Private Correspondence | Kyric

[Halsia Hewitt]

Kyric
​

Eight hundred and eighty-seven layers deep wasn't really the underworld, but it was hardly the surface. Halsia had lived her entire life places she could at least see the sun from time to time. The darkness here was the first thing she'd needed to adjust to. The places that were lit blared with synthetic lighting, but by her sixth visit down here she was getting used to the shadows.

She was dressed for hiding, dark sweatpants and heavy black hoodie keeping her warm, only the lip of her green beanie peeking below the hood. Her grandpa had given her a dark brown travel bag, which would have been something she could totally have styled with something cute if she wasn't here to be poking around criminal affairs.

"The Under City" were old money criminals, or so the name suggested -- there'd been over a dozen seemingly unrelated "Under City" gangs throughout Coruscant's history, and apparently three concurrently at one point in the past. Now, there was one, primarily involved in extortion, blackmail, and racketeering. Or, they used to be.

The group had held influence over at least three Senators. Otherwise diverse in political alignment, these three Senators had voted the same way on numerous reforms regarding welfare projects for lower levels of Coruscant and certain trade security bills over the past six years. Her investigation had led her to find that one of them, Senator Vemnos, had an apartment owned by a shell corporation listed in the name of the assistant of one of the Under City's upper echelon, specifically their most public-facing member, Wann Irvo, who daytimed as a bachelor-philanthropist-party-thrower.

Her investigation's leads had very suddenly dried up in the face of the Senate's move to Fondor. The Under City's leadership had seemingly departed from Coruscant, but clearly they were expecting to return -- their enforcers and lower elements had remained in place. For the past month they'd been getting antsy, until last week a fight broke out on a nearby gang's turf that saw the Under City establish a new protection racket.

Paper trails and fund-tracing got her here; nearly nine-hundred levels down, on the roof of an apartment building overlooking the Under City's main business headquarters. Fifty feet away was a guard smoking a deathstick. Halsia, for her part, was laid down by the low wall of the apartment's roof, waiting for the guard to go back inside. Her surveillance so far told her it'd only be another minute or two.

It gave her time to scroll through the pictures she'd taken so far. Faces of gang members, speeders and registrations, local contacts and business owners paying protection. Weapons -- the Under City was by far the best armed in the area, more equipped than your average street tough, given they were flush with enough cash and connected enough to pull military surplus.

She stopped at a picture of the door. One of two rooftop entrances to the office building. She zoomed in on the lock -- a small electronic thing. A quick reverse-image search told her it was a Trade Federation product that was nearly ten years old at this point, apparently discontinued. She didn't know much about this sort of thing, but with the Holonet already open, she decided to pull up one of her chat apps.

Carnifux_You_Up was some chill guy she'd ended up becoming holo-buddies with after talking about a bunch of different shows they'd watched among other things. Apparently he was into semi-serious crime work, but he said he wasn't a cop; she didn't press him about it, but she was starting to think he was a P.I. or something. On a whim, she sent him a message.


Hal (SIA plant) Today at 7:25 PM

heyyyyyyyy
super random but do u know anything abt locks?
trying to break this thing open (dont ask why) (im committing crimes), it's an old TF securimax-300

 

[Kyric]

Galactic City could be likened to an ocean.

Fathomless depths that bore an unbearable weight pressed down on those trapped beneath the planet's surface. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years, viewed through the lens of cracked duracrete and rust-covered durasteel. Nearly a trillion sentients remained behind with the departure of the Senate. The GADF worked to maintain order, but such proved impossible in the face of a monumental task like relocating the entirety of the Senate to Fondor.

Between unruly criminals, his cousins, the two yuppies attached to their hips, and now the business of Damien's vision, Kyric was pressed for time. He hadn't slept in eight days, relying solely on meditation to maintain body and mind. What should have been a restful evening turned into another night on the town when word reached him through one of his last reliable sources within the Alliance Marshals.

Remnants of the Under City were making moves.

Tonight.

Kyric sat on the edge of an altogether different building than his fellow ne'er do well. Binocs in hand, he watched through a shattered window as two burly trandoshans hoisted sleek metallic crates into the back of an unmarked speeder. His gaze hovered over each of them long enough to blink twice. As his vision moved away, two tiny red blips remained on the little map programmed into his HUD.

Interestingly, a familiar icon appeared below the map. It displayed a satirical piece of art on the Chancellor's hate for... rats? Kyric didn't know. Political comics went over his head. He focused on the icon until it manually blew up to his chat log with Hal. Their messages rolled in one after the other, eliciting a smile from the kiffar. He typed up a quick response and shoved his holodevice back into his jacket pocket.

Hal (SIA plant) Today at 7:25 PM

heyyyyyyyy
super random but do u know anything abt locks?
trying to break this thing open (dont ask why) (im committing crimes), it's an old TF securimax-300

Carnifux_You_Up (as was by design fr fr)

You can fry its battery with your run-of-the-mill taser, shock baton, or sparker. Push somethin' thin and metallic through the exterior terminal panel, put the shocky side up against your conductor, then let 'er rip.
I recommend holding it with a jacket if you got one.

After a few more minutes of marking targets and snacking on TFC, Kyric climbed to his feet. "Chief. Arthur. Y'all there?"

| Of course, sir. How can I be of service? | The AI answered a split-second before the BD unit, who followed up with a whimsical chirp of affirmation.

"Game time," Kyric answered. He checked over his belongings once more, confirming he hadn't forgotten anything of importance. He strolled along the edge of the building. Not a single person or ship had entered the facility in the four-hour span he spent watching, and there wasn't another entrance or exit other than those on the uppermost level of the starscraper.

"Here goes nothin'," he mumbled, then leaped from the building into the cold night air of Galactic City.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Halsia Hewitt​

 

[Halsia Hewitt]

Kyric
​

“Huh.”

Hal (SIA plant) Today at 7:26 PM
that seems dangerous


On schedule, the guard peeked over the side of the building and chucked his deathstick down. She couldn’t see if he hit his target or not, but a yelled “fuck you” floated up from the street below, returned laughingly kind by the guard before he turned and headed back inside.

The way her holo-friend spoke about the lock somehow gave her confidence. She’d waited long enough. Why not tonight?

She pulled out a crappy speeder lock she’d brought for the occasion, going and locking it around a pair of power lines running across the street. After quickly testing that it’d hold her, she pulled it a couple steps back, gave herself a three, two, one- and leapt off the roof, ziplining across the street.

She very nearly didn’t make it; the roofs were about the same height, and the power lines diverged towards the other side. It took a wild swing to allow her to just barely catch her toes on the ledge. She scrambled onto the roof, landing with a thump that froze her gaze on the door. It didn’t open.

She gathered herself and retrieved her lock, then ran over to the door. The closest thing she had to what Carnifux described was a small utility knife; it was pretty good quality, and with a bit of elbow grease she slid it between the panels. Her second mode of self defense, aside from the holdout her mother had bought her on her eighteenth, was a handheld taser. She put it against the blade of the knife, primed it- and then thought better of it and half-pulled-off her hoodie to wrap it around her hands. There was a jolt, all the lights on the outer panel turned red, and the door in front of her slid open.

“Holy shit.”

Very carefully, she walked down the first flight of stairs. She was in. The place was quiet. All her prep went out of her brain. Her heart raced. She pulled out her holodevice, half to pull up her notes, but muscle memory sent her back to the chat and she ended up sending a message.

Hal (SIA plant) Today at 7:28 PM
lmfao it worked
unironically owe you one
where’d you learn that??

 

[Kyric]

Kyric landed atop a double-layered public transit speeder with a soft thud. He straightened, only to immediately duck an oncoming sign. "Whew," he mumbled. "That was close." The Jedi knelt and braced in time to avoid being thrown off as the speeder took a sharp left around the northern corner of the Under City's operation.

"Perfect," the kiffar grinned at the structure as he rounded yet another corner to his desired entry point.

Once his transit passed level with the terrace, Kyric launched himself through the air. He coiled the force around his body before contact with the durcrete floor. The metaphysical barrier absorbed the impact, evenly distributing the force across its unseen surface. A shout of alarm heralded a screeching red bolt flashed through the air. The kiffar's blade snap-hissed to life in time to deflect the bolt into the wall. He dashed at his attacker, sliding beneath second shot, vaulted up and kicked the man in the head.

The Umbaran slammed into the wall and dropped to the floor as another ping appeared in Kyric's peripheral.

Hal (SIA plant) Today at 7:28 PM
lmfao it worked
unironically owe you one
where’d you learn that??

Kyric deactivated his saber. "Arthur, reply with: ||It's a trick I picked up from someone I used to work with. He had a knack for getting places he shouldn't have.||" He knew that sounded cryptic, but it wasn't a lie. "Send another message: ||I really hope I didn't just help you break into a place you shouldn't be. What are you doing?||"

| Done. |

He turned toward the terminal beside the panel and knelt beside it. He ran his gloved hand along the side until he discovered the maintenance hatch. He clicked it and exposed the inner circuitry.

"Is this..." He blinked.

A locked TF securimax-300.

Kyric blinked. "Weird." He closed the panel and turned away from the door. "One of these karkin' things is supposed to have a maintenance hatch for extermination droids. Did I pick the wrong floor?" He looked up to see a similar terrace forty feet up. "Feth." He shackled the guard to a set of pipes, claimed his communicator and weapons, and began the arduous climb to the next floor.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Halsia Hewitt ​

 

[Halsia Hewitt]

Kyric ​

Carnifux_You_Up (as was by design fr fr) Today at 7:29

It's a trick I picked up from someone I used to work with. He had a knack for getting places he shouldn't have.
I really hope I didn't just help you break into a place you shouldn't be. What are you doing?

Hal (SIA plant) Today at 7:30 PM

lol
lmao
hehe haha

She shoved the device in her pocket and pulled up her mask. From the pictures she'd taken so far she was pretty sure the second-to-top floor held most of the major offices. They were the ones least used but most often occupied by an especially nasty-looking Duro named Zeelee. He was the one everyone listened to; an enforcer among enforcers.

She stopped at the door leading out of the stairwell, half-peeking through the door's window -- only to drop down as she spotted a thug running up to knock on an door in the hallway. Suspended between curiosity and danger, she poked the corner of her holodevice to peek through, recording as the man knocked, talked, then began to leave with Zelee. The Duro seemed annoyed, doubly so as he remembered to turn back and lock his office. An old fashioned number passcode. They left to the other side of the hall, going to some elevators.

She counted two breaths before opening the door and scooting up to the just-left corner office. She pressed her ear against the door, then decided to just trust her luck; two tries with the help of her little recording broke her in.

Inside felt less like a crime den and more like a lavish corpo CEO's office. A beautiful real wood desk, classy chair, modern holo setup, neat couches and a coffee table. She stopped, glanced out at the hall, then took a quick picture.

Hal (SIA plant) Today at 7:34 PM

[image.png]
i am engaged in a moderate amount of tomfoolery
this is a dope office tho

She closed the door and strode on in to check out the holodevice, and nearly broke out into dance as she realized Zeelee had left in a rush. The thing was still logged in. She slapped in a data stick and started copying, while checking through the drawers for anything else of interest.

 

[Kyric]

With a huff, Kyric reached up for the next ledge from his perch astride the maintenance pipes. His hand floundered about awkwardly on the grainy surface until his fingertips discovered a small lip. "Gotcha." He dug in tight, each finger flexing to its limit as he released the pipes and felt his stomach rise into his throat. Tiny prickles of pain stabbed into his joints from the entirety of his weight. He swung his other arm up and over, pulling up with the anchored limb, to get a good grip on the inside of the ledge.

"Up we go," Kyric mumbled while he pulled himself onto the terrace. His gaze snapped to the two guards hurriedly discussing the state of an opened door with their back to him. "You ain't gettin' the drop on me this time." The Jedi thrust his hands forward and slammed the two into the wall. Their bodies fell limp.

Moving to the door hurriedly, the interloper paused long enough to confirm the security panel matched the one below. He cursed his luck on confirmation. "Feth. This makes things a helluva lot more complicated." He repeated his earlier precautions with his latest victims, stripping them of their weapons and commlinks to then chain them to the maintenance pipes. Another ping appeared during the effort, but he couldn't view it for a few minutes.

Hal (SIA plant) Today at 7:30 PM

lol
lmao
hehe haha

That's not good. Kyric pushed into the building quickly. He scanned the hall, spotted nothing, and swept up the stairs as swiftly as he dared. The force suppressed most of the noise, but the boy kept his head on a swivel in case someone came too close. He didn't expect the effect to hold within a few feet. And it wouldn't do much to obfuscate his actions from the other senses.

Another red blip appeared in the corner of Kyric's HUD the instant he hit the second to last floor.

Hal (SIA plant) Today at 7:34 PM

[image.png]
i am engaged in a moderate amount of tomfoolery
this is a dope office tho

What were they doing here of all places?

Kyric's mind raced into lightspeed as momentum carried him to the first door. A quick look through the glass revealed an empty maintenance room. He continued to each door, searching the contents of the rooms until he finally found what could only be the head honcho's office. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, the young man prepared for the possibility Hal might be one of Zelee's goons. The chance of a more direct confrontation grew more likely with each passing second.

Did Hal bait him here? Were the Under City onto him?

I shoulda brought the damned droid. Kyric scolded himself mentally. No use stressin' now. He took one last deep breath, dropped his hand to hover behind his back, level with his saber, and pushed his way inside.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Halsia Hewitt ​

 

[Halsia Hewitt]

Kyric
​

As the door suddenly slid open, Halsia jumped... in her seat, and then fell out and started fumbling in her bag for her holdout. She hadn't expected her luck to run out that fast-

But that wasn't Zeelee, or any of the other goons she recognized. But she did recognize him. Her fumbling slowed, then stopped when she saw the small metal cylinder in his hand. "Are you a Jedi?" she blurted out. She realized he might be a Sith -- until the connection was made in her mind. A hand came up to cover her mouth.

"You're- you're Kyric Karis!" she stage whispered. "Ohmy- am I in danger? More than- why are you here?"

 

[Kyric]

"Are you a Jedi?" she blurted out. "You're- you're Kyric Karis!" she stage whispered. "Ohmy- am I in danger? More than- why are you here?"​

Halsia's turbulent string of questions stripped away any possibility for Kyric to think she posed any real threat. He spun his saber across his palm with a quick snap of the wrist then tucked it away behind his back. Her series of rapid-fire questions brought the twins to mind, eliciting a faint sigh. But he didn't let it get the better of him. Hal being a civilian was a better outcome when compared to the possibility of a gangster, mastermind, or Sith Assassin.

"Maybe?" Kyric never knew how to answer the first question. "I s'ppose I'm what most folks would consider a Jedi. I got the big shiny sword and space magic, and I use 'em for good." He closed the door behind him and stepped further into the room. "Yeah, I'm not gonna lie to ye. You're in a real bad place at a real bad time, but I'm figurin' you've worked out most of that yourself."

Hal's kinda cute!

Kyric shook his head in silent disappointment while he searched a tall cabinet beside the door. She's also way out of her depth and our responsibility. We can worry about other chit later. Each of the drawers he searched through wound up empty, much to his chagrin.

You always say that then you go and never talk to them again. Dad said not to be like him, right? Doesn't that mean you should think about your future?

No. The Wayseeker turned on Halsia. "I'm not gonna bother fightin' you on this. If you're gonna stick around and look, do it quick, and follow my lead if things get loud." He approached the desk and began the arduous process of searching the exterior for hidden drawers or slots. "What's yer name, Hal?"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________​

Halsia Hewitt ​

 

[Halsia Hewitt]

Kyric
​

"Halsia- how'd you know..." Some Jedi thing? She did her best to focus on what he said and went back to the holo. The adrenaline was back with a vengeance; she scrolled faster, copied faster, but with less discernment.

"I'm, um- I'm an investigative journalist. And I'm looking into- this. Is there something else going on here? Sorry, this is all hitting me, like, way later than it should have," she rambled, moving, typing, wriggling in that surprisingly comfortable seat. She noticed a little button under the desk, and felt her dinner come back up her throat a little, before realizing she could just hit it. The door slid shut and locked, something she realized she'd forgotten to do the first time around.

 

[Kyric]

"Far as I can tell, they are movin' somethin' in unmarked speeders. Weapons or drugs, most likely. I was hoping to find som-" A faint click interrupted Kyric's explanation. He slid a small segment of wood out from beneath the desk and caught a tiny data stick on its sudden descent. "Nice." He pocketed the device and continued. "A reliable source tipped me off. Tonight's the night for something serious. If you're a journalist, well, you've got yourself a big ol' scoop alright."

Kyric watched her wriggle in the chair. "I don't mean to spook you or anything, Halsia. This sorta thing can seem like a lot, but I'm hopin' we get lucky and avoid any contact with these idiots." The door clicked behind him a second later.

The rest of the office housed more than one point of interest. A once-over made him think it would take several minutes to thoroughly search the head enforcer's office. So he did the next best thing. Begin tapping on the walls in search of a much greater target.

"What are we lookin' for, ma'am? I know a thing or two about searching for clues, but I'm not much of a journalist." He offered her a broad grin over his shoulder between knocks.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________​

Halsia Hewitt ​

 

[Halsia Hewitt]

Kyric
​

"Okay. Yeah. Um, incriminating documents. I'm pulling stuff from here. Uh... mail? Cheques? I'm just- I'm basically pulling a copy of everything on here to sort through later. They probably have some dirt on- they're influencing Senators. Legal documents? Maybe they have the deeds or lease agreements somewhere here."

Kyric asking her what to do was not helpful. And something happening here felt like it'd be violence, and her fumbling in her bag for the blaster was making her realize she was not ready for something like that.

Some noise came from in the hall; a one off squeak, or something falling, and she jumped again. When nothing followed she continued her work on the holo. "Whatever. I don't know, just keep looking and maybe you'll find something."

What if she missed something important? Or, what if they took the wrong thing and left traces of their actions? Halsia was not built for being on the business end of a blaster.

 

[Kyric]

Kyric studied Halsia up until his hollow knocks shifted into a solid thud. He ran his bare hand along the tacky wallpaper, knocking again every few inches as if determining the dimensions of something behind the wall. "Here it is," the boy murmured. His eyes flashed with a distant haze, and then he turned toward a small table shoved into the corner. Again his bare hand slid along the furniture. and again he discovered an unseen clue. This time, Kyric tapped a quick three-digit code into a hidden terminal beneath the desk.

The stretch of the wall he searched seconds before swung open on a hidden hinge. Credit chips, envelopes, and a single holopad were all completely visible from where Halsia sat at the desk.

"Certainly somethin' useful in there," Kyric stated with confidence as he swaggered over to the safe. Taking all but the credits, he set them down beside Halsia on the desk. "So, how'd you find out about this pla-"

The door slid open. One of Zelee's trusted enforcers took a step inside, faltered at seeing the two teenagers in the office, then drew his blaster and opened fire. Three bolts of fiery red plasma flashed across the office toward the desk. Kyric immediately shoved Halsia down and threw himself over her in the event the bolts bounced. Thankfully, they thudded into the surface of the wall and dispersed across the duracrete to little effect.

"We've got trespassers in the boss's office!" The enforcer shouted into their comlink from out in the hall. Kyric began to peek his head up, felt an itch at the back of his neck, and dropped just as another bolt would have ended his life. "Two of them!" He continued. "Looks like they discovered the safe! Lockdown all exits!"

Kyric sighed. "I'm beginnin' to think this was supposed to go belly-up." He scrambled off Halsia and detached his saber from behind him. "Keep your head down. I'm gonna take care of this flunky and make some room for ye to make it to the stairs." Vaulting the desk without another word, Kyric's emerald lightsaber, Resolve, snap-hissed to life in the boy's hand.

The enforcer turned and fired another blast. Kyric deflected it harmlessly into the wall and thrust his hand out as the blaster dipped out again. The Jedi tore the weapon away with an ethereal yank and sent it bouncing uselessly into the corner. Booted feet echoed down the hall ahead of Kyric–the sound of their attacker's flight.

Turning the corner, Kyric brought his saber up in time to reflect a second attack into his fleeing comrade's ankle. The man howled out and crashed into the wall. His tumble saw him slam into an opening blastdoor's frame. A gangster in the process of exiting that very same blastdoor stumbled over their falling companion and crashed into the hall with an alarmed shout. This only served to throw off the earlier ambusher's second shot as chaos broke out.

"Let's go, girl!" Kyric motioned her out of the office. "Stairs are behind me. I won't let a shot slip by!" He slipped his left boot back and swept his right hand up to bat aside an errant shot.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Halsia Hewitt ​

 

[Halsia Hewitt]

Kyric
​

"Yep!" The adrenaline that was prior frying her brain became a source of focus. She hit the last copy and snatched her data stick out of the holo, then ran after Kyric into the hall. The very sound of the blaster bolts flying made her flinch, but with a Jedi covering her back she found her footing and sprinted faster than she ever had before, flying down the hall into the stairwell.

She skidded to a stop, catching herself on the railing before spinning back. "Come on!"

Jedi he might be, but she wasn't going to abandon him, even in a situation like this. The moment he reached the door she started up the stairs, realizing halfway up the first flight that she could take them two at a time and she might be faster.

They burst back onto the roof, briefly out of danger but not for long. She started rummaging through our bag. "We can use those, um, power lines, let me get my lock-"

 

[Kyric]

Kyric worked his way down the hall after Halsia as quickly as his attackers would allow. Their dipping in and out of cover made it impossible for him to permanently remove any of them from the occasion. A narrow hall made the already difficult task even worse, but the kiffar couldn't complain. Not out loud, at least. He had to look cool in front of the journalist.

"Come on!"​

"Yeah, yeah," Kyric grumbled while deflecting a bolt. "I'm comin'!" He side-stepped one more shot and dove through the door. Hitting the ground with his shoulder, he deactivated his saber midroll and climbed back onto his feet. Halsia's footfalls placed her on the floor above him. Good. The oncoming rush of criminals from out in the hallway was less so. The boy took the steps three at a time, racing as his life depended on it out of the firing line well before any of them managed to pierce the stairwell.

"How you doin'?" He inquired of her as he paused in the doorway. Braving a look behind him, three different gunslingers leveled their blasters, while even more attempted to scale the railing. He thanked the Force these fools were so disorganized.

"We can use those, um, power lines, let me get my lock-"​

Kyric detached a small carabiner from his belt as he dashed across the rooftop towards her. "Sorry in advance, Halsia!" And without another word, the Jedi scooped her up with one arm and jumped out into the open air. Their bodies soared out some twenty feet until gravity got the better of them. Kyric hooked the carabiner into position as they began the descent past the power lines. Their combined weight nearly ripped the boy's arm from the socket, but he held on tight.

They gained momentum with each second, their dangerous flight heralded by a slew of blaster bolts that roared by them in the night. Kyric felt the strain building up within his hand, slowly working down his wrist and into the elbow. His shoulder burned by the time the opposite rooftop approached.

"This is gonna be bumpy! Hang on!" Kyric released their tenuous hold on the line and wrapped both arms around Halsia. His body shielded her from the first impact as he felt his back slam into the duracrete. He exhaled on impact to avoid having the wind knocked out of him, but it did nothing to avoid the scrapes and pains that came with the next three or so meters of bouncing and sliding the two experienced together. When they finally stopped, the kiffar released her and shakily climbed to his feet.

"We have to get inside," he groaned out. "We need to get out of sight ASAP."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Halsia Hewitt ​

 

[Halsia Hewitt]

Kyric
​

"Oop-" and Halsia was scooped, a little baby in a big Jedi's arms, and she froze up the whole way across the street even as her heart was pumping to lightspeed. They landed; though Halsia didn't have a scratch on her, she was as slow to rise as Kyric. He'd let go of her, but she grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him with her. There were blaster bolts, maybe, but she didn't even see their pursuers.

Off the roof, down the stairs, out of sight -- she didn't know where she was going exactly but she was going away, past connections, down onto a little pass to the next building, three hallways down, out a fire escape, onto another low roof-

And she stopped, breath heavy, and finally turned and looked at him. She tried to clear her throat; it stung like a wound, but she did not bleed.

"Are you- are you okay?"

 

[Kyric]

Feeling himself yanked toward the door by Halsia, Kyric gently grabbed her forearm to stabilize himself and kept after her. They took the stairs at a rapid pace. He kept up with her as she swept the door open and raced into the hallway. The kiffar offered a series of smiling apologies in response to Halsia pushing through the center of the group, but he found even those cut short the instant the young woman scaled the nearby railing in preparation to leap over into the adjacent residential block.

Wow! She is really burnin' rubber! Kyric thought midway through climbing up after. Halsia finally let go of his hand long enough for them to jump, only to grab his wrist on landing and begin the process anew. Her flight brought them all the way to the opposite end of this block, where they descended someone's fire escape to make the final drop to a nearby convenience store all the easier.

Kyric landed with a suppressed thud and met Halsia's concern with a knowing smile. "Right as rain, Hal. How are you doin'? I didn't think you had that in you!" He waved up to the fire escape, then back the way they came. "I'm hopin' they didn't do you a lick o' harm, or so help me I'll go up there and show them the business end of my laser sword." The Wayseeker patted the hilt with a slight nod. "Though, it's an omnidirectional killin' surface so... I s'ppose every end except the one I'm holding is the business end, huh?"

He led her to a maintenance ladder he noticed before they dropped. The climb was only a few short feet, so Kyric appreciated the small things and waited patiently for Halsia to join him in the alley behind the store.

"Not for nothin', you handled yourself well, but uh..." Kyric shifted awkwardly for a moment. "I know you're a grown woman and all, but it wouldn't be right to leave you down here in the lower levels. So please, make this easy for me and let me get you somewhere safe before we call it a night, okay?"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Halsia Hewitt ​

 

[Halsia Hewitt]

Kyric
​

Halsia blinked, scrunched her face, then stared wide-eyed at Kyric. One deep breath later, she let out one single cackle, then covered her mouth and let out a muffled, joyous scream, then laughed, then stopped, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm-" and un-stopped, laughing for a bit, "You're just- you're such a dork."

Another hand over her mouth, another little laugh. "Sorry! Sorry. I'm not trying to be mean. I'm not- I am laughing at you. I'm laughing at myself. I don't know what I expected. That was- that was so dumb," she'd downgraded to giggling, "I'm sorry. I'm everywhere right now. Okay. Okay. Yes! Yes. Please take me home. That would be- cool. I am a grown woman only in the legal sense, I am very clearly not-an-adult. I am sorry. I'm stopping. Okay."

Another deep breath. She fished into her bag, no longer struggling to find her things; she pulled out a water bottle, drank deeply, then handed it to him. Taking a peek out of the alley, she looked up at the convenience store sign, then looked at him. "I. Want a snack. Would. You like anything?"

 

[Kyric]

Kyric stood in respectful silence and maintained his smile through Halsia's giggle fit. The purity of her emotion belied a source of joy found not at his expense but at the realization a sentient creature could be so... Kyric.

"Yer fine. I get it," the kiffar waved the notion of an apology away. "And thank you. I don't know how you managed to get down here in one piece, but knowin' your grandfather, I don't imagine he's sittin' idle waiting for you to come home." He graciously accepted the bottled water with a nod and returned it to her after a small sip.

"I. Want a snack. Would. You like anything?"​

"Er-" Kyric shrugged. "Sure. I'll take somethin' sweet. Maybe like a piece of candy?" He scanned the street in front of the convenience store for any sign of their pursuers. Thankfully, nothing dangerous jumped out at him, literally or figuratively. A few speeders lined both sides of the street. The occasional pedestrian could be spotted within the neon lights as they moved from one shadow to the next.

"I'll have BD bring my bike around while you get the snacks. Shouldn't be more than a few minutes."

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Halsia Hewitt ​

 

[Halsia Hewitt]

Kyric
​

"Awesome." Halsia slipped into the convenience store, finding some comfort in the familiar interaction of buying snacks. She returned a couple minutes later munching on a beef patty, and handed Kyric a pack of gummies. She scarfed down her food, then produced another patty from her bag.

"So, um... you're Kyric Karis," she said, half like a question. "How... um, how do you know who I am?"

 

[Kyric]

Kyric loitered out front of the store for a bit, sitting on the edge of a sidewalk overlooking a thousands-foot drop into the depths of the Under City. Speeders raced by in a blur of metal and neon that would remind the boy of hyperspace, if not for the smell of exhaust and waste. He nodded his thanks as Halsia appeared and passed off the gummies.

"So, um... you're Kyric Karis," she said, half like a question. "How... um, how do you know who I am?"

"I figured you'd ask that." Kyric tore open the pack and gently patted the plastic against his palm until two of the delicious fruit snacks teetered out. "I thought it be fun to be mysterious or somethin', but I'm not much of an actor, so I'll just be honest." He popped the little sugary delights into his mouth and savored the artificial fruity goodness. "Truth be told, I'm the guy you were askin' advice on how to break into that building. I ran into the terminal you broke into. I put two and two together, took a shot in the dark, and it hit you right between the eyes."

Watching speeders race by, alight with the city's unnatural glow, Kyric appeared less the Jedi and more the teenager he was. He quietly munched on the remainder of his treat before pocketing the trash.

"I also read the opinion piece you submitted to the Galactic Gazette last year on the Effect of New Imperial Ideology on the Modern Galactic Senate. I thought it was pretty cool you brought attention to somethin' a lot of folks tend to ignore. Not everyone is brave enough to do that."

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Halsia Hewitt ​