus and flicked around the area, noting all the beings busy with business and conversation, the odd accusation of cheating the buyer, but nothing extraordinary about the place.

No matter, her destination, the warehouses behind the market quarters. However, a minor scuffle seem to have caught the attention of a local man, behind a small stall selling guns and weapons of no real interest. Her eyes only flash fleetingly toward the action and a man that somehow looked strangely familiar, she met his gaze only for the briefest second, but she move passed, local disputes not on her agenda.

 

[Athrun Zala]

[member="Coci Sinopi"]


The rodian stared at Athrun a while, before he mumbled away in huttese. "Con youngee..." The rodian shook his head somberly, causing Athrun to lift an eyebrow as he waited quietly for an explanation. "She was a friend of mine," he spoke again in basic, though his 's' disappeared off into thin air. "Little girl. Very talkative. Didn't mind mind the weapons. I bought her treats." He lapsed into silence as his antennae twitched over his head. "But then that gang kidnapped her all sudden like. I tell you they don't kidnap girls." He shook his head again.

"You know the gang?" Athrun asked curiously.

"Eeuh, not exactly," the rodian blinked his eyes. "I knew one or two. I do favors, they leave me alone." He patted a nearby rack of weapons, which again, Athrun couldn't see much use for. "You are not from security, are you?" the rodian suddenly asked, his face screwing up in suspicion.

"No no," Athrun said quickly, putting his hands up in the air, lest the Rodian get it in his head to run away. He decided it was time to change the subject, as he wasn't about to go after the group of thugs. At least, he didn't think he was. Not yet, not until he had some definite information on the whole thing. "You say you've seen ghosts?"

The Rodian's antennae twitched. "Who said that?"

"The bartender down at the cantina."

"Oh. He talk too much." The Rodian fell silent after his blank statement, and blinked his eyes at Athrun, wondering whether to tell him. "They call me crazy, you know. But I've seen things, I have! Going by Trape mansion to the city, I hear awful wailing!" And the Rodian began to emit a mournful cry as he flailed his arms from side to side. "And I see little Lisa walking from the house carrying her doll."

"Did you ever talk to her?"

The Rodian nearly jumped out of his seat. "No! She was a ghost! You...you can't talk to ghosts! Maybe she thought I helped killers and...she kills me! There are stories--!"

Athrun was afraid the Rodian was going to go running off out of the marketplace, so he quickly grabbed for the alien's arm, as much as he wanted to avoid contact with him. Thankfully, he was still wearing his gloves. "Relax. Seriously. You don't have to tell me. Just tell me where the mansion is?"

"You want to go there? You're crazy!" The Rodian shook his head and sighed, but he pointed down the road with a long green finger. "Behind the marketplace, walk along the road past the warehouses and that broken down speeder. You'll see it once you reach the speeder."

"Thank you," Athrun said, and he placed a small credit chit in the Rodian's hand as he stood up. Just as he was turning to leave, he spotted three rather dirty looking aliens approaching the stall. The Rodian saw them too, for in a flash he was up out of his chair and sprinting down the walk. The aliens rushed after him, screaming about being cheated, and Athrun had to move back lest he got knocked over again. Subconsciously smoothing out his coat as he stepped away from the stall, he watched as the four disappeared behind some stalls, and turned his attention to the road trailing out of the marketplace.

The road wasn't too long, and he'd soon reached the warehouses and the broken down speeder. The warehouses, he noted, were just a couple of durasteel buildings with a few speeders hanging by. He saw the occasional sentient around there, but he paid them no mind. They honestly looked like they could be cargo haulers. They weren't that far from the spaceport anyhow.

On he walked towards the house in the distance, before he came to the small lake bordering it. He stopped by, giving the water his somber gaze and a moment of silence for the poor girl who died there. He'd forgotten to ask when she had died, but it didn't matter. That wasn't what he was trying to find out.

He walked up to the house, noting its intricate design and detail. While the paint was fading and dust and cobwebs covered the large porch, the structure was still very much in tact. The door squeaked opened to reveal an interior much the same. It was dark, for the curtains were drawn, blocking out almost all of the sunlight. The furniture had been left where it belonged, and he wondered if something had happened to the parents. Or perhaps they had just gone off world and intended to come back? The house didn't look as if it had been lived in recently; he guessed they'd been gone a year.

He wondered what he hoped to find by coming in here. Proof? He'd have more luck finding the girl's body itself. No, maybe he just wanted to see the house she had lived in, maybe find any written letters by the parents. His hand moved over a drawer, leaving trails of finger marks as it moved through the dust, before he finally opened it, pulling out a few documents. Nothing there though, and he put it back and shoved the drawer closed. He brushed off his gloves before running a hand over his jaw, opening his mouth partially as he pondered where to go next.

He'd gone through several rooms of the house, noting where the girl had sleeped, where they ate, and finally ended up in the parent's bedroom. The bed was neatly made, though a layer of dust covered it as well. He eyed the bed a moment, and wondered just how long it had been. Then he shook his head, and moved for the bureau at the front of the room.

He didn't know what it was about the wall behind the bureau, but it had caught his attention. Setting down the paper he had pulled out, he ran his hand along the wall, fingering the depressions before he pressed upward on one. With a sudden gust of air, a panel in the wall slid open, large enough for a person to walk through. He grinned slightly, before making his way into the passage. Then the door shut behind him, leaving him in total darkness.

But not for long, because on went his torch, lighting up the passage with a steady beam of white light. Panning the light back over the door, he realized he wasn't stuck after all; a control panel on the inside had a big red button he couldn't miss. No longer worried about whether he'd be trapped inside, he continued along until he had reached another door. That one led into the girl's room.

He was about to go back inside when he heard something outside, something that resembled a sonic boom. Surprised by the noise, he moved over to the window, wondering who could be lurking about outside an abandoned house. Several speeders came into view, stopping just outside the house. He watched as several men got out, before Athrun moved away from the window. He frowned a bit, wondering what a bunch of strangers wanted with the Trape mansion. He decided they were less than friendly, and he probably ought to get out of view in case they came upstairs. He had to find the depression on the wall for the girl's room, but he was soon back inside the passage. The sounds of people moving downstairs sent an odd distorted echo through the passage, and he made his way down to the second floor. His quest for finding information was momentarily out of his mind, though he was just as curious to find out what this bunch had to do with it all.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Athrun Zala"]

Leaving the markets behind, Coci found her way to the warehouses. In the same style as most of the town, the warehouses are plan, grey and run down. A couple of transports slowly traveled toward her, only to stop in front of large doors. The pilots paying her no attention as she passed them. She could sense their thoughts, focused on getting the unloading completed, paid and finding a cantina to get drunk and indulge in whatever activities that might present themselves.

A block away, Coci turned into an alley and proceeded toward the back. As soon as she was out of sight, she drew the force around her, bending the light around her body as she became concealed physically as well as her force presence. She approached the warehouse and stopped. Her black penetrating eyes, surveyed the walls, windows and door for the optimum point of entry. She discovered a window open only an inch.

Her hand pushed the window up, there is no one in room, her force senses had told her that, and she entered the warehouse without protest. Sliding the window back to its original position, Coci found nothing in the immediate room, save for an old desk, scattered papers and broken chair. Her hand shifted the papers, manifests of old deliveries, nothing unusual listed and she did not expect to find any.

Moving to the door she slipped through it and entered the corridor, her sense informing her of the presence of beings toward the back of the warehouse, five men, two located in a different location, possibly an office. She passed the door of the office and moved directly to what would be the holding room, as they are not expecting a 'visitor' the door are open. Inside the room, crates and creates of goods marked with the company logo and nothing more. However, the three beings she had sensed before working loading one more crate, with heavy weapons.

"Hurry up the boss whats the lots out the door in an hour", one of the men bellowed, the reply he received came in the form of mumbles of protest. As they completed the job and loaded a smaller transport, Coci watched in the shadows of the walls.

To her surprise, the transport did not move toward the front main doors. A low hum filled the room as the floor directly below the transport parted to reveal a metal platform. The men jumped into the small ship as it lowered beneath the floor. Quickly, Coci ran to the edge of the hole and jumped down, landing next to the transport. Above her the platform closed and plunged the tunnel into darkness. An abrupt halt sent the shudder of vibration through her body, she waited until the transport moved off and began to travel down a secret tunnel, the head lights throwing light on their path, but soon turned in an arc leaving her behind.

Pushing the force to her legs, she began to run, to follow at a steady pace.

 

[Athrun Zala]

[member="Coci Sinopi"]


Echoes continued to come through the passage of people talking, though he couldn't make heads or tails of it. If only they'd included a peep hole into their building plan, he could've seen what the men were up to. As he reached the first floor, he got the impression they were behind the wall he might've guessed to be the living room. Then there were more distorted noises, and soon they travelled not from his side, but below him. Continuing to walk, Athrun realized there was yet another group of stairs going down, probably into the basement. This would've been their way to sneak out of the house undetected should security or thugs attack.

Just as he had made his way down the stairs and moved to what looked like a door, it suddenly slid open. His light went out with a click, and he pressed his body against the wall, praying that whoever was on the other side didn't see him. Light streamed in from the open doorway, and as he looked through the three-to-six feet from the opening, he saw someone step through. The light illuminated him as a wookiee, all ladeled down with various weapons. He stood there a moment, sniffed, then proceeded down the hallway, a flashlight in hand. Then came a steady stream of other sentients, and Athrun watched them all from his place on the wall. Some were humans, some were not. Most looked like they came from someone's junkyard, but two stood out to him; they seemed to be wearing far richer clothes. They weren't aristocracy, but they certainly weren't thugs. Intrigued, Zala followed as soon as the door slid shut and the stream of people coming through stopped.

The passageway opened up into a larger waiting room, filled with empty crates and various stuff. The group proceeded to sit on top of the crates and wait, while the two "business men" paced back and forth. For a while the room was silent, but every now and then one of the two business men would ask where the shipment was.

"It's coming already!" one of the gruffer looking men growled out. "It'll be here soon, they're loading it up."

"Well I wish they'd hurry up," the same business man grumbled. "I have deadlines to meet."

More grumbling ensued between the group, but other than that, they all remained silent. And it stayed quiet for the next several minutes, before the steady beeping of a comlink echoed around the duracrete waiting room. One of the roughians replied, and signalled to another. Then Athrun watched from his hiding place in the hallway as the walls suddenly slid open, revealing a pair of lights that cut through the darkness and almost blinded him. He pressed his back against the wall in case he was seen, but no shouts of alarm were raised. Instead, the speeder drove into the center of the large room, and switched off its engines. The lights still remained long.

"Here's your merchandise!" the gruff one said as he opened a crate on the speeder and gestured for the business man to come look. The latter moved to the speeder and fingered through the contents a bit, before he pulled out a heavy repeater and pulled back the release bolt. With a shriek of terror the roughians moved to the side as they imagined dying, but instead the man focused his repeater on a crate in a corner and blasted it to shreds. The echoes that filled the passage were almost deafening, and Athrun was glad when the gun finally died down.

"Good weapon," the man announced as he set it back into the crate and shut the lid. Credits quickly exchanged hands between teh two leaders. "Now if you could load up my ships, I'll pay you the rest when we get there." The man motioned for the passage way and Athrun ducked his head back. He watched as the bulkier men began hoisting the crates off, and decided he'd better get lost before they found him. So he edged his way back along the wall, before he turned and quickly moved down the passageway for his previous hiding place.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Athrun Zala"]

She had caught up with the transport soon enough, however she remained at a safe distance behind it and remained concealed through the force. The tunnel began to climb upward as if cut into a hill, but her legs met the demand of the gradient as she strengthened them further. Eventually, the gradient leveled off and the transport came to a halt in front of what appeared to be a fake wall of rock. Coci could hear the clunking of the mechanisms that operated the hydraulics of the wall, a hiss of fresh air entered the tunnel as well as light bleeding in from a room. She could just make out the interior from her distance, and followed as the transport crept forward.

Unless among them is a high powered force user, her presence would remain concealed to them, and so she moved into the room. Her hand constantly rested on the hilt of her saber ready to be drawn if required. She moved to the wall and watched the exchange between a business man and the dealers, taking note of their faces. The business man is harsh and unforgiving, she would sense his want of terror and lust for power and much evil intent.

Her feet carefully placed one behind the other moved her along the wall and passed the transport. As the business man raised one of the repeaters and fired, Coci took the opportunity in the ensuing commotion to place a tracking device inside one of the crates. It would not be found until the crates are unload and by that time she would know the destination of the weapons, and the hold out of this business man. The dealers would have to be take care of as well. There would always be supply and demand through the galaxy for such items, but one has to stop the corruption and want for terror when one can.

Coci moved back to her position along the wall. Her periphery vision and force senses informed her of another. Her eyes moved their gaze to a man hiding near the wall not far from her, it was the man she briefly looked at, at the market stall. This caused more questions naturally, as to his intent and interest in this little gathering of thugs. As the men began to organise to leave, Coci followed the man in the trench coat and slipped into the passage way behind him.

Back in her ship, the tracking device activated the sensors and they began their readouts.

 

[Athrun Zala]

[member="Coci Sinopi"]


By the time the band of merry gun hustlers made it down the hall, Athrun had already reached the stairs leading up to the ground floor. He kept his light off as he moved up, and felt in the dark for the railing as he ascended. He could see lights at the end of the hallway, and the movement of figures, before he ducked into the upper passages. Once he thought it safe, he turned his flashlight back on, and panned it over the walls.

He didn't bother going back out to follow the group; he knew where they were going. The sounds of movement and voices echoed eerily up, and he could tell they were still in the basement, though not necessarily the secret passageway anymore. It did bring up an interesting question in his mind, though. How did they know? And what was with this "ghost" the Rodian arms dealer kept referring to? He continued exploring the hallways on the second floor until he came upon what looked to be a computer room, with a few monitors placed against the wall. His light panned over the monitor and the keyboards, and he stepped forward, activating the simple devices. What came us was a security overview of the entire house, followed by individual camera inputs, one of which showed the group of thugs coming up from the basement, their cargo on grav sleds.

"So there are the peep holes," he mused aloud, and seated himself before one of the monitors. The same one continued to watch the group of thugs like a motion detector, but he ignored it in favor of searching the system. He couldn't seem to find any form of audio for the cameras, but he figured the system had to be pretty advanced. He soon found what was labelled as hologram emitter control, and a press of a key brought up the figure of a little girl clad in white on one of the cameras. She made her way down the stairs, and as Zala pressed another key, was accompanied by the most awful wailing of a little girl in pain. The thugs on the living room camera practically froze, and began rapidly talking to eachother and pointing. Some looked startled, some looked angry. He felt amused and a little tickled for figuring out the secret. He gave the thugs another bout of wailing just for kicks, and watched as they got busier in moving their cargo towards the entrance. Then he stood up, switched off the camera setup, and moved up the stairs to the second level.

The thugs really did not concern him at that point; they were dealing in weapons and selling them to other people, possibly for some war. He really didn't care. What he did wonder, was how long this had been going on and whether the Trape family had been involved. This band of men couldn't have figured out the secret tunnels all by themselves, could they? Well, he did, but that was an entirely different matter. They purposely picked this house for out of the way deliveries. Could they have done away with the little girl? That thought made him sick to his stomach, and as he entered into the parent's bedroom, his grinning face had turned rather grim. He moved to the window, watched as a few thugs came out with a grav sled, then moved back to the drawer.

The duo had left pretty hurriedly after the girl had died, leaving far too much stuff behind. Maybe they had another house, but he was sure he'd find records; unless they had discarded them. He continued searching the drawers, confident that nobody would be coming up on him any time soon. But he found nothing of interest, and he looked about the room with a big frown on his face. Maybe it was in the living room? He stood there at the foot of the bureau eyeing everything in the room, before he spotted the painting. Maybe...

He moved over to the painting and removed it from its hanger. Sure enough, there was a safe behind it, and he rubbed his hands together in slight anticipation. Now who was likely to leave stuff in here, the father, the mother, or both? He'd find out at any rate, though he wondered where the mother might have hidden something from her husband. He glanced over to the window before he removed a forcepike from beneath his coat and the cloth it was contained in. Adjusting the vibroweapon to the maximum setting, he switched it on, and placed the tip against the durasteel case.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Athrun Zala"]

Following the man in the trench coat was easy enough. Her abilities through the force tracking him if he got too far ahead, she would allow the distance for prudence. He is attuned to the force, but she sensed he either does not know or does not care. Either way, his attunement strong and raw, and if he so wished could become powerful. However, he is neither Sith or Jedi that much was clear. Coci had remained located at the back of the room as she watched him check monitors, his actions growing more curious by the second. He is not involved with the thugs, in fact he seemed to be searching for something, information perhaps or maybe he is a common thief.

And yet she still could not shake this sense of familiarity, the sense of which went beyond her chance look at him back at the market stall, deja vu maybe? Regardless, Coci pushed her thoughts away as he stood to leave the security room.

The bedroom, abandon. It was becoming increasingly clear that who ever once lived in this mansion had departed in a hurry or worse, much trappings of daily existence lay about as if waiting for their owns to return. However, her black eyes remained fixed on the object of her attention, trench coat man. No .. no common thief, he searches for no valuables instead rifles through places one would keep secrets. Eventually he locates a safe and begins to pry open the door.

"What business do you have here?", she saber ignited as she pointed it toward the back of the man's neck. Coci, having dropped her concealment now stood in full view behind the man.

 

[Athrun Zala]

[member="Coci Sinopi"]


All was quiet, all was calm. The thugs outside were busy loading the weapons on to their vehicles, and Athrun was left by himself to find what he was looking for; a piece of information. Or rather, a clue and hopefully a confirmation of something he already knew. He'd sliced about half the lock when he heard a familiar snap-hiss of a lightsaber; the last time he had heard that was on Alderaan with a Jedi a year ago, and the last time he'd heard it in battle had been even longer. Even now, it carried the same conviction and rush of adrenaline. Either a Jedi or Sith was behind him, and he had to move fast to avoid being sliced in half. Thankfully he had his forcepike in hand. He could feel the heat on the back of his neck as he turned, and he moved away from the source, backing into the wall and the safe. His forcepike outstretched in front of him to block any strike to his body, and his left hand moved to join the right.

Turned about and actually facing his attacker, he had a chance to get a good look at her. A cream cloak covered much of her clothes, though he could see the brown boots that peeked out from underneath. Her face was what was mostly visible, framed by soft wavy brown hair that ended about her neck. He made no attempt to hide the way he searched her figure, and he had to admit she was a fairly pretty woman in her mid twenties. Her face carried conviction though; a coldness that didn't seem befitting of such a pretty face. He guessed that's what battle did to the young; made them hard. But was she a Jedi or Sith? Her lightsaber was of no indication, and for some reason, its purple color amused him. Not that it really mattered which alignment she adhered to, she seemed to be with the group in the basement, and he really didn't need the whole swarm in the room.

"Purple," was his first comment. "I've never seen a Jedi with purple. Never seen a Sith with purple either. Are you one in the middle? Or was that the first crystal you could find?" His grip tightened on the forcepike, and he began edging away from the safe behind him. "I'm just trying to open the safe here." He let go of the forcepike with his left hand to indicate the wall. "You could open it for me with your fancy light stick, if you're not too busy using deserted houses to sneak weapons out," he said offhandedly. Then with a sudden twist away from the wall that placed him at Coci's side, he twirled his forcepike about, the deadly tip aimed for her knee.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Athrun Zala"]

"You are a cheeky thing, Thief". She made no attempt at hiding her gaze over him from toe to head, returning the compliment. He looked like something out of one of those holovids she watches to amuse herself when at home. A trench coat? who wears those anymore? Then she remember her friend [member="Connor Harrison"], and grinned.

Her eyes moved sideways, as her force senses alerted her to the fact the thugs are about to leave. "Jedi", is her reply, "And I like the colour purple". With her last words, her hand raised sending her force tendrils toward his held vibroblade, a firm force grip wrapped around his hand and she plunged him and his weapon into the walled safe, her power behind the telekinesis enough to cut through the metal.

"Careful you don't damage the contents", she said lightly. Coci realised the grip on his hand, he would finish the job. "I take it you are no associate of them?", she nodded back toward the door, indicating the thugs. "You are not here for valuables, what are you looking to find?". She is curious now, sensing no malice in the man, yet. She could be able to dispatch him soon enough if he tried anything, odd.

 

[Athrun Zala]

[member="Coci Sinopi"]


Just as he had been preparing himself to attack, he'd been grabbed by an unseen force. And before he could do anything, say anything, or react in some way, he'd been thrust into the wall, his forcepike cutting through the remainder of the safe with a sideways swath. He blinked, looking over his shoulder towards the woman who had identified herself as a Jedi. A smirk crossed his face at her comment, before he withdrew his forcepike, and slid open the safe with his fingers.

"No, I'm no associate of theirs, and I'm no thief." He moved the door as far back as it would go and peeked inside. There were some papers, a locked metal box, and a holo-tape. "I knew the woman who lived here, and I wanted to see if the parents were involved in any way. Well, that was what I wanted to find out after I realized that group," he gestured towards the window with his thumb, "was using the house for smuggling something." He looked up at Coci pointedly and tried to decide what she was after. By her words, she was not part of the group outside, unless he had misinterpreted her. She was a Jedi, but that didn't necessarily mean much in the grand scale of things; Jedi and Sith seemed to be the same only the Sith were more ruthless in their techniques, generally. This Jedi female seemed to have no issue using the unseen force on a whim either.

"And you're cheeky too," he added offhandedly, a small smile appearing on his face as he turned away from her. He rifled briefly through the papers, but none of them had any clues. However he imagined the holodisk had something, whether it was blackmail or a video of the thugs, he wasn't sure. He took the holodisk out and pocketed it, before he took the metal box out of the safe, and closed the door. Turning around, he eyed the purple blade outstretched in front of him, and cautiously stepped around it.

"A little girl lived here, you know. Only six before she died." He had turned his face away from Coci, which now bore a somber look, as he moved for the bed to sit down. "She was kidnapped, I'm sure from this very house, and very likely by that group outside." He sat down on the edge of the bed, looked towards the window, looked back at Coci pointedly, before he turned his attention to the locked box in his hand. With a quick swipe of his forcepike, he'd broken the lock holding it together, and he switched the pike off as he set it down on the bed beside him. "I'm going to rifle through this box here," Athrun said as he looked up at Coci. "You won't mind and use your saber on me, will you?" The smirk was back on his face, before he ignored her. It was full of jewelry, a key to something, and other trinkets belonging to the wife, but he didn't pull out any of those. He removed a small box and dumped its contents, one of which was a DNA test result. The smirk on his face completely vanished as he read over the donor data contained: one part Hapan...and one part Corellian.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Athrun Zala"]

She extinguished her saber upon his last words, not so much because of them, but she had grown curious about this mission. "You got a name?", she asked. "I am Coci". She stood near him as she flicked through the assorted items on the bed. Her brow knitted as she spoke on the little girl, only a year older then Nina and from what he speaks, foul play has befallen her.

"This room looks like no one has been in here for ages. The residents gone, no doubt because of the thugs. It does not make sense to kidnap that girl if they have the house already. It would be simpler to kill them all". But how would the disappearance of this family be explained to the local authorities? Such a big place, and no doubt the family would be well known here.

"Or perhaps they were told to leave, make up some excuse .. but had to leave the girl for .. insurance". Her eyes caught the look on his face as his smirk dropped away fast.

"What have you found".

 

[Athrun Zala]

[member="Coci Sinopi"]


"Athrun," he said after the fact. He continued to read the DNA result of the child, and his hand almost trembled. Yes, it didn't say "exactly" who the father was, but he knew the man she'd married was in no way Corellian. Neither was he, but he had enough in his blood to color it for any blood test. He had suspected this from the moment he had received that letter, but coming face to face with undeniable proof was fairly ground shattering. "It's um...it's a DNA test result from a local hospital of Lisa...the little girl. I'm..." And then his words faltered as he continued to stare at it, practically burning holes in the paper. The worst part of finding all of this now, was Lisa was dead. The little girl was dead, and the murderers had gone away unpunished. He practically crushed the flimsiplast in his hand before he pitched it back into the strong arm box. It just wasn't fair.

His eyes then shot up to regard the Jedi standing in the room. "No, she wouldn't have done that," Athrun said as he pitched the metal box on the bed and abandoned it for pacing across the floor. "Alicia wouldn't have done that, she loved that kid. I don't know about the husband though...I didn't know him that well. She did say she was divorcing him. She'd only married him for status anyway." He stopped near a picture, showing the little girl with her mother; both of them smiling, both of them happy. He traced the edge of the frame, before he turned around sharply again. "No it doesn't make sense. But maybe they kidnapped the girl to force them to leave," Athrun said, his hands finding their way into his hair. "Or, what if the husband suspected Lisa wasn't his own. I mean he can't have not known about that DNA test..." Then a horrifying thought entered his mind. What if the husband HAD known that Lisa wasn't his own, and decided to do away with her? Maybe that's why the wife had decided to divorce him. Or at the very least, didn't care enough to see Lisa rescued. Very slowly, he slid his hands out of his hair and stared towards the wall.

Then suddenly he turned, grabbed the forcepike from the bed, and strode out of the room. He had to find some answers; he wasn't about to let the murderers get away either. Reaching the stairway, he hopped over the banister, landed with a roll, and moved to his feet without any apparent injury. He didn't pay attention to whether Coci had been following; at the moment he didn't really care why she was there either. When he reached the front door and opened it, he saw the speeders moving off into the distance, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.

"Great," he murmurred. He should've left sooner; but he hadn't felt the rise to anger until just that moment. The impact of knowing someone close to you had been killed was always greater with proof. Unfortunately, he'd walked to the house, and didn't happen to have a speeder with him. "I don't suppose you brought a speeder?" He turned his head to see if Coci had come with him.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Athrun Zala"]


There was simply no words to say to the man as he spoke of his reason for breaking into this place. She could sense the personal nature of it, even though details escaped her. Clearly it effected him, and she suspected more connection to the little girl than was given to her. But no matter, Athrun is in pain over this situation and become dangerous. Not to her however, Coci had given no reason for it, unless of course he becomes irrational. Anger is a strange beast, it can fuel the desire to revenge as much as to fuel to the desire to action for the right purpose. It is precisely these moments that a Jedi's training become invaluable. To control it.

No, she would ask no questions.

As the man left the room, Coci followed, she already knew they had departed and so took the stairs at an even pace. She came up beside him, "No, I .. walked", she said watching the speeders moving away from them. "But I do have a fast ship, a ship that is now tracking one of the crates in their possession", she smiled.

"I need to follow them, as do you I think". she added as she turned to view his face.

 

[Athrun Zala]

[member="Coci Sinopi"]


He perked a bit hearing that Coci had a ship, but likely they would have to walk all the way back to the starport to use it. However upon hearing that she had planted a tracking device, he smiled at her, almost grinningly. "Yes, I do," he admitted. "As long as they're not leaving the planet any time soon, we should be able to catch them in plenty of time." If they did leave the planet, he wasn't sure he wanted to accompany the Jedi female in her ship.

He turned away from the mansion and its mostly solved mysteries, and headed back down the path he had walked. He wasn't exactly strolling, but he wasn't jogging his way to town. Indeed, he felt like he had plenty of time to catch up to them, as they would probably get caught up in bartering and the loading of goods. Chances were he'd be back in town in thirty minutes or so.

"So, Coci," he said, addressing her by name. "This isn't a Jedi or Republic controlled world, to my knowledge, why is a Jedi here chasing after thugs on a backwater planet?"

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Athrun Zala"]

"To fight the fight against injustice and crime is not restricted to the boards that one lives in. The galaxy has many issues within it and evil comes in more forms then just the Sith and their doings", She said matching his clipping pace. "I am here investigating rumours that this group is supplying a group within our space", was all she was prepared to say on the matter.

"If they do leave before we get there I will be following them", she added only. "Seems you have more purpose to be here as well, I sensed your feelings back in the room, what is your concern with them? It is clear you are not part of them".

 

[Athrun Zala]

[member="Coci Sinopi"]


Justice was a nice sentiment. Technically, he was serving justice too by chasing after this group. Well, it was more like revenge, but revenge and justice tended to be the same thing. So he could understand her position and turning up on a world, though it made her and the Jedi look slightly arrogant operating in space that was not their own. At the same time, it gave them a little credit that they wouldn't sit bound by political rules. So he simply nodded as he looked away from the path occasionally and glanced at her as she talked.

He hesitated when she asked about his reasons for being there, and he turned his attention back to the road and the way they were facing. By the time he chose to spoke, they were a good deal of the way there. "When I was..." he began, then changed it to, "Some years ago, I knew the little girl's mother. Hadn't known at the time she was married, or that she was married just for the status. We stopped seeing eachother after a while, cause we both had things to do at the time...but she sent me a letter a year ago. I'd only read it a week ago, so I guess I was late in coming..." He stopped talking again as his hand fidgeted dangerously close to the forcepike he had clipped back to his belt. "I suppose if I had found it a lot earlier, I could have come and stopped all this...at least stopped them from killing the little girl." He hadn't yet decided whether he was angry at the thugs for killing Lisa, or whether he was angry at himself for not getting around to reading a letter from a past lover.