[Tethys Carrack]

Now that the city is secured (well, mostly), Tethys is at last able to spend a few hours doing what under normal circumstances she'd have done on her first day off the transport: wandering at random through the city, getting a sense of how the people here live. The atmosphere is thicker than most places she'd visited in peacetime--both literally, with smoke from the fighting and dust from the rebuilding efforts, and within her sense of the Force, which tells her that the people here are still anxious, tired, worried for the future. But people are out in the streets, working and rebuilding and talking to their neighbors. It's something.

Tethys steers away from the central commercial areas of town, letting her feet take her through residential districts and neglected neighborhood parks.

[Nekoinu]

Coming over the channel, a man relayed an address not too far from Tethys in a hushed voice. "They're sweeping the building right now. P-please, somebody out there. I have a family. We just had the most beautiful baby girl you'd ever see." The man went silent for a bit before repeating the address. "Hurry, please."

[Tethys Carrack]

Raising her eyebrows, Tethys flicks the mic on her commlink to active and turns up the volume somewhat. At the same time, she looks around to find her bearings on the map of this part of the city as best she can remember it--she's been walking without any particular direction, paying more attention to people and scenes than to addresses and signage, but if the Force is with her it shouldn't take long to get re-oriented.

"I read you. On my way, but who's 'they'? Can you talk?" Catching sight of the nearest street sign, she sweeps into motion. "The more you can tell me, the sooner I can call in more help."

[Nekoinu]

The man began repeating the address but was soon interrupted by a loud crash in the background. He quieted down and did not say a word but a faint bit of Mando'a could be caught.

[Tethys Carrack]

Tethys picks up the pace, breaking into a jog. She flicks through channels on her comm as she goes until she hits the one for the Republic dispatcher and can report in on the distress call. She gives the address and explains (a bit breathlessly), "I'm on my way to look around, but if there's a squad in the area, flag it for them, please. If someone needs medical, or there are weapons involved, I could use the backup."

She approaches the next intersection and slows down to a walk as she rounds the corner--the building in question should be just ahead. She doesn't know if whatever this is can be resolved with words or whether it's likely to get rough, but either way, bolting toward the building at an open run could arouse suspicions that would make the situation more difficult to manage.

[Nekoinu]

The building in question was tall compared to its surroundings. It did not scrape the skies like the ones on more urban planets but there were still several stories. From the outside at least, it appeared to be an apartment of sorts. As for the streets themselves, they appeared to be abandoned of any life. There were signs of earlier carnage but none of the blood was fresh. The corpses as well were old and had begun to be unpleasant.

[Tethys Carrack]

Cautiously, staying out of the open and sticking to the sides of the other nearby buildings as much as possible, Tethys crosses the intersection and enters the building. She keeps her hand near her lightsaber...

[Nekoinu]

Over the commlink, a door crashed open. All that could be heard was the slight noise of footsteps. However, soon after there was screaming, pleas for mercy, until there was an abrupt snap that cut out the rest of the noise.

The building itself, however, was eerily quiet. The building had clearly been ransacked on this level and the blood was once more dry.

[Tethys Carrack]

Well, that tears it. Abandoning her rather thin efforts at stealth, Tethys races up the nearest stairwell, ears open for the first level she reaches that has any sounds of current activity.

[Nekoinu]

It would take a daft individual to not notice any oddities in the situation. The only noise, other than her own footsteps, was the beeping of her commlink from a nearby Republic squad whose goal was to notify her of their arrival soon. But as she got up closer to the top, there seemed to be a loud beeping sound coming from a console inside a room with a broken door.

[Tethys Carrack]

Two frown lines appear between Tethys's eyebrows, and she unclips her lightsaber from her belt as she paces toward the broken door. She nudges it open with one booted foot.

[Nekoinu]

The room had a grissly blood trail leading away from a misplaced hand and the shattered remains of a commlink. A large computer console continued to beep as there were still no signs of any lifeforms inside.

[Tethys Carrack]

They couldn't possibly have got in and out that fast... could they? If this was the site of the scuffle she'd heard over her comlink, surely she wouldn't have missed the attackers if they'd left the building. Tethys frowns harder and steps into the room for a look at the computer console.

She scuffs her boot toe through the blood trail as she goes--is it as cold as everything else in this building, or fresher?

[Nekoinu]

The blood appeared to be as aged as the others, and the hand was in not great condition due to nature's devices. The console, however, was very much still operatable. When activated, a holocall began.



"You again? And only you? Is this what you Jedi would relate to the 'Force?' So be it." Eralynn lifted a detonator in her hand with a blank expression on her face. "Your building is rigged with explosives. But perhaps I would be wasting a challenge. Do you agree?"

[Tethys Carrack]

Tethys feels her heart rate speeding up, and consciously slows her breathing, drawing on the cool, swift current of the Force to calm herself. If she's meant to die today, she will die. But she doesn't think so, somehow.

"Eralynn Varad." She cocks an eyebrow, projecting confidence. "That depends on what you would consider a challenge."

[Nekoinu]

The Mandalorian waved the detonator around, like a babble to play with. "I was told that the head of a Jedi Knight would be a worthy prize for a hunter. Are the capabiltiies of a Jedi Knight overstated?"

[Tethys Carrack]

“If you think of Jedi only as animals to hunt, I’d say understated,” Tethys replies, mind racing beneath her relatively serene exterior. “But you’ll have a difficult time finding my head to claim it if you actually blow this building now.”

Inwardly, she curses the meticulous impulse that had her call in to the Republic forces before investigating. If this building really is wired with explosives, then empty or not it could still take out other buildings on the block and their inhabitants—and one Jedi, of course—but a Republic patrol running in would make it a more successful trap. But without the kind of fancy subvocal comlink she most definitely does not own, she has no way to call the soldiers off without Varad knowing. ‘Blown up after baiting a half dozen others to their deaths’ would be an ignominious end for a Jedi.

[Nekoinu]

The Mandalorian smiled. "Very true, Knight Carrack." She relaxed her arm holding the detonator. "Why did you come here alone to check out the distress call?" she asked. There was no judgment in this voice that time. Her voice was clerical, studious.

[Tethys Carrack]

“Because whomever you got to make that recording made it sound convincingly time-sensitive. If I found I needed backup, there are Republic forces in the area,” Tethys replies, neglecting to mention that backup has in fact already been called. “But the last time I tangled with your men they didn’t impress me with their competence.

She quirks an eyebrow at the vid pickup. “And what is in this scheme for you? More valiant combat from a few klicks’ safe distance?”

Needling the woman who claims to have the place you’re standing rigged with explosives may not be the best idea, but Tethys is feeling piqued.

[Nekoinu]

"The distress call was convincing because it was real. It an echo from the past, a recording of what we had intercepted." Eralynn's hand followed the broken door to the blood trail. "If it is any consolation, we did not massacre all of them. I offered them the same deal. You may hear the explosions this time, Knight Carrack."

She perked her brow, curiosity surged in her. "Have you fought with any Mando'ade? Or are you referring to those who sought the honor of the title?"

The Mandalorian warlord held the remote in her armored glove up again for the knight to see. "The battle is yours for Uthan Mil. Now, I merely seek to test your Republic's resolve in aiding these people." Her finger hovered by the trigger for a brief moment. "But I am satisfied with what I have seen here." She pulled out the back of the device, along with the wiring, and then tossed it aside. "Do you have questions for me or are you going to silence me again? I was told that Jedi were diplomatic and your actions did not support such a claim."

[Tethys Carrack]

"The ones you sent." Tethys shrugs one shoulder, though a muscle in her jaw is twitching--between her dark skin, the bad light in here, and the cheap commercial-quality vid pickup, perhaps not very noticeably. "Everyone under your command represents you. The arcana of your rank system matters very little to me."

She frowns at the vid pickup and considers cutting the com again, right now, just to annoy Varad. "Jedi are peaceful, not idiots. I had half a dozen bombs to deal with and no time to waste on small talk with a terrorist. You've just told me our current circumstances are much the same. What do you expect me to ask you?"

[Nekoinu]

"I had thought the Jedi to be more studious. They were not true members of my people. Do you consider any mercenary to be a part of the Republic Military?"

The Mandalorian nodded. "I am studying you. I imagined that you would study your enemy too. Do as you wish."

[Tethys Carrack]

"I consider the Republic responsible for anyone it hires to fight its battles, yes," Tethys says coolly. "Subcontracting is not without risks. A commander is ultimately accountable for anyone acting under her command." She fixes the hologram with a skeptical glower. "Is that not, in fact, the case among your people?"

[Nekoinu]

"What about volunteers? I paid them no credits. They only wished to join us by proving their worth. As you saw, they were worth little." Eralynn crossed her arms. "They were not of my family nor even my people. If they had been, I would speak of them with more respect. But the truth is, they are nothing more than the vermin you protect."

[Tethys Carrack]

"I would have expected this kind of sophistry from a Corporate Sector flack, not a Mandalorian warrior." Her air of skepticism increases. "Did you accept their service and give them orders? Did you send them to terrorize civilians? If you ordered them to risk their lives without reward, that doesn't make you less responsible, it just makes you more of a parasite. You're already a leech on this planet, draining lives and loot without creating anything people need to live."

"Even if some day you kill me, Eralynn Varad, it won't make me respect you. From what I have seen, nothing will, short of making full restitution for the lives you've spoiled." Tethys reaches toward the console switch. "Is there any other business you have to speak with me about, since you went to such efforts to lure me here?"