Interactive Story: Urban Predator

3,653 BBY / 0 ATC

Zaraigus Kael was a Bounty Hunter. Working for House Axaris of The Bounty Hunters Guild, he specialised in cases working mostly around or from Coruscant. A native of Corellia, he was born in the twin-city of Tyrena twenty-seven years ago to a middle-class family with an unremarkable upbringing.
Seeking a more exciting life after a brief and somewhat unsuccessful internship with CorSec he had moved to Coruscant in 3,656 BBY and began doing odd jobs until he was approached by a member of House Axaris.
Three years on and he was a successful Bounty Hunter who made a reputation for himself by always bringing in his marks alive. Unfortunately, as successful as he was he didn't possess precognative abilities and was in Galactic City when The Sith attacked and bombarded the Jedi into submission and the signing of The Treaty of Coruscant.
It was hardly suprising then, that he took a job from a Bith businessman called Haral'op Eitwee who approached him when his business partner of seven years, a Devaronian female called Nyetti'lis Hakaradan, vanished mysteriously overnight.
The only lead he had was a reported visual sighting, but it was a start and it got him away from Coruscant.
Now he found himself back on familar ground, home soil in fact; Corellia. Only this time he was prowling the streets of Coronet City, the planet's capital. He had docked in the cities' spaceport only hours earlier, arriving in "The Inquisitor", his YKL-13X Nebula Courier, a light but powerfully armed ship made by Gallowfree Yards. Inc.
Visually Zaraigus was not unattractive, but also lacked many of the facial qualities or perks that would make him memorable or stand out in a crowd. Short brown hair crowned a somewhat square but masculine face, with dark grey eyes that tended to dart about due to his perceptive nature. A long and draping hooded cloak obscured most of what he wore, which consisted the vast majority of the time of Bronzium Medium Battle Armour.

Corellia was a beautiful world, its temperate surface dotted with rolling windswept hills, dense forests, lush and furtile farmland and golden beaches that stretched into crystal-clear seas. With most of the planets famed manufacturing shipyards in oribt around the planet, the ecosystem remained mainly undamaged and it was a popular destination for vistors all across the galaxy.
The cities were similarly well-received, Coronet chief among them with its breath-taking architecture and glorious metropolitan cultural districts.

However, like all cities Coronet had its dark side. Not all business is conducted in open view, not everyone wants to be found. There is a place for lurkers, vagabonds and the unseen, and in Coronet, this place was Blue Sector. Largely unpoliced by CorSec due to it simply being uneconomical to do so, Blue Sector nevertheless attracted large swathes of off-worlders hoping to see some of the more risqué areas of the city. Filled with casinos, brothels, flophouses, cantinas, tattoo parlours and every other kind of business that a city needs but never admits to, Blue Sector was the most notorious crime-spot in the city but also a good source of information if someone needed to be found. There, anyone could be bought for the right favour, the right papers... the right amount of Credits.

As he made his way through the ever-thickening crowds and into 'The Row', known also as 'Treasure Ship Row' to off-worlders, a large open-air shopping-mall and giant market where anything could be bought or sold for the right price, Kael's transmitter made a bleeping noise in his ear to indicate an incoming transmission.

"Go ahead." His voice seemed perfectly calm and relaxed, as if he were exerting as little effort as possible, reserving every last ounce of perception for the hunt.

"Zaraigus, I've almost finished hacking the central space-dock passinger manifest." It was his bounty-hunter companion aboard The Inquistor. Named Sachni, she was a member of the Cathar race and was as loyal to Zaraigus as she was violent in temperment. "Want me to find all the records I can on this 'Hakaradan'?"

Zaraigus thought for a moment as he looked around at the multitude of people busying themselves about their business.

"Stand by, Sachni."

He certainly had a few options available to him. Asking around in The Row might turn up some possible leads, or he could search out one of his many reliable contacts - assuming they had not gone to ground or were dead. Of course, he could let Sachni run her check, but that was dependant entirely upon how good this Hakaradan woman was.
Then of course there was The Fel Swoop, possibly the dingiest, dangerous and unhygenic cantina in all of Blue Sector but a treasure-trove of information if one could manage to leave alive with it..

Where to start?

((Please remember that this is the first episode to The Urban Predator and that Episode II will be up this time next week. In the meantime make sure to keep an eye out for when the Poll goes up to cast your vote! If you dont know what I am referring to, please check HERE. Happy Voting!))

As Kael looked around and pondered his options, his acute sense of perception picked up a flicker of light to his left which turned out to be a reflection coming from a glossy wall panel beneath a large neon sign of a fast food establishment, currently unlit.

Checking his peripheral vision so as not to seem conspicuous he examined the panel and saw the distorted reflection of the crowd behind him, one member of which seemed to be keeping his distance and trying not to be seen. If not for Zaraigus' training at shadowing people he might never have spotted his peruser.

Quietly his said into his transmitter:

"Sachni, I'd like you to run that manifest check you mentioned. Don't send me the information via the transmitter though, get a hard copy and come give it to me in person."

"You sure?" his Cathar partner replied almost instantly "I doubt it'll be information sensitive enough that it cant be transmitted.."

Zaraigus cut her off before she could continue.

"I've got company here, Sachni." He said, moving away from the semi-reflexive panel so as not to alert his peruser. "It might be nothing, but I'd like you to back me up just in case."

"Understood, Zaraigus. Where shall I meet you?"

Making his way through the throng of people who were traversing Blue Sector, the Bounty Hunter looked around for somewhere public, somewhere that might put his new "friend" off trying anything violent due to too many witnesses.

"Meet me in the Dazabah Pavilion," he replied as he spotted the large white domed building which housed many live musical performers and several spectators over a large and well-lit area.
"I'll await you there."

"Roger that, out."

A few droplets of rain descended from the heavens, gently splashing upon the streets and passers-by alike. By the time Zaraigus had reached the entrance to the Pavilion it was a torrential downpour that had forced many of the people of Blue Sector to seek refuge.
The entrance was, like the rest of the building, a crescendo of light, sound and colour which bombarded the senses with forms of musical expressions from hundreds of different species. Kael had frequented the place as a child but today his visit was business, not pleasure.

The place was filled with all sorts of people;
Ryn musicians played beside Snivvian entertainers, Human opera singers shared stages with exotic female Twi'lek dancers. The crowd of onlookers was just as varied, something Zaraigus was grateful for as he made his way across the main concourse and up a spiralled staircase to one of the many balconies that overlooked the performers.

Searching the crowd until he was confident he was no longer being followed, Kael gave himself a moment's pause to take stock of the situation.
Apart from his mark, this 'Hakaradan' who had seemingly vanished since leaving space around Coruscant, there was the legitimacy of the eye-witness account to consider and now it seemed there was someone tailing him, which meant there was another party that was likely aware of Sachni and his involvement in the matter.

It was close to an hour before Sachni appeared, finding Zaraigus in the top sections of the Pavilion watching the performances. Sachni was a strong and athletic Cathar who had lost her mate three years previously when they were sent to retrieve some Mandalorian pirates and bring them to justice. She herself had lost her left arm in the encounter, replaced now with a gleaming silver metal replica that ended in a wicked-looking claw. Even with the inclusion of her prosthetic arm however, Sachni was still attractive and in her prime. Her fur was a dark golden colour with darker, almost black markings, her face and hands drenched from the rain, and her eyes were a similar golden yellow. Standing at a little over six feet in height, she had the body of an athlete and the reactions to match. Wearing a obscuring cloak not unlike the one her bounty-hunting partner wore, she recounted her information to Zaraigus as she outstretched a hand containing her report.

"Seems our little Devaronian may be better than I gave her credit for," Sachni began.
"There is no mention of her arrival anywhere on the planet in the last week but trust me, she's here."
Zaraigus turned away from the music and looked at her, but said nothing. It was obvious he was waiting for more information, but took the report and began reading through it.

"I investigated all the ships that have come here from Coruscant in the last week," She continued. "Only one carried a Devaronian but it checks out as a 'he' and after some digging I can confirm its a legitimate I.D. I noticed a tiny discrepancy which turned up to our advantage though: a transport ship arrived here with a full cargo hold and extensive cargo manifest which I was able to get hold of without too much trouble. However, the ship's an old Beta-twelve model, and I happen to know their dry weight when carrying no cargo. I compared that to the cargo listing and either one of their cargo items is 58kg too heavy or they had an unregistered passenger aboard."

Suddenly Sachni gave a most disturbing sharp-toothed grin that showed her predatory side.

"I leaned on the ships Captain a little. Seems he had an unregistered female Devaronian with them who disembarked here in Coronet the day before yesterday....paid him well over the odds for the privilege, too."

Kael smacked her heartily on her organic arm.

"Good job! It seems Miss Hakaradan is going to great lengths to remain hidden, but we have confirmation she's in this city and probably not too far away. Which stardock did this ship land in?"

"That's the thing, same as us. Blue-9. Seems we almost landed right on top of her!" Sachni paused for a moment and her somewhat maniacal grin faded. "I thought you said you were being followed... did you 'off' them?"

Zaraigus shook his head. "No, they didn't follow me in here, whoever they were. It is a concern though. I wasn't able to get a good look at them, but they were humanoid and somewhere around six-three in height. Beyond that, I can't say.”

“So where do we go from here?” The Cathar replied. “I have a contact here in Coronet that might be of some use finding out who was following you, a Corellian smuggler who goes by the name of Morl. I could look him up if you want?”

Kael nodded. “Yeah, perhaps. I have someone I could call upon here as well. Do you remember Lagarius? Oh, no of course you wouldn't, before your time....” Zaraigus seemed to drift off for a moment, reminiscing, before shaking himself back to the present.
“Though something doesn't feel right here. For a simple missing person's job, this has a thick air of intrigue about it. Perhaps it would be prudent for us to investigate more about Eitwee and Hakaradan's business arrangement?”

“Plus we need to arrange somewhere to stay tonight,” Sachni interjected. “I doubt this case will be cleared up before sun-down and I'm reluctant to spend another night in the bunks on-board The Inquisitor!”

((This next Episode turned out larger than I thought so I am splitting it into 'part I' and 'Part II'))

EPISODE III - Part One

Zaraigus wrapped his fingers on his chin for a moment.

“Something doesn't seem right here. Sachni, contact this 'Morl' individual. I want to know who's tailing us and why.”

The Cathar rolled her eyes in annoyance. “What about getting some sleep? We've been on the move for three days now. I'm tired and could use a soak in a tub.”

Kael raised an eyebrow at his partner.

“Since when did you worry so much about your feminine side?”

“Hey! I-”

But Zaragius wasn't allowing his companion much room to manoeuvre: “Besides, you brought it up. Lets see what this Morl person says and then get a room, ok?”

“All right,” She replied with a sigh. “I'll have to go outside to contact him though, there's no way I'll be able to hear him on a communicator over this....din.”

“ 'Classical and faithful replicas of authentic cultural music.' ”

“Yeah, Din.”

As Sachni went back outside with her communicator in hand, Zaragius pocketed the datapad she had given him and leaned over the railing of the balcony and looked down at the people below. He found it odd how people were just 'getting on as normal' despite of the Sith invasion. He supposed all life wouldn't stop just because of the current political and military climate, but most people were acting like nothing had happened... like it wasn't their problem.

“So you're Zaragius Kael...” Came a voice to his right, catching the Bounty Hunter completely off guard as he swung round, blaster in hand but saw nothing but shadows.

“Whos there?” he said but could see nothing except the blackness that clung to the corner of the balcony.

In response the corner lit up, a gentle glow emanating from a small orb-shaped lamp above which the hand of a comely Arkanian woman lingered after it had just been activated. The hand was non-clawed, indicating an offshoot as opposed to a pure-bred Arkanian and her hair was a startling white framed around slightly bluish-white skin. Her eyes were very human-seeming and looked at him with a keen interest.

“I am Meeja Nota'li.” She said almost dismissively with a wave of her other hand. “I heard all of what you and your companion spoke of and I must advise you to be careful.”

Zaraigus lowered his pistol, but did not holster it, just in case.

“Yeah, that so? What would you know about the job, Miss Nota'li?”

“I know you are a Corellian Bounty Hunter. I know you work with a Cathar and the two of you are renowned for your ruthless but non-lethal tactics. I know you are on Corellia looking for a Devaronian female called Nyetti'lis Hakaradan. I know all this and more because I too, am in the employment of Haral'op Eitwee.” She grinned then, a knowing but not unpleasant smile. “....and It's Mrs Nota'li.”

“Funny, you don't look like a Bounty Hunter,” Kael smirked, looking the Arkanian up and down.

“Nor do I pretend to be one, Mr Kael. I am merely trying to inform you that the transaction you are involved In is more complex than was first explained to you. I have an interest in my client's well-being and therefore, your well-being as well, by proxy. I would relish the opportunity to tell you more, but here is not the place.”

With that she stood and her hourglass figure almost took Zaraigus aback as much as finding she was there in the first place. She walked past him and turned his direction just before she descended the spiral staircase.

“If you wish to contact me, my comms-number is on a card on the table. If not? Well that is your prerogative. Regardless, I wish you well, Mr Kael.”

Zaraigus watched her as she took the stairs to the lower level of the pavilion, passing Sachni on her way down, the two exchanging glances; a courteous one from Meeja and a suspicious one from Sachni.

“Friend of yours?” his Cathar companion said as she reached the balcony.

“She...”

“Actually, don't care. I spoke to Morl, he does have some intel on your 'stalker'. He's asked that we meet him at 'The Red Giant' in an hour. Its not more than twenty minutes from here.”

Zaraigus looked at her quizzically. “Red Giant? That's a hotel.”

“Really? Oh well that's handy then. C'mon lets get a move on.”

Kael grabbed the card off the table and the two bounty-hunters made their way down the spiral stair case and into the pavilion.

EPISODE III - Part Two

The Red Giant wasn't exactly palatial but it was better than a lot of hotels and one-night stop-offs that Zaraigus and Sachni had visited over the years. A large red-brick and steel building some eight stories high, it reached toward the heavens like some massive groping claw hoping to pull down the stars themselves.
The entrance foyer was spacious and well lit, but bland and somewhat uninviting in appearance. The Service Droid behind the desk had been quick and efficient to check them into a room and the two had entered room 2,116 on the sixth floor shortly after.
Within moments of entering the room Sachni was in the Turboshower and singing merrily to herself.
Zaraigus on the other hand, sat on one of the two sleepers in the room and, after twirling Meeja's card around in his hands several times, decided to switch on the HoloCommunicator and cut off a dark-haired reporter on HoloNet News as she was reporting about a serial killer on Coruscant who went by the handle of “The Coruscant Cutter”. He tapped in Meeja's Comms-Number and after a couple of seconds a holographic representation of her face appeared.

“Yes, Hello?” She began. “Oh, Mr Kael it's you. I hadn't expected you to contact me to so quickly. I was just having dinner with my family.”

Zaraigus responded with a very embarrassed look, matters of family and such 'normal' behaviour as enjoying a meal at a set time were, for him, an awkward reminder of the past.
“Apologies,” He started. “Its a bad time, I'll call back.”

The holo-image of Meeja smiled. “Nonsense. I'm sure my husband can cope for a couple of moments, and I suspect your curiosity has got the better of you.”

Kael glanced over his shoulder to the door that led to the Turboshower. Sachni could be heard singing away merrily, he assumed he had a couple of moments at least.

“You said earlier than things were more complex that I was led to believe. What can you tell me?”

Holo-Meeja nodded. “As I said before, I too work for Mr Eitwee. He and his partner miss Hakaradan are bio-engineers. They work in the field of bio-manipulation specifically, and have been developing a sort of camouflage suit over the last few years that is covered in a complex membrane which can alter its colour to match its surroundings in a sort of defence-mechanism. As I'm sure you can imagine, the stealth opportunities for such a camouflage would be numerous and valuable. When Hakaradan vanished, she did so with the only finished prototype of the suit.”

Zaraigus rubbed his chin. “So Eltwee wants it back, that's understandable.”

“True,” Holo-Meeja continued. “But it does not seem the simple acquisition of wealth is the main reason for Hakaradan's theft. I have looked into her recent accounts and she has borrowed money to help fund the research....a lot of money... from a man who goes by the name of Gatts H'darr. I suspect this H'darr character has come calling for repayments and Hakaradan has been unable to deliver. It is my belief that she has gone into hiding using the suit, leaving H'darr with nobody to lean on for the credits.... nobody but Hakaradan's immediate business partner, Mr Eltwee.”

Zaraigus leaned back on the sleeper and sighed.
“Interesting stuff mis....Mrs Nota'li, but what does this have to do with me?”

“Everything, I'm afraid. You see some of H'darr's thugs paid Eltwee a visit shortly after you left Coruscant in search of Hakaradan. Eltwee is no warrior, he told them under some sufferance that you are searching for Hakaradan and it is there intention to find her first. I know you've dealt with these sorts before, Mr Kael. I doubt I have to tell you they would see you as an obstacle to their goal that would need to be eliminated.”

“Ah.”
Suddenly Sachni's singing stopped, followed by the sound of the Turboshower winding down and turning off. “I need to go. Thank-you for the Information Mrs Nota'li, I'll try to return the favour one day.”

“Be careful, Mr Kael” the holo-image of Meeja replied. “My client may yet still need protection.”

As Zaraigus switched off the holo-communicator, Sachni walked out from the Turboshower sporting nothing but a modest flannel towel that just about covered all the areas of her body that kept her from being arrested for indecent exposure. A second, smaller towel was covering her face and head as she emerged humming quietly to herself and drying her head.

Kael found himself staring in his companions' direction and was forced to look away, remembering the last hot-blooded male that made a pass at Sachni. She may have lost her mate in combat, but Cathar mated for life and that world was dead to her now. 'I must be missing the charms of a good woman,' the Bounty Hunter thought to himself. 'I gotta remember to remedy that soon...'

“Feel better?” he said, walking past her and opening some windowed bay doors, stepping out onto a short balcony that looked out over the streets of Coronet. It was a warm and pleasant night, the city looking calm and peaceful from his vantage viewpoint.
“Much, thank you.” She replied, flinging the hair towel over the back of a chair before sitting on the other Sleeper and using part of the towel to dry her knees. “That's better than a full night's rest in many ways.”

Zaraigus looked over the edge of the balcony and realised there was another below his room and another above, all equal in dimensions. He smirked internally as he realised how easy it must be for lovers to sneak from one room to another and had to stifle a full-blown laugh when he imagined how many drunk romantics must have fallen to an untimely end trying to prove their love.

He left the bay doors open to allow the night air in as he stepped back into the room. He was about to give Sachni a witty quip about her looking like she needed the sleep when there was a knock at the hotel room door.

“That'll be Morl,” his Cathar companion said, standing up and approaching the door.

As she opened it she was greeted by a slightly short, thin and weasly looking human with dark hair, a thin moustache and dark sunken eyes. He wore dull brown clothes and was in every way that mattered, wholly unremarkable.
He was sporting a rather creepy grin.

“Woah, girl....you just made this job a thousand times more interestin'!”

Sachni merely rolled her eyes and extended her cybernetic arm out in front of her, the claw clamping open and shut mere inches from his face.

“Giant metal claw, Morl.”

“Heh, yeah... o'course... no offence meant, babe...”

“'Morl', is it?” Zaraigus said. “Wont you come in? Sachni says you might have some information for us."

“Yeah, yeah, o'course.....” he said nervously, ducking under Sachni's arm and entering the room, leaning against a wall and looking rather sheepish. She closed the door behind him and went and sat on one of the sleepers.

“Well, its like this, see?” he continued. “Sach' here says you had some guy tailin' ya so me and the boys, we looked into it for ya. Seems the guys a nobody... called Drex Flembek , a small-time hood and trouble-maker. Problem is, its who he works for that ya wanna be careful of.”

Zaraigus folded his arms, trying very hard not to dislike Sachni's 'contact'.

“Yeah....yeah. Heh. You know Coruscant, yeah? You know the Karaffgar Crime Syndicate? Them....them.... he works for them.”

Zaraigus and Sachni threw one another a glance.

“Why would they be tailing me?” Kael inquired.

“'Cos they know you is looking for dat Hakaradan lady...”

Zaraigus threw his arms up in despair. “Does the whole galaxy know our business? How on Corellia did you know that we were looking for her?”

Morl shrugged. “S-Sachni tol' me. 'Sides, I brought Hakaradan here....and...and I took her back, too.”

“Took her back?!?” Both Bounty Hunters said in unison.

“Y-yeah....lady said her business was done here. Two of my fellas took her back to Coruscant earlier this morning.”

“You've gotta be roddin' kidding me...” Zaraigus muttered unhappily.

Sachni stood and smiled apologetically, walking up to Morl and picking up a Credit Chip off a side-board. “Thanks, Morl...for the info. Here, take this.”

Morl nodded and took the Chip from her as she went and sat back down on the sleeper, a thoughtful look on her face. The smuggler opened the hotel door then, and stepped into the corridor and out of sight. As Zaraigus stood to go and close the door, Morl popped his head back around the doorframe.

“I'm sorry, Sachi.” he said, somewhat sadly.

“What for?” She replied, but he was gone again, vanished from sight in the corridor.

Suddenly a small round globe came flying threw the open door and bounced upon the floor.

A thermal detonator....

Episode IV

As Sachni looked on in disbelief Zaraigus was already moving. Before the detonator even hit the floor he was up and running and heading toward the open bay window. Leaning as he ran, he outstretched his arm and grabbed his Cathar partner up from the sleeper on which see sat, pinning the somewhat meagre towel to her frame and her arms to her sides so she couldn't struggle or resist. Adjusting himself to take her weight she called out in surprise but could do nothing as Zaraigus leapt through the bay window and out into the night air.

Sachni tried not to scream as she saw the horizon rush up to meet her and the two began to fall. With his spare arm Zaraigus held up his gauntlet control and activated something on it using his chin before aiming his arm upward. A sudden whooshing noise accompanied the launching of a mini-rappelling hook attached to durasteel cable, the hook of which embedded into the exterior wall of the building a split second later with an audible crunch. The cable tightened and went taught, slamming them both against the wall and winding Zaraigus who gave out a heavy exhale.

For the shortest moment there was silence then an massive explosion above them rocked the building as the apartment they were in erupted into kinetic fire and mortar. Raining down on them from above and narrowly missing them, bits of the wall collapsed away as burning parts of furniture sailed past.

Looking up, Zaraigus' face went white. A large crack had snaked its way toward them and the section of the wall they were attached to creaked and gave way, ripping free from its core and dropping them toward the streets below. Zaraigus tried to reclaim the grapple but it was no use, as it snared and snapped among the twisting masonry and the pair began to plummet.
Focused as he was, Zaraigus didn't notice Sachni move and twist herself in his grip until there was a strange scraping noise and they came to an abrupt halt. Suddenly realising what had happened Zaragius turned to Sachni and smiled approvingly at her. Her cybernetic arm was outstretched, clinging to the frame of a window, its metallic strength easily able to hold them both causing the Cathar no discomfort. As she smiled smugly back at him, Zaraigus winked.

"Oh Sachni?" He smirked.

"You don't need to tell me how great I am," She grinned. "I already know I'm one of the best!"

"True, but you're also one of the most naked." He chuckled, looking downward. "You've lost your towel."

Sachni looked down in disbelief as she saw the white flannel towel slowly circled its descent out of view.

"Don't you dare..."



An hour later and they were on The Inquisitor, heading back toward Coruscant in search of Nyetti'lis Hakaradan. Zaraigus still held his smile as wide as a Hutt's face, annoying Sachni no end. She was wandering back and forth quietly growling to herself, a sure sign to anyone else to give such a passionately aggressive race as The Cathar distance, but Zaraigus had known his bounty-hunting partner many years and knew exactly how far he could push things. He was pretty close, but he still had some space to poke fun before violence ensued.
Eventually she stopped and just looked at him.
"You mention this to nobody, you got that?" she snarled.
"Oh absolutely!" Zaraigus said with a sarcastic feint of sincerity. "Hey, you saved my life, I guess I owe you..."
"Good!"
"Besides, I still have my memories..."
He was laughing so hard he didn't even see the crate coming.



As The Inquisitor set down in the Section 6 Lower Coruscant Spaceport, the traffic was eerily quiet save for the constant and silently sinister presence of Sith Warships which seemed, at least to Zaraigus' eyes to be suspended motionless like some bizarre marionette show.

As the two walked down the cargo ramp of the ship onto the spaceport floor, Sachni turned to her companion.

"So what now? Morl's vanished so we can't press him for answers -"

"Or break his scrawny neck..."

"Seems there's a crime syndicate tailing us, which I suspect is to do with who we are after, and our Devo friend is still nowhere to be found."

Zaraigus seemed thoughtful for a moment. "I say we go after this 'Karaffgar Crime Syndicate', see if we can find someone here who can help us look into them."

Sachni stepped in front of him, stopping him from continuing. "Isn't that getting a little off course?" she said, gently putting her non-cybernetic palm on his chest. "We know - assuming we can trust what he said - that Morl brought Hakaradan to Corellia and apparently back here. I've known Morl a while and he's a bit on the slimy side but he's not dumb. He knows not to cross me. By doing so it means someone he's even more afraid of is leaning on him. I know a few of Morl's contacts here on Coruscant and I think we should contact them, see if they know anything about any of Morl's 'colleagues' arriving here in the last day or so."

Zaraigus sighed. "Yeah...yeah, you're right of course. I just don't like walking around with a target on my back."

"Of course, it might be worth checking in with our employer." She continued, seemingly not really listening to Zaraigus at all, but rather just vocalising her thoughts. "We've not had any contact with Haral'op Eitwee since we first left for Corellia. Perhaps he's heard something new?"

Zaraigus sighed. "Is it just me, or does this seem to be getting awfully complicated for a simple 'locate and retrieve' gig? I should have seen the warning signs: it was good money, no other 'hunters seemed interested in the case and it involved freakin' lab-boys. Eitwee fails to mention this 'stealth suit' he's working on, so what if Hakaradan is already wearing the thing? How we meant to find our crinkin' mark if she's neigh-on invisible?"

Sochni merely grinned a large, sharp-toothed smile in response.

"Ah, cut the Phobium, Zaraigus. You love a good mystery, you ol' earworm. Don't try to convince me otherwise, you're just upset because you've not got to shoot anyone yet."

Kael laughed heartily to an extent approaching the pre-crate barrel-laugh on The Inquisitor. There were so many reasons why he enjoyed with Sachni and her sense of humour and ability to pull him back on course were right up there with her fighting prowess.

"Right," he said, pulling his blaster-carbine from its back holster, feeling the comfortingly heavy weight of cold durasteel in his hands.

"Lets get to work."

Episode V

It was late into the night as the pair of bounty hunters approached the dimly lit cantina in one of Lower Coruscant's narrow, shadowy backs-streets. The sun had long since abandoned this section of the planet-spanning metropolis, replaced instead by millions of artificial lights of varying intensity and colour.

'The Spacers Rest' was the rather grating name given to the establishment that they had tracked Drex Flembek to, after Morl had identified him as being the man tailing Zaraigus back on Corellia as well as a low-ranking member of the Karaffgar Crime Syndicate.

The two had found scant information on the Syndicate itself, except that it was founded and run by three aristocratic families who each held approximately one third of the organisations power. The families came from Panatha, Aldeeran and here, on Coruscant and were involved in everything from smuggling to extortion, spice-pushing to slavery. Due to the groups highly powerful progenitors and their influence in high society however, The Karaffgar were never successfully prosecuted. Their research into Zaraigus' shadowy companion fared slightly better, complete with bio-records and several images.
Through some investigation and questioning of contacts, they had learned that Drex was due to meet with someone who went by the name of Zaresch tonight at this very cantina. With some further investigation it seemed that Zaresch also used several alias, one being Gatts H'darr, the same man Harakadan had borrowed considerable money from according to Meeja Nota'li, the Arkanian woman Zaraigus had met in the Dazabah Pavilion back on Corellia. As their main link to this crime syndicate and a possible link to Hakaradan, they had decided to observe their new 'friend' and see what he was up to. Sachni in her infinite wisdom; and with more than a dose of smug satisfaction, pointed out that Flembek knew what Zaraigus looked like and that he would have to go in disguise.

It wasn't an especially convincing disguise, consisting of a dark-coloured body-throw similar to a poncho, a breather to cover his lower face and some vermilion-coloured blast goggles, but it would have to suffice.

“You look ridiculous,” Sachni sniggered to herself as they prepared to go inside.

Inside the place was just as dimly lit and twice as oppressive in atmosphere. A fog of death-stick smoke clung to the ceiling, giving the whole place a sort of misty feel. One large bar dominated the far wall and several small, badly-spaced tables lined the center of the room where the clientèle in various stages of inebriation struggled to navigate. The walls were lined with cordoned off booths which held yet more seating and a band consisting mainly of Bith played up-tempo music in one of the corners. Zaraigus and Sachni had been here before many times but the place still looked the same. The same Zabrak barkeep, the same Service Droids buzzing about the place handing out drinks and collecting empty glasses.

It didn't take the bounty hunters long to spot their quarry, they found Drex sitting at a table talking to another somewhat gaunt looking human whom they presumed was Zaresch. Talking relatively quietly, the pair were obviously discussing something important and were in one of the booths about half-way up the room. Zaraigus and Sachni sat themselves at a table close enough to be within earshot and sat as if waiting for a Service Droid to see to them when in actuality they were listening very carefully to the conversation at hand:

“.....it's only a matter of time, my friend. I don't have it yet but I'm closing in.' The human said to Drex, who shook his head in response and took a large swig of synthale.

“You're going to get yourself killed, H'darr. I told you, they know. I don't know how, but they're on to you. What did you think you were doing anyway? This is way too big for you to handle, its well out of your league...”

“I can handle myself Drex,” H'darr snorted. “Question is, can you handle the heat? If we pull this off we're gonna be richer than a Hutt!”

“What about your client, H'darr? Can't she tell you where it is?”

“Hakaradan?” H'darr retorted. “Nah, she's dead. That's why I can't find the droking suit, the kriffing Devo moved it. Seems she was smarter than I gave her credit for...” He smiled then, as if reliving some event in his head. “Anyway, I'm getting some credits together to get the Karaffgar off my back. I'm leaning on a few of my debtors for the money they owe me. Besides, you wanted out of the Karaffgar, this could be your big chance, Drex..”

The pair of bounty hunters were listening so intently as to the fate of Harakadan and what the syndicate meant to the whole affair that they didn't notice the Service Droid approach them...the annoyingly perceptive Service Droid that saw straight through Zaraigus' disguise.
“Good evening Master Kael, Mistress Sachni, a pleasure to see you in our fine establishment once again!” It chirped merrily as all four people turned in its direction, wide-eyed in disbelief.
“A most remarkable outfit, Sir – are you attending some kind of religious event?”

Drex and H'darr immediately reached for their blasters.

“Kael? Zaraigus Kael? I'll be broggled....” Drex exclaimed as Zaraigus pulled out a blaster himself and Sachni uppercut the table with her cybernetic arm, steel floor-rivets giving way as the table turned on end before being hit by a barrage of blaster fire from the opposite side.

“Aah, nuts...” Kael moaned as the pair backed up exchanging fire with Drex and H'darr on the other side of the cantina.

The fire fight that ensued was intense with innocent bystanders trying desperately to get out of the way of the carnage. The collateral damage began to mount as both sides used cover effectively and tables, chairs and many a glass fell to blaster fire.

Among the chaos Zaraigus noticed H'darr and Drex exchange glances and a nod followed by Drex suddenly running toward one of the windows.

“He's making a run for it!” Zaraigus exclaimed as he broke cover and began firing on Drex again. Sachni heard him but had her sights trained on H'darr at the time.

With a grim realisation she figured out what the pair had planned as H'darr crouched and aimed a careful shot on the moving Zaraigus. She knew there was no time to warn him and leapt into action.

Kael gave a curse as Drex dodged the blaster fire and leapt through the ground-floor window into the street outside but had to shield his eyes as a blaster shot hit right next to him. Confused and momentarily stunned he instinctively ducked down, where he found the unmoving body of Sachni, face-down on the cantina floor with smoke still seeping from a blaster-bolt hole in her lower back.
She had taken the shot that would have ended him.

“SACHNI!” Zaraigus cried out, dropping his blaster and crawling toward his friend.
As he turned her gently over he saw that she was breathing albeit only just. She blinked at him then, coughing and grabbing her abdomen in pain as a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of her mouth.

“N-never were.....one for.....watching your six, we're you Zaraigus?” She grinned weakly at him, the white of her sharp teeth surrounded in the deep red of blood.

“Sachni,” he said, gently supporting her head and looking in her eyes. “I....I can't see how bad it is..I..”

With a reserve of strength that Zaraigus admired in her but also found a little frightening at times, she stared him down. “No time to....worry about that. What's the situation?” she virtually ordered. “Drex, H'darr?”

Zaraigus just blinked at her in disbelief, but did what was requested of him and poked his head up from cover. Their opponents had vanished, Drex through the window and he had no idea where H'darr was. All he could see was the barkeep meekly staring at him from behind the shot-up bar.

“They're gone. I didn't see which way H'darr went.”

She shook her head as if to disagree but ended up coughing and spraying blood down her front.
“D-Drex is the mark...he's the...one we need. Follow him, Zaraigus...get....answers.”

“What are you talking about?! I can't leave you here, you clinkin' fool! You need medical help!”

She grabbed his arm them using her own cybernetic one with such force that it almost caused Kael to wince. “I'll.....I'll be fine, Zaraigus. It'll take more than this to take me down. Now.....get a-after Drex, quickly! B-before he gets away!”

He'd seen that look before. Sometimes there was no arguing with Sachni, especially when she knew she was right. With a resigned nod Zaraigus leaned her gently against the corner of the booth that they had been taking cover behind and picked his blaster carbine but up from the floor.

“I'll be back soon, Sachni.”

Standing with the expression of a predator, Zaraigus walked through the carnage, as he charged up his blaster. “You!” He said, pointing to the barkeep. “Get her medical attention, NOW.”

Stepping into the dark Coruscant night, he readied his gun and looked around for signs of which way Drex had gone. As it turned out, it didn't take long; the thug had left a trail in his wake that even a youngling could follow: across the street people were looking flustered as a human and rodian could be seen helping another human up off the ground. It seemed he had been knocked down by someone in a panic. 'Good.' Zaraigus thought to himself. 'He's not too far ahead.'

Opening a hatch on his Bronzium armour he pressed a complex combination of buttons and closed the hatch again as parts of the back of the armour shifted and folded to reveal a pair of jet thrusters which locked into position with an audible 'clunk'. Pressing a button on his gauntlet a holo-display popped up and Zaraigus punched in another combination of controls before bracing himself as the rockets ignited, propelling him high into the sky.

Narrowly missing low-flying speeders, he focused on the streets below as he punched some more commands into the holo-display which created a semi transparent H.U.D over his eyes. Scanning the streets, he identified Drex running through an alley darting from left to right to avoid detection. Setting after him from much higher above, Zaraigus caught up and hung overhead as he weaved through the back-streets and, taking his time to line up the shot, the Bounty Hunter magnified the H.U.D until he had a lock on Drek then altered his aim to a few feet in front of him and fired a rocket.

The projectile screamed through the air and hit its mark with terrible ferocity catching a totally unaware Drex off-guard. As the rocket slammed into the alley a few feet in front of him and exploded, Drex tried to stop and take cover but was not quick enough as a piece of flying masonry hit him square in the chest, slamming him into the opposite wall.

When he regained consciousness Drex saw the form of Zaraigus looming over him with a blaster combine trained square on his face.

“Give me reasons not to end you, Drex.” Kael began. “..and do it quickly.”

Putting a hand up in front of his face to shield him from harm, Drex wailed a plea:

“Please don't kill me! I-I was only doing as I was told!” He whimpered. “I'll tell you everything, EVERYTHING! just please don't kill me!”

Zaraigus charged up the rifle and moved nearer to Drex who pushed himself against the wall, virtually trying to crawl into the brickwork to get away from him.

“How about you tell me everything you know, and I'll decide whether to let you live or not.”

“Wait, WAIT!” Drex continued as he cowered. “I...I'll cut you a deal! Just...just let me go and I'll tell you who The Cutter is! T-that'd be worth major credits to a 'hunter like you, right?”

Zaraigus raised an eyebrow but kept the gun pointed at the small-time crook.

“The Coruscant Cutter? What do you know about them?”

“I know their identity. I can give you names, holovids, places, times....”

Zaraigus scoffed at what he assumed was a bluff. “Where would a nobody like you get that kinda intel, Drex? Stop wasting my time and tell me who killed Harakadan and where I can find 'em.”

Drex shook his head in frustration.

“That's what I'm trying to tell you! It was The Cutter that killed your Devo friend! I know this for a fact because The Cutter is one of us....one of the Karaffgar!”

Zaraigus suddenly lurched forward and took Drex by the scruff of his collar and rammed the carbine into his gut.

“And the catch? There's always a 'catch', Drex...”

“S-simple..” The crook stuttered. “The Cutter...I tell you who it is, you gotta 'off 'em. If you don't, I'm dead.”

An hour later, Kael was in the waiting area of White Mercy Medical Facility awaiting news on Sachni's condition. It seemed the barkeep had some spark of decency in him, something that seemed odd in this town.
The details of what Drex had told him were running through his mind:

It seemed that after Harakadan had stolen the stealth suit she had approached Zaresch under his alias of H'darr, first for money and then to arrange protection for her. He aided her in getting to Corellia and stashing it and then Zaresch had contacted Drex to see if protection of his client was something the Karaffgar syndicate could help with. The Karaffgar agreed, but decided to look into Harakadan and learned of Eitwee and his hiring of Zaraigus. Drex had been ordered to follow him and make sure he didn't get to close to the truth.
In the meantime, Drex had discovered that Zaresch had decided to seize on an opportunity and double-crossed both Harakadan and The Karaffgar by trying to steal the suit for himself, but when he went back to Corellia it was not in the original hiding place. Enraged, Zaresch got Drex to convince the Karaffgar to try to get the suit from Harakadan and split the profit of the suit between them.

The Karaffgar sent one of their deadliest agents to interrogate Harakadan but ended up murdering her when she refused to divulge the location of the suit.
That agent was the same individual that the HoloNet had dubbed “The Coruscant Cutter”, one of The Karaffgar's top hitmen, and now Zaraigus knew who they were...and where to find them.

He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the nautolan nurse hovering nearby until she spoke.

“Mr Kael? Your colleague is awake now. She's asking to speak to you.”

The recuperation room was stark and bare but had a large viewing window with a superb view of the Coruscant skyline at night, a window which Sachni was staring out of from her sleeper as Zaraigus entered the room.

“Day-dreaming again?” He said playfully when he realised she hadn't noticed him enter the room.
Sachni turned to him and smiled then, relieved to see her old friend.

“Hi Kael,” she smiled, her former energy and health restored. “Not day-dreaming so much, just thinking. Did you catch Drex?”

Pulling out a chair he sat beside her as she looked at him, eager to know what had happened.

“I did.” he replied. “He didn't put up much of a fight, which was a shame.”

“And? What did you find out?”

With a sigh he continued:

“That we're in the middle of something nasty. Harakaden is definitely dead and Zaresch is as good as worm-food too.” Taking her hand gently, he held it and carried on. “It was The Cutter, Sachni. Harakadan was killed by The Cutter, and it seems they work for The Karrafgar.”

“The Coruscant Cutter?” She exclaimed, surprised. “But...but The Cutter is a serial killer, not a hitman!”

Zaraigus nodded. “That's what I thought, at first. Thing is I looked into all the victims. No matter how small or inconsequential, they all had dealings with that syndicate. Those were hits Sachni, not random acts of violence.” He watched as she thought things through in her head before changing the subject.

“So what's the verdict? Have you been given a clean bill of health?”

“I'll recover,” she said, squinting at her companion slightly. “The physicians said the surgery went well, but I can't have cubs any more. It's very sweet of you to ask....now stop dodging the issue and tell me what your planning.”

Again, Zaraigus sighed and let go of her hand.

“I know who the Cutter is, Sachni.” He said in a sombre tone. “I'm going after them.”

“Not without me you don't!” she said, virtually exploding from eagerness. “I'm not letting you take the credit for this one, I'll be out of here in two days...a week at the most!”

Zaraigus stood and moved the chair out of the way.

“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.”

As he walked toward the door she hung her head, defeated by the logic of his words but stung by the uselessness of her situation.

“Don't worry, Sach. As far as I'm concerned, we split this one fifty-fifty.”



As he stalked through the old abandoned building Zaraigus felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, a sure sign he was either doing something exceptionally dangerous or horrifically dumb. Still, this was The Cutter. The big one. If he could pull this one off he and Sachni could pretty much retire.
It didn't take him long to find the concealed hatch in the floor that Drex had mentioned, covered by a holgraphic image of some old transport crates.
A metal ladder descended into darkness on the other side of the hatch, but he went down regardless only to discover that it was a tunnel of some sort and that light could be seen around a corner in the distance.
Crouching down he crept his way along, keeping in close to the walls and keeping his blaster ready and armed.
As he rounded the corner he saw the light was coming from some old-style hanging lanterns that hung at intervals from a long cable that snaked its way along the walls of the tunnel. The whole place had a decidedly industrial feel to it, complete with large shielded turbines at certain intervals which helped to circulate the air and gave the whole place a constant humming sound.
A few hundred feet into the tunnel, Zaraigus came across a large steel door in the right-hand wall, just as Drex had described.
He approached it cautiously and ducked against the wall as the door suddenly creaked into life and opened.

A figure stepped through the door then and closed it behind them, leaning against it. The figure was that of a human woman who had a disturbing smile on her face and, having seemingly not seen Zaraigus as she leaned against the closed door, had closed her eyes.

The Cutter of Coruscant.

He crept in closer, secure in the knowledge he had not been seen just as she opened her eyes and went to walk forward.

The sound of a blaster powering up on her right and the barrel pressed against her right temple made her stop and the smile almost left her face....but not quite.

"Xen Raffini, you're coming with me."

Xen just smirked.

"Well, you took your sweet time..."



fin