Public Lost In The Wires (Denon)

[Zenric]

"Now Zenric, what do you say when someone gives you a treat?"

"Thank you."

Getting a gift on the streets of Denon was a rare. It not being full of dope, rarer. But that's how this neighborhood was. Those who lived here, they knew how to take care of each other. Everyone knew everyone. Everyone trusted everyone. Outsiders? Not so much. But once you were in, you were in for life. It was a nice place to live, all things considered. Zenric dipped his head towards the older woman who'd just given him a candy. Smiled. His green eyes looked up towards the green of his mother's. He'd taken after her. The black hair, the green eyes.

Not like his father. He turned his gaze further towards where his father was buying some food at a stall. Echani, pure.

"Do you want to go to the festival?"​

Right. The festival. That was soon, right?

He loved the festival.
​

"Yeah! It's later today, right?"

His gaze returned up, to meet the gaze of the charred husk of a person standing beside him. His mother smiled, the blackened lips cracking. Gone were the eyes of green. Gone were the strands of raven black hair. Consumed by fire. Everything consumed by fire. And still Zenric smiled, squeezed the charred hand in his grasp even as it crumbled. Fire washed out around him. Consuming the old woman. Consuming the stall. His father. Himself.

"I love the festival."

Warehouse District
​

"Graveyard shifts are the worse, y'know? Nobody's gonna come here. We just store slag of all fuckin' things." A pair walked around the perimeter, dressed in the typical armor of Corpo security. Private security, not Corpsec.

"Right? Hey, you hear this place used to be a nice neighborhood? Been rumors at the office about it. Somethin' swept under the rug all comin' to light or somethin'. You think it'll y'know, be a problem? I do like the job. Shits safe here."

"Whoever's tryin' to blow that whistle is probably already dead. You know how Corpo's work. Shit'll get swept right back under that filthy as fu- hey. Hol' up." She paused, nodding ahead. Just out of the overhead light a silhouette could be seen just standing there, staring up at the building. She snickered just a little, glancing to her partner. "Hey look at that. Probably some druggy, huh? You wanna scare em or just send em on their way?"

"Scare 'em, duh. Nothin' like a tweaked out freak panicking for their life." He barked out a laugh before lifting his rifle.

"Hey! Sleemo! Hands u-" He never finished his sentence. Instead his body just dropped, joining where his head rolled off to the side. Panic. That's all she felt. Her eyes widened as she turned to look at the figure who was now standing beside her. Her heart pounded in her ears as she just froze.

"Do you
Like​

the festival?"

"Y- Fuck you!" The fear turned to rage as she swung her rifle up. Screamed with all her very being as she went to pull the trigger. She couldn't. Her arms were already gone. She went to scream again, but no sound escaped her. Just the cold black was all that greeted her.

Zenric turned his gaze back up to the warehouse, dropping one of the arms he'd pulled free. The other stayed in his hand. Hand in hand, as he smiled.

"I think we're early, mom. Can we help set it up?"

Warehouse District​

Public service announcement. The Warehouse District is currently on fire, and it's spreading fast. All personal evacuate. Emergency services are on their way. I repeat, the Warehouse District is on fire. Evacuate.

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon, Warehouse District
Tags: Zenric , Open

Finally, Jasper had managed to procure himself some Denon street food. He had been attempting such a task for months now, coming face to face with masked crime fighters, criminal leaders, and schizophrenic teenagers. But, at long last, the padawan was alone on a rooftop, box of deep-fried porg wings in hand. All of his struggles to procure a local meal had finally been worth it. With a hint of anticipation, Jasper sank his teeth into the first wing. First the salt and savor hit, followed by the spice of the marinate that the wings had sat in. The wings were cooked to perfection. Crisp on the outside, succulent and flavorful on the inside, all glazed over with a well seasoned rub. In this moment, Jasper had found inner peace...

A faint light in the distance caught the young Jedi's eyes. Upon closer inspection, it was very easily identifiable as a fire of some sort. Jasper moved closer to the edge of the building, listening in to a nearby radio down below...

Public service announcement. The Warehouse District is currently on fire, and it's spreading fast. All personal evacuate. Emergency services are on their way. I repeat, the Warehouse District is on fire. Evacuate.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jasper sighed, hanging his head. He gazed down longingly at the remainder of his wings. "I was so close..."

There was no use lamenting it now. Jasper was a Jedi, after all. If lives were in danger, he had a responsibility to see them to safety. The padawan slipped on his mask as to keep from inhaling any toxic fumes. Then, with a heavy heart, he set down his box of wings and rushed off to the burning Warehouse District by rooftop.

 

[Corin Trenor]

Closed in; shut in.

He remained on Denon for weeks, months. Contact to those outside was first scarce and then non-existent, vanished off the net. The Red Mask loomed over the endless cityscape, an indomitable cloud of fear that swept into the filth-ridden and neon-lit streets, all without end - duties stole the man underneath it in earlier times, it formed an unpredictable yet inevitable period of absence. No more. This became his focus, his sole focus. Tools of the trade became bruised and bloodied fists as much as the make-shift utilities and cold steel of a blaster.

Red failed to remember the last time the saber entered his hands.

Some small fraction, broken off and buried low, often wondered if Iris came with the best of intentions and the correct assertion. Probably, the piece that was still Corin considered, but neither was that of much use now - whatever was there, true or false, it was done with now. Corin pushed her aside, the same went for all those that he cared about. Sent off into their own lives, out of his own. He never understood all he felt towards her in full, the chance to was lost now anyways.

Just made the Jedi more of an annoyance, doubly so whenever on Denon.

Hell, whatever private thoughts crossed his mind vanished once the inside of the helmet flashed a local alert. Just took a few connected wires and transmissions to make it so. Before Red had even come across the full details of the situation, he was in the vacated area of the fire that rushed ablaze in the area. Few stubborn locals refused to leave, typical.

Zenric

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon, Warehouse District
Tags: Corin Trenor , Zenric

As he made his way into the flaming Warehouse District, Jasper immediately found it difficult to see. The force offered assistance, but the padawan was really beginning to consider putting some kind of vision aid on his mask. Perhaps he needed to make a newer model... There was little time to think about this, however, as there were still civilians actively fleeing the flames. Jasper stopped at one such burning facility, kicking down a door to let trapped people within before moving on to continue his search.

"Pyf," he said, calling on the droid in his hood. "Carbon levels?"

"High," the droid answered. "Not lethal yet, but close."

"Jeez," Jasper reacted. "What the hell started this..."

Jasper continued through the smoke, his gaze finally landing on a silhouette. Someone was still in here, and seemingly very stationary, along with a few civilians that seemed, strangely, unconcerned.

"Hey!" the padawan called out to the man as he approached. "This place isn't safe. You need to..."

When he was close enough to see the man better, Jasper's sentence trailed off. The man wore a red helmet, one reminiscent of the kind worn by one of the vigilante types he had encountered some time ago. Based upon his last experience, these types tended to be uncooperative, and frankly rather rude. Unfortunately, there was little he could to to get the man to leave. This was going to make his life a whole lot more difficult.

"Oh," he frowned behind his anti-tox mask. "One of you."

 

[Zenric]

Fire consumed everything. Had consumed everything. Was consuming everything?

It was all pieces around him. He realized at some point that much. After the fifth body. His home, his parents, his body, they'd been consumed by that fire so long ago. Now he was inside the warehouse that took over his childhood apartment. Watching it burn. He couldn't even feel the heat from it. His body, it felt nothing now. Or did it feel everything? Didn't he used to feel things?

Haze. Not just from the fire.

"Anyone here!?"

Movement pinged on his censor. He moved, slipping in the shifting shadows of the flame towards the source. Fireman? Rescue operator. Here to help? "Sound out if you can hear me! Find something to bang on if you can't speak!"

"I've got a life signal close. Pinging over there."

Where Zenric stood. He watched them round the corner. Flower petals fell all around him, dancing on the wind. He smiled, turning his gaze to watch them as he had that day. No, not flower. Fire. Screaming. He was screaming. Panic, fear. The fireman that stepped into view were nothing more than charred husks. Still burning. Reaching for him. Anguish clear on their faces. His parents.

He lashed out. Brought his vibroblade clean through them both. Hacked them apart until nothing remained of their ashen bodies. He didn't want to burn. Not again.

Never again.
​

Jasper Kai'el | Corin Trenor

 

[Corin Trenor]

His wordless actions seemed to serve fine as an order.

Denon locals were stubborn, the four of them reached for a hose and made efforts to crank it on; bathe the warehouse infected with flames in water, or what amounted to water in certain areas of Denon. Red made use of a blade that cut it to ribbons, useless, and aimed his index towards the doors. The roar of the flames muted much of the other sides, aside from the creak of the warehouse itself as it started to buckle under the inferno.

Corin followed them out with his eyes, only for them to flicker across to the Jedi instead. He huffed, a brief touch of amusement rife with what was otherwise bound to be clear frustration. His helmeted head shook back and forth in dismissal, craned to find the floor with a few brief steps to carry him somewhere else. He never moved far.

"Get out of here, Jedi." He commanded bitterly, "Denon takes care of it's own."

He took off in the direction of the flashes of life across his scanners.

Zenric Jasper Kai'el

 

[Marissa Shoda]

DENON | WAREHOUSE DISTRICT
TAGS: Jasper Kai'el | Corin Trenor |

:: This is Shoda, I’m on my way to the fire! Get the firefighters there already, the last thing we need is a level-wide fire! :: The officer shouted into her commlink as she zoomed through the skylanes with her cruiser. She was only a few blocks away when the call came in, but the light in the night sky was already an indicator of the dangers it posed.

Lives were likely going to be lost with a fire like that.

Her first suspicion was sabotage or negligence. Those were typically the style on Denon and her own digging to help out Iris only revealed more of what was going on behind the scenes. If she could find some evidence to bring to the Alliance officials, she and Iris could really put some hurt on the higher ups of Denon.

Weaving and maneuvering through the heavy smoke, Cricket eventually found her way to the main fire in a massive warehouse. She slid her helmet on and checked her kit before she hopped out, waving to a few pedestrians running for their lives. ”Medics are on their way, just get out of the smoke!” She called out as she locked her cruiser and rushed into the fray. Last thing she needed after a stolen speeder was a stolen cruiser.

To her surprise, however, she not only found bodies… She found bodies of firemen and PMC’s. Marissa pushed on, deeper into the inferno until she found two other figures. One with a red mask and the other with a different mask. The red one she knew about. ”Citizen, get out of here! And you, hands where I can see ‘em!” She called out to the two individuals as she ran over to them.

Her eyes flickered as she flipped through vision modes until she could see the X-rays through the haze. Deeper in the warehouse was another… standing over two bodies. ”Kriff…” She muttered before looking at the two masked men. ”Both of you, get out of here! Firefighters and medics are on their way, go guide ‘em in.” She ordered the two of them before she pressed on, drawing her pistol and gripping it with both hands.

The figure became clearer as she approached with her weapon trained on him, ready to move if he tried anything. Her eyes flashed red as she ran a quick medical scan. Apart from the cybernetics, he was fine… it was the mental activity that had her heart sinking.

”Hey! Can you hear me?!” She called out to the cyborg with concern in her voice. Through her visor, she carefully watched him as she slowly tried to close the distance. To no surprise, however, the Red Mask didn’t exactly listen to her. She had beef with the vigilante, but that could wait for now. He was still a citizen.

”I told you to get the kriff out, let the authorities handle it for once.” The CorpSec officer muttered as she kept her gaze on the haywire suspect.

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon, Warehouse District
Tags: Corin Trenor , Zenric , Marissa Shoda

"Get out of here, Jedi." He commanded bitterly, "Denon takes care of it's own."

"Look, I'm not doing this today," Jasper snapped back. "I- mother fether!"

The masked man was already beginning to run off. Jasper was just about to give him the 'this is my job, suck it up" talk, but the stranger seemed to not particularly care. Just then, another voice joined the fray...

”Citizen, get out of here! And you, hands where I can see ‘em!”

"I appreciate the concern," Jasper shrugged. "But I'm not a civilian."

Jasper was hesitant to say Jedi. They weren't exactly popular around these parts, and for good reason. Most people saw them as no more than another arm of the Galactic Alliance war machine. Something was certainly off about this entire situation. Dread was pungent in the air. Someone had died. Multiple someones, and far to quickly to have been killed by flames. Someone else was in there. When the officer was insistent that he leave, he sighed, hanging his head. He hated pulling the Jedi card, but it seemed that they wouldn't get anything done otherwise.

"I'm afraid I won't be leaving," he told her. "I'm with the New Jedi Order. I think the rest is pretty self explanatory..."

There was a hint of regret in his voice, but there was really no other way. Jasper didn't want to be ordered around any more today.

"I have reason to believe that the perpetrator is still at large in there," Jasper informed them. "This is sort of hard to explain, but people are dying in there. Quickly. Someone is in there hunting people. The longer we stand around talking, the more civilians wind up dead. I suggest that you put aside your grievances with that masked guy for the moment. There are more pressing matters."

He hated having to talk all professional like. Jasper would much rather be enjoying his wings.

 

[Zenric]

”Hey! Can you hear me?!”

"Do

you​

like​

the​

festival?"
​

His voice came out distorted. The cybernetics had stopped working properly at some point in the night. Before he got here, before he joined the festivities. The usually green glow of his armor dimmed to a red. Error signs flashed everywhere. Not that he saw them. He just saw the petals. No. Fire. The fire? He was gone then. Cybernetics, military grade as they were, had him suddenly beside Marissa, bringing the lethal edge of his vibroblade down towards her head.

She brought fire. She was fire.

She needed to be killed.​

She couldn't touch him.​

She'd burn him again.

She'd catch fire. Hold him while she burned.​

Keep him from escaping.

Keep him burning.
​

Marissa Shoda | Jasper Candos | Corin Trenor

 

[Marissa Shoda]

DENON | WAREHOUSE DISTRICT
TAGS: @Jasper Kai’el | Corin Trenor | Zenric

Cricket was rather surprised to hear that the guy was a Jedi. Was he part of Iris’ attempts to investigate the corruption? Or just another Jedi trying his luck at “helping” like the rest of them did? Regardless, he was an asset. Anything to help disable a Cyberpsycho would be a bonus.

The last time she had to deal with one, her precinct lost six good officers. Judging from the implants, this roller coaster wasn’t going to be any different… The only difference was that it was only her, a Jedi and a vigilante. At least a Jedi was probably worth a hundred officers in a fight.

The officer’s HUD flashed warnings as the cyborg moved. With a grunt, Marissa ducked just in time to avoid his vibroblade as she fired her pistol. Blue stun circles were hurled at the attacker as Cricket jumped back to keep space between her and him. ”Yo Jedi, got any magic hand tricks for this one?!” She called out as she continued to try and keep space between them.

Her thumb flicked her pistol to EMP before she fired again at the Cyborg. Her only chance at survival was her armour, her eyes and the Jedi. Her free hand plucked a stun baton from her belt and extended it with a flick of her wrist. ”They better give me a raise after this…” She grumbled as she dodged once again, tossing her empty pistol cell aside for a fresh one.

 

[Corin Trenor]

Jaded. Bitter and disillusioned, whatever it was. The Red Mask folded his arms amid the blaze over his chest, armour woven into the fabric of the attire that sat across his form. From the leathers to what remained underneath, it was all more than able to withstand some sort of skirmish - with someone amped on cybernetics with a fractured mind, maybe less so. He leaned on a steel beam, the kind that creaked beneath the immense shift in pressure as the whole structure burned and threaten to collapse.

He only rose once the cybernetic blade-limb nearly sliced from one side of the officer to the other. Red snatched out and yanked on the woman's collar from behind in some effort to send her behind himself, the helmeted stare of the anonymous menace aimed itself towards Marissa as the filtered voice carried out across the chaos. "Take some advice and head home - take all the credit you want for this one, Shoda."

It's on the house.

Corin pried into databases and records to learn names, who was who, who was bad. He liked to think she was on the better side of the law, even for someone in direct law enforcement. It hardly hurt that she was easier on the eyes, a momentarily distracted Corin mused, then face-to-face with the cyberpsycho in question. His years of practice and use of various martial arts made him a more than competent combatant with it, even if as of late most of those skills were used on those that had no chance.

A simple punch, reinforced by the Force itself, lashed out towards the head of the cybernetic monstrosity.

Zenric Jasper Kai'el Marissa Shoda

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Denon, Warehouse District
Tags: Corin Trenor , Zenric , Marissa Shoda

As he spoke, the thing that had been killing people decided to make itself known. A cyborg, one with more implants than he had ever seen up until this point. He had swung at the cop with a pair of vibroswords before the masked man had gone to punch him. Strangely, it appeared that the vigilante was making use of the force, in a manner that suggested he had been trained no less.

”Yo Jedi, got any magic hand tricks for this one?!”

"That's not how it works," Jasper sighed as he ignited his lightsaber. People always asked that.

From the looks of it, the cyborg in question had a lot of malfunctioning components. It wasn't to much of a stretch to think that such a thing was having an effect on his mind as well.

"Aim for cybernetics where you can," he advised. "Enough damage may trigger a shutdown, but try to avoid breaking anything that may permanently alter his mind. It's kind of hard to ask a vegetable questions."

Jasper then made his move, rushing in with some slight force speed and bringing down his lightsaber on the opposite side from the masked man. His plan was simple: Dismemberment.

 

[Zenric]

Alarms blared under his mask. Systems failing, systems corrupted, systems shutting down. The usual alarms that triggered whenever blasters were aimed his way were long drowned out. For a moment everything went black as a stun round caught him full in the chest. Not that the machine body he had let what little remained of him stay asleep for long. An extended blink, one where his eyes opened just in time to see a fist connect with his face.

He stumbled back half a step. Or would have. In that flash of darkness his leg had been hit by an emp round, causing it to crumble. That was fine, though, right? He brought his arm around, a secondary blade coming out as he went to slash for the vigilante. An arm that was no longer there, but he swung what was left of the sparking limb regardless. Everyone was burning. These living flames come to consume him, consume the festival.

Consume his family.

He dragged his foot as he swung the limb again. Why wouldn't it cut? It was supposed to cut.

Jasper Kai'el | Corin Trenor | Marissa Shoda

 

[Marissa Shoda]

DENON | WAREHOUSE DISTRICT
TAGS: @Jasper Kai’el | Corin Trenor | Zenric

Between the Jedi and Red Mask, their odds of subduing the cyberpsycho were pretty damn good, though Marissa was far from relaxed as she watched the two of them knock him down. The Jedi lobbed off an arm and the vigilante knocked the cyborg back.

Marissa knew better than to relax. Her HUD let her know that a medical team was on its way and more firefighters were almost in their area. Majority were centered around containing the fire before the whole district was in flames… more than it already was.

As the cyborg’s leg gave out, Marissa saw her opportunity. She knelt down and took aim with both hands and fired, sending round after round of EMP bolts at the man’s center mass. She wouldn’t stop shooting until he was completely disabled. ”One of you, get out there and get the medical team’s attention. This guy’s gonna need help immediately.” Marissa called out over the inferno.

Standing up, she closed the distance between her and the cyborg with her pistol at the ready, just in case the bolts didn’t work as well as they should have.