Public All That Glitters | Pt. I

[Tansu Treicolt]

CORUSCANT | SENATE DISTRICT
14:45:00 IN THE AFTERNOON STANDARD TIME​

Coruscant.

A name that conjured up the same image in all civilized minds. Coruscant: Bright centre of the galaxy, crown jewel of the Core worlds, the seat of government for the myriad of worlds beneath the influence of the intergalactic superpower, epitome of learning, culture, and history.

As soon as they’d come into orbit, Tansu and Talin’s faces pressed against the glasteel. The enormity of it was beyond their richest imaginations. Nothing on Concord Dawn was close to comparable.

The most remarkable thing about it, the girls noticed, was its landmass. Unlike Concord Dawn, with its mix of terrain and water, Coruscant seemed to be one massive glittering city. Instead of trees, there were towers and ziggurats. Instead of plains, there were domes and minarets. Instead of tractors, there were crosshatched levels of traffic and thousands of spaceships that came in and out of atmosphere that nearly blotted out the views of the sprawling city streets. It was beautifully busy, and unfathomably discordant.

Tansu had never felt so small, and felt a pang of belated idiocy at mistaking Castell for anything close to Coruscant. It was like holding a candle next to a supernova.

They touched down and spilled out. All wide-eyed and babbling like brooks. The twins darted here, there, awestruck by storefronts that appealed to every whim conjurable. All swept up in enthusiasm, it was hard to make a decision on where to start first, but it felt natural to conclude that they should try and visit Aunteme. It only felt right.

What didn’t feel right, was the quietness of the senate district. Café’s that the girls supposed would have been bustling at this hour, spilling over with politicians and journalists, were closed. It seemed every fourth shop on the street had reduced their hours.

“This is feelin’ ‘bout as busy as Harlan ‘round high noon.” Tansu’s tone turned from excited to conspiratorial. “Shouldn’t it be .. busier?”

As if in answer, a loud crash boomed out from the southwest side of the plaza.


​

 

[Kyric]

Things felt off from the moment Kyric hit the streets of Galactic City. From the instant they left the Starport, he should've been shoving sleazy aliens away from Dax and his cousins by the dozens. All three of them were easy marks, as foreign as someone can be with as little experience as one would expect from those so wet behind the ears. But the pickpockets weren't coming. Neither were the conmen or grifters looking for a quick cred. Not a single eye was cast their way.

Instead, the people of Galactic City looked downtrodden. Defeated. Forgotten.

The kiffar shifted his attention away from the city's inhabitants. His gaze found a distant point on the opposite side of the plaza, and for a moment, he felt an urge. An itch right in the small of his back. And then it was gone and his cousins were running around like Jawas at a pod race.

"Hey!" Kyric called out. "Tansu, put the droid parts down, you don't even have the creds," he trundled closer to her until the girl's twin sister caught his attention. "Talin! That isn't permission to go rootin' in some random speeder! Get your head out of the engine missy!" He hurried over and gently tugged her out from beneath the speeder's hood. "I need both of you to straighten out, alright? Your mom is gonna kick my ass when she finds out I'm lettin' you two travel rather than bring you home. I'm beggin' you. Make it easy for me."

A sudden crash thundered across the plaza. He swept the twins behind him and placed himself between the point of impact and his cousins.

"Arthur," the kiffar tapped his earpiece twice.

| Yes, sir? |

"Have the chieftain tap into local communication frequencies. I needa know what's goin' on here." Kyric turned back on his three companions, looking hesitantly to Dax, and then his cousins with an easy smile. "Alright, it's game time. I need to make sure everyone over there is okay. Who's comin' with me?"

Tansu Treicolt | Talin Treicolt | Damien Dooku

 

[Dax]

An unremarkable, toneless sphere speckled with city lights. What made Courscant any different than Nar Shaddaa or Taris? Once you'd seen an ecumenopolis, you'd seen them all. Or maybe he'd just grown jaded. Since the death-run to bail Kyric out of his tribulations on Jedha, it was hard to get excited about anything. Once the adrenaline wore off, Dax found himself stuck in a dispassionate daze.

What am I even doing here? he asked himself. Originally, he'd been vehemently opposed to getting anywhere near Coruscant. His three passengers didn't know it, but the ship they'd been staying in was of a commandeered variety. There was no worse place for such a vessel than the Deep Core with its pugnacious security forces. At least on the Rim there were avenues for that kind of thing. He'd have to hope his makeshift attempts at rigging a signal scrambler would buy them enough time for the twins to gawk and get out before anyone noticed.

Although, Dax had got them where they wanted to go. His promise had only stated he wouldn't leave them stranded on Castell. There was no obligation anymore. What was stopping him from leaving them here? Was it his conscience? A growing feeling of belonging? The memory of the twins' faces when they thought they'd be stuck in a junkyard with a bunch of Gossams for the foreseeable future?

Was it worth losing more sleep?

A hidden weapon accompanied his usual blaster. He couldn't risk someone stumbling across it while he wasn't on the ship. Tansu had already uncovered his secret keepsake, and he wasn't confident she could refrain from disclosing her discovery for much longer. Not to mention the possibility of security forces getting involved. Dax hadn't ever ignited the saber but once, couldn't tell anyone a single thing about using it, but he hoped the sight of it might give him an edge if it came to it.

Following his trio of acquaintances down the loading ramp, his lack of enthusiasm was a stark contrast to the twins' hyperactive flabbergastation. It was like they'd never seen a city before. That's all Coruscant was; an absurdly big city. They weren't kidding about the farm.

“Shouldn’t it be .. busier?”

Tansu wasn't alone in her sentiment. Dax hadn't expected it to be so idle. Even Nar Shaddaa was infinitely more crowded than this. Something was glaring off. "Not what I expected either," he confessed.

Then there was a crash. Of course, there was a crash. A collision, probably. One thing that never changed about places like these was that no one knew how to drive.

"Who's comin' with me?"

Game time? Why? Because there was always something extra going on whenever he got roped in, that's why. It couldn't just be a normal night in Coruscant. Maybe these three were bad luck after all.

Dax stared at Kyric for a moment, blinking inattentively. "I-" came an intelligent stammer. What was the point? He'd probably end up over there whether he liked it or not. Something in him screamed to go back to the ship and set course for Nar Kreeta. Be done with it all.

But-

A begrudging sigh broke through naysaying thoughts. He couldn't leave them here, so he was more or less at the mercy of whatever they got themselves into.

"Yeah, whatever," he conceded quietly.

Damien Dooku | Kyric | Talin Treicolt | Tansu Treicolt​

 

[Lodd Grimmin]

ALL THAT GLITTERS

Tansu Treicolt Dax Kyric
​

"I told you we should have taken a left turn at Huttaburger." The Neimoidian Senator of the Trade Federation complained in typical cowardly fashion from the wreckage of the Limousine that had veered away from the oncoming traffic, and promptly crashed near the southeast side of the plaza.

Lodd, who had recently returned to the esteemed Crown Jewel of the Alliance merely an hour ago, had been occupied with significant negotiations alongside influential clients on Fondor due to the Federal Assembly's relocation endeavors.

"Sir, you said to take a right near the junction. How was I supposed to know that speeder would ram us." The protocol droid said in defense of such an acusation, pulling the Neimoidian from the wreckage just in time before the flames really began to spread.

Such logcial reasoning only caused him to snear, wanting to forget that this accident even occured, grabbing his tall hat from the metal before it burned to a crisp.

He did not have long to contemplate on the next course of action as several speeders came up beside them, belonging to the infamous Haxion Brood Raiders a mercenary outfit from the territories of Hutt Space, or what was left of Hutt Space after the Bryn'adul Empire's campaign. He hid behind the burning wreckage in fear.

"Well, Well. Look like we's got a bug eyed." Their Leader said, clutching his blaster tightly.

"The audacity!, I..I...I...am a member of the Federal Assembly!." Lodd replied, although shaken.

 

[Damien Dooku]

DAMIEN'S THEME
500 REPUBLICA TOWER, SUITE 001 – THE SENATE DISTRICT​

...THE NIGHT BEFORE​

They had argued, but it was probably his fault. He'd appeared with little warning of his arrival, skirted the proper channels of landing on the planet, and made a bee-line for the state-provided apartment that his mother kept on the side for when she was too tired to fly to home. She wanted him to come home, to turn his life around and be the person she knew he could be.

He told her that he already was who he was supposed to be, and that he'd figured it out on his own. The warm reunion turned Hoth-cold in an instant, but he had nobody to blame but himself. He was too hard-headed to let reason win over the way he felt, and far too headstrong to ask for help when it was needed. Damien had drowned his emotions beneath a bed of cigarettes and trudging through the underworld with R4 in tow. He'd grown overconfident, and his mother knew it too. The pox-marked series of scattergun rounds on his shoulder was healing up nicely as a result, but–

"At least I survived, right?" It wasn't the time to win her over with his usual sense of sarcasm, and she stormed out of the apartment without another world. Damien leaned against the edge of one of the two sofas aligned in the center of the room, his gaze focused outwards towards the brilliant lights of Coruscant's cityscape at night.

"Damn."

Was all he could say. He'd have to fix things soon, but doubling down tonight wouldn't make anything better. The apartment was cold, silent beyond the low drone of the appliances off in the kitchen. He appreciated it, though, for it reminded him of home in spite of his efforts to forget.

...NIGHT ALWAYS COME TO AN END​

The start of a new day began, until he checked his wrist-com and registered he'd slept through the morning and into the afternoon. Shit. He got out of the bed, had a quick shower before throwing on a nicer set of clothes than the usual dusty and black leather jacket and pants he more commonly wore. It was the least he could do if he were to see her later. But for now he had time to kill, as the afternoon senate meetings were one of the few annoying aspects of his mother's life that he remembered oh so fondly.

The walk down into the Senate's district was met with an unusually little amount of fanfare from tourists and locals alike. Normally the place was packed to the brim with bustling shops and eager consumers who couldn't wait to blow their credits on something new– but today seemed different. He wasn't aware of any abnormalities on the agenda, but then again, neither had he remembered to check after he ensured the forged landing codes he'd acquired would pass the inspection.

With his hands stuffed into the brown leather jacket's pockets, he continued on his leisurely stroll down the plaza, but soon found himself facing another dilemma that would nearly cost him his life. Several speeders throttled with little regard to their safety to catch up to a lone vehicle on the road, forcing it into an off-road collision that left its occupants stranded and surrounded.

Damien bit the dust as a part of his mind stabbed at him to pay attention– it was a part he'd long forgotten existed, but had permeated itself into existence ever since he'd ran into his brother, and grew ever closer to the Core on his journeys. He pivoted on his right foot in an instant, springing into a rolling leap off the side of the road as one of the speeders jumped onto the curb and threatened to run him down.

It was a near-miss, but as he rolled over his back and into a firing position on one knee, he found himself acting on instinct alone.

Bang!​

A single shot rang out from his blaster, striking the scrap speeder's exposed gyro and causing it to veer off towards a closed storefront, the nose hitting the ground and catapulting its driver through the window.

One down. He counted their numbers in his head as he pushed onto his feet and made a bee line for the wreck. Damien charged the rest of his blaster's cartridge into a single disruptor shot, firing it at one of the speeders behind the dismounted leader of the group.

BOOM! ​

An explosion thundered from the burning wreck behind them, throwing the thugs off-balance just long enough for Damien to slide behind the cover of the wreckage, kneeling to the side of the cowering Neimoidian and his driver. A hand slapped the alien on the shoulder to draw their attention his way. "Consider yourself lucky I'm obliged to not piss my mother off any further, Sleemo."

It wasn't anything personal to the man, he just had a disdain for politicians– Auteme being the exception. Uncle Aerarii Tithe too, of course. In the meantime he'd load a fresh cartridge into his blaster, and let loose another volley of shots over the wreckage. "Keep your head down and you just might survive to embezzle another day!"

Kyric | Dax | Tansu Treicolt | Talin Treicolt | Lodd Grimmin ​

 

[Talin Treicolt]

Kyric | Dax | Damien Dooku | Tansu Treicolt | Lodd Grimmin​

"We ain't babies anymore, Kyric!" Talin accused whilst still hovering about the speeder. The thing was slick, off the lot and ready for action. "Dax, don't fall for it. He's just tryin' to wrangle us. Thinks we're just too rowdy. Well, I'll tell you what mister, you're already in trouble with Mama so don't think our best behavior matters now. I want to live! I want to be freee!"

The crash had already drawn half of Talin's attention, and ensuing blaster fire captured it fully. The blonde bounced up from the inspection, and without fear, took off toward the action. Ravenous like a coyote in winter, she could not get enough of their destination, and not one experience could be missed. The second rounds fired off at Talin took the corner. Better than they could have hoped for!

"Keep your head down and you just might survive to embezzle another day!"

"O'mi'gosh." A sharp inhale accompanied. "A shootout! Oh, oh, a limo! And is that one of them nee-mode-ee-ans? Ah, come on, Su! Leave the boys to their games."

Danger only fueled her excitement. With a squeal, the young woman grabbed her hat, and broke into a full run. The other hand dropped to her pistol. Clearly, her pa was right - she'd never learn a lesson the first time around. The blaster appeared before Kyric could stop her and fired wildly, narrowing whizzing past the businessman's head. There was no time to look abashed. The criminals declared themselves foe, and didn't take kindly to arrival. They greeted with loaded guns.

"Chit!" Talin dropped instantaneously, shieled by the landspeeder. Her free hand snaked out to grab whoever was closest - pulling Dax along with her. They were still feet from whoever she had just allied them with. ​

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

"How do you know, huh?" Tansu huffed at the scolding, but didn't put the parts down. The shopkeep was happy just watching the youth without scaring her away by asking for money. All their usual patrons were greasy aliens in coveralls.

Tansu even threw in a hat tip and a tongue-clickin' smile for good measure.

"Sorry BD-9, looks like yer gonna have to stay the way you are."

They were seventeen for goodness sake! Kyric was out here treating them like they were still the same age they'd been when he'd left the farm. So she nodded along ardently when Talin set him straight. That's right. They were full grown now.

"Ayo! In broad daylight?! Can they DO that?" Her reaction time was in tandem with Talin's. No surprise there, but she wasn't as quick to draw. Shooting at crooks and baddies, living and breathing sentients (freaky lookin' as they were) wasn't quite the same as aiming at wamp rats on dark nights. And it didn't fully sit right with her. There had to be some other way to freak em out, right?

She didn't figure out an answer while running, spurred on by the innate link to her twin and the insatiable draw to danger. That's what they'd left the farm for. Razzle dazzle and light fights after all.

It wasn't until she dropped behind the speeder next to Talin and Dax that she came up with some sort of an idea. She scowled at Talin, wincing at the blaster fire that was now directed right at her lookalike.

"The speeders, laser brains. Knock 'em out of the sky?? If they can't get away, they could be arrested.'"

To demonstrate, she peeked around the engine side of the transport and aimed a shot at one of the fuel tanks exposed in their side.

Pyyyeewww.

____________________________________________________________
Talin Treicolt | Dax | Kyric | Damien Dooku | Lodd Grimmin
____________________________________________________________
​

 

[Dax]

"You crazy b-!"

Expletives broke off as Talin forced him down behind the landspeeder.

"Are you out of your damn mind!?" Dax rebuked. "You nearly killed that guy! And us!"

First, she'd shoved it in his face for the crime of looking like someone else. Now she had them both pinned behind a speeder praying that a bolt didn't punch through and kill them. He'd had enough. Impulse got the better of him. Reaching forward, his hand closed around Talin's blaster. A finger was looped behind the trigger, coupled with a tight grip over the receiver. A tug liberated it from Talin's grip. With a subsequent fling, he sent the weapon disappearing against the Coruscant skyline.

Visible ire contorted Dax's face as he snapped back to look at Talin. "I should have left you on Castell," he hissed, pulling out his weapon. The sudden nearby explosion couldn't phase his umbrage. He primed his blaster's tibanna loader with his thumb and poked out from cover, intent on shooting someone who wasn't helpless. A single shot rang, punching through the Brood's shoulder and sending him reeling onto the ground.

Talin Treicolt | Tansu Treicolt | Kyric | Damien Dooku | Lodd Grimmin​

 

[Kyric]

Chit.

Kyric watched Talin drag Dax along, spurring Tansu into motion after her. The eldest cousin cursed his luck and studied the scene. Some lowdown criminal scum thought now the best time to kidnap a person of interest. Based on their proximity to the plaza and the state-offered speeder, the kiffar guessed a senator or some other government employee.

"Alright, well," he strode forward with the cockiest, most arrogant smile the Son of Ryv could muster and drew his lightsaber. "Hey, slime. The senate may have blown out of town, but it ain't free eats. Get on out of here." He leaped onto the senator's limo and fell into a familiar low stance. His blade fell parallel to the floor, hanging down to the kiffar's right side.

A perfect imitation of his father's legendary fighting stance.

To no one's surprise, a healthy number of the Brood leveled their blasters on Kyric and opened fire. His verdant saber swept out left, then right, knocking aside two to three bolts at a time. His focus was on directing the attackers away from the innocents. The blaster bolts disappeared skyward or into a nearby wall, creating a glaring opening for his posse.

"Alright, ladies. If yer' thinkin' this is the fight, let's see what you've got!" Even though panic gripped Kyric's heart at the thought of his cousins faced with such danger, he knew it was well past time they flew the nest. And it was his responsibility to make sure they had that chance. So he did as Jedi do, and held the giant 'shoot me' sword while fighting for his life.

Thankfully Damien wasn't here to see him...

Talin Treicolt | Tansu Treicolt | Dax | Damien Dooku | Lodd Grimmin

 

[Nero Drake]

"Dank farik!"

Nero weaved his swoop bike just in time to avoid the Trade Federation official's high-speed collision. Random shootouts weren't exactly common this far up, but it reminded the young kid of back home on level 1313. Survival instincts urged him to take off but one glimpse of the fancy robes cowering behind a wrecked limo convinced Drake there might be a small fortune in credits waiting for someone bold enough to claim it.

"Hey mate!" Nero drew his bryar pistol, "You almost wrecked my ride!"

He blasted the closest Haxion Brood merc off their speeder. The out-of-control bike plunged down like a missile setting off another minor explosion in the plaza. Blaster fire sparked off his swoop and Nero was about to return the favor when he realized that some civilians were shooting up at the Brood speeders and he was simply caught in their crossfire.

"No good deed, aye?" Nero grinned and corkscrewed his swoop in a dazzling maneuver while blasting another Haxion mercenary out of the sky.

Tansu Treicolt Talin Treicolt Kyric Dax Damien Dooku Lodd Grimmin​

​

 

[Damien Dooku]

A second explosion followed in almost near tandem with the reddish-orange bolt that busted the Landspeeder's radiator right above his head, a gust of heated air blowing the hair on that side into a wild mess of strands. "Oh you've gotta be fething shitting me." He growled out beneath his breath, a forceful palm ensuring the Neimoidian kept his head down while Damien got to work on clearing the Senator a path.

He whipped from behind the wreck and delivered a single shot in the direction of the ginger and the blonde. Something pulled at him at the last minute, and he hesitated the shot, the bolt whizzing clear down the center path of both. Swiveling at the heel towards the Haxion thugs who he knew were a threat, he was presented to far more chaos than he'd ever expect for a simple visit back home.

Well, assuming it wasn't the law coming for his head, that is.

Hard boots swayed the limousine to their front as the back silhouette of a Jedi came into, a brilliant flash of verdant light being used to deflect more shots so close that even he was beginning to sweat. "Wait a sec–" A sense of familiarity tugged at his mind, but his attention swept from left to right, following the trail of yet another speeder entering the fray.

The rider's appearance pumped up his blood after seeing the finesse they pulled off mid-corkscrew, and even a solid one-liner as the metaphorical icing on the cake. Damien appreciated a good one-liner, but so did any scoundrel worth their salt on the 'rim.

"I guess you sewer rats ain't too shabby for being Core boys, huh?!" He called out, having completely forgot about the Jedi in front of him. Another shot near-missed him once more, but this one had been aimed squarely for the bridge of his nose. The leader of the Haxion goons had decided to try and take him out while he wasn't looking, prompting Damien to roll out from behind the cover in yet another abnormally well-timed barrel roll.

He came out of it with his blaster raised once more, three shots being let loose at a pair of goons who were rushing up to their leader's side, whilst the other targeting yet another speeder that had been left parked and running.

BOOM!

​

"Next time why dont'cha turn off the ignition, sleem!" The force from the blast sent his hair flying back into place from the tangled mess it was before. A smirk crept onto his lips, but not before he slid back behind the wrecked Limousine, and to the Neimoidian's side once again.

Kyric | Tansu Treicolt | Dax | Talin Treicolt | Lodd Grimmin | Nero Drake ​

 

[Talin Treicolt]

@way too many tags but mostly Dax​

Distraught, Talin watched her weapon disappear into the nether. No. No! Her dad was gonna kill her if she brought the thing back scratched, let alone if she lost it. Horror transformed to rage as she turned back to the ginger.

“I shoulda shot you back in that junkyard.” A thump on the ear was offered. “That was’a war relic! What am I suppose’ta do now, use this lightsaber?!”

Suddenly, her bones tingled. Something was wrong. Wide eyed, and without further thought, Talin launched herself at Dax, knocking them both flat on the ground. A red streak whistled past them in a deadly flourish. Chaos was a kind lady once more. Her hand slipped up to Dax’s pinned wrist and claimed retribution for his actions. His blaster was heavier, older, and had history; she could almost feel herself sucked in. Refusing the pull of the past, she peeled herself away from the ginger.

“I’m not gonna let anythang happen to ya.” She met his eyes momentarily as she rose. “But I’m not gonna live in fear on the fringes. You shouldn’t either.”

With that statement, she popped over the parked speeder. Couldn’t let Tan have all the fun. Aiming for the nearest enemy vehicle, the tank found its mark with a loud swoosh.

“Yeahhh baby! Look at us!”

 

[Dash Farstar]

Greed.

Greed never changes.

Every spacer worth their salt tells ya: you do NOT take a job with the Brood. High-risk, rarely any reward. Whoever lived to tell the tale would tell ya -- they'd gun you down the moment the job's done and get your cut, paint as an accident and no one's the wiser. Not like a crime lord cares.

But you think mortgage rates are bad in this economy? Well, holy mother of meteors, wait till you see the weekly vig the loan herglics were chargin'.

And Dash was swimming in a whole lotta vig. He'd come to Coruscant now that there was a surge of jobs in the Core thanks to the Empire's incursion -- flyin' refugees outta warzones, gunrunning for one side or the other and so on. But none of it paid out as good as what the Haxion Brood were on for ferrying them and something to somewhere else.

Problem is, they weren't really transparent with what the job entailed.

"A SENATOR?!?" the Corellian's voice barely cut through the crossfire as he ducked behind a turned upside down speeder vehicle. "NO ONE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT A SENATOR!"

... but if they pulled it off -- he could clear a helluva lot of aged up debt.

<<Buddy, can you get the Teta down here?>>

<<Bweewooou>> R3 chirped back.

<<It's IMPOUNDED?>>

<<Bweepbweep.>>

<<DOCKING FEES?!>>

<<Bwooweee!>>

<<You're not lying... are you?>>

<<Beepo.>>

"Gosh darn rolling bucket." Dash cut the transmission off. He was certain the lil' chit was having an oil bath somewhere. The smuggler didn't dare even peak out of cover until he saw another couple of speeder bikes and vehicles with the Haxion Brood coming in hot and blasting.

And then he started blasting too.

Kyric Tansu Treicolt Dax Talin Treicolt Lodd Grimmin Nero Drake

 

[Lodd Grimmin]

ALL THAT GLITTERS

Tansu Treicolt Dax Kyric Talin Treicolt Nero Drake Kyric Damien Dooku
​

The Neimoidian Senator almost passed into the netherworld of the force when Damien Dooku grabbed him by the shoulder, already freighten to death by the violent encounter, although still having enough willpower to glance over the top of the burning wreckage of the Limousine.

Through the haze, he beheld a group of mysterious figures composed of Dax , Tansu Treicolt , Talin Treicolt were swiftly dispatching the Haxion Brood Raiders with a chilling precision, a sight that both mesmerized and terrified him in equal measure.

"What did I do to deserve this, I am merely a member of a charitable organization." Lodd said, ducking down with the driver some more to avoid a wizzing shot past him.

The skills of a force user was noted when Kyric pulled out a lightsaber and began to deflect some of the firepower back towards the thugs who were gradually reduced in number, but desperation would naturally cause them to resist arrest to avoid charges of assault against a member of the Alliance Government.

"Look out from the sky, its one of them flying jetpacks." The Neimoidian said, glancing over to Damien Dooku .

The elite members of the Haxion Brood (x5) slowly descended from the skies of Coruscant, their expertly coordinated manuevers enhancing the impending assistance they would provide to the group of Haxion Brood Thugs currently causing disturbances around the Senator.

Their formidable armor, designed to withstand most attacks, granted them the ability to easily deflect any stray blaster bolt that came their way, ensuring the safety and protection of those under their watchful eye.

"Fry these interlopers to a crisp," The Leader of the Elite said, pulling the trigger on his Type 92 | Zugor Lightning Rifle as it blasted a hard stream of electric energy towards the Limousine wreckage and Kyric .

 

[Kyric]

The sudden appearance of ELITE Haxion Brood Jet Troopers flummoxed the Wayseeker.

"As if a midday ambush ain't enough!" Kyric called out to the leader who hovered nearby. "I don't s'ppose you'd be willing to surrender?" The ensuing battlecry and discharge of the lightning launcher answered that question.

Kyric threw himself off the limousine, thankful the smoking hunk of metal drew the blast its way. He hit the ground and rolled onto his feet. The ELITE Haxion Brood RAID LEADER began the arduous process of recharging his heavy cannon. Scanning the battlefield in his momentary reprieve, Kyric backhanded an oncoming blaster bolt into a Haxion Brood Gunrunner, one of their grunts, and watched as the remaining ELITE Haxion Brood Jet Troopers separated to assail the others.

Two of them flew after the senator and his mystery guardian, while another hovered closer to Dax , Talin Treicolt , and Tansu Treicolt 's cover. The last appeared to show particular interest in the gnarly swoop bike pilot, Nero Drake !

Radical.

Another buzzing shot of arching lightning wound across the street towards Kyric. He threw up his hand in answer, eating the bolt directly in a last-second bid to diffuse the attack. The sudden onslaught of electrical power sent his teeth-a-chatterin' and put his hair on end. Channeling the energy through his frame it took on an emerald color. The Wayseeker pointed his saber at The ELITE Haxion Brood RAID LEADER and returned it to him.

Lightning arched back across the street directly into the attacker's chest. Their body disappeared into the wreckage of a smoking speeder.

"Oh, yeah!" Kyric nodded. "I'm feelin' it right now. Who's next?!"

Dash Farstar | Damien Dooku | Lodd Grimmin

 

[Nero Drake]

Nero scowled at the assumption he was a Coruscant native. He was proud of his gang. Proud they offered some street justice in an otherwise lawless undercity and weren't afraid of standing up to the Hutts. But he wasn't from here. Just trapped in Galactic City's gravity well like everyone else from the lower levels.

Incoming jetpacks drew the swoop pilot's attention and as he searched the busy skyline a stray las bolt singed his perfect coif.

"Not the hair!" Drake narrowed his sculpted brow, "You're a dead man, mate."

He pushed his swoop into a harrowing dive before rolling as he leveled off. Nero soared less than a meter over the terrified senator and his entourage of good samaritans. The Haxion operative chased after him almost within reach of his bike's aft steering vane. Drake broke off into a series of unpredictable evasive maneuvers to lower his chances of getting blasted in the back.

"Karabast! Can't shake him!"

Tansu Treicolt Talin Treicolt Kyric Dax Damien Dooku Lodd Grimmin Dash Farstar​

​

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

FWOOM!​

Orange and yellow plumes erupted out from the fuel cells and consumed the rest of the speeder Tansu had aimed for. Flames leaped from the one and to the rider of another, who quickly reacted by leaping to relative safety for a stop, drop, and roll.

Next to her, Dax and Talin were squabbling and Tan felt the edge of rage line her connection to her sister. Then another shot blast out, and another eruption.

"Suuueeyy." Tansu whistled in triumph for the both of them.

She sent another sequence of shots off and ducked to reassess, peeking around to see Kyric darting to the limo with his bright green blade ablaze.

A whoosh of awe raced through her and she felt it pool and warm right to her core. The visual cast her roughly five years back, when Kyric had practiced those very swings back in the farm. Hushed and conspiratorial, the girls had scurried up the the bar loft and perched in the window to watch unseen.

Just like now, they were watching from a distance. That simply wouldn't do. Especially when Kyric yelled out why he'd drawn all the fire and attention.

"C'mon Lin. Link up, let's get in there and give 'em the boot!"

Just before Tansu was about to vault over the cover of their speeder, the sky suddenly blotted out with shapes that looked akin to the Protectors back home, and Tansu squinted into the sun to see the incoming Haxion elites.

Mom had taught the girls a few moves of Tëras Kasï — enough to defend themselves and subdue boys if they got too handsy. The problem with Loske's teaching though, was that she'd never actually learned the moves herself. As part of the cloning process, the talent was innate. It was hard to explain the mechanics of something that came naturally, and thus, sessions mostly turned into encouragements where the girls had an affinity, and redirection where they lacked.

But even though the lessons were lacking in comprehensiveness, they oozed in confidence. The same can-do that Tansu felt now.

In a heady, reckless rush she sprung up from her cover. Talin would feel the Fore swell just before one foot struck the speeder for extra height, and then she was on the jet packer.

Elite expected elite. Elite did not expect a teenage girl in a cowboy hat to launch straight up and wrap their arms around their neck, kicking around their hips at the jetpack fastened around them to loosen the attachment. Her one hand worked at the strap on his shoulders, while her other kept the blaster ready and for balance.

The thug's first reaction was for its bionic arm to wrap around her and squeeze. Tansu felt her spine pop and breathe whoosh out.

"Ah, you'ra — wheeze — real handsy fella." She growled, wiggling. "I just..want your..ow, you're hurtin' ME!" Stuck in the squeeze, she tilted her wrist as best she could in the confines and pulled the trigger of the blaster. A bright flare belched out, erupted in bright green, and hit the hip of the thug. She could hear him yell under the helmet. It was enough for him to loosen his grip and Tansu give another shot, right at the buckle on his shoulder. The one she hadn't freed yet.

As it happened, the jetpack popped off the brute. Tansu was holding on to both straps, and felt her shoulders tear while the backpack continued to accelerate now free of the weight. The brood's hands slipped down her legs and clung to her ankles until she kick, kick, kicked his hands around her boots. Nothing would make her relinquish her vice grip on the jetpack. She was too airborne now.

Finally, he fell away.

Tansu used the time to try and counterbalance a downward pull with a desperate upward shove, clambering into the straps in a lopsy-daisy way.

"Yeee!" Tansu squealed, quickly strapping the pack around her shoulders make-shiftedly. It was all crooked and she was super off balance. This was…way cooler than anything back home.

Now free of the weight it had been set for, the pack dipped and bobbed, andTansu's legs dangled uselessly in the air while she tried to get a hang for tugging the directors. It was nothin' like the rudders on an X-Wing and she was just spiralling around above the lightfight now.

____________________________________________________________
Talin Treicolt | Dax | Damien Dooku | Kyric | Nero Drake
Dash Farstar | Lodd Grimmin
____________________________________________________________
​

 

[Dax]

"Hey!" Dax protested Talin's return favor. An open hand followed her as she stood up from him. Vexation provoked the Force, gathering heat at his palm. Fingers curled into a clawed configuration behind tremoring muscles.

Flames would have erupted at that very moment, but reason disseminated across his body and clamped his fingers shut over the nascent flame. An extinguishing hiss was barely audible against the commotion that blared around him. Still sizzling, his fist slammed down into the gritty Coruscantine ground. The impact dispersed the last of his outraged surge, a curl of smoke from his closed hand the only sign it ever existed.

Supine, he resigned himself to staring at the streaks of red as they passed overhead.

Something once again got the better of him a minute later, coaxing his head to turn toward the landspeeder. From beneath the gap left by idle repulsors, he watched the skirmish progress further into chaos. It was enough to revive a pernicious notion he'd been defying for months.

They need you.

It had come from the item he'd reluctantly coupled to his belt.

No.

Wield me.

Dax hesitated, not noting his hand slowly creeping toward the saber.

I don't know how.

Learn.

Fingers closed around the tarnished alloy. His thumb was millimeters from flicking the ignition. It was a losing battle, yet still, he resisted.

I can't.

You can.

I won't!

Sweat beaded over Dax's brow. Even if he let temptation get the better of him, he'd only die trying to use the saber. He hadn't the slightest idea how to utilize it. Fighting against his impulses, Dax squirmed slightly, taking his hand off the weapon. His eyes squeezed shut, praying to whatever controlled the universe that he made it out alive.

You won't.

Get out of my head!

Why did it have to be Coruscant?

____________________________________________________________
Talin Treicolt | Tansu Treicolt | Kyric | Damien Dooku
Dash Farstar | Nero Drake | Lodd Grimmin
____________________________________________________________​

 

[Damien Dooku]

To describe the atmosphere as chaos would've still implied some sense of order to it all. The Neimoidian's well-intended warning was followed by Damien shoving a hand down upon the man's weird hat thing that he'd associated with the higher-ups in their society. "Get down, bug-head!" He commanded, shoving the man out of the trajectory of not just an incoming swarm of bolts, but the soaring speeder bike of one of his fellow scoundrels' as he busied himself doing his thing.

He looked back at Lodd Grimmin , releasing his hat in the process. "Don't you have a security team? State-provided or from the Gee-Ay?" He'd ask, though it was more of an implication as to why these goons had not been intercepted by the authorities yet. They were in the middle of Senate's Plaza for the force's sake, and a wanted criminal with a gun would surely wear out his welcome once the fighting had died down.

"We've gotta make a move–" He glanced over to the Jedi, cocking an eyebrow in his direction as another tug in his mind connected the dots of familiarity that his previous silhouette had provided. ".. Kyric ?!" Damien called out, then whipped his blaster around at an incoming Haxion thug who'd lost his jetpack in the pandemonium. Two shots followed, one to the marauder's knee-cap and the other through the pit of his stomach. They dropped down to the ground with a howling shriek, but found themselves muffled by the collision of a dead ganger zooming out of the air, and right through his torso.

Another explosion followed, though this one proved much less grandiose than the series of speeder bikes that came before. He called out to his half-brother once more, but not before whipping a spent cartridge to the ground and replacing it with the third from his last remaining. "When the hell did you get here!" Damien motioned for Lodd Grimmin to reveal himself enough for his brother to see who he had in tow.

"We've got a slee- I mean uh' senator down here who apparently crossed Haxion at some point, or maybe you've been workin' with them this whole time eh?!" He idly flagged the Senator with the barrel of his pistol as he pressed the accusation against him. In truth the scoundrel could care little as to if he was truly corrupt or not, the bottom line was he was in no position to let the idiot get himself killed. It was bad enough that his face would eventually be picked up by Galactic City's authorities, but he had to smooth things out with a good deed if there was a chance in hell Auteme could help him out.

Tansu Treicolt | Talin Treicolt | Nero Drake | Dash Farstar | Dax |​

 

[Talin Treicolt]

i tried: Nero Drake | don't let me die: Dax
vicinity: Kyric Damien Dooku Lodd Grimmin Dash Farstar ​

"Karabast! Can't shake him!"

The stranger's call for help broke over the clash. Eyes scanning the zone, she confirmed him ally by the goon chasing - and he cool doing it. Then, Tansu launched upwards. The sight of her twin in air wrestling the jetpacked man set a fire under Talin's ass. The pair of swoops were quickly approaching their position. Precariously, she tossed the blaster back to it's rightful owner - not bothering with the safety - and withdrew something more sophisticated from her belt. A silver hilt echoed Talin's own excitement. It had known glory once before, and craved it again. With the flip of a switch, a cerulean torch lit the shadows around them.

"Cover me."

Then, she did something which proved her dumber than a sack of hammers. Two hands hoisted her up onto the speeder hood. No immediate fire came. Not waiting around for it, a jump brought her into the open street, and long strides carried her to the center. The girl dug her heels in and assumed a guard. The stranger and his pursuant were on a direct collision course. She was not well versed and saber - only what Kyric had taught them with sticks and they drilled every day since they were 12 - but it didn't matter. It was a game of chicken. The street was too crowded to dodge a strike so close and keep on this guys hiney.

Absorbed in staring down the two speeders, she had but a millisecond of forewarning. Then her entire shoulder was on fire. Impact dropped the girl with a cry. Adrenaline coursed, and then she remembered the danger was still immediate - two speeders quickly approaching would make roadkill outta her. A shrill scream accompanied the roll which moved her closer to the curb. Movement set the fire spreading down arm and torso both.

They've shot my arm off. The pain was too intense to be anything but. A quick glance down confirmed her arm was still attached, but an angry wound seethed three inches below collar bone. Chit. Chit. Was that low enough to be fatal? Pain sent her head swimming.

"Dax. Dax, you were right. I didn't want this. Oh'm'gosh, am I dying?" Hysterics were building. "Force, I can't die. I have so much to do! My mama's gonna cry! Dax, tell my mama I love her, okay?"