Coruscant Cries For Liberty [ATTN: Galactic Alliance]

[Jacen Voidstalker]

A lone shuttle barely made a sound as it descended towards the guard outpost. Far louder was the vehement clamor of the crowd and the man braying over the megaphone. The repulsors of the Coruscant Security Force patrol ships overhead was barely a whisper.

The door ship open and Jacen stepped out.

"Bugger."

"Sir?" Asked a nervous looking guardsman.

Jacen grimaced and looked up at the man. "It's fine." It clearly wasn't. His right left was bound in a plastic mesh. Surrounding the mesh were both hydraulic tubes carrying bacta as well as an exoskeletal frame to enable him to walk. It was more dignified than Aela carrying him with the Force at least. "And it's Jacen or Marshal Voidstalker."

"Of course."

Jacen limped after the guard down the stairs.

"On the way I heard news of a shot and a curfew?"

"Neither were us sir," the guard replied. Jacen tried not to roll his eyes. The pain of taking stairs was quite good at keeping his expression neutral.

"Ensure your men have set to stun only and all weapon logs are properly kept. We'll likely have to submit them to the CSF afterwards. Speaking of..."

"They are on the way."

"Good. It needs to be Coruscant's own security that quells any riot." Jacen's family had migrated to Coruscant and he was born and bred here. Years away from his son due to the sith occupation had been particularly painful.

The Force coalesced around the agitated crowd. It was a fortunate that his son hadn't been the one sent to the scene. He was still reckless; the sith had him in their clutches for entirely too long. Jacen meanwhile had been recuperating at the temple.

---

Two blocks away several CSF patrol ships, painted in their distinctive navy set down. Their officers had taken a very hands off approach to the march so far. Taking a few holo selfies with the crowd had been their most arduous task so far. But now they were preparing for a riot.

A small contingent arrived first. They had a van but they didn't wear threatening riot gear. They had brought their own loudspeaker.

"Move away from the facility entrance. There is no curfew in place. Repeat: there is no curfew. Move away from the entrance."

Those few officer who had been on the periphery of the crowd had been told to back away from the danger. Young men and women who served their people well, some of them ignored the warning. A few in uniform pushed through the crowd towards the GAG entrance to try and stop the hot-heads from attempting to breach the facility.

 

[Coratanni Cartel]

Coruscant - GAGH
Lucy

She was getting bored.

Lucy had thought that by now something else would happen. Someone inside of the crowd would do something stupid, people would explode, but so far everyone still seemed marginally calm. Sure the crowd was angry, yelling, some were even throwing things, but it seemed that by and large everything was still under control. A gust of wind tipped her off to something above her, eyes floating high as she pulled the stealth cloak over herself a bit tighter.

The CSF ships swooped above her position, moving to the flank of the crowd and all around them. She frowned for a brief moment, wondering if they had spotted her. Briefly the Coratanni Lieutenant considered re-positioning, but none of the ships had stopped to take a second glance and that was a good sign.

Moving might draw more attention.

"Coruscant Security is here in force." She said quietly into her comm, silence being her only answer.

There was no doubt in her mind that Mara was monitoring the situation using a dozen different informants, but Lucy had the best overall view of everything. She frowned slightly and panned the scope of her rifle towards one of the ships, spotting a man in...bandages stepping out. She frowned for a moment and assumed he was some kind of commander. Or suicidal.

Could be both really.

A breath left her, and slowly she panned her rifle back towards the leader of the riots, finger still resting on the trigger guard.

 

[Noatyr Moldmerr]

Well, things were still moving along smoothly, so that was a good thing, but the crowd was becoming more riled up as time went on. That much was clear. So far though, it didn't seem like things would go bad.

However, anything was possible, so it was best to keep on guard.

Then the announcement blared over the speakers.

​''What the...? Was that supposed to happen?''​ Noatyr muttered to himself.

He shouldered his BL-28 and began to scan the crowd again, watching their reactions. This was not going to be pretty. However, it wasn't his job to be crowd control, unless the crowd started trying to attack anyone important.

He reached for his belt and pulled a small canteen from it. He uncapped it and took a small swig of it, the water sloshing a bit inside the container. Focus. He needed to focus.

 

[Saffron]

Arceneau Trade Company Headquarters - Corsucant | Trade District

“Things are certainly becoming interesting,” a quiet voice to Saffron’s right would draw the blonde’s attention. E3-G7 delicately began pouring Belsavis tea in a delicate porcelain cup. There was a side of cucumber tea cakes and miniature scones.

Hazel eyes would drift over towards the holographic screen, where the ongoing political tension seemed to seep from the display. The whisper of fabric from her blue and silver sari would brush against her legs, the young woman bending down to pluck a teacup from its saucer.

“Hmm,” she mused, brows lightly furrowing forward. “What do we know of Corsucant First?” She inquired. It was her job to get as much information as she could that might effect trade. The recent Varonat Trade tarrifs were an inconvienence, but nothing that Pharmatech was unwilling to pay. Their bio dome and their contracts with the First Order along with their neutrality ensured that things ran smoothly. They made sure to keep shipments within First Order space and went along with all regulations. It was one of the benefits of expanding and having multiple headquarters, allowing an ease of conducting business from one area of the galaxy to the next.

“I can contact Ms. Linna,”

Saffron gave a nod, taking a sip of her tea.

“Please do.”

 

[Zef Halo]

The crowd was really, really aggravated at this point. A shot out of nowhere had wounded a man in the midst of the crowd, followed by the speakers booming about a curfew taking place rousing the crowd even more as they pushed on and on at the GAG Headquarters. Yet, the People's Security Commission, also known as the Blackcoats, held the front tight. Under control as much as they could but not completely. The people needed to channel their anger and fury somewhere, Arcann knew that but he also knew the boundaries. A populist, he would often be described as ignorant by the opposition, but Arcann Law was far from that epithet.

Abruptly, another speaker entered the verbal fray disregarding the previous announcement. The crowd felt confused but their blind rage at what had happened prior to that was still in effect. Among those which saw the uniformed men with speakers, some did indeed cease their activity while other felt the necessary output of their anger was to spit at the passing men of the Alliance.

Meanwhile, Arcann passed the message on to the Blackcoats to keep the crowd as much as under control as possible. He took the microphone once more vigorously and spoke through the speakers, his voice booming:

"Brothers and sisters of Coruscant, a coward has shot one of our siblings! They need your help!! Enough Coruscanti blood has been shed in wars in foreign planets we care NOTHING about!! Help move the wounded brother to get immediate medical attention!!" He paused for just a moment as the crowd calmed their moves as they heeded his words and also being stopped by the Blackcoats. "They can try and hold our leader in there as much as they want!! They can end me right here if they want!! But remember this brothers and sisters - they CANNOT kill an idea!!"

"Our fight does not end here today!!! It has merely begun!!"

Roars and chants echoed through the streets of Coruscant leading to the GAG headquarters supportive of the Coruscant First movement's ideas. The tension eased, replaced by vocal fury in the form of chants, while the crowd shuffled to make way for the wounded to be brought to an emergency medical attention.

Not a small part had made their ways back home, some afraid due to the shot earlier, some angry of their situation but most had a mix of both feelings. What bound all of them today on the streets were their desire for an independent Coruscant.

Arcann analysed the situation in-depth. He'd followed Mant's steps today, or what he thought Mant would've done. In another day, Law would've let the crowd like hounds at a prey but perhaps Zeradias Mant's influence over most people he met seemed to pick up with Arcann. The populist wondered if this was the right step. He was certainly more extreme in terms of actions than the party leader but perhaps the two of them worked well together in balance.

Mant had to be released soon, though, as Law's patience was running low and the next time he might do what Arcann Law would've done.

He gave a cold glance at the passing Alliance uniforms and another at the CSF patrol overhead. A smirk materialized on his face.