Holly Starstorm
Holo News Network Journalist
The tiny café clung to the edge of one of Coruscant's countless skywalks, its outdoor tables overlooking an endless sea of towers bathed in neon and perpetual twilight. Holly Starstorm sat alone beneath a crimson awning, one boot tapping an impatient rhythm against the durasteel floor.
She checked the time.
Again.
Then pretended she hadn't.
"This was a mistake," she muttered to herself.
It wasn't the café. It wasn't even the idea of meeting someone. It was the fact that she'd somehow let the producers back at Holo News Network wear her down.
"Just one date, Holly."
"You spend more time interviewing senators than talking to actual people."
"You'll thank us."
She already didn't.
Journalism had never left much room for relationships. Chasing leads, verifying sources, dodging government censors, and trying to uncover stories the Sith Covenant preferred to keep buried tended to consume every waking hour. Romance was messy. Deadlines were predictable.
Mostly.
She wrapped both hands around her caf, more for something to do than because she intended to drink it. Every few seconds her gaze drifted toward the crowds flowing along the promenade, wondering if every approaching stranger was her date...and secretly hoping they weren't.
Beyond the rail, Coruscant stretched to the horizon.
She remembered when the city had shimmered with possibility. Loud, crowded, chaotic, but alive. Now the endless skyline seemed swallowed by darker architecture, harsher lighting, and an atmosphere of quiet suspicion. Sith banners hung where Republic symbols once stood. Security patrols stalked the streets with the confidence of predators, and ordinary citizens kept their heads down, speaking in hushed voices.
The city hadn't become silent.
It had become careful.
Sometimes Holly thought Coruscant had transformed into one giant noir holo-drama, a place where every alley promised trouble, every shadow hid a secret, and justice was something people reminisced about instead of expecting. Gotham, if someone had built it a thousand levels high and given everyone speeders instead of streets.
She sighed and stole another glance at the chrono.
Maybe she'd get lucky.
Maybe her blind date wouldn't show up.
