Faction Our Soles laid Bare (Darkwire)

[Samnai Rouber]

"Fierfek on toast." Jerek prodded the person next to him, who happened to be Samnai Rouber , with whom he'd recently helped lead a workshop on protest safety. "Kid, that human with glasses up there, the one with the guards — that's Val Halcard, Corpo spokesman guy. And he's letting himself be seen seeing us. This could go sideways hard. I bet every one of those four suits behind him is carrying at least a couple of lethals."

Samnai gazed up at the building. The man looked sharp, his eyes boring into the crowd with a cold indifference. She narrowed her eyes as Val Halcard whispered something to the man beside him, to which the man nodded while the rest peered down at them. She looked down and thought of her options.

If he were to open fire right now, she was almost sure she could fling a needle at two of them. At this distance it would pierce their throats and poison them instantly, though the idea was shelved as a last, desperate measure. If he tried to pacify them first and then open fire it would give her more time to prepare, though she would have to be careful to not hurt her own in the chaos.

They were probably searching for the leaders of their protest whom they could target first. She leaned towards Mr. Jerec, head still down so that no one could read her lips, and muttered “Please signal the others to be alert and not catch their eyes. They will try to create confusion first by singling out individuals and then kill us all.” They probably had guns trained on their head at this very second.

Daiya Xan Deesa Callista Volpe Ivory Stroud Lethe Harrow Anakin Stormrunner Jerec Asyr Gemma Hentz Hacks Val Halcard

 

[Braxton Holst]

Denon suddenly got a whole lot more interesting. Not that there wasn't any excitement, there was always something going on in the massive city. But a protest of at least a thousand barefoot protesters sitting down in one of the most spectacular buildings on the planet was certainly not typical.

Braxton stood on a sidewalk a ways away from the Tower, watching the protesters gather and take their positions inside. The place was cut off, those that hoped to shop wouldn't be able to get past the protesters. And they knew well who was there to protest and who was there to shop.

The Director smirked with a soft chuckle as he watched the spectacle from behind the luxurious speeder. His bodyguards all watched as well for any threats towards their boss as the man contemplated the situation. "You know... I'm curious." He spoke up as he glanced at the guards behind him. "How would they react if I were to join them? You think I'll get shot or torn apart? Or do you think my voice has carried enough weight by now?" His guards didn't look very happy about that at all.

"Sir, I would highly suggest you do not go in there. If something goes wrong, we won't be able to get to you in time." Braxton chuckled at the suggestion as he looked at the protesters. "I can handle myself, Gaz, don't you worry about that. Just keep the others on high alert in case I hit my panic button." He spoke with a more serious tone.

Looking down at his feet, he contemplated for a moment before he knelt down and undid his shoes. Calmly he removed them along with his socks before handing them to the bodyguard along with his blazer. "Don't worry, Gaz. This is going to be fun. We gotta keep the fire going underneath the higher ups, otherwise they'll get comfortable. They are already too comfortable as it is." And with that he walked.

Through the muck and dirty streets he took a long and leisurely stroll to make sure his feet and trousers got properly dirty, just like the protesters. Upon reaching the Tower's entrance, he tossed his tie away and raised a fist into the air.

"THEY DON'T GIVE NO UCKS!" He boomed at the top of his lungs alongside the others. "SECCERS ARE ALL THUGS! THEY DON'T GIVE NO UCKS!" He chanted alongside them with pride and power. At least it wasn't all for show. He did have his own beef with CorpSec and the other DireX after a little incident not even a month ago. In this case, he supported them... as long as the protesters didn't trash his Hex Inc. shop on the bottom stall...

Pushing through the protesters, his suit got dirty and soggy. His pristine image was literally sullied as he soon found a comfortable seat beside a little girl ( Daiya ) among the others. He sat down as he continued to chant "SECCERS ARE ALL THUGS! THEY DON'T GIVE NO UCKS!" with the rest.

His attention turned to the girl for a moment. "Good afternoon, young lady. I hope you don't mind me joining this... momentous day." He spoke with a gentle smile. Gentle, yet convicted, eyes stared down at her before he looked around. "If they don't listen after today, us 'common folk' will know where we stand with them." He muttered with a cold tone.

Anakin Stormrunner Ivory Stroud Hacks Val Halcard Callista Volpe Dagon Kaze Yula Perl Lethe Harrow Jerec Asyr Gemma Hentz Ruby Jaxx Cartri Keswoll Samnai Rouber

 

[Aiko Hayata]

T H E_T I G E R
Aiko Hayata|Coruscant|Business
Tags: Anakin Stormrunner Ivory Stroud Hacks Val Halcard Callista Volpe Dagon Kaze Yula Perl Lethe Harrow Jerec Asyr Gemma Hentz Ruby Jaxx Cartri Keswoll Samnai Rouber

From the comfort of a company drone feed overlooking the swarming masses, another player was present in the chaos and watching with bemusement and equal measures curiosity as the situation unfolded dramatically. Though Aiko was watching many light years away from the comfort of her company headquarters in Atrisia, sipping from a glass of Corellian red and smoking a cigarra on a lounge chair while her bodyguards stood idle in the background waiting on their mistresses every command and word.

"A protest? How quaint, they'll be upgrading to full-blown warfare soon, such are the proclivities of the galaxies poor... revolutionary masses," Aiko scoffed, muttering to herself as she sipped from her glass before placing it down and pressing the zoom button on her remote. She arched an eyebrow at the seeming lack of shoes among the protestors; unless Denon's denizens were really economically deprived, she'd be surprised, but Aiko knew political symbolism when she saw it. Especially in turbulent times, a new ideology and rebel movement sprouted up every day and week before inevitably being crushed or replaced by another movement.

"Better their tower than mine."

Made business easier.

​

 

[Yula Perl]

"Just. Don't. Tell. Yula."

It was like a dog whistle. Yula's gaze broke from the sturdy line of uniformed CorpSec officers and narrowed as they scanned the uneven edges of the horizon, trying to pinpoint exactly which rooftop Dagon was watching from. She couldn't see him, but of course he'd be here. This was big. The air was electric—both sides were holding their breath, waiting for the first shot, the first brick to break glass. If things went well, it wouldn't come to that.

Yula did not anticipate that things would go well. Too easy for the tension to snap, and it would snap. She banked on it, counted on it even. A primal, selfish part of her was itching for violence, but she wouldn't disrespect the movement by being the first to punch a cop.

She didn't waste too long looking for Dagon, so her cybernetic gaze locked back onto the growing wall of CorpSec enforcers. Riot gear, arms doubtlessly loaded with 'non-lethal', yet still inhumane dispersion agents. And—who was she kidding, they'd be carrying rounds capable of dismemberment and permanent damage.

Yula moved with the flow of the swelling crowd, which happened to deposit her next to a familiar face. "Wait--Eyeliner, right?" She couldn't remember Ruby Jaxx 's name, but she did recall the woman's killer makeup.

A familiar shock of red hair caught her photoreceptors, and she pushed her way through the crowd to reach Cartri Keswoll , dragging Ruby along if the other woman didn't wrench herself free of the Zelton's grip. "Yeah, fuck the corpos!" Her voice rose in a semi-hearted addition to the chants, grabbing the teen's arm as well by way of greeting. "Good to see neither of us have met the wrong end of a stun baton yet." The corner of her mouth lifted into a wry smile.

The further this went on, the worse the feeling in her guts twisted. Life in the Outer Rim had taught her not to ignore her instincts, and Dagon had helped her to understand them better. Her gaze crept back to the skyline, scanning spots along the high-rises that could be nested by snipers, alleys with outlets to be used as emergency exists—her mind was whirring.

"Safety in numbers. Right? Ahah." The irony was in being trampled to death. "You guys think this is gonna work?"

Numbers they had—but did the corpos give a feth?

Daiya Anakin Stormrunner Xan Deesa Callista Volpe Hacks Ivory Stroud Val Halcard Lethe Harrow Jerec Asyr Samnai Rouber Dagon Kaze Braxton Holst

 

[Jerec Asyr]

She leaned towards Mr. Jerec, head still down so that no one could read her lips, and muttered “Please signal the others to be alert and not catch their eyes. They will try to create confusion first by singling out individuals and then kill us all.” They probably had guns trained on their head at this very second.

Jerec didn't exactly have an answer to that. He circled the point a bit as he tried to get a feel for the Force's whispers today. The Force was not in a whispering mood.

"Dial it down a notch, yeah? They're gonna do what they're gonna do. Be ready but don't get wound up. Look, my guess is you're a striker. Move fast, in and out, throwables maybe. If this kicks off, stay behind me and do your thing. I'll get my hands on a corpo shield. I'm carrying something that'll drop anyone, any one person. It's crap for this. Picked the wrong thing. Feth, none of you people have shoes...alright, now it's me spiralling."

 

[Ruby Jaxx]

Ruby squinted at Yula Perl , like someone that desperately needed glasses -- but did indeed have some pretty wicked eye makeup. "Uh, yeah," she replied, offering an awkward bob of her head. It turned out that she'd forgotten Yula's name, too. But, she did recognize her. The pretty zeltron was fairly hard to miss, after all. Sorta stood out. In a good way, though. If she recalled correctly, they'd even been in a swoop race together before. This girl was alright.

"No idea," she said, her lined eyes wary. "It's either gonna work or it's gonna go very south."

That seemed to be the key to things like this: all in or not at all -- no middle ground.

 

[Gemma Hentz]

Gemma surveyed the scene from her window for a moment longer. But then realized that it may be best to avoid such a vulnerable spot. These protesters couldn't be trusted. Instead, she took a seat at her desk -- where she could still see out, but was a safe distance from any would-be projectiles that made it up to the top floors. Flicking on her holo, she tapped into CorpSec footage to continue watching the crowd.

"Corpo greed is a disease!"

Such angst. Didn't they know that this -- corpo greed -- made the world go 'round? It kept things in order, as they should be. Control, yes -- but for the greater good. A cold smile formed on Gemma's lips as she remembered her former boss, Mr. Xopsaloff. Well, then...

Perhaps they weren't wrong about greed.

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Location: Near the front line of the protest. Where she belongs.
Status: Undergoing an internal struggle

Nearby: Braxton Holst Daiya Jerec Asyr Samnai Rouber

Yula Perl Ruby Jaxx Callista Volpe Gemma Hentz Hacks
Val Halcard Cartri Keswoll Lethe Harrow Dagon Kaze Xan Deesa Anakin Stormrunner
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The crowd was continuing to pile in. When Ivory spun on her heel to look behind her, it was an endless sea of heads bobbing & weaving in-time to the crowd's movements. She could feel it... the tension bubbling, writhing beneath the surface like a tangling mass of tentacles - some nameless, ultimately destructive thing which stirred beneath the surface of a placid ocean.

Ivory kept from casting her gaze upward, well-aware that the eyes in the sky would be photographing & recording, using facial recognition software to identify & mark individuals in the crowd. Instead, she would use the mirrored surfaces available to her - glass walls, a reflective pool of water, whatever she could use to gain a better understanding of the vertical battlefield.

Unbeknownst to anyone in the crowd, while concealing herself from detection, Ivory was also stretching out her senses through the living Force.
In another life... a long time ago... she would have taken to the skies, joining the few Jedi which hummed like a song to her powerful, directed Will, in a bid to protect the innocent. She was currently fighting her own internal battle - a battle of wills between the greed & lust for battle from Ivory, and the compassion & longing for justice from... She could not bear to speak the name, so thoroughly had she severed herself from that life...

But not so completely, it would seem. She figured Jyoti Nooran would understand.

The mere mention of the name was enough to break the tie between two contested wills. Duty, for the moment, won.

In this life... this place... this moment... She was not a Jedi. But she was capable.

Using the swell of the crowd, the intense emotional energy which whirled around them all like a stalking, malevolent storm, she-who-was-not-Ivory allowed herself to sink deeply into a trance; slowing her breathing, allowing herself to blend entirely with the anger - the anxiety - the pain - the hope. She gathered these emotions around her, sinking into them but not absorbing them, until she felt fully immersed. Time began to slow... the roar of the crowd faded from view... and for a moment in time, she was at peace. The heartbeats of a thousand angry souls, barefoot, in pain, and near the breaking point gave her enough command of The Force to cloak herself entirely from notice.

When she began to move, it was slowly... at a gentle stride... using no true sight to see. The crowd easily parted before her, moving to allow her passage as-if by instinct, as she slipped - unseen - into an alcove where she would be safe for the time being.

And there, she began to sing.

​

The tune was soft; barely above a whisper, but its' presence could be felt by any Force User in the Crowd. Her command of the Ability was untested for many years; she'd only ever really used it once, when The SJO Battlemaster held a brief class on its' history. The ancient technique known as "Battle Meditation" would not be as strong as she'd liked, but it would be enough to... perhaps... prevent anyone from dying today.

To the crowd of people, they would feel a swelling of hope: That together, all of them showing up at the tower tonight would show The Corporate Regime that The People would not be ignored. That maybe - just maybe - they had a chance to make an impact. Every one of them had showed up, after all. The people were united. They'd strode into the very belly of the beast, and may just live to tell the tale.

CorpSec, on the other hand, would begin to feel the opposite - that even with all their money, guns, and tech, if The People began to riot, they would all be burned alive. That maybe, just maybe, today was not a good day to be a Corpo. That maybe... just maybe... somebody should ask The People what they wanted.

The effect was subtle and may do nothing to curb the frightening levels of nihilistic "Devil-May-Care" rage stirring on both sides of the conflict.

But she didn't care. At least she could say she'd done something other than hurt someone today.

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Daiya Ivory Stroud Yula Perl Gemma Hentz Ruby Jaxx Jerec Asyr Aiko Hayata Anakin Stormrunner Braxton Holst Samnai Rouber

"The Corpo's are a bunch of karks!" Cartri shouted over the crowd of chanting protestors, who only seemed to grow in number as time went on. When he was about to express his mind once more, a hand grabbed his arm from behind. He was half expecting it to be security picking him out from the crowd, but instead, it was the friendly face of Yula. Giving a friendly smile and nod, he chuckled at the first thing she said to him "Believe it or not, I thought I was about to get one from the way you surprised me"

At least he was now with someone he recognized, because the longer this went on the more the Corpo pigs got restless. Due to the nature of the protest, he didn't have a single weapon on him either, so it was best to stick in numbers like what Yula said

"You ain't wrong Yula, if this goes to shit we're going to need all the people we can muster"

The boy answered, a sigh escaping his lips when she asked if it was going to work

"It's going well for now, but I can't help but have a bad feeling for later. Something is going to spark a fire soon, I can feel it"

 

[Samnai Rouber]

"Dial it down a notch, yeah? They're gonna do what they're gonna do. Be ready but don't get wound up. Look, my guess is you're a striker. Move fast, in and out, throwables maybe. If this kicks off, stay behind me and do your thing. I'll get my hands on a corpo shield. I'm carrying something that'll drop anyone, any one person. It's crap for this. Picked the wrong thing. Feth, none of you people have shoes...alright, now it's me spiralling."

Samnai, hums in response. She wonders what exactly Mr. Jerec has that will “drop anyone, any one person,” but doesn’t question anymore as the crowd’s chants grow. More and more people are gathering, both civilians and armed forces, watching the spectacle.

A soft song makes it’s way to her. Someone was singing behind her. It was barely noticed by the crowd, whose shouts grew louder as the song continued. She turned her head to look at the black-haired woman— Ivory Stroud , she remembers—humming some distance away from her. She tilts her head and turns back. Interesting.

Daiya Xan Deesa Callista Volpe Ivory Stroud Lethe Harrow Anakin Stormrunner Jerec Asyr Gemma Hentz Hacks Val Halcard

 

[Kadora'Tra]

Kadora'Tra didn't understand "peaceful." Or "protest."

She did understand what it was to be barefoot through no fault of her own. She understood what injustice was. Knew what it was to have opportunity stolen.

There was so much she could sympathize with these people because she spent years suppressing that emotion. Years putting them down. Taking their stolen shoes, doling injustice, and taking their opportunities away. Because she could, and she wasn't them.

But now she is.

"I know it's scary, but if we fight back, things can end up so much worse."

She knew that almost better than anyone else here, which is part of the reason why she brought a little bit of personal protection, at least for her identity. Well, more identity protection. Clipped on top of her blonde holographic disguise, she had a reflective face cover. A one-way mirror that would make it virtually impossible for facial recognition software to even recognize her as human... or Farghul if it penetrated the holographic matrix. She wore her hair differently. It took a few hours, but she straightened out her mane and flattened it to her back and left her mantlepiece behind.

Spoiler: Reflective Face Covering

That was the hardest part, leaving it behind. It was a necessary precaution.

"Corpo greed is a disease!"
"Seccers are all thugs. They don't give no Ucks!"

"SECCERS ARE ALL THUGS! THEY DON'T GIVE NO UCKS!"

"The Corpo's are a bunch of karks!"

It wasn't about greed, it wasn't about money, and they wouldn't care about name-calling. They knew they were thugs, and the only thing they cared about was personal power. Every one of them. She was just as guilty of it, and even these barefoot people were guilty of it. They wanted power. They wanted agency.

That is what the "Corpos" were actually afraid of, what they fought so hard to control. The disease wasn't wanting things too much; it was a basic primal fear that someone else could take their agency away. Their every impulse was then catered to increasing their basic need for agency while denying that same resource to as many people as possible to secure it.

These taunts were a rallying cry for the protestors, but it was just a sound byte for Luminous Sun. Threats and derision without teeth.

Kitkat wandered through the crowd, and Kadora'Tra felt something surging through her. A warmth and energy she had never felt before. It was accompanied by singing she didn't recognize, and the agency to believe that something so absurd as this protest could actually work. There would be violence today, and she knew who was going to start it, but in the back of her mind deep under her heart, something blossomed. And flourished into words.

"Look at us!" Kitkat yelled for her, "Walk out, or we walk in!" Strength built beyond the Farghul's human facade.

The tips of her claws clicked on the pavement, hidden by a hologram struggling to keep to her eccentric contours.

"LOOK AT US!" Kadora'Tra roared over the din, a feral call to her former kin and her new herd, "WALK OUT, OR WE WALK IN!"

Daiya Xan Deesa Callista Volpe Ivory Stroud Lethe Harrow Anakin Stormrunner Jerec Asyr Gemma Hentz Hacks Val Halcard Samnai Rouber Aiko Hayata Cartri Keswoll Ruby Jaxx Yula Perl Dagon Kaze Braxton Holst

 

[Daiya]

(Post Soundtrack: "Fight" by Icon For Hire)

The hatred for the Corpos burned within her. It had sprouted from the time she was a youngling, blossomed before she had even learned to spell her own name, blooming during years when she could do nothing but watch and avoid becoming their next victim. Once Daiya had learned to shoot a blaster, once she was out on her own, once she had teamed up with Darkwire, that hatred had borne fruit.

She had promised to keep it under wraps today. They all had, a collective bargain with Anakin. Bird Man had earned that much, at least. Even if she had tried to go against the current today —and the teen wanted to, so very much wanted to— Daiya was certain that the others among the barefoot protesters here would stop her. She shouted because they shouted, but she didn't act because they weren't.

Detente. With the Corpos as with the protesters.

The word had been whispered to her, and only explained when she asked. It made sense, in the same way that the Force made sense to her. Daiya knew it existed, she had a word for it now, but she still didn't understand it at all. It sounded like the chit that some egghead came up with when bored. The protest expected her to keep detente just as much as they expected CorpSec to keep to it.

But since when could anyone trust CorpSec?

Daiya shouted with the rest, "Corpo Greed is a Disease!" and "Seccers are all thugs. They don't give Ucks!" and "Look at us! Walk out, or we walk in!" yet every sound and movement beyond that made her twitch. Her eyes watched shoppers and Seccers mingle against the shops, she held her breath as barefoot protesters and shadowrunners linked arms against the crowds, everyone testing each other. Everyone was just waiting for the other to blink.

Her heart stopped. A man slipped down to the floor next to her, all dressed to the nines, practically oozing Corpo from his pores. The startled teen fell silent, gazing at him with downturned lips and a furrowed brow. She lent her reaction no voice, but her lips insisted on forming the words anyway. What the feth?

Then he turned to her, and there was no indication that he'd registered her disgust. It was patent on her face, she could feel it in the muscles of her cheeks and the wrinkles creasing her nose. All he wore, on top of all the manicured dirt and manufactured fatigue in his pretty clothes, was a smile. The young shadowrunner felt her face harden at his words, easily finding the right ones to throw back at his facade.

"You look like a less talented version of Diviak Manfloon or somebody," she didn't care if he was genuine or not. His suit, his smile, his clean breath...it was everything the protest stood against today. The man was either incredibly naïve or incredibly stupid to think he fit in. "Is that why you're sitting here and not standing up there with the Big Wigs?"

She scoffed at him, turning away. The teen found her cheeks burning, and she still didn't care. The mall felt hotter now, the protest more intense, but each side was still waiting for the other to make their move.

Daiya's palms itched. She shouted chants until her throat turned raw, tattooing their words on her heart. She wanted so much to be that one to make a move, to show the Corpos not to feth with the Discreet any longer.

It was their mistake, their mispelling, that kept the Corpos underestimating those they called Discrete.

And then it happened.

The teen felt it before she heard it, a sound that made her blood curdle. The shouts and curses from the protesters, drawing movement and attention to the action. She saw CorpSec already pushing, and it drew the teen to her feet. Daiya climbed to the tips of her toes, still not amounting to very much, straining to see over the crowds and through the perimeter of Seccers who surrounded the action.

She heard every blow, even if the chanting continued. She winced at the sight of knees hitting the mall's hard floor, even if the booted feet of officers obscurred her vision. Daiya could have been right next to him the whole time, living the experience right alongside Bird Man.

When the Seccers pulled away, their faces glowing and blood dripping from the batons of a few, their prize was on full display.

Anakin Stormrunner , Bird Man of community and comic book fame, was cuffed and bloody in CorpSec hands.

"YOU MOTHERFETHERS!" Daiya screamed, her words hoarse over the raw flesh of her throat. She wasn't alone, other protesters had stood up, the chants had died away. Her eyes were bloodshot wide, her vision filled with red. Detente was a lost cause, the Corpos hadn't just blinked. They'd thrown a sucker punch.

Her feet were moving, her voice roaring as she ran headlong towards the crowd of shoppers and Seccers and anyone she could reach. Some pulled back, a few reached for her, but the teen ducked and weaved to get away. The teen found one, in CorpSec red and black, looking away from her. She charged, barreling into his waist with all her might, sending him toppling.

Hands grabbed her from behind, pulling her back from the Seccer. Daiya struggled, unable to reach her shirt to pull out her weapon. "Let me go! Get your fething hands off of me!"

She kicked back with her feet, trying to connect with her unseen assailant. Her bare soles pattered against first a shin, then a knee. Daiya aimed up with all she could muster, driving her heel between the legs of whoever's clutches she was in. She didn't even care when he screamed, just that she was free again.

"Let Anakin go, you Corpo filth!" Daiya cursed with all her might, watching her goal turn more and more futile. Anakin was being led away, and more CorpSec was flooding in to oppose the teen.

Her, and everyone else in the protest today.

Some Seccer tried to shout at her, "You're under arrest!"

Daiya wasn't about to let that prophecy come true without a fight!

Xan Deesa Jerec Asyr Hacks Gemma Hentz Ivory Stroud Yula Perl Ruby Jaxx Dagon Kaze Lethe Harrow Callista Volpe Cartri Keswoll Val Halcard Samnai Rouber Kadora'Tra​

( Anakin Stormrunner used with permission)

 

[Ivory Stroud]

(Renegades Of Funk, Crystal Method Remix - RATM)


Like tears in a torrential downpour, whatever hopes of stemming the crush were swept away. Ivory had felt the tidal wave of rage rise to a crescendo, crest, then fall... slamming full-force into one of the members of the congregation. She stopped singing, abandoning the energy she'd drawn around her like a cloak. Whatever power she may have been wielding instantly faded away.

Her eyes snapped open at the sudden lull in chanting & screaming. and she knew First Blood had been drawn. Power flooded through her limbs as the sudden rush of energy swelled through the Crowd; she drew it in, utilizing it in those dying moments of spiritual connection to empower herself.

She spun, wheeling out of the small alcove she'd sheltered in, to hear the familiar voice of Daiya : "YOU MOTHERFETHERS!!!"

And then, Ivory was moving.

A semi-circle of CorpSec had formed to begin pushing back the crowd, creating space for them to operate - a safe-zone where they could begin extracting protestors once the arrests dominated the area. It was the flank of this semi-circle that Ivory aimed for; near a corner of the mall, having secured a section of stairwell and the closest entry to the next level higher.
The crowd had moved back just enough for Ivory to close in, and she did so at a crouch.

The unlucky CorpSec officer was paying attention to the little girl screaming like a banshee. He thought he was safe. He was wrong.

An iron grip closed around the solid baton he was holding cross-ways over his body as suddenly, he was face-to-face with violet eyes filled with fury. The rebel woman materialized out of the crowd like a ghost, deflecting his baton downward with a hard shove while her foot swept up, catching the man directly in the groin then angling downward to entrap his knee, using the force of the blow and the hard shove to rip him off his feet and throw him. Ivory held into the baton as he went down with a crash, wrenching it from his grip (she was stronger, faster, and meaner) and clubbing him across the side of his helmet.

The blow sounded like a vehicle accident; the sound of the man's visor cracking, the baton striking the hard surface of his helmet, and the sound of his body hitting the floor all occured within a heartbeat.

Ivory turned, finding herself already in the secured cordon... at her back, the downed officer and the staircase. At her front, four CorpSec officers were just beginning to react to her sudden appearance.

Behind them, the crowd of protestors - all still empowered by the lingering effects of Ivory's influence - suddenly erupted into chaos.

Cartri Keswoll Samnai Rouber Hacks Dagon Kaze Xan Deesa Ruby Jaxx Kadora'Tra Gemma Hentz Yula Perl Braxton Holst Jerec Asyr Aiko Hayata Callista Volpe​

 

[Jerec Asyr]

"Let Anakin go, you Corpo filth!"

Behind them, the crowd of protestors - all still empowered by the lingering effects of Ivory's influence - suddenly erupted into chaos.

Jerec's cardiovascular system seized. He and Anakin Stormrunner had never been hugely close, but they went back a ways. Jerec still had vivid dreams about the time the kid outed himself as a Forcer of sorts during a riot just like this. He remembered dragging Anakin to Doc Painless for help as CorpSec waded in.

Plus ça change, plus le même chose, n'est pas? Shavvit, I can't go back to prison.

Jerec ducked but Ithorian reaction times won out: a thrown... something...glanced off the side of his neck. "Dammit, that'll be a fat lip. Kid, kid." He looked around for Samnai Rouber as the crowd surged around them. CorpSec had formed a line suitable for chewing folks up and literally treading them underfoot.

You wanna know what law and order's like on Denon? It's a boot stomping on a face, forever.

Rage sparked in him. He recognized at some level that parties unknown ( Ivory Stroud ) were using the Force in pervasive, subtle ways to bolster the crowd, which fed into his Willingness To Get Into It. He likewise recognized that going off the deep end could get a lot of folks hurt.

So would the alternative.

A crush of CorpSec broke a line and surged in close. Jerec set his big Ithorian feet and met them with a crude, simple, deeply furious Force push that stopped them in their tracks. Some fell over outright. Other complications swirled in and this particular corposquad's lack of momentum carried them away. Jerec turned back toward the last place he'd seen Samnai...

 

[Ria the Cat]

High above the chaos lurked a different beast, one who lingered above it all with little care. The feline's indifference was just that, it lounged on a beam that rested above a vent. No matter the wretched stench that emerged from the partly rusted vent, it was the warm air that the cat craved. Warm and comforting, the smell would compete with the other aromas that often choked Denon's skies. Foodstuff vendors, vehicles of all sorts with their exhaust that polluted as they pleased while passing by.

Little attention if any was made to the small orange and white body that laid outstretched on a beam that stretched over the chaos below. An IG droid was nearby ready to carry its master where they needed to go. Ocular sensors whirred as it turreted around keeping watch, just as small white soaked paws flexed revealing small, claws that for now were of no threat to anyone. The cat disturbed by the commotion below slowly began the process of waking, its body rising onto the beam with grace. Back up in the air, its tail flexed to a point like an exclamation mark in the sky before it rolled forward stretching out its back legs.

Smacking its lips together the cat seemed to glare at the commotion below. It walked with a cool, casual swag toward the IG droid that planted its feet down, joints moved to kneel as it waited for the master to climb upon its shoulders.

 

[Yula Perl]

"It's going well for now, but I can't help but have a bad feeling for later. Something is going to spark a fire soon, I can feel it"

From Cartri's lips to CorpSec's ears.

A sudden rise in tension from the crowd swung Yula's attention around, and she too gasped at the sight of Anakin, bloodied and beaten. Sparks of indignation surged through the Zeltron, igniting already tender nerves. It was now or never—and frankly, she should have started documenting this sooner.

Her cybernetic eye whirred in strain when it began recording images of CorpSec rushing in on the protestors, batons carving a gory path through the crowd. The livestream of Denon's riot would be transmitted to a local Shadowrunner relay, where it would be amplified and spread to Sakedo Tower's larger beacon. All of this had been set up beforehand in case things went south—the intention, once they forced their signal onto Sakedo's relay, would be to disseminate unfiltered images of the riot across the galaxy. Across the inner rim and in some areas of the core, broadcasts would be interrupted by the rogue Shadowrunner signal. Null hockey matches and news coverage were temporarily interrupted by live footage of the clash between protestors and officers, with a focus on the beaten and cuffed avian man at the head of the crowd.

It would last as long as Yula's eye did—which might not be long at all, considering the unfolding violence and the bionic eye nearly burning her socket with the heat of strain. Either that, or some of the larger networks would get their encryption under control before Sakedo tower could cut their signal.

"This is what they're doing to peaceful pro—stay close!" Hopefully Cartri and Ruby hadn't gotten lost in the swelling protest or found themselves underneath Corpo boots. A smoldering canister of something sailed into the crowd from somewhere behind the CorpSec frontline, likely a dispersion agent. Instinct took over and Yula lobbed it right back while it was still in midair, an invisible hand swatting the container of gas back to the Corpo line. Most of those around her were standing their ground as well, subtly reinforced by Ivory Stroud 's ministrations in the Force.

That earned her a stun baton to the ribs. Yula heaved, the air literally knocked out of her lungs, and temporarily seized as the electric current surged through her body. The images of the broadcast recording flickered with static.

With | Cartri Keswoll Ruby Jaxx

 

[Samnai Rouber]

Samnai’s eyes flash at the blade almost cutting through Mr. Jerec’s neck and going straight for her. She catches it between her fingers and throws it back exactly where it came from.

Unexpectedly, the chaos manages to make her swim away a short distance before she finds her feet again. She turns around just in time to dodge a Corpsec who tries to sneak on her, pulling on the man’s wrist in order to throw him back down. Of course they would sneak in—!

Samnai does not give the man time to adjust—she kicks his struggling form away and lets him be stampeded by the feets of the crowd before rushing back to her original spot, from where she got pulled away.

Blood is already staining the streets, some protesters being supported up as they howl in pain.

Samnai puts a hand on her side as she looks for Mr. Jerec. Noticing that he, too, seems to be looking for her, she pushes through to his side, and sees the falling-over line of CorpSec in front of him. Impressed, she reaches for her needles, ready to take on the next line.

Daiya Xan Deesa Callista Volpe Ivory Stroud Lethe Harrow Anakin Stormrunner Jerec Asyr Gemma Hentz Hacks Val Halcard

 

[Xan Deesa]

As the tensions broke into an all-out brawl between protesters and Seccers, the smoking form of Xan came flying in overhead to tackle a cop to the ground, uncomfortably close to Daiya as she fought with all her might against them. Several blaster marks littered her clothing from the previous confrontation, but did little to stop her as she got up and started to punch and kick her way through the crowd of Seccers.

Already she was facing the fact that she was too late. Her body took too long to reboot and start up again after the fight by the office, and now she had to watch Anakin being taken away while more and more Seccers crashed against the wall of protesters. Still, she wouldn't stop fighting.

One officer was hurled against a nearby pillar while another was knocked to the ground with a broken visor. She fought hard and quick to try and break the line, though she kept her blades retracted and stunners closed. Partially due to her not wanting to destroy their intentions further... but mostly because of Anakin's wishes. She knew this was bound to happen, but she still stuck with his wishes throughout the fight.

That was until she saw a cop draw what looked like a blaster on her. One hand grabbed the pistol while the other arm split open and a blade cleaved through his arm. She only realized that it was a stun pistol after she dropped it from her grasp.

"Kriff..."

A baton smashed into her face and sent her mask flying off in some direction while the Seccers got their wounded comrade out of the fight. Xan stumbled back into the crowd of Discreets around her, a hand coming up to wipe synthetic blood from her split lip as she glared at the remaining officers.

This wasn't going to get any prettier.

Ivory Stroud Anakin Stormrunner Yula Perl Val Halcard Dagon Kaze Samnai Rouber Jerec Asyr Ruby Jaxx Ria the Cat Lethe Harrow Hacks Kadora'Tra Aiko Hayata Gemma Hentz Callista Volpe Cartri Keswoll

 

[Hacks]

With a jarring disruption the holoscreens throughout the streets all changed to displays of the riot. CorpSec's brutal violence on peaceful protestors. Hacks’ stomach dropped, she wanted to tear her hair out or punch someone. “Oh no you don’t,” she said to herself and with speed only the four-hand slicer could accomplish she typed lines of code in a flurry, piggybacking the crude code on a signal to be received by the nearest transmission tower. With the remote access trojan infecting the nearby tower and dividing across others in range, Hacks could soon hijack the transmission.

As videos of the riot continued to play out she frantically searched the holonet. She quickly typed, ‘Holofilm riot compilation’ and began a transfer of the file. Once uploaded, she would seamlessly slice footage of holofilm performances into the riot stream. Dramatic shots of riots from the most famous holofilms across the inner core. Hoping that this strange occurrence could be chalked up to a slicer having stupid fun by sharing random film footage on hacked networks and not the poorly conceived cover-up Hacks was attempting, but maybe too much time had passed, the damage already done.

While the file continued to transfer she began to trace the signal of the livestream. A firewall stopped the slicer in her tracks and she noticeably frowned. "What the-" she muttered. She couldn't recall ever seeing such a complex web of code that could simultaneously be so neat that wasn't manufactured by a team of digital security agents. She knew it wasn't manufactured by a team because it was registering as a personal network, more specifically a cybernetic implant streaming the footage. But whos? she wondered. She ran the encryption language through her own personally coded decryption program and waited as it began formulating tens of thousands of solutions every second.

Accessing CCTV within the tower Hacks hovered the livestream broadcast beside the security footage on her datapad, trying to locate people and storefronts in the footage against the riot stream. Minutes were passing and with the strain on local networks the upload was slow, painfully slow, but not long now. She narrowed the location of the streamer using the name of a store in the foreground but it wasn't enough, there was still a good two dozen bodies in the thick of the crowd and the streamer could be any one of them. She had seconds, Hacks surmised, before the streamer realised someone was probing her firewall.​

Yula Perl

 

[Dagon Kaze]

Perched upon an adjacent rooftop, the Knight watched over the crowd as it became more restless with each passing moment. His mind ran in circles as he tried to piece out a plan to deescalate the situation, alas to no avail. He was but one man among hundreds, maybe more now. Their numbers grew, people flooding into the protest like wild rivers into an ocean of defiance.

Yet, like any storm - there's always a lift that gives an upward nudge to the unstable air. He had to find the stormcallers on both sides of the fence before it was too late. Right now, the clouds were rumbling with the protests of the massess; their only restraint - the innate instinct for self-preservation. But how long would it--

Huh?

A soft whisper pressed against his senses through the Force. It spoke of hope, of strength in unity. He'd felt it once before during the Battle of Ziost against the Sith. Only this time, the haze permeating his sixth sense was no ashlan blue, but violet. As uplifting the sensation was, the Jedi knew well what it would bring to the rowdy crowd below.

A means to loosen that restraint. Hope truly was the strongest ally.

His brow creased into a frown as his eyes frantically began the search of its source. A rush against time to find a needle in a haystack. Cmon, cmon, cmon, where the hell are you?! Faces upon faces upon faces and not an inch closer to finding the force user. Frustration and despair surged through his mind, clouding his senses and shaking his composure. And a concern steadily burning at the back of his head - a fellow Jedi he would've surely recognized, if not by face and name then by their aura but this... this was foreign. A strong Force user with an unknown agend heralded a dangerous predicament for the future; he already was struggling with the violence of the street gangs and the ruthlessness of the suits.

And then, his whole body shook as the cries morphed into roars and the two sides clashed against each other.

He spat a curse at his failure, fists clenching in suppressed exasperation before he conceded to his instincts; all plans, all contingencies burned away by the defiant flames lit on the streets beneath. His first thought was finding Yula among the commotion, but he subdued the act. She could handle herself well enough, maybe even better than him, but it boiled his blood that there was no chance she would point him to those that could potentially pull the crowds away from the meat grinder of corporate thugs.

Minimize collateral damage, his mind recalled the words of an Alliance officer on the Stygian front. It was all he could, and despite all the bravado he carried - Dagon wasn't sure how much was there that he could do.

The duracrete floor vanished from beneath his feet as Nightshrike force leaped into the first lines clashing with each other. The midst of chaos and violence. A baton crashed on his back and a broken bottle tore through his chest. No one was looking for hostages. All hell's loose.

A third of the strikes he parried or evaded, another third he countered and another third he took straight onto his body. More and more scars for the rich collection beneath his attire. The attacks came from all angles, whether it was a corpo thug beating him back into the crowd or trying to pull him in, or whether it was a protester trying to literally go over him to reach the jaw of a corpo helmet. In a rare moment of reprieve, the vigilante called the aid of the Force. His fists tightened into balls before he repulsed, sending a spherical shockwave around him to clear a pocket of ground. It only lasted long enough for him to catch a familiar face among the crowd.

Xan Deesa .

The mask honed in on her and through bloodied lips, Nightshrike barked out "Pull back!!" then swiftly rotated around his axis to face the corporate guards seeking to gain the ground the vigilante had cleared. "They're gonna bring an army down here, damn it!!" he reminded her. CorpSec never shied away from making a statement on a pyre of bodies. Countless were the times where he'd chase down criminals into the Suicide Slums only for CorpSec to swoop in and wreak far more havoc than needed just to make the lines between the classes clearer. A brutal reminder to know your place.

Daiya Anakin Stormrunner Xan Deesa Jerec Asyr Hacks Gemma Hentz Ivory Stroud Yula Perl Ruby Jaxx