Interactive Story: Urban Predator II - Retribution

Episode I

Sachni stood in one of the dark and squalid alleys in Lower Galactic City and gazed up into the night sky. The Coruscant advertised across the Galaxy was a place of glittering spires, fancy flying speeders sending opulent people to even more opulent clubs, bars and halls. They always neglected to mention its dark and dangerous underbelly, the hive and warrens of the lost and dispossessed, the hopeless and the broken.

Rain poured down from the heavens as it had done constantly for the last few hours, drenching the fur on her face, the only part of her exposed to the shower; the rest concealed beneath the long hooded robe that Zaraigus had given her.

Zaraigus.

Her friend, her partner and her saviour on more than one occasion. It was because of him she was out here, scouring this forsaken place in search of clues. She heard the news a little over a month ago as she lay recovering in White Mercy Hospital after taking a blaster shot that saved his life, for all the good it did him.
He'd gone after a murderer Holonet had dubbed “The Coruscant Cutter” despite her pleading with him not to. She had wanted to be by his side when he took them down, watching his back as she always did. Instead she'd be sat in a hospital sleeper, restrained and useless while her friend was being murdered.
They'd found his body almost five days later, cut up and deposited in several different waste disposal units in a thirty-two mile radius making it almost impossible to work out where he had died. As far as Sachni was concerned, they'd just not tried hard enough.

Not her though, she wouldn't quit until she'd found The Cutter and done a little cutting of her own.

She'd been out of the scene for far too long and the trail was starting to run cold. A Human, Rodian or even Duro would likely have given up, but she was a Cathar and a huntress. She would uncover the identity of The Cutter and the hunt would be on, but she knew it wouldn't be easy. She didn't have the resources of the local authorities, nor the extensive contacts net Zaraigus had kept almost exclusively in his head, but she did have one major commodity that neither possessed: a neigh-on obsessive need for retribution.

It was not unusual for a Cathar to carry such a responsibility with them but in Sachni's case it was something deeper, a reason that had kept her at Zaraigus' side for many years and now spurred her on beyond his death. She owed him a Catharan Life Debt. She owed him to find the killer and make them pay, one way or the other.

Looking down from the sky and shaking her head violently sending raindrops in all directions she gazed about her. The alley was empty but at either end she could see the neon glow of the streets and the shadows of people moving about. She had a few leads to follow but three presented themselves as the most probable:

The first was Drex Flembek, the low-life scumbag who had set Zaraigus and her up in The Spacers Rest, with the help of Zaresch, who had been the one who shot her. Though Zaresch had gone to ground, reputedly dead, she knew of a contact at The Rest who could get her close to Drex.

Next was the informant, Morl. A human smuggler who had ideas above his station and once a trusted snitch for the bounty-hunting duo, he'd betrayed Zaraigus and Sachni back on the sixth floor of the Red Giant guest house. Trying to use a thermal detonator to end their careers didn't exactly sit well with the Cathar and she was more than happy to press him for information on The Cutter.

Lastly was the Arkanian woman Meeja Nota'li, whom Zaraigus had met at the Dazabah Pavilion on Corellia. She had contacted them later with information in their search for Nyetti'lis Hakaradan, the Devaronian woman they had been hired to find. Tracking her down might be difficult, but she seemed a reliable source of information.

As she considered her options she was suddenly reminded of the last night she'd seen her partner, that crazy, overconfident Corellian who had been her friend for so many years. Normally so confident and brash, he looked worried and brow-beaten as he'd spoken to her then, in the hospital. She remembered his last words to her in painful detail.

“I'm sorry, Sachni. There's no time. If I'm gonna do this I have to do it now, one shot. If I miss it The Cutter goes to ground and its all over. I can't miss this opportunity, I'm sorry.....don't worry, Sach. As far as I'm concerned, we split this one fifty-fifty.”

The ghost of him haunted her still, her mind troubled and unquiet. If she was to find peace, it would be with the death of his murderer. With a sigh she left the comfort of the shadows into the vibrant neon-glow of the street lights.

Time to go to work.

Episode II

The dreamlike vista of Coronet City was lit up like an enchanted forest as The Inquisitor concluded its decent through the stratosphere, the city looming into view like some vast realm surrounded by night.
The Capital city of Corellia seemed almost blissfully quiet compared to the constant hum of Coruscant, even though Coronet itself was a metropolis by galactic standards.

As the ship came into land at the one of the cities' major starports, the Cathar's memory went back to the fateful night at the Red Giant hotel, where Morl, a human smuggler and former informant, had tried to kill Zaraigus and her with a thermal detonator. They'd barely escaped with their hides intact and she wanted to know why he'd ratted them out. Chances are it could be to do with the 'Karaffgar', a crime syndicate that the smuggler had mentioned; but what connection that had to Zaraigus' killer - if any - were unclear.

It was strange to be back, but the intense feelings of remorse and anger were no worse than when she was on Coruscant, merely different. His killer was - if the Holonet was to be believed - connected to Galactic City if the name 'Coruscant Cutter' was anything to go by, but her late Bounty-hunting partner had taught her on more than one occasion that all leads are valid until eliminated and even though she had a nagging feeling she was moving further from her eventual goal, her instincts also told her that a part of the puzzle could be found here, on Corellia. She only hoped Morl was that piece.

Running a cred-chit through the docking computer as she descended the boarding ramp of The Inquisitor, the Cathar Bounty Hunter pulled her hood up over her head and checked the blaster at her side before leaving the spaceport behind her and heading out into the night air.

There was little point returning to the Red Giant to search for clues, what would have been left of their apartment would have been repaired long ago. Luckily she knew many of Morl's seedy haunts and had the added advantage of being supposedly dead on her side...


The Row was busy, as always. Bright lights and intriguing sounds bombarded the senses of those who walked around the open-air market, the cool night air providing a welcome breeze to fight against the heat and smells of various cooking stalls. Many different species rubbed shoulders, though humans held sway in Blue Sector as they did in most of Coronet.
A place Sachni had frequented many times before, The Row could be dangerous for visitors considering that virtually anything could be purchased there - for the right price. For her though it was old territory, she knew the places and people to avoid and the right ears to whisper into. It hadn't taken her long and considerably less fistfights that she was expecting to discover that Morl was in the Fel Swoop Cantina, engaged in a spot of Paazak.

Nobody in the dingy, dark and frankly foul-smelling cantina paid any heed to the cloaked figure as they entered least of all Morl or his two Paazak-playing companions; a Duros and another human.
It wasn't until they were joined by the figure who sat in one of the empty chairs that the three even looked up from their decks.

With a sniff of distaste Morl put down his decks and picked up a half-used Cigarra jamming it into the side of his wide mouth which sneered into a grin as he took a deep puff of the narcotic.

"Sorry stranger," he said with arrogant bravado. "We'z be all dealed in. Too late to join in the game now, we cants help ya."

The sneer dropped from the smugglers face almost as rapidly as the cigarra fell from his mouth, bouncing on the table as it did so.
His eyes widened with realization as a metallic hand slid from under the table and moved casually up to the hood which was pulled back to reveal Sachni's face.

"Oh I'm not here to play, Morl. Not this time." She said, barely contained rage in her voice. Without taking her eyes of Morl - specifically his hands - she growled a warning:

"I don't give a frak who you two are but you get one chance. Leave now and don't look back."

Episode III

The two gamblers looked to one another, hands already on their blasters. Whoever the Cathar was she was dumb to make such a bold move without backup. With grins they turned to face Morl for confirmation to take her down, but were met with a panicked, pale face with sweat dripping from his temples.

"B-boys, just er...just leave it ok?" he stammered, obviously frightened. "M-me and Sach' here are...er... old friends. Its ok, just gives us, ah... five, yeah?"

They shrugged, their blasters slipping back into their holsters as they stood up.

"Fair enough Morl," The Duros commented as they turned to walk away from the table. "Just don't go gettin' yourself killed. You still owe me twenty creds."

Sachni waited until they'd moved sufficiently away before she spoke.

"Wise move. Now we can talk." Her lips upturned into a slight grin and she exposed her sharp canines, running her tongue across one of them in a predatory manner.

"W-what the hell do you want me to say, Sachni? We - I thought you woz dead for fraks sake!"

"Yeah, well you were the one who threw the detonator...."

"That weren't my fault, I swears to ya! I didn't have no choice!"

With lightning speed Sachni's metallic arm reached out, her hand clamping down over Morl's and holding against the table. The Durasteel digits pressed down on his flesh and he gave a slight whimper of pain. Sachni was sure how much pressure to apply to not snap his fingers. Pretty sure, anyway.

"Don't mess me about Morl, I don't have the patience. Tell me what you know and you can still walk away from this. Who put you up to it? I want names, places - the works."

Another slight application of pressure. Something snapped, which she suspected was his left thumb. Biting his lip enough to make it bleed, the small human man just looked at her with tear-filled eyes.

"And don't lie. I hate it when people lie." She concluded, removing her hand as Morl pulled it away sharply and cradled it like a wounded Massif pup.

He sighed as he wrapped his hand in his napkin, making a rather pathetic makeshift sling.

"I'd say I cants tell ya 'cos they'd kill me, but you'd only say something like 'you want to worry about ME killing you, Morl' " He replied as he attempted to imitate her voice which was, frankly, a bit poor.

"So I'll save us both the time and cut to it. It was The Karrafgar, okays? Those damn blacksuits heard you was looking for The Cutter and put the squeeze on me."

"The Karrafgar? but what do they have to do with the Cutter?"

Morl shrugged, and winced - forgetting the pain in his hand.

"How am I supposed to know? Perhaps they hire the Cutter or summin, I ain't got a clue. All I know is they came to me and offered me a deal. Kill you or be killed. I don'ts know why they didn't ice ya themselves, or why they wanted you face down in the dirt. They knew I could gets close to ya and, well, I'm kinda fond of me life."

"I'm going to need a name, Morl. The person who approached you."

"I don't know da guy who spoke to me, he was in one of their suits - "

Sachni began to flex her metallic hand once again, the sound of metal on metal clinking as she curled and uncurled her fist.

" - B-but I caught a name! I gots to the meet early to scope it out, heard them chattering...."

She just glared at him, sitting forward aggressively.

"Er... what was it? odd sounding name... Kai..kel...Khai'dan Scnattellin, that's it!"

"Never heard of him," She replied, sitting back in her chair again. "You got any others for me?"

"I - "

Suddenly the door of the Cantina burst open and backlit against the light of the Row stood four figures, dressed identically in jet black body armour, their faces obscured by helmets. As everyone turned to stare, Sachni's astute senses spotted something glint in the hand of the lead intruder - a thermal detonator.

"Get down!" she yelled to Morl and she pulled him to the floor with her organic hand and uppercut the table with her metallic one so hard that it ripped from the metal floor it was riveted to and overturned in as a makeshift barricade.
Less than a second later there was an almighty explosion as the detonator exploded and even with Sachni's metallic arm propping up the table the force of the blast was enough to push her and the table back a clear two feet and Morl scrabbled to get behind it.

Pulling out her blaster and sticking her head above the table she saw corpses scattered around; patrons who were not quick enough and had been caught in the explosion. Their blackened bodies were strewn all about the Cantina.

The four rushed in again, this time carrying blaster carbines and aiming them in the Bounty Hunter's direction. Carefully the Cathar lined up a shot and caught the lead humanoid square in the chest, knocking them from their feet and slamming them down into the ground.
To her dismay one of their identical colleagues helped them to their feet; it seemed the blast had knocked them back, doing no real damage.

"Karrafgar!" Morl whispered as he pocked his head up above the table.

"You think?" Sachni growled sarcastically.

Ducking down behind the table Sachni pulled a Flash-Bang Grenade from her cloak and lobbed it over the table without even looking. Both Morl and her covered their eyes and ears at it went off; if wouldn’t injure their pursuers but it would grant them valuable time to think.

"You know Morl," She snarled as he backed away from her "I'm starting to consider you my bad luck charm."