Private Spinward Hunt: Camali Corwen

[Council of Captains]

Erilnar, Capitol Government District

"The Force flows through all living things," Camali's master used to tell her. "Everything is connected. Reach out to that connection, feel the emotions that flow on the current, and you can learn a great deal about a place." It was a simple statement of fact, not of arrogance, to say that she'd always been good at finding that current, reading it just as he had taught her. Here on Erilnar, the young Jedi felt much the same emotions that she'd sensed elsewhere in the Centrality - panic, grief, and desperation. The refugees of two dozen worlds and more had been thrown together in this isolated region of space, and there wasn't enough of anything to go around.

As it usually did, in her experience, that meant that the strong and amoral had taken brutal advantage of the chaos. Crime was rampant, with armed thugs all across the sector taking whatever they wanted by force. The Centran government, largely ineffectual at the best of times, had been totally overwhelmed, doing little to help its own citizens - let alone the unending tide of asylum-seekers from Sith and Bryn'adul space. This was the kind of place that desperately needed a protector, and Camali intended to do her best to provide one. She was only one person, but she'd managed to fight back the criminal element and protect their victims in several major skirmishes already.

She liked to think that Master Vo'dess would be proud of her, if he had lived. She knew that attachment was dangerous, but she missed him all the same.

Brushing a long strand of dark blond hair out of her eyes, the young Jedi took a deep breath and pushed away her impatience. There is no emotion, she reminded herself, there is peace. Her dedication to that first line of the code was being sorely tested as politician after politician made her wait; she had seen half a dozen lavish offices just like the one she was sitting in now over the past week, and none of their occupants had offered any real help to the refugees yet. Still, she knew she had to keep trying. She could fight off swoop gangs and price-gouging black marketeers, but there was no Force ability she knew of that could conjure much-needed food out of thin air.

Smoothing her tunic down, Camali stood from the plush chair in which she had been waiting. She walked past the gleaming protocol droid at the reception desk and stood in front of the huge transparisteel window, staring out over the Government District as it stretched out far below this towering office building. She could feel the negative emotions rising from the tight-packed masses, and her hand dropped involuntarily to the hilt of her lightsaber. She wanted to be out there, fighting, protecting, putting an end to evil. It was what she was good at. There is no passion, there is serenity. This time she couldn't suppress a sigh. How long would they keep her waiting? And would it even help?

Vallaro Kindall​

 

[Vallaro Kindall]

Navi [Version 10.0.18363.752]
(c) Locke and Key Mechanics. All rights reserved.

C:\\Objective:> Locate Target
C:\\Location:>Erilnar, Government District, Landing pads

---

Hunting force users was Vallaro’s economic lifeblood. From fighting apostate Sith in lost temples on Vjun to Silver Jedi at the invasion of Munnilinst, the hunter was there as a constant thorn in the side of those blessed with the gift of the force. Where he lacked the ability to bend the world around him at his will, he more than made up for with cunning and technology. With each passing hunt, he became less man and more machine. It was his path to power. He would see to it that the mystic would fear the mundane.

Another puck had made its way to the hunter’s attention. A Jedi by the name of Camali had decided that Centrality of all places was where they’d try and bring their supposed peace. A local crime syndicate had decided that they had enough of her meddling and offered a good enough price to draw the hunter’s attention. To the uninitiated, one hundred and fifty thousand credits seemed like a small pot for a Jedi but once you’re in the game long enough you realize not everyone has near infinite resources to throw at their problems.

Landing gear deployed from the bottom of the surreptitious. Autopilot relived the hunter of his control while he stepped into the cargo bay and began assembling his gear. The hunter rarely carried many methods for live capture. So often it was the case that killing a target was the easier option. After some time, the ‘or Alive’ part of most bounties became meaningless garble that came after ‘dead’. In truth, the hunter liked killing them too. Once more victory for the mundane, one more defeat for the mystic. This time was different, this time the prey had to be brought in alive. Vallaro didn’t quite like the idea of it but credits were credits and he’d never heard the name of this Jedi before so he figured she’d be an easy mark.

An elongated hiss filled the air as pressures equalized and pneumatic pistons extended. Bay doors met the ground with a solid and final chunk. The hunter exited his ship. Equipment in his custom rig laid tight against his body and concealed under the signature long coat he often wore on his shoulders like a cape. Security at the landing pads was tighter than Vallaro expected, it was clear the local governance was concerned with unsavory characters coming in and taking advantage of the chaos. Unfortunately for them, unsavory characters were rarely phased by a simple security scan.

The hunter approached the scanner. Security waved him down.

“Sir, we’re going to have to ask you to leave the gun behind before you go through the scanner.”

“What’s going on here. Since when did anyone in centrality give a damn ‘bout a gun”

“New rules Sir. Extra security considering the increased ingress of undesirables.”

“Heh, Alright here.” The hunter pulled a document from his long coat pocket. A license from the empire designating him as an official and sanctioned Bounty hunter”

“Sir, this carries no weight here. We’re not in Empire space”

Vallaro leaned in closer to the guardsman.

“If I was you, I’d just take it. Here between the Empire and the Bryn, you’d best hope the Empire feels welcome before they Bryn get antsy. But if you want to turn down an official agent of the empire than be my guest. I’ll make sure to pass your name up the chain, boy.”

“…Sir…I-"

“Just shut up and let me by before you make a mistake”

The guardsman turned around to face the scanner and its crew.

“Let this man through. He’s clear”

“Good boy”


Vallaro knew he was right in a way. In a few short years, this planet would either be another husk in the wake of the Bryn’adul or absorbed by the Empire. In either case, the smart move was to leave this place and not make enemies of the empire. Didn’t matter what you did aside from that. Though recent experience showed that pissing of a crime syndicate was an easy way to find a bad day. Camali had yet to learn that lesson.

Checking the puck Vallaro made his way deeper into the government district. Doubtless, a Jedi wanted for their Do-goodery would be in that area pandering for signatures or wasting their breath talking to diplomats. In either case, he just needed to get close enough for the tracking fob he’d received to kick in. Assuming of course the Spinward Syndicate knew how to program them. Doing jobs for smaller clientele was always a guessing game when it came to prober information. An occupational hazard Vallaro certainly did not miss.

 

[Council of Captains]

Camali had always been good at sensing emotion, but she was not nearly as gifted at sifting out meaning from it. That had been something Master Vo'dess had been working to teach her, honing her natural empathy into a sharp investigative instinct. But he had died on Voss, alongside all of the others who had chosen to stay behind when the Silver Jedi had moved their protectorate into the Mid Rim. Now she had no teacher except hard-earned experience. She tried to listen to the Force, but although she understood its tone, its words were foreign.

And so, when Vallaro Kindall's tracking fob activated and zeroed in on her location, she did not know why she suddenly felt uneasy.

Still, she had been in the Centrality long enough to know that she ought to trust her feelings. There was always trouble brewing here, especially for someone who spent her time looking for it. There were a thousand things her unease could mean - another food riot brewing in the city below, a rumble between rival swoop gangs, a sniper outside the window... or just yet another rejection by this two-bit local politician. Camali sighed in frustration. She craved open battles against clear enemies, and the Centrality was picky about when it would oblige her.

Pacing back across the tiled reception area, the noise of her footsteps swallowed by soft burbling of the ornamental fountain in the center of the room, Camali let her hand drop to her lightsaber again. The feeling wasn't going away; if anything, it was getting stronger. It was time to take decisive action, one thing she knew she was good at. "Please thank Representative Yaros for the opportunity. Perhaps we can reschedule." She bowed to the protocol droid, though she didn't much feel like it after waiting fruitlessly for several hours, then turned to go.

On the turbolift ride down from the representative's office, Camali freed her lightsaber from her belt, keeping it concealed by holding it against her forearm. Reflexes honed by experience in battle and the power of the Force could help her move faster than just about anyone she'd ever faced, but being just a little more prepared sometimes made all the difference. The turbolift dinged - ground floor. The young Jedi stepped out, into the lobby of the office building. It was the end of the working day, and a steady stream of government employees were leaving.

Camali took a deep breathh, trying to focus on the unease she felt - and locate the threat it represented.

Vallaro Kindall​