Nar Shadda Five-0

[Riz Carter]

[member="Elliot Locke"]

"I'm following orders only because you're supplying the equipment, hotshot," she teased with a grin, wondering if he had something in his eyes. Maybe cybernetic implants? Fancy-pants for sure.

Unholstering her gun, she gave a nod to Elliot and turned, disappearing around the corner. Plucking her wireless earbud-mic combo free from the comm, she tucked it in her ear. She did a quick sweep of the alley.

Nothing more off than was Nar Shadda.

"Coast is clear so far," she spoke into the headset but didn't holster her weapon. She couldn't speak for the other side of that wall. As soon as they cut through, she imagined things would get tricky.

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Riz Carter"]

"Wouldn't have it any other way, detective." The retort came with a smirk attached to it. In truth the woman had proved herself competent in one more than one way - quick mind, quick shot and he could count the number of people who could resist zeltron pheromones enough to take a shot on one hand. Well, without specialized training anyway, which this one didn't have as far as he knew.

That meant even more as far as Locke was concerned.

Comparatively easy to suppress your inner urges when you were literally trained for it. Way more difficult in the heat of the moment, especially with danger closing in from all manners of directions.

A nod followed and Locke went to grab the fusioncutter. Took him a minute or so - mostly because he didn't want to put too much attention on what he was doing, so Elly made sure nobody was staring at him or anything of the like. The soft buzz of Riz' voice filtered through his head and Locke grunted in affirmation. Wasn't much more to say to that anyway.

Minutes later the SIS agent joined her around back.

Deserted for now, but that didn't mean much.

"Alright, you ready?"

 

[Riz Carter]

[member="Elliot Locke"]

Weapon remained up, her back to the wall, eyes scanning - always scanning. Still clear. "Right. Let's do this," keeping her weapon in one hand, she took one of the offered cutters and squatted down. "From the top, I'll go right and we'll meet in the middle?"

She was already beginning. He was a professional. He'd be fine.

Sparks flew and her eyes squinted but she kept cutting. This was a cake-walk compared to some of the stuff she'd been put through at the academy and then the OTHER stuff she'd been put through working the streets. She could take a few burns to the hands and face. Pretty soon they had a good sized oval shaped hole that tipped inward and fell onto the hangar-floor inside.

"Ladies first?" She grinned and crawled in ahead of the Alliance agent. He better not be staring at her butt even though she didn't have time for such thoughts as she kept her sights trained forward, beyond the cargo crates ahead of her.

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Riz Carter"]

Locke was too occupied making sure their street was empty and nobody was paying attention to them, to notice the cute butt wiggling through the hole.

He probably would have diverted his eyes anyway.

They were on the job after all. There would be enough time for all that other nonsense once they came out of here alive, if they managed to get out of here alive. That wasn't a certainty. Never was when you were doing a gig like this, especially without any real back-up down the line.

The cavalry wouldn't show up if they karked this seven way to Coruscant.

Elly crouched down, following her in and blinking twice - low-light mode engaged and filtered through the haze of smoke and shadows to give him a clearer sight of the hangar bay.

"Three, two patrolling alongside the ship, one on top of it and looking out to the entrance." His low voice whispered to his partner next to him.

"I will go left, take out the first and the shipside-guy, you handle the right one."

Before any discussion could be made the agent already slipped away.

It was curious how he instinctively blend into the shadows. Even his boots didn't make any sound now that Locke was placing them carefully one after another.

 

[Riz Carter]

[member="Elliot Locke"]

Any words of protest died away on her lips as he drifted off like a ghost. Right. She could do this. She'd been in stickier situations and gotten out alive. Just a few scars and broken bones. Nothing she hadn't recovered from.

Hefting up the stun pistol, she crouched to the right. Riz Carter would definitely give Locke a run for his credits in the competition of sneaking. Her movement were precise and quiet. Brown eyes alert and wide. If she had any lingering hesitations about taking down these perps and if they were the right ones, they immediately disappeared. Next to her was a half opened crate of smuggled high-grade weapons. And the ones patrolling had their weapons drawn, as if expecting a fight.

Must've gotten tipped off by the street fight or the shootout at the cafe. Probably Manny, that snake that worked by Southside beat.

Weapon up, she exhaled and took the shot to the perp on the right. The stun bolt zipped through the air and buried itself in his shoulder. Before his body could clatter to the permacrete, she was there, catching his bulk and using him as a temporary shield in case anymore of these mooks became tipped off too early.

Good thing too, cause a wookie emerged, mid-sandwich bite three feet from Riz. He gave off a growl, then brought his weapon up.

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Riz Carter"]

He was fast and swift and moved from bathing shadow to shadow.

It was a combination of instinct, training and simply talent. Might have been an arrogant thing to consider yourself talented, but a man did not get pulled into the SIS from active duty by the way of invitation just like that - you needed to have something, a sponsor, a knack for things or stuff. For Locke... it was murder, but also neutralization, one of the best wet operators in the business... his handler mentioned every so often.

The first one went down within two breaths, the one on the ship in four with the assistance of his boots. The wookie was next, even if he wasn't aware of it - suddenly his roar was stuck in his throat as suddenly his entire state of being was frozen, as ionic discharge halted the very synapses that ferried connections around in his brain.

Wookiee down and Locke landed behind him.

"Come on." Not even a comment on what had just happened, before he turned and quietly moved towards the front entrance, which was now open ajar.

 

[Riz Carter]

[member="Elliot Locke"]

She quietly let the body sag that she was cradling. He hit the floor without a sound. Feet stepped over the fallen wookie. The assist wasn't unappreciated. But her pride was silently screaming that she had it under control. Now, nor would it ever, be the time to argue that.

The loner just wasn't used to working with a reliable partner.

"Got your six," she whispered back. Body turned perpendicular to his, so she shuffled behind him, able to keep her eyes on their rear but open to assisting up front. Good thing too, cause two bothans popped up front. And a trandoshan opened a secret hatch behind them.

Guess the numbers were closer to 8-11 here.

Feth.

Finger squeezed down on the lizard's snout. He growled. His hide was thick and a few stun bolts wouldn't take him down that easy. It'd just piss him off. He was still sticking halfway up out of that smuggler's hatch, so she launched her body forward to leverage her weight to try and close the hatch on him.

"Ooomff," snap-slam-yeowl-hiss-snarl-THUMP. Twisting back up toward Locke, she fired a stun shot over his left shoulder, getting a third bothan dropping down from the pilot's hatch.

Riz: 3 (trandoshan counts as at least 5) Locke: 3 (pending two)

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Riz Carter"]

Locke grunted in affirmation while keeping his eyes on the prize.

At this point it was all instinct and protocol, she said she had his back and it was the natural consequence that this was simply believed. There wasn't time to second-guess here, no time to wonder and ponder if this one could pull her weight... or if she would get them all killed. After all Riz wouldn't be here, if Locke hadn't believed that she was capable of doing the job with at least a moderate amount of success. A thunk sounded behind them, but Locke let the Detective deal with it, mostly because right now he had to deal with two...scrap that, three Bothans.

They didn't look like the ones he knew from SpyNet. Feral, angry, cybernetics up to the wazoo and with some things to prove by the looks of it. Before they could make a job out of their proving, Locke had already pushed up the barrel of his stun gun.

Ionic charges lashed out through the air, before hitting one and two on their snout and sending them sprawling.

Number three got a shot out in between, burning through a piece of Locke's shoulder - or the armor-weave beneath the coat anyway. It burned like a fether and he hissed, but before he could react Riz had already done it for him.

"Move up." No whisper now - their position was already revealed and there was no sense in sneaking around anymore. Instead his pace increased as he stormed the front door, hoping that Carter would be behind him. Right through the door the problem stared him straight in the face: portal e-web blaster staring right in his face and staring very good.

They hadn't been expecting him to just launch himself at them, of course, so that had bought him time. To the surprised expression of about four thugs - two Twi'lek, an Arkanian and... an Ewok - Locke pushed Riz to the side into a little alcove before jumping in next to her.

Bodies too close for comfort, but that comfort returned once the heavy sizzle of plasma started drilling through the exact location they had been at just a moment ago.

"You okay?" Locke mumbled while trying to think of their next move and trying not to think of closely they were pressed together right now.

Riz: 3 (trandoshan counts as at least 5) Locke: 5 (Wookiee counts at least 10)

 

[Riz Carter]

[member="Elliot Locke"]

She moved surprisingly in-sync with the Alliance agent. Maybe not so surprisingly. She was a trained professional, not exactly a soldier but close. Brown-orbs only had time to widen as she came face to face with those mooks and their weapons.

A sharp shove later and she found herself pressed into the small reprieve with Locke all sorts of in her business. Her side pressed against his chest. Arms and legs were a little tangled. Not much space to work with. At least she didn't have to worry about him being handsy like some of the boys at the station.

Maybe that's why she never had a partner for too long.

"I'm good," she grunted in response. Maybe a little burn on her shoulder from one of those bolts but nothing she hadn't had before and nothing a strong drink after wouldn't solve. "Hang...on," pressing up against him so she could maneuver to the weapons pack on the back of her belt. Elbow knocked him lightly in the chin and her hair probably rocked that gristly face of his.

"Flash grenade on one. Three....two....on-," she reached over his and lobbed it toward the perps, eyes tightly closed and muscles wound and ready to move.

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Riz Carter"]

A bump against his chin, hair forcing itself into his eyes and mouth, it was all manners of awkward.

But that was all part of the job.

Eyes closed firmly and he looked away from the direction of the 'nade. When it flashed there were still flashes behind his retina, but that couldn't be helped right now. A blink, two blinks, four and five, then finally Elly could see without seeing double. There wasn't more time to recover, because that would allow them to recover and that was the last thing they wanted.

One nod between the two of them and Locke pushed himself off the wall, his stun blaster already raised once he went out of cover.

...it wasn't necessary.

The two twi'lek and Arkanians were crying and hugging each other. The ewok was cuddling himself... it was all manners of awkward in this place.

"Right." He mumbled before his stun gun fired, freezing all three of them. "Let's sweep the floors and make sure we haven't missed anyone."

 

[Riz Carter]

[member="Elliot Locke"]

She was right behind him, stun blaster burying a shot in the ewok. Locke forgot him. Always forgot the little guy. Uggh. Ewoks smelled something terrible. Bending over, she quickly cuffed them, having to cuff a few together since she only had so many cuffs.

Budget cuts.

"Right, I'll go up the turrets and you go to the cargo hold. Meet in the middle?" Comm buzzed at her side. Probably just the captain chewing her out for that mess they left on the street. Uggh, all that paperwork coming her way was gonna be a real nightmare.

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Riz Carter"]

Could be Locke hadn't forgotten him at all and simply didn't want to deal with messy stinky fur-ball.

Or maybe he figured that after scoring the wookiee and winning the match de facto, it was important that Riz got a few points as well. After all, this relationship was a thing of giving and taking - it didn't come as a surprise to him that the Detective was a competitive soul. It was written all over her gestures, her mannerisms and her posture, but that could work against them... if she felt challenged.

So, sometimes giving something back was a good thing and would help with the framework of their partnership here.

"Yup." Locke retorted, before stepped over the unconscious thugs and rounding a corner and into one of the corridors towards the hangar bay. Not that Elly really expected to find more goons in there.

Had been about 8 to 11 people. They knocked out 9 plus the corpse back in the district, so it sounded about right.

 

[Riz Carter]

[member="Elliot Locke"]

Like Locke, Carter figured they were in the clear. Any noise would've reached anyone by now. Fight or flight. And knowing these mooks, they would've fled.

"Clear," muffled voice trickled down through the ship. Sliding back down the turret ladder, she landed with a thump on her boots over the ship's plating. Peeling back the smuggler-hold, she quickly cuffed the perp from earlier. Gave one more stun shot in the torso. That was a big guy. Digging in his pockets, she pulled out a datadisc and comm. Head poked from the hold, brown orbs searching for Mister Alliance.

"Found something that might help your case and maybe point to the main funder behind this cache."

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Riz Carter"]

In the meantime Locke had scanned the cargo with his wrist-gadget-device-tocomplicatedtoproperlyname-butalliancetool and found half a dozen hidden smuggler compartments.

Most of them were empty already, of course. The guns and crap already filed out into the warehouse and waiting to be taken away, but there was still about a fortune left in illegal pharmaceuticals, weapon mods and... other crap. Looked like this operation wasn't just about military-grade weaponry, which made this a bit more complicated in the greater scheme of things.

An organization that completely focused on guns had only one stream of money, but this?

This made him think that he was dealing with something entirely else and that was worrying him.

"Come up here, you should see this for yourself." Elliot shouted back, before starting to make a few pictures of the scene. It would be important to have them and the scans already on hand - before some egghead contaminated the crap out of it, like with the previous crime scene.

 

[Riz Carter]

[member="Elliot Locke"]

"Watcha got?" Head poked out and she swing herself up from the hold, booted-feet walking swiftly across the decking to join Elly. Brown-orbs quickly scanned the area, lips pulling into a deeper and deeper frown. Comm came out as she took her own holos, crouching low next to the drugs.

"Aww, feth."

Just made this case a lot more complicated. Had to be one of the big hitters now. One of the big five underworlders. Maybe the Thawnes. They were getting a little more bold. Maybe Rasho the Hutt.

But how deep did it go? How much of the Alliance was already infiltrated?

"I bet the kingpins are already safe and secure in alliance space. I can bust the source on this end." My end. "Looks like you'll have your hands full fancy gadgets." Arms crossed as she looked over to the soldier.

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Riz Carter"]

Riz's frown mirrored his own.

This did complicate the thing, but not as much as she assumed. It simply meant that people would die, daggers and shivs cutting throats, bodies dropped in acid, disappearing into the night without any trace of their existence. They would be flagged missing in action by the SIS and that would be the end of it. No public witch hunt, no heavy-handed investigations that would turn into a media circus during the trials.

It was a dirty business, it was dark, but the infestation of corruption and crime didn't respond to anything else.

They laughed things off while they were hiding behind their expensive lawyers bought with blood money, behind their estate's walls build on top of corpses. No, Elly didn't shed a tear for them.

"I will handle it on my end." No if's, no but's, Riz would hear clear-cut determination and faith in his own ability to get it done. "We are done here. Let's collect the evidence and call it in."

By now the SIS probably already placed a few of their own operatives within Riz's structure.

The evidence would be collected and crap would get done, instead of corrupt idiots ruining the case.