Coruscant Cries For Liberty [ATTN: Galactic Alliance]

[Zef Halo]

GALACTIC ALLIANCE GUARD HEADQUARTERS,
CORUSCANT

Hundreds of thousands had gathered from all corners of the massive ecumenopolis to protest against the incarceration of Zeradias Mant, the party leader of Coruscant First. Desperate and tired from living under the boot of the Galactic Alliance, the supporters of the Coruscant First ideals sought independence. At the core of the marching protest towards the GA Guard's headquarters were the so-called Blackcoats - the nickname given to the People's Security Commission, Coruscant First's most loyal members.

Electric torches lit up the marching men and women's faces. Banners and flags were waved with messages, slogans and symbols. Coruscant First, Free Coruscant, Coruscant For The Coruscanti, Coruscanti Jobs for Coruscanti People and all that. The wishes of the masses.

Speakers lifted on repulsors dotted the marches, all connected wireless to Arcann Law's microphone at the head of the march. An ambitious man, his features were sharp and dark. Their leader was taken by the tyrants. Once more they proved to him that they had no place on Coruscant. Arcann would not let them have the voices of the Coruscanti muted and their desires stomped to the ground like so many other rulers have done in the history of the Jewel of the Core. The people's jewel, the people's home.

"Today, we witness once more the tyrannical ways of the Galactic Alliance as a man, no different than you and I, is being held against his will for speaking for us. For you and for me! Tomorrow this could be you, your child and your grandchild!! Tyranny must end! Coruscant must RISE!" Law's voice exploded through the speakers and roar of defiance against the Alliance erupted like earthquake as they all faced the headquarters.

​

[member="Zeradias Mant"] | [member="Atlan Jonus"] | [member="Apolline Wynver"] | [member="Zark"] | [member="Aryn Teth"] | @GAfolks​

((OOC: Chapter two of the story started here. Have fun!))​

 

[Taresa Kae]

Many came. Just as many Coruscanti civilians would be waiting in the way. What was there intent? To block the path? To become an obstacle? The Sithwatch did a good job of not appearing too organized, loosely put together from the tragedies that had befallen them at the hands of the Galactic Alliance and the Memorial Wall. Losing so many to well televised and reported acts through the conflicts, intentionally manipulated to cause dissent. They were all men and women who were born here, who lived here and had lost loved ones here. They had long waited for this moment. The One Sith had indeed manipulated them at the time, but after their passing, the movement had taken on a life of its own.

Darth Centax had said there would be revenge, said he would be instrumental in bringing the Alliance low. So in the darkness. In secret he had waited and found underlings, contacts, agents, holding back the remaining one sith legions out of sight and mind on the Rim. The Sithwatch though they had always been there, ever since their creation on Coruscant and losing their homes and love ones. Today it was they who stood in front of [member="Arcann Law"], as merely men and women of Coruscant. No uniforms, though doubtless some had makeshift weapons and some metaphorical pitchforks. Who led them, who spoke for them? Who was the voice?

A white haired Echani woman. Silver eyes watchful, claiming to be a daughter from House of Kae. Dressed in pure white, a noble visage of flawless perfection, perhaps. Taresa was disguised of course, this Echani front was merely one of many, an ever shifting array of identities to suit her own purpose.

“How would you have us rise?” Time to play the game of politics. [member="Arcann Law"] Her tone was measured, reserved and calm, much like any 'echani' might offer it.

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

Coruscant - GAGH
Lucy

The beautiful thing about Coruscant was that it has plenty of places to hide.

Most of the planet consisted of building stacked upon building, tight nooks and sharp corners constructed over thousands of years. There was always a place to hide yourself away, always a place that you would go unnoticed, and that was where Lucy found herself now. laying near the top of one of Coruscant many skyscrapers, her face impassive, an ancient X-15 tucked away in the crook of her shoulder.

Her bright red hair billowed back and forth as the wind lashed out at her, but she ignored it as best she could.

She was about as well hidden as could be, placed on between two of Coruscant's immaculate skyscrapers as she watched the demonstration below. Her scope was trained on what she assumed to be the head of the procession, floating around on some sort of platform and loudly yelling. From her place on the building she couldn't quite make out the words, a combination of the wind and noise from the crowd blocking out even the sound of the thunderous loudspeakers.

It didn't really matter much of course, to her it was all drivel.

Lucy didn't much care who controlled Coruscant, she didn't even really care if they set it on fire. All that she cared about was that her sister got her way.

Of course that meant Coruscant couldn't go up in flames, and it also meant that this mindless rabble might have to be cut short. She couldn't quite tell yet of course, and really she wasn't even here for that sort of thing. The Cartel's interest lay far from the Headquarters of the Alliance Guard, but it was always a good idea to gather information, and that was why she was here.

Observe, listen, and report.

 

[Darth Athora]

The hordes of people crowding around, united by a singular purpose. It gave Hircine the perfect cover as she waded through the sea of bodies roaring and jeering for their particular cause that she had no interest in. She could hear the rumbling of a single man's voice from the speakers that were spaced out above the crowd. Something about a united party against the Galactic Alliance. Perhaps she had more in common with them than she thought. She stopped to listen more into what was going on. She was never one for politics, but she had a great distaste for the Alliance.

Hircine stood by a group holding up signs showing various slurs against the current government. She said nothing, at first. Just trying to get a feel for the situation. Eventually, she joined in on the fun. She didn't want to stand out too much among the crowd. Plus, she just wanted to have a bit of fun poking at the Alliance while she was there.

 

[Placeholder 0134]

Curiosity had brought Anderit to the head of the mob. Stupidity kept him from leaving it. No matter which way he turned, it seemed that the mass of bodies was keen on keeping him stuck firmly in place. Given that he'd elected to force his way all the way to the front, he supposed he only had himself to blame. Even still, the screaming voices and flailing limbs were getting to be far too much for his personal sense of comfort. Intrusive thoughts Anderit knew not to be his own flitted through his mind. They were dark, violent things; the results of his flirtations with the occult no doubt. His training at the academy had been going particularly well before the fll of the One SIth.

Without guidance his abilities had continued to grow, but they lacked direction. His connection to the force was a volatile thing, and the impassioned crowed around him was not helping that situation. The fallen acolyte drew in a sharp breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and forced the deafening noise to the back of his mind. He reached out to the empyrean, and found himself immersed in a world that was as far from reality as a mortal mind could ever perceive it to be. He drew in another deep breath: the world seemed to shimmer with the action.

The chaos drained from his body, though it remained all around him. His body was a vessel of quiet peace in a sea of violence.

"Coruscant must RISE!"

Anderit blinked. His fingers fell to extendable vibroknife in his pocket. The familiar metal handle brought him a semblance of comfort, though it did not blind him to the reality of the situation. The tension here was building, and soon it was going to boil over.

He needed to be gone before it did.

Cursing, he turned to try and force his way back through the crowd, only to find his attempts ignored by those around him. There was no leaving without causing a scene. Another curse spilled from his lips, but he turned back to watch the proceedings all the same.

Perhaps things would go better than he was expecting, but the realist in him knew that things were likely not going to end well here.

 

[Rakaan Horne]

CORUSCANT

---

---

---

GAGH, UNDETERMINED TIME

A Coruscant First rally isn't particularly where Kole had hoped to find himself today, or any day mind you- the man was pro-Galactic Alliance, not whatever independent movement Coruscant First was. In his eyes, ignorant or not, they only caused 'trouble'. Yet still, work needed to be done. It was a game of politics, an unpleasant game truth be told. The Black Coats nor Soldiers could mediate the brooding conflict that was suspected to erupt at any moment. No. A more independent unit was required to keep the peace; that being the Coruscant Security Force. That is what brought Harper here today.

A wall of men and women stood side by side, facing the ever-growing crowd. Their uniforms recognisable and looked upon with various feelings. Not everyone felt so fondly of the police. In his usual attire, Kole peered towards the crowd, looking over the officers from his somewhat elevated position. His steely glare, inhuman (oh how he didn't know) and unwavering in it's appearance. The many faces of Coruscant were visible, and perhaps he may of felt the same pride if he was from Coruscant, it was even possible for him to be apart of that conglomeration. It simply wasn't the case, however.

---

---

 

[Gerault Rush]

Coruscant was no stranger to conflict, and neither was Secretary Rush, the newly minted Secretary of Civil Affairs. Fifth in line for the mayoral seat, Secretary Rush was responsible for the domestic oversight and administration of the Galactic City Authority. This required he work closely with municipal agencies and other departments to ensure the efficient. Prior to his appointment, he served as the Deputy Undersecretary of Civil Affairs for City Planning, and became vastly familiar with many aspects of Galactic City's bureaucracy and geographic layout. It proved to be a specialty seldom realized as practical, and even in scenarios such as this one, it bore little importance to the matter at hand. Still though, his mayor, nay, Galactic City's mayor, was being held by the Galactic Alliance under pretenses which were questionable at best.

He knew the flames were being stoked by hyperbole and rhetoric, but that hardly represented the reality of the situation. Still though, it played an important role in furthering the cause of Coruscant First, and he recognized that fact. Sifting through the crowds proved to be an arduous task. The common folk admittedly knew little of the finer points of their government, but they damn sure knew who their figurehead was. As he passed the gates, he reached the makeshift barricades set up but the Galactic Alliance Guard, no doubt in anticipation of demonstrations such as this one. As he reached the edges of the Alliance perimeter, a young guardsman raised his weapon on him, no doubt on edge from the chaos before him. A more senior guardsman thrust his rifle down and apologized. Even though an apparent adversary was quite literally on their doorstep, it was still important they maintain professional and respectful toward locals. Gerault's expression was one of disgust, but it eased as the veteran guardsman remedied the situation as quickly as it escalated.

"Secretary Rush and Assistant Attorney General Wynver to see Mayor Mant.", he said as the two showed the proper credentials.

"You mean the traitor Mant?", the younger guardsman spat out. As Gerault glared at him in contempt, the senior guardsman sent him away. No doubt the boy would only serve too escalate tensions and potentially catalyze violence. It was wise of the man to send his junior to a less interactive place. Apologizing once more, he allowed the pair inside the perimeter, and on their way they were to the GAG Headquarters building to await their escort.

[member="Apolline Wynver"] | [member="Arcann Law"]​

 

[Noatyr Moldmerr]

Trying to stay out of sight of the crowd, while also keeping an eye on things, was not something Noatyr was enjoying. Not by a long shot. Plus standing on a tall building with a blaster rifle probably wasn't helping his appearance. Being hired to keep a watchful eye over one of the largest protests he had ever seen was neither fun, nor easy.

He'd been hired to interfere if anything tried to depose of [member="Arcann Law"] or any of the other politicians who were at the head of the large mass.

Honestly, he really wished he could be anywhere else but there, but money was money, and now he had to keep his end of the deal.

Sweeping his gaze over the crowd again, Noatyr tried to pick out any suspicious characters or odd occurrences, however, in the chaos that sat below him, the only thing he could see that looked even remotely out of place was [member="Anderit Rinaren"], who seemed to have tried to break free of the crowd, but instead of towards the speakers, away from them.

The guardsmen looked on edge, except for one, [member="Kole Harper"], whose steely gaze was intimidating even from a distance. His gaze flickered to [member="Hircine"] for about a second, noting her odd behavior for later, before returning his attention to Law and his speech.

​''Hm, maybe things won't be so boring after all.'' ​He mutters to himself, unslinging the BL-28 rifle that had been hanging from his shoulder.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Noatyr Moldmerr"] | [member="Gerault Rush"] | [member="Kole Harper"] | [member="Anderit Rinaren"] | [member="Hircine"] | [member="Arcann Law"]



Heavy pounding echoed through the apartment. Bleary eyes opened with a jolt, arm coming up to push herself up from a supine position on the couch, looking around. Holovision quietly played in the dimly lit living room as the news played. A split screen showed a news anchor along with streets full of protesters. Coruscant First. Delila had yet to see how the group would effect the outcome of day-to-day life on the planet. From her observations the group was growing in size and power - nothing one could easily ignore.


Heavy pounding echoed through again. Feet swung off the couch and onto the floor, getting up with a groan. She was bone tired and the Coruscant First movement always seemed to come knocking at the worst time. Door opened, revealing a slightly flustered aid.


"Director Castillon? You've been summoned to an emergency meeting. Embassy Security and the Royal House are both concerned about the impact Courscant First will have on operations. With the rebuilding efforts on Alderaan they feel a misstep would be unwise at this moment in time."


Hand came up to rub tired eyes.


"Five minutes and I'll be there."

 

[Apolline Wynver]

Lately Apolline’s star seemed to be rising as high as one of the giant cloudcutters in Galactic City that loomed above them, like the Galactic City Opera House or the gleaming, newly constructed HNN headquarters. Yet soon she would be checking in less and less to the media conglomerate and more time at City Hall. The intrepid holonews host was nothing but resilient and now she had a new job back in politics and it had a lovely ring to it too - Assistant Attorney General for Public Affairs.

Ever since she’d been called “squawky” and “histrionic” by a rival network, she began to work more on her poise, and with her interest in Coruscant First, in addition to her nightly coverage of it on her network show, Core Values, she thus nabbed a job at the media-facing office. More and more each day, with the constant rallying and the propaganda, a surge of support had propelled Mayor Mant’s imprisonment to the top of the public mind.

A light drizzle fell, barely scraping the shoulders of her black jacket. She popped her umbrella, not really caring if the end poked an eye or an ear. After the meeting was over Apolline would report upon it on Core Values as a “special guest.” To ward off the accusations of conflict of interest, she had hired a new host for the show, a fellow former lawyer and politician named Max Rumor. He was charismatic enough in that cleft-chinned way, she supposed.

“Traitor,” she snorted. “That man is a hero.”

[member="Zeradias Mant"] | [member="Atlan Jonus"] | [member="Arcann Law"] | [member="Zark"] | [member="Aryn Teth"] | [member="Taresa Kae"] [member="Coratanni Cartel"] [member="Hircine"] [member="Kole Harper"] [member="Gerault Rush"] [member="Noatyr Moldmerr"] [member="Delila Castillon"]

 

[Darth Athora]

Hircine's golden eyes watched the wall formed up by the police force standing strong and unified against the currently peaceful protest. She felt the many eyes watching her, cautiously. They were waiting for something to happen. Some chaos to ensue. Something to give them a reason to pill the trigger or pull out their nightstick to beat down someone who only used their voice to speak out against oppression.

Hircine just wanted someone to take the first step.

She wouldn't be the one to cause an outbreak, nor would she entice others to do it. She wanted the natural order of things to stay natural without her touch. Much more amusing to her that way. She continued spectating the affair from the crowd, eventually pulling her hood up on her head and a mask to hide her features. Changing form in the middle of this crowd would not benefit her at the time.

[member="Arcann Law"] | [member="Taresa Kae"] | [member="Coratanni Cartel"] | [member="Apolline Wynver"] | [member="Delila Castillon"] | [member="Noatyr Moldmerr"] | [member="Gerault Rush"] | [member="Anderit Rinaren"] | [member="Kole Harper"]​

 

[RC 212]

Somewhere on balcony
Overlooking things


Ahhh Coruscant!

The city of squalor and evil deeds. She'd landed for a refuel and to rearm and found this little gathering delightful. Did she believe in the Coruscant first cause? No but she was beggining to. The longer she heard Arcan Law and his rebel band of robin hoods speak, the more she grew entranced by the dream.

Then she shook her head and took another sip of her beer, resting it on the balcony railing, staring far down below into the crowd.

Her First Mate Tallion rubbed his chin as he calculated fueld costs, and the costs of high explosives, plus disguises for her next op.

"Things are really heating up here Selar."

"Aye they are. Why the hell did we come here again?"

"Get more stuff that goes Boom. Vulkars got the best chit in the verse, all cheaper on the lower levels."

"This place is about to blow....."

She took another sip and finished it off then shrugged.

"You thin' the Alliance would shoot their own citizens? Think they are like the First Order? Hell bent on making the verse smaller?"

"Not sure. Why what're you....damn it Selar."

It was too late. Shed already drawn her DL-44, whirled it on her index twice and then released a shot into a nearby building, ricocheting it off the side into the crowd.

She grinned and blew the smoke off the end of the barrel.

"No Democracy without fair debate. Let's let the people decide shall we?"

"We should be getting the feth out of here!"

"Nahhhh. Throw me another beer. Let's see what the Alliance Justice system really stands for."

 

[Nimeni]

Coruscant​

An Office Building​

​

It probably wasn't worth explaining to the protesters that they were severely throwing off transportation in this quadrant. They didn't seem the sort where if you approached politely, datapad full of crunched numbers in hand and explained that if they had just please filed for a formal and official right to protest things could have been arranged to go so much smoother. Even if it was denied, at least Jim would have had a heads-up. He could have quietly re-routed a few lanes, taken the likely increased demand for public transportation into account, and made sure there were more transportation enforcers around to keep people from letting themselves out of the allowed skylanes. If they wanted to skip the lanes, they could do like everyone else and take a taxi.

Who were a whole 'nother sort of headache, but at least one he was used to dealing with.

For himself, Jim didn't really have political inclinations one way or the other. All he wanted was to have fewer accidents this year than the year before and for the hover-buses to run on time. Was that so much to ask? He did approve of any party who avoided major wars on their own turf. Stray shots from ships and buildings dropping on people played merry hell with the schedules. Last time it had happened Jim had been fairly certain he was going to have a stress induced heart-attack.

Yes ma'am, I know the skylane is down, you may have noted there is a detonated building occupying that space and an active firefight currently going on around it. No ma'am, I will not be writing a letter to your work explaining why you can't get there. They can just watch any of the major news feeds ma'am. And how did you get this number?

Hopefully nothing like that happened today. Hopefully this stayed a peaceful protest, or at least confined to people hitting each other. He could already feel a headache building as he rerouted more public transport that way, and altered a few skylanes to avoid the build-up...

 

[Zef Halo]

GALACTIC ALLIANCE GUARD HEADQUARTERS,
CORUSCANT

When his words echoed through the speaker, the crowd followed with a roar of approval followed immediately a repetitive chant of 'Freedom, Freedom'. Such vigor, such desire for independence. Arcann could feel it from within himself and how it was amplified by the people's will for liberty. They just wanted them gone. Away from their planet. Coruscant belonged to the Coruscanti to lead. Common logic.

Once he had believed that the Alliance could be negotiated with peacefully, once he had faith in them to listen unlike the One Sith. That faith was trampled to the ground and burned to ash. Arcann had lost that hope, that belief in the galactic government. Things had to change. Things were GOING TO change, one way or the other. He was not the only zealous man for this cause, many like him formed the majority of the crowd gathered today.

Before he could another word, a blaster shot rang through the crowd hitting a nearby building. One would think panic would follow and while it did to a minority of people, the desperate, the ones most longing for independence exploded with furious anger and rage. A rage Arcann was quick to stoke.

"AGAIN, they try to SCARE us. THEY will do ANYTHING to OPPRESS us. ANYTHING! THEY see us as their PROPERTY to do with as THEY will!" The populist's bellow was heard clearly through the speakers among the crowd. He demonstratively opened up his arms wide and looked at the rooftops of nearby buildings. "Here am I, coward! Kill me now then!!"

The crowd cried out in support of the man and in a blind fury against the Alliance. Where there was distance between the massive crowd and the entrance of the GAG HQ through which Wynver and Rush just passed through, now there was none as the crowd slammed into the entrance demanding the release of [member="Zeradias Mant"] and the removal of the Alliance from their homeworld of Coruscant.

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

Coruscant - GAGH
Lucy

"I could kill him." Her voice was quiet, but the bone conduction com implanted in her skull would ensure that her message was still received.

Her eye was fixed on the scope just ahead of her, staring at the figure within the crowd that was drawing so much attention. It was almost amusing in a way, watching them all run around, yelling and screaming. She wondered if squeezing the trigger would change anything, if it would put an end to this or if it would just rile them up even more. She guessed the latter, but Lucy had never really been one to understand the ways of the crowd.

"No, little sister."​

The answer came to her shortly, wired through the sound in the implant.

"Let them have their little revolt in the streets."​

Lucy frowned for a moment, but her finger never left it's resting place on the trigger guard. She was frustrated by inaction, always was. Killing this man would have been easy enough from her perch, but Mara had said her piece. There was no point in killing him, not when there was no threat to her siblings holdings on Coruscant. In her own mind she knew there eventually would be, much of the rhetoric had been about the Alliance's failings, and they were surely a part of that.

Still, she would listen, and quietly wait.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Arcann Law"]

A grimy old man leaned in the shadows of a nearby alleyway.

He watched the gathering storm, the anger, resentment and fury, the fear and hopelessness. It didn't stir many emotions, the old man was on a job here, after all. The smol mouse-droid spun excitedly around his feet, beep-booping every so often, but Daro's attention remained with the spectacle. "No, I don't think we are hired by the Alliance." It would have been amusing, yes.

But unrealistic.

They had their own little agents and that was that.

Tweee-twaaaaang?

"Themselves? Maybe." Twit-twoooo. "Nah, it doesn't really matter, would have tracked down the source if it did." Could be the Sith, some underworld element or maybe even the First Order. Wasn't like the Alliance had a lack of enemies, no? Many years ago Daro might have looked at this job and refused it. But cash was cash an' they were paying him a metric ton.

He began.

From the safety of the alley he moved his cyber-eye's attention towards the exterior.

Finding the wiring and junction points of the Coruscant First's audio systems, then the external emergency speakers usually used for evacuations and important announcements.

Time to make this show a bit more interesting.

 

[Apolline Wynver]

The crowd had been worked into such a lather, Apolline and their small entourage struggled to gain entry to the GAG Headquarters building, despite passing through the first checkpoint. The Asst. Attorney General peered around for holo cameras, and sure enough, there was one with a Core Values logo on it nearby. She waved to the crew, giving them an old Coruscant charm sign, something she picked up from the Illuminati-esque Imperials whose ancestors inhabited the planet so long ago.

The cameraman panned over so that Ms. Wynver herself would be shown as part of the delegation along with Mr. Rush, and then it zoomed into the handsome Max Rumor himself who had a press pass and was already inside the building. While there were many holo screens as well as flat screens surrounding them, not many were tuned to Core Values. It was a fringe news network after all. She put that on her mental list of things to fix through whatever means, most likely bribery. The screens that were broadcasting the show, displayed the expensive-suited human covering this event amid flashing histrionic graphics touting “Breaking News” and news crawls asking “Will Mant make a statement?”

“I’m on the scene here outside of the Galactic Alliance Guard Headquarters where Deputy Party Leader of Coruscant First is about to speak..."

“AGAIN, they try to SCARE us. THEY will do ANYTHING to OPPRESS us. ANYTHING! THEY see us as their PROPERTY to do with as THEY will!"

Quickly more screens turned to Party Leader Law. Core Values did have a good vantage point for coverage.

“The crowd is moving dangerously close to us,” said Rumor in a calm, practiced voice. “There’s a spark of violence in the air that feels as though it might ignite at any moment.”

Apolline did not like that she was so close to that spark, but damn it would make for good HoloTV if she and Mr. Rush were caught in a minor stampede. Without bodily harm, of course.

[member="Gerault Rush"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

CORUSCANT

---

---

---

GAGH, UNDETERMINED TIME

The CSF sprung to action, attempting to determine who was the cause of the discharged weapon, or why. For the most part, however, they remained relatively unfazed. If it were meant for them it surely would of been closer, it's quite difficult to be that inaccurate.

"What'd'ya human eyes see?" A Rodian Detective chirped from behind him, coming alongside him mere moments later. The two weren't exactly friends. Harper tried to remain impartial, unbiased, you never knew who was corrupt these days, and his role never allowed relations of any sort with a corrupt officer.

The HRD stared directly ahead, a blank expression across his face. His eyes told no story, seemingly dead to a degree. It was an odd reaction, even more so when a prolonged stare into the Rodian's bulbous eyes bordered on discomfort. "The same as you." A monotonous tone, as per usual.

A huff escaped the Rodian's elongated mouth, hands on hips and a nod of the head. "Nothing important then..." His words trailed, standing in silence alongside the man who offered nothing in return. "Well..." His oddly shaped hand gave Harper a slap on the shoulder, "I'm off." He departed, offering a wave as he went elsewhere.

An eyebrow raise was all he got in return.

---

---

 

[Gerault Rush]

Wynver seemed to trail off from their task at hand, instead obliging her old news network on what was no doubt being reported already. Gerault had little patience for the triviality of speculation, and only cared to see that their planetary head of state was freed from captivity, or at the very least granted legal representation as would be afforded to any other civilized democracy on the planet.

Wynver continued to speak on camera, while Gerault just shook his head and advanced to the second security checkpoint at the building. Laying his suitcase on the table for inspection, he began making the necessary moves to prepare for a search of his person. Such a thing did not appear necessary, as the sergeant of the guard instead approached him and informed him that they would not be accepting any visitors for the remainder of the day. Dumbfounded, and then angrily, Gerault looked at the sergeant.

"You are telling me, that you are denying the Mayor of Galactic City his right to legal representation. We are to comply with all standard security procedures, and still we are turned away?"

"I'm sorry, sir. Higher has restricted entry to Alliance personnel only until the security situation improves."

Gerault pursed his lips and nodded in frustration. "I see."

Above the chants and roars of the crowd, the distinct sound of a gunshot. The crowd erupted even louder than before, and even Chairman Law seemed to have been getting drowned out from the outcry of his own supporters. The crowd angrily began pressing to the fences of the GAG headquarters. Alliance guards appeared to be more diligent with their weapons at the low ready, ready to lift and fire at a moment's notice. Between them though were the men and women of the People's Security Commission, also known as the Blackcoats. They stood to contain the crowd, not subject it to bullets from their subjugators.

Gerault returned to the gate from whence he entered. As he made the walk, his heart raced. He would have to reenter the fray, and even though he was a member of the Mant Administration, he still feared for his life. Agitated crowds such as this were no laughing matter. As the Alliance guard opened the gates for him and his team, he saw a body with a bullet hole being carried above the heads of the crowd.

"OUR BLOOD, YOUR HANDS!", they chanted.

With a deep breath, he entered the fray.

[member="Apolline Wynver"] | [member="Arcann Law"]​

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Apolline Wynver"] | [member="Gerault Rush"] | [member="Kole Harper"] | [member="Arcann Law"]

If they thought it was bad?

T'was about to get so many times worse.

Because it was around the time that the body with a new hole was being carried around the crowd that Daro proclaimed the stereotypical Gotcha! an' punched the button. The effect wasn't noticeably immediately, if it wasn't for the fact that he was alone in that alleyway, someone might have looked around oddly before tilting their eyebrows. Well, there was the smol mouse droid twittering with mischief, but much like Daro, it was capable of tapping into the wiring of the digital infrastructure.

It saw what Tarsi had done.

One minute later everyone in the crowd would be able to hear it too.

The sound systems all around the plaza cracked into existence, the high-pitched whine and grime of static being cleared out sending a possible hush towards those that were closer to them. The public speakers came to live as a voice began to talk, it cut straight through the noise, because it was a service announcement.

Apparently.

By the Galactic Alliance.

Apparently.

It read thusly: :: Citizens of Coruscant, the GAG has instilled a mandatory curfew. Please return to your homes and do not resist. Anyone found on the streets around the GAG headquarters will be taken into custody without the possibility of bail. Thank you for listening to this public service announcement. Stay safe. :: It was a pile of lies, of course. But it was authentic enough- the voice taken from excerpts of a local service announcer, the wording picked specifically to inflame the spirits of the Coruscant First people.

Give them an excuse.

Well, if they'd ever riot, it would be now.

Not that Daro cared, he had been scrambling his signature since the moment he logged in and by now he was already disconnected from the mainframe.