Coronet City Blues [Ghostie]

[Meira]

She keyed in her selection on the small screen at the side of the machine The inner mechanisms whirred and one can fell down the chute. The mechanisms continued to whir, but a second can did not descend. She retrieved the first and waited, but the whirring stopped. She sighed, glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention, and made a discrete gesture with her hand. The second can tumbled down. Picking it up, Meira weaved her way through the rows of chairs back to where Kol was seated with their bags.

Meira and Kol hadn't met before this assignment, but that was hardly abnormal for Jedi. Especially since the war, and even now during the armistice, the Jedi were spread out across the galaxy. Assignments were doled out to whoever was in the area. It was not difficult to work with other Jedi she did not know though. Meira found that they all shared the common ground of being raised in the Order. So, while they might not know the personal details, all Jedi could feel comfortable in the knowledge that they knew one another.

For this assignment, Meira and Kol were traveling incognito. She'd eschewed her typical Jedi robes for utilitarian outfit more suited to a private security officer. Black pants with shin high boots, and a dark grey tank top under a cropped black half jacket. She'd pulled her hair, all braids dreads and curls, back and secured it with a thick band. One dread escaped though and hung at the right side of her face. They had brought bags with them, as other people often did on public transport. They traveled under pseudonyms. For this mission, she was Mina Betuul.

"Might want to open it slowly." she said, handing one of the cans to Kol as she sat down. "The machine wasn't really cooperating."

Opening her own drink, Meira glanced up at the status board that hung over the main doors of the transport. The ETA to dock at Coronet City was about ten minutes. Right on schedule. Senator Breen's security chief would be meeting them at the port. When the Order heard that Breen's security had put out a request to hire additional support on several channels, they'd offered the services of the Jedi. Breen didn't agree with the optics of having Jedi on his security during the opening of the new spaceport, however, and so they'd agreed to keep that aspect under wraps. The payment that would have gone to mercenaries instead was donated to a Onderonian refugee relief fund. Everyone was happy.

"Ever been to Corellia before?" Meira asked, looking up at the man next to her. They must have looked like quite an odd pair. He was nearly a foot taller and easily a hundred pounds heavier than she. But they both carried themselves with the strength and confidence of beings that knew how to handle themselves in a tussle. "I haven't." she said, taking a sip of her drink.

[Ghostie]

The muscles in Kol's arms stretched tight as he flexed in front of his face, his fingers interlaced and turned inward, elbows pointed out and up. As his shoulder's pulled, the Jedi Master could feel the miniscule bones in his fingers snap, and heard every one of the very audible cracks as they came forth. As he stretched his arms, he likewise stretched out his feet and legs under him, twisting his feet some as he did so. His boots were discarded on the floor next to his luggage, the laces tangled with one another. One of Kol's socks had a sizable hole, letting his large toe peak out just a bit. The tear hadn't there before he fell asleep. The lighting was dim, and if they weren't so close to Coronet, he would've considered rolling over and trying to fall back to sleep. Yawning a bit, the Jedi decided that a good stretch after a long nap always felt amazing. Amazing for him, at least, especially after being cramped in such close quarters. Not amazing for the people seated in front of Kol as he stretched out his legs. The man had accidentally kicked the chair in front of him, and a middle-aged green Twi'lek sat up and shot him a dirty look, her eyes narrowed with a closed-lipped frown to follow. Kol had remembered her from the beginning of the trip, as she guided her children of assorted shades onto the ship.

"Sorry, ma'am."

The Twi'lek slowly sat back down next to one of her youngest children, but not before Kol caught her giving a long, frowning glance to another approaching being. Kol didn't need to follow her gaze to see who it was, he could sense his companion through the Force. After all, they were the only two Jedi on this transport. But Kol did anyways, just to see Meira Valli sit down, and offer him a canned beverage. Something fizzy and carbonated. Stuff Kol usually tried to avoid. But he was too polite to refuse, and the sugar and caffeine would probably give him a needed boost after his long nap. Accepting the can with a smile and a nod, Kol set it down and waited for the chemicals inside to calm down before opening it. Instead he sat up, and pulled the hair tie off of his wrist. It was time to try and wrangle the golden mane he kept on his head.

"Once..." Kol answered Meira's question, his teeth grasping the hair tie. Running his hands through his hair to gather it up, Kol finished before he continued talking. A few pieces of blonde hair fell around his face, but for the most part, he was presentable. Between the two Jedi, Kol wasn't sure who's hair was more fabulous. "... During the War. Passed through on my way to Brentaal. Didn't exactly get the chance to stop and see the sights, or sample the local cuisine." He finished with a small grin.

A bit of dry humor was his way of trying to get comfortable around Meira. She was a fellow Jedi, and a Master at that. And from what Kol had seen so far, she was nice enough. There was no reason to not trust each other, but being comfortable around one another to work well together was different. And Kol partially blamed himself for that. This was the first time since the War that he had worked with another Jedi. He had spent a lot of time out on the border, helping planets rebuild and readjust. He had spent a lot of time away from the Temple, the Jedi. From everything. It was nice to have some company for a change. Maybe he'd have to do it more often.

"So, are you used to these sort of..." Kol stopped himself short. He had almost said missions. Subterfuge and undercover work was not a strong suit for him. Some might say he was a front-lines sort of guy, not a behind-the-lines sort of guy. As to why a senator of the Republic wanted to keep the Jedi's presence a secret, the Master wouldn't ever understand. Kol had tried to reason with the Council that such a decision was insensible at best, and suspicious at worse, but they chose to follow through with the Senator's request. So far, Kol had managed to keep to his cover of 'Ben Betuul'. Hopefully he could keep it up. With a quick pause, the Jedi found the right word to finish his sentence. "... Trips?"

Grabbing the can of soda pop, Kol cracked it open quickly, some fizz spilling out and onto the top of it. Slurping the sweet drink off the top of the can, his two very different eyes glanced up to the ETA board. Seven minutes until docking.

"Sorry for falling asleep. I didn't sore, did I?"

[Meira]

Meira leaned away from Kol as he moved to tie his hair back. He was a big man, and took up quite a bit of space. Once the threat of being elbowed in the forehead diminished, she settled back comfortably into her seat as he answered her question. Nodding her head, she returned his smile. The war had pulled her through many systems in a similar way. Long enough to do some damage, or to prevent the worst of the damage being done. Time to sleep, if she was lucky, and then on again. She'd hated everything about the war, and the inability to be present and to acknowledge the places around her would be chief among her complaints... if she was one to complain. Maybe she would, one day when she was old and grey and it didn't matter anymore. But she couldn't, wouldn't now. The galaxy might be at peace but it was a fool who believed that peace was a lasting one.

At Kol's question, Meira lifted a hand, wobbling it back and forth. "Sorta." she said. "I did a lot of diplomatic work before the war. But it was all different then." she hesitated, looked around, and then continued. "People saw us as a neutral party then. Good facilitators. Now..." she sighed, "We're thought of as enforcers."

She didn't get to elaborate, as the transport's captain came on over the comms, informing everyone that they would be docking in a few minutes. Attendants moved about the cabin, encouraging everyone to take their seats for the final approach. Meira leaned down, absentmindedly checking her bag, though she knew it was ready to go.

"Not too much." she said in response to Kol's worry, chuckling slightly. It hadn't bothered her, as she'd also fallen asleep for most of the trip. There had been a cranky looking toydarian glaring at them both though, when she'd woken up.

---

Not long after, the ship had landed and the two Jedi moved with the crowd through the spaceport. This was the older spaceport for the city, of course. The new one would be opened in the morning. Senator Breen was the one doing the ceremonial ribbon cutting. Meira wondered if he'd be using those comically big scissors that were always used on the holonet shows. Crowded as this spaceport was, it seemed a good thing that the city would be getting another one to ease the congestion.

"We're looking for a Pantoran named..." she said to Kol, trailing off as she checked her small datapad, "Chi Haruk. You see anyone from up there?" she quipped. At her height, all Meira could see was shoulders.

[Ghostie]

As Kol laced up his boots, wiggling his toe with the hole in his sock back and forth a bit, he mulled over something Meira had said. About how the Jedi used to be good facilitators, and not strong-armed enforcers. It reminded the Jedi about his training under Master Talzuk, the Jedi Watchman. Dealing with local and planetary governments. There had been a fair share of action, to be sure. But the most of it had been deliberating with people, finding compromises, and sorting out issues with words and not lightsabers. Then the War had come. It had dominated the majority of Kol’s knighthood, and given the man enough violence for several lifetimes. By this point in his life, he was used to enforcing peace, and not guiding others towards it.

And Kol wasn’t sure he liked how comfortable he was with that idea.

Finally, the time came for the two Jedi to leave their seats. Kol stood and threw on his wine-red coat, the high collar popped up and brushing his scruffy chin. The soft pressure of a metal cylinder against his left breast assured him that his lightsaber was still in place within his jacket, and not jostled about by the crowd. The brown bag Kol carried with him was thrown over one shoulder, and descended towards the opposite hip. Politely offering to take Meira’s bag as well, he followed his companion from the transport and down the loading ramp.

Now, Kol had prior knowledge that Coronet would be bathed in darkness and moonlight when the Jedi landed. But that didn't stop him from wishing, for missing, a little bit of sun on his face after such a long ride. The artificial glow of street lamps and buildings and neon signs just didn't cut it for him. Coronet, of course, was still very bright. Much like Coruscant itself, the city never slept. And the docks the transport was tethered to may as well have been drenched in sunlight as it was so illuminated. The light let Kol see that if he thought the chaos inside the transport was bad as the passengers scrambled to leave, then the spaceport unloading zone may as well have been one of the CorellIian’s nine layers of hell.

“Not yet. Pantoran? Got it.” He looked down at Meira, making himself heard over the din and bustle of the sizeable crowd in front of them as he answered her. “Think he’ll have one of those cheesy cardstock signs?” Kol joked.

There's hadn't been the only transport to dock recently, as it seemed a few others had come to Coronet in sequence. The size of the crowd was untenable, the noise deafening. Kol stayed close to Meira so he didn't happen to lose her among the mass of shoulders and arms and legs. But loosing her wouldn't be an issue if they couldn't get anywhere. The usually polite Kol decided that their mission took precedence over these other people offloading themselves and their luggage. Stepping out front, he started to use his weight and his height to simply walk forward and towards the street, bumping through the crowd and clearing a path, throwing out the occasional ‘sorry’ and ‘excuse us’ as he went.

Finding the street beyond the crowd only took a few minutes, and after that, the Pantoran was even easier. The poor man stood out like a sore thumb. He wore was would usually be a fashionable uniform of Corellian green, accented with gold. But against his Pantoran blue skin and yellow tattoos, all the colors clashed horribly. Not to mention, the military style cap didn’t help. And, of course, he hefted a sign which had scrawled on it rather hastily, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Betuul’. Kol wasn't sure if that was really the Jedi's cover, but the Pantoran probably knew as little as he did. Behind the alien was a rather ordinary speeder, sporty, but nothing special. The type of thing a young man would dream of as his first vehicle.

Kol threw a cautionary glance at Meira. This didn't seem very undercover. Walking up to the Pantoran, Kol introduced the two Jedi rather ungracefully.

“I'm Ben. This is Mina.”

“Chi.” The alien said rather boredly and monotone. “Boss is waiting.” And before the words were even out of his mouth, the young man was already climbing into the speeder. Kol was quick on the uptake, following suit as he clambered into the backseat. Setting his bag next to him, the Jedi’s knees collided with the back of the driver’s seat.

“Mind moving forward a bit, please?”

[Meira]

Meira smiled and shrugged her shoulders at Kol's question. Chi very well might have one of those cheesy card stock signed. "If it ain't broke..." she said, allowing the common phrase to go unfinished as she skimmed through her datapad, trying to find an image of their contact. Her ability to move and browse her datapad quickly became much easier when Kol decided to act as a plow of sorts. Meira positioned herself behind her companion, moving easily in his wake as he cleared the way through the crowded port. In the end, she hadn't needed to pull up the image, as Kol had found the man.

The introductions were brief and to the point. Meira did find herself actively resisting the urge to bow slightly toward the man. Habits were a hard thing to break, after all. She instead went for a casual bob of her chin. Chi didn't seem to be phased, and turned to lead them toward a speeder. Meira suppressed an amused smile as Kol folded himself into the back seat of the speeder. Honestly, it was impressive that he fit at all. He really should have taken the front seat though. Meira quickly hopped in as well, fitting easily into the seat on the back passenger side.

Chi adjusted his seat as best as he could to accommodate Kol, and then maneuvered the speeder away from the spaceport and toward the Bandorf Plaza Hotel where Senator Breen was staying while in Coronet City. Chi was quiet for most of their trip, inquiring only about their comfort during the trip in from Coruscant. Meira assured him that they had traveled comfortably. She thumbed through her datapad for the remainder of their short speeder ride, looking for articles on the event the next morning. She selected the most recent one, a local holonews network piece and scanned through it. When she was done, she offered the datapad to Kol in case he wanted to read it as well.

Senator Jarvin Breen is in Coronet City ahead of the grand opening of the Solosten Spaceport tomorrow morning. The new spaceport, funded largely by the Solosten foundation which was created by former monarch Rook Solosten, will bring much needed relief to the overcrowded Coronet Municipal Spaceport. Senator Breen has worked closely with the project and was a key element in securing the foundation's backing. Senator Breen is, of course, running for reelection to the Galactic Senate and while he is projected to secure his seat for another term, his challenger Orpha Ringley has been gaining support among those who have opposed the Onderonian refugee programs and the small but vocal isolationist factions. Full services for the spaceport will commence after a brief ribbon cutting ceremony at nine o'clock local time.

Chi brought the speeder down at the entrance to the Bandorf and stepped out, moving to open the back passenger door. Meira beat him to it though, and stepped out herself. Bellhops and a valet rushed over to greet them, but Meira waived them off with a quick "No, thank you." Carrying her own bag now, a small black duffel slung over her left shoulder, Meira followed Chi into the hotel lobby.

The lobby was the definition of opulence. White marble floors were covered with vast expanses of lush green carpets, accented with gold filigree. The round atrium was dominated by a central fountain, surrounded by marble column that rose several stories, drawing the eyes upward toward a glass dome that would allow natural sunlight in during the day, but now displayed a holoprojection of the starry skies that one would not naturally be able to see in the artificial light that flooded Coronet City by night. alon the leftmost wall of the atrium from the entrance, a long counter housed several employees ready to help arriving guests check into their rooms. Chi led them toward one of the available attendants who greeted them with a wide smile. Chi gave the woman their information, mentioning the Kelper reservation. The attendant quickly made room keys for them and informed them that they would be staying in the Vreni suite, adjacent to the rest of their party. Chi then quickly led them toward the lifts to take them to their room.

"Standard procedure." Chi said, once the lift doors closed. "When staying at hotels, the Senator uses the name Kelper. You will have a few minutes to settle your belongings in your rooms, which connect to the Bela Vital suite, where the Senator is staying." The lift doors opened again and Chi led them along the corridor, which was open along one side to the the central atrium. When they arrived at their door, Chi nodded to them both. "Five minutes. Please, do not be late." He then moved away, toward another door and disappeared through it.

"Alright then." Meira said, and tapped her keycard to the panel on the door to their rooms. It opened with a quiet swoosh.

[Ghostie]

The brass doors to the entrance of the turbolift came together with a ding as they moved smoothly and slowly when the Pantoran pressed a few buttons on the side panel. The lift was just as opulent as the rest of the hotel, lined with brass which was engraved artfully on the walls that didn't slide away, depicting a piece of countryside scenery. The top of each wall was lined with a bar of light, brilliantly illuminating the whole, small room. The ornate lobby and matching elevator was lost on Kol; he thought it almost gaudy. The man would never understand the need of others to flaunt their wealth. He sighed a bit as they took off, the feeling of movement barely there as the Jedi Master adjusted the bag that was slung across his body. Each floor they passed by left left a subtle, short ding it's wake as the numbers changed on the panel in front of Chi.

Something the Pantoran said caught Kol’s attention, and saved him from staring blindly into one of the engravings on the wall. That Senator Breen had made hotel reservations under a pseudonym, under a false name. It's may have just been the Jedi Master, but something about that didn't sound right to him. The Senator was being secretive. Protective. Jedi brought is secretly as back-up. Secret identities. And the cloak and dagger routine was starting to wear a bit thin on Kol. He didn't want to accuse the Senator under false suspicions, but something didn't sit right with him. Something felt off. Perhaps Breen was expecting trouble? Could it be something about the article that Kol and Meira read in the speeder about his rival?

Or it could be that Kol simply felt out of place while undercover.

“Ladies first.” Kol said lightly, as the pair of Jedi finally came to the door of their suite. Meira keyed the door open and entered, followed swiftly by Kol, who locked the door again before throwing a cautionary glance over his shoulder and down the hall. No one was around, not even a cleaning droid.

As the Jedi turned back around, his eyes were met with a room just as indulgent as the hotel’s lobby and turbolift. To Kol’s right was a bar and kitchen, which seemed fully stocked for whatever patrons may come. The seating and counters were black, and everything else had a dark wood finish with warm lighting. Just beyond that was a door, leading to what looked like a single bedroom. Kol supposed that fit the Jedi’s cover. Luckily, there was an expanse sofa in the room they now stood in that looked just as comfortable and inviting as any bed. Across from that was a large holoscreen, seated above an already lit fireplace. And directly across from the Jedi was a pair of large balcony doors, giving an impressive view of the best parts of Coronet.

Kol strolled over to the couch, it's mossy green material soft to the touch and almost velvet-like. He threw his bag to one end, and proceeded to plop down on the furniture, spread out across it much like he owned it. He was, in a sort of fashion, claiming the sofa as a bed as it creaked under the sudden impact. The man could sleep anywhere. An expensive piece of furniture would feel like a cloud. And with the fireplace close at hand, he'd be more than warm enough. As much as Kol detested flaunting wealth, he had to say the room was nice; he appreciated the warm, open feeling it carried, between the greens and browns and wood and lighting.

“View’s nice.” He commented, having a good vantage on the city from his reclined position. Looking around, he spied Meria. “Seems like Breen expects trouble. What do you think?”

[Meira]

As they entered the room, Meira's eyes and senses scanned all around them. She didn't expect trouble, not here, but it was always a good idea to check things out. The accommodations were quite nice. The balcony was really their only security risk. Meira dropped her bag onto an easy chair that sat opposite the couch and move to the balcony doors. With a touch of her hand, she confirmed that they were reinforced transparisteel. Nothing short of an explosion would breach them. That was good. If there was an attack, which Meira thought unlikely, then they would know something was happening before they would be in immediate danger.

At the sound of furniture creaking, Meira turned to see Kol had settled onto the couch, along with his bag. A glance through the open doorway showed one bed, and Meira understood the gesture. She gave Kol a thankful half smile, but also arched an eyebrow at him. He barely fit on the thing.

"It is." she said in response to his statement, and then furrowed her brow at his question. "Possibly. It's not entirely strange for a Senator to use a pseudonym for lodging while traveling. A basic security precaution, though most don't bother on their home planets." She moved back over to the easy chair, placing her bag on the floor so that she could sit down. "He probably just doesn't want protesters showing up to the hotel."

Checking the choronometer on her wrist, Meira stood up and gestured with her head toward the door that connected their room to the adjacent one. "Come on." she said. "Don't want to be late."

Meira knocked on the connecting door, which opened after a few moments to let them through. Meira had thought their room had been overly spacious... until she saw this one. Their door opened to a spacious foyer with nothing in it save for a small round table at the center of the room with a bouquet of fresh flowers at its center. to their left was the suite's entrance door. To their right, a door led to what appeared to be a lounge room, complete with bar and couches. Across the room, Chi stood by an open door, beyond which was a conference table and a number of beings shuffling around into seats. Chi waved them over.

"Please, come in." Chi said.

The conference table was large enough for about a dozen beings, though there were only eight in the room, including Meira and Kol. Senator Breen was easy enough to spot. He stood at the head of the table, others moving around him like moons in orbit. Senator Breen was on the younger side of his fifties. His black hair was going grey at the temples, giving him a very distinguished look. He was tall, and lean, his senatorial garments giving him a very stately appearance. At seeing Meira and Kol, Breen smiled and gestured for his hangers on to begin taking their seats.

"I believe we are all here." Breen said, his voice easily projecting around the conference room. A long practiced skill, Meira thought. Breen waited for all to be seated. Kol and Meira would find themselves seated farthest from Breen, as his entourage claimed seats according to seniority.

"First, thank you all for coming. I know you're paid to be here..." he paused, allowing his people to chuckle, "but thank you all the same." Breen then gestured toward Meira and Kol. "Please welcome Mina and Ben Betuul. The Betuuls are private security contractors. They will provide us with a fresh set of eyes and boots on the ground, as it were." Breen's people all turned their heads toward the Jedi, bobbing them in greeting. "Now, Chi, please walk us through our plans for tomorrow." Breen gestured toward Chi, and then sat himself down at the head of the table.

Chi, who had not taken a seat, dimmed the lights using a control by the door. Then, with a small remote in his hand, he activated a holoprojector on the table. From that, sprang a three dimensional map of much of Coronet City. It held for a few seconds, and then moved in on one particular part.

"This is the Solosten Spaceport, which Senator Breen will be opening in the morning." Chi began. He then proceeded to detail the plans for the event. He began with highlighting three routes between the hotel and the spaceport. The route they would take would not be determined until in the morning. They were designated Green, Blue, and Gold, and word would be given on which route when the time came. They would leave at eight o'clock. Once at the spaceport, there would be a small private reception for the major donors in a conference room. At nine o'clock, the ceremony would begin. The open plaza at the spaceport's entrance would have a small stage erected. Minister of Travel, Nora Harden would speak first, and then Senator Breen would say a few words and cut the ribbon. They would retire to the conference room, and then leave from there, selecting one of the three routes back to the hotel. All said and done, they would be back at the hotel by ten, ten thirty at the latest. As he finished, Chi raised the lights again and deactivated the holoprojector.

"Ben, Mina, I am sure you have questions." Senator Breen said, standing. "Please, stay a moment so that we can discuss them. Everyone else, if you have no questions, enjoy the evening and we'll see you in the morning."

Dismissed, Breen's entourage all stood, talking quietly with each other as they shuffled from the room. In a few moments, Meira and Kol were alone with the senator. Chi exchanged nods with Breen and then stepped out, closing the door behind him. Through the Force, Meira could sense that the man waited just outside of the door.

"I hope you will forgive the secrecy, Master Jedi." Breen said to them both, giving them a slight bow of his head. "But these days, having Jedi in one's personal security detail seems to raise hackles more than it soothes fears. I trust your flight in was comfortable?"

[Ghostie]

As Senator Breen introduced Kol and Meira as the 'Bentuuls', it took all of the former's self-restraint to keep his composure in front of the Senator's personal security team. Having talked with Meira briefly in their own suite about Breen's cloak-and-dagger routine before the meeting, Kol had been convinced that he was simply jumping at shadows. That he wasn't used to undercover assignments, and would rather be out in the open. That he needed to be around politics more. But the Senator had just destroyed what confidence the Jedi Master had in the fact that this was all normal procedure. Now the man's own security didn't know he had Jedi on his team as well? How was Kol supposed to work with these people, when they didn't really know who he was?

"Comfortable enough..." Kol said rather flatly, letting a long pause drift into the now silent room. "... Senator Breen, why doesn't your own security team know that we're Jedi?" It was a rather straight forward, honest question. Kol wasn't indignant or rude, but one way or another he was going to find out just what sort of game the Senator was playing, and his voice made that clear. Avoiding protesters and wanting to look presentable for the next election season was one thing. Keeping your own security team in the dark was a complete other. As if his ruse had come to an end, Breen's face fell, and his eyes looked towards the table. He looked much older, as if the weight of all his years and the stress of his profession weighed on him and his wrinkles.

"We have a mole." The Senator said simply, his voice low. "Before you ask, I had Lieutenant Haruk sweep the room for bugs. He's the only one I can trust right now." Sighing a bit, the Senator stood and slowly walked around the table and towards the Jedi, explaining as he went. "The Bandorf wasn't our first choice of hotel. Originally we had booked suites at a place closer to the spaceport, but after we did so we received a tip from the staff that there had been numerous inquiries as to our reservations, by an off-worlder." As Breen finally reached the Jedi, he sat on the table next to them, one leg half hanging off of the edge. "So we switched to the Bandorf, and went under the pseudonym Kepler. Chi arrived before myself to secure things, but he was mugged for the holomap he carried; the one you just saw." Breen's face lit up a bit more. "But as you just saw as well, Chi was able to fend off his attackers. Still, no one knew of our previous reservations, no one knew we had switched, and no one knew about Chi's map, all aside from my team."

"Which is why you haven't chosen a path yet, to the spaceport." Kol added. Everything finally made sense, and the mission became much more clear for him, at least. They had to watch the security team as much as the crowd. Difficult, yet not impossible. To be honest, Kol felt a little ridiculous about being suspicious of the Senator, now.

"Precisely, Master Jedi. I was hoping you two could help me with that, as well as help with finding the mole." Breen confirmed. Pulling a remote from his pocket, he activated the holoprojector once again, bringing the map up. the three routes, the hotel, and the new spaceport were all highlighted. The lights stayed on this time, however. Kol studied the map for a moment, and then looked over at Meira with an idea.

"We could send a motorcade down each path, and then lie to the security team about which the Senator is in. Instead we'll be in it, and ready to stop whoever's at the other end."
     

[Meira]

The presentation had been quick, the plan simple. Meira could appreciate these things. Overly complicating plans never worked out in the end. She could sense that Kol was not at peace, nor was Senator Breen, though both were outwardly hiding the fact quite well. Patiently, she listened to the plan and observed the holoprojection as Chi spoke. When he was done, Senator Breen dismissed his people but bid the two Jedi to stay. Now would be the time they heard the truth of the matter. When the room was clear, Senator Breen addressed them, and Kol replied. The corner of Meira's lips turned up slightly at the way he pierced through to the heart of the matter. Blunt, yet kind. Her eyes studied the Senator as the question changed his whole demeanor. His explanation was not surprising, but it was disheartening. Security had always been difficult for high ranking government officials, that was nothing new. But betrayal from close confidants would always be painful.

"I am sorry for your troubles, Senator." Meira said as Kol studied the map. "We will of course do all that we can to help you root out your mole."

""We could send a motorcade down each path, and then lie to the security team about which the Senator is in. Instead we'll be in it, and ready to stop whoever's at the other end."

Meira had turned her head toward Kol as he spoke. Her eyes then moved to the three highlighted routes as she thought. Another simple, but effective plan. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, considering. "Assuming the mole was one of the staff members in the meeting, they will know there are three options, and that they won't be able to prepare for one ahead of time. They will be ensuring that they can move on any of the three routes tomorrow." she said, and then turned to the Senator. "I would recommend that you take a different route entirely. You and Chi alone on a small, fast transport. We will take your place in one of the motorcades to spring the trap on your mole."

Senator Breen nodded along. "I believe we can manage that." he said.

"I must warn you, Senator." Meira continued. "When the time comes to act, we will not likely be able to continue under our cover. To be most effective, we must be free to utilize our training." Meira was not about to try to get into a gunfight.

"Of course." Breen said, nodding again to both of them. "When the time comes to act, there will be no more need for secrecy. I have always had the upmost respect and appreciation for your Order, and I must beg your pardon for all of this."

Meira waved away his apology. "It is our privilege to serve the Republic." she said.

"Thank you." Breen replied, a genuine smile returning to his face. "Now, it is quite late and I am sure you are both tired from your travels. Please, get some rest. You may request anything you need from Lieutenant Haruk."

Meira stood, bowing slightly to the Senator before turning to leave the room. Chi nodded his head to both Jedi as he passed them, entering the room as they exited. Meira led the way back to their own suite, closing the door behind them. Looking to Kol, she continued to ponder the situation. "It's a good plan." she said, giving the other Jedi a soft smile. "No better way to flush an enemy than to allow them to spring their own trap."

[Ghostie]

The Jedi’s meeting with Breen was as equally short as the security briefing, but Kol felt that it had been much more effective. Their plan, their part, was refreshingly clear, unlike this whole mission had been. The man wanted to mentally kicking himself for not trusting Breen outright, but Kol tried to let it go. Usually when he met someone who was as shifty around Jedi as the Senator had been, it was because they were hiding something, not because they were fearing for their own life.

This mission was going a long way to opening Kol’s eyes to the post-war Galaxy.

“It is. I like it.” He answered his companion as she shut the door behind him. One room later, and they had returned to their own suite. Standing just on the inside of the doorway, the Jedi leaned over, and started to unlace his boots. Hopefully he wouldn’t need them any more than night. Laces flopping about and his very different eyes pointed to the floor, he asked for Meira’s opinion. “So… Locals or Republic forces, once everything goes down?” Kol’s question, of course, referred to who they handed the perpetrators over to once they were arrested. “I say Republic.” He looked up for her, still bent over. “We don’t know if they have anyone else on the inside.”

Finally tossing his boots to the side, Kol casually wandered over towards the kitchen. It’s warm, bright colors and lighting was inviting, to say the least. The Jedi’s curiosity brought him to the refrigerator, it’s split double doors opening with an easy tug. There was one self of assorted packaged snacks, but for the most part it was full of drinks. Bottled teas, fizzy soda pops, water, and all kinds of different alcohols. Kol supposed it was a suite, after all. No need to skimp on the pleasantries.

“You want anything while I’m in here?” He called over his shoulder to Meria. “I mean… It’s going on the Senator’s tab after all.” Kol grabbed a bottle of what seemed to be a tasty looking brew, quite low on the alcohol percentage. A man his size? It would hardly affect him, and he’d sleep it off easily. Bringing his drink over to the bar, Kol popped the cap off with a snap and a clink as it fell to the counter.

“This mission has been good, so far…” He took a drink. “... I mean, not the circumstance. But I’ve been helping rebuild along the border for so long that I haven’t spent any time around people, really. Since the war ended.”

[Meira]

"Republic." she agreed, removing her jacket and dropping it onto the bag she'd left by the single chair. She rolled her shoulders back, and then forward. It had been a long day of traveling. "Threats to a Galactic Senator fall under Republic jurisdiction. It prevents individual systems from protecting attackers."

"I'll take one of those." she said in response to his offer, pointing at the bottle he held.

She moved to the bar counter as well, accepting the bottle he handed to her and pulling the top off of it. She took a swig as he spoke of the mission and she nodded her head. It all appeared to be rather straight forward, now that they had the full story from Breen. Barring any surprises from his would be assailants, Meira imagined that they'd be done and on their way back to Coruscant with their captives by lunch time. It would be a refreshing change of pace.

"Oh, it hasn't ended." Meira said. A statement that, ten years ago, would have been outrageously pessimistic and out of character for her. Her thought flickered through scenes of the battles she'd seen, of the horror on Taris, ghostly red eyes. She shook her head. "Where were you helping rebuild?"

Meira pulled out one of the high bar chairs that had been tucked away under the bartop counter and hopped up onto it. There had been any myriad of assignments since the Armistice had been signed and, while Meira had mostly fallen back into more diplomatic missions, she was always interested in the other ways in which the Order tried to help the galaxy heal. They were the stories that helped her believe that it had all been for something.

[Ghostie]

"Oh, I never said it did. They're stalling." He agreed, when the War was brought up. If Kol hadn't assume that his fellow Jedi Master had an intense view on a single topic up until this point, he was seeing it now. The War had affected all the Jedi differently. Some had left the Order. Some were harder, more crass. And still some tried to deal with their demons as much as they could, and still function as Jedi. Meira seemed to fall somewhere in between the last two categories, or so Kol thought. But it wasn't his place to judge. After all, his way of dealing with the aftermath of the War had been to run as far away from the Temple on Coruscant as he could, and help rebuild that which he had helped destroy.

"Places like Obroa-Skai, Cartao, Tanaab. Sort of all over that part of Space." Kol took a long swig from his bottled beverage, savoring it. The flavor wasn't half bad, when judged against his not-so-limited experience with brewed alcohol. "It's mostly turning a hydrospanner over a lightsaber, or helping deliver supplies to outlying settlements. Every once and awhile, there will be a problem with a rebel hold-out, or pirates trying to raid the goods we bring in, but nothing too terribly serious. And the locals are usually kind and thankful. And they cook well, once you bring them the stuff." Kol ended with a grin flashed towards Meira, implying all of the local cuisine he had been fortunate to try over the past two years.

The Jedi leaned against the counter opposite of his companion, opting to stand rather than to take a seat. After being in that passenger liner most of the day, Kol didn't mind letting his legs work for a little while. His eyes drifted towards the bottle he held on the counter, his thumb nail slowly scrapping away at the label. Kol's mind had wandered back to the border planets. He liked working out there quite a bit. It was always rewarding, helping those who had lost so much in fighting that they had merely been caught in between. Kol had even gotten the chance to be more diplomatic, rather than use a lightsaber to solve every issue.

"Not so long ago, there was this little settlement on Berchest that was having problems with both a rebel cell and a gang of swoopers. We'd bring in medical supplies, food, building suuplies... It'd all be stolen or stripped down by the end of the week." Kol took another long gulp from his beverage, continuing his story. "After talking with some of the towns people, I found out there was still some sympathies for these rebels. They weren't bad people, they just... chose the wrong way to make their voice heard. So I talked with the rebels, and convinced them to help me take out the swoop gang, who was hurting the people we both wanted to help. The rebels hadn't changed their views by the end of things, but they hung up their blasters and started to actually help the locals for once."

Kol stood from where he had been leaning, now empty bottle in hand, and disposed of it. the Jedi debated grabbing another bottle, but perhaps a bit later. Instead he returned to the counter, and this time found a barstool, sitting at a right angle from Meira.

"You should try coming out to the border sometime. It feels good, helping rebuild. There's a flotilla headed out to Ruusan in a few weeks that I plan to be a part of. They're taking farming equipment and supplies to a colony out there, who's fields were apparently torched during the fighting." Kol hoped Meira would at least consider it. Little by little, the other Jedi was starting to grow on him. "So... What've you been up to in the past two years?"

[Meira]

Kol named the systems he'd been helping in and Meira nodded her head between intermittent drinks from her bottle. She'd heard of the relief efforts, somewhat. The cynical part of her mind, the one that had grown in recent years, had thought the efforts futile. With the resumption of the war an ever-present cloud over the collective heads of the Republic, what good would a handful of rebuilt houses do? The rest of her rejected such thoughts as quickly as they came. It may not have been much at a galactic scale, but for one family, it would mean the galaxy. She smiled, content to know that such work was being done, that the war had not entirely extinguished the light.

Kol was silent for a few moments. Meira, getting drowsy, was content to let that silence linger as he picked at the label of his bottle. Some were uncomfortable with silence, but Meira never had been. So often caught up in her own head, she often would fail to realize her surroundings. But after a few moments, Kol spoke again. He talked of his experience on Berchest. It was another world Meira had not been to, but had heard about. The way he spoke, she could tell he was proud of what he'd helped those people overcome. It was nice to hear. When he recommended she give that kind of work a try, Meira tilted her head and nodded in consideration. It was certainly something she could do. But much of her work recently had been assigned to her. It seemed the Council had flooded with requests.

"I'll certainly give it a thought." she said, then downed the last of her drink.

"So... What've you been up to in the past two years?"

Meira shrugged, hopping down from the bar stool and taking the empty bottle to the trash can. "There's been a lot of diplomatic missions to the independent systems, I've gone on several of those with Republic officials as they try to convince the systems to side with the Republic. And then the boarder Republic worlds, trying to convince them that they will not be forgotten." She shrugged again. "I've mostly been around the diplomats and and delegations. Not a very relaxing group." she quipped. "But important work."

A yawn escaped her and Meira shot Kol an apologetic smile. "Probably best if we get some sleep." she said, then gestured toward the couch with her chin. "Are you still set on that thing? You barely fit." she chuckled.

---

The next morning had come bright and warm. The two Jedi were again next door, back in the meeting room with Breen and all his advisers just like the night before. Just before the others had entered, the final details of their ruse were finalized. Chi now handed small cards to each of the advisers, with the details of their fake plan and a map the route that Breen was supposedly going to take. He took great care to make sure that each adviser touched the cards, as Meira had instructed. Breen spoke to them all briefly, and then dismissed the advisers so that they could make their own way to the spaceport. When the room was empty, Breen turned to the Jedi.

"The speeders are ready in the hotel's garage. The three drivers are waiting away from the vehicles."

Meira nodded. "I'll go to the drivers." she said, and looked at Kol. "Can you go to the speeders? Once you're there, you can call me on the comms and let me know that Breen is in his designated vehicle. I can return with the drivers and join you in that speeder." She turned to Chi.

"After you leave, I will transport the Senator using the fourth speeder, which awaits on a different level of the garage, directly to the spaceport."

Meira nodded again. "Once we've sprung their trap and apprehended the suspects, we will meet with you to debrief. After the opening, of course."

Breen smiled, bobbing his head toward the two Jedi. "Again, I thank you for your help in this delicate matter, Master Jedi."

After they finished the cordialities and well wishes, Meira made her way down to the room where the drivers were waiting.

[Ghostie]

If there was one, decent lesson that Kol had learned from the War, it was to never go into a mission on an empty stomach.

Out on the front-lines, anything could happen. You could be pinned under heavy enemy artillery for hours on end. Your transport could be destroyed, ensuring your had to get out and use your legs for transport. Whatever happened, sometimes you just didn’t know when you were going to get your next, hot meal. The Jedi didn’t gorge himself, but he figured he should stick to that number one lesson. Corellia was hardly the front line, but still, anything could happen.

He hypothesized that if worse really did come to worse, they’d miss lunch at least.

Luckily enough, someone had seen fit to make sure that a silver cart piled with breakfast pastries and beverages had been wheeled into the conference room. Light, flaky crusts rimmed around gooey centers of cheese, berries, and other sorts of fruit. Kol had arrived just before Meira and Senator Breen both, as a few of the security staff meandered around and waited. A few looked his way, issued polite morning greetings, which Kol returned. But the Jedi’s attention was on keenly inspecting the suspicious looking cart. And make sure that he walked away with a pair of pastries, cheese and muja fruit, and small cup of hot caf.

The morning briefing was fairly simple and short, matching that of the briefing from the previous night. Only the Jedi, Lieutenant Haruk, and Breen himself knew of the actual plan, to introduce a fourth speeder and let the motorcade go without the Senator. That being the case, Kol barely paid attention to the fake-out of a briefing. When he wasn’t busy quietly eating in the back, he was scanning the security staff. Trying to get a read on them. See if any were nervous. Sense their emotions through the Force. There was six of them, two for each speeder. Three human nondescript males with the typical features expected from a Corellian, a female Twi’lek with green skin, a female Zabrak with short hair, and another Pantoran male. The Pantoran looked like Chi. Kol guessed that they were related somehow, and Chi had gotten him the job. They all seemed rather well put together, and from what Kol could tell, they only had the shared nervousness of the mission ahead of them. They all left soon afterwards, leaving Meira, Kol, Breen, and Chi.

“No problem.” For the most part, Kol was perfectly happy to let Meira take the lead. They might have been of the same rank, but this had been her plan. And she was more comfortable working around politicians than Kol was. So when she asked if he would go to the speeders, he nodded in agreement. By this point he had finished his food, and was leaning against a window with his cup of caf still, His jacket, the same wine-red one from last night, was pulled tight around his torso as he hugged his arms to himself. Someone standing at the right angel while the Jedi held this position might have caught a glimpse of the silver canister of a lightsaber. “I’ll stagger the speeders leaving when the drivers show, so if the mole is on one of the others, they won’t know when Breen ‘shows up’” He used his free hand to imitate air quotes on the last part, knowing that such a thing wasn’t obviously part of the plan.

As the group disbanded, Kol made his way from the room with his cup in hand, the foam radiating heat as he slowly sipped on the hot liquid. The Jedi Master shared a turbolift with the Senator and the Lieutenant, which was dead silent as they all descended down towards the garages. Breen and Chi left first, their speeder stashed away on an upper level, but not before Kol gave them a customary Jedi farewell and wished that the Force was with them. One more floor down, and Kol stepped off into his own level of the garage. There were rows of speeders on either side of the garage, ranging in all sorts of sport and luxury models. The other end, opposite of the lifts, was completely open, letting speeders fly through freely. In the center was a group of three vehicles, utilitarian in design and black in color. The rest of the security team was already waiting.

“Alright, guys, let’s load up.” With the sound of Kol’s approaching voice, the six officers divided into pairs of two. The Pantoran and the Twi’lek went to the first speeder. The Zabrak and one of the Corellians to another. That left the other two Corellian males with Kol. The Jedi set his cup of caf on top of the roof of the speeder, and inspected the vehicle for anything out of the ordinary. The trunk held a few pack-up weapons and medical equipment. There was nothing out of place in the seating compartment. Kol even got on his hands and knees and inspected the undercarriage.

“Uhhh… Sir? I’ve already checked the speeder over.” Kol looked up from his kneeling position to see one of the Corellians, a young man by all means, questioning what the Jedi was doing. Kol flashed him a simple smile.

“I’m sure you have! But it never hurts to have a second pair of eyes...” Kol said as friendly as he could, as he continued his inspection. He didn't trust even the young man. He couldn't afford to do so. But soon enough, the turbolifts chimed once again, and the drivers appeared. Standing and watching them walk to each of their respective vehicles, Kol ushered the first out of the garage, then waited a few moments and ushered the second out. Looking to his companions, which now included a third Corellian as a driver the Jedi nodded. “You two ready, then?” Grabbing his cup of caf off of the speeder, Kol climbed into the vehicle and waited for Meira. As he did, he sighed a bit. Once again, there was very little leg space in the back seat. Either he was simply, entirely too tall, or they were making speeders smaller every day.

“Say, that seat doesn’t move forward, does it?”

[Meira]

"Did you hear the one about the angry droid?"

"Stop Lankin."

"People kept pushing its buttons!"

Meira chuckled. Lankin laughed. The other drivers rolled their eyes. They looked to her, as if pleading for escape from their companion. Meira shrugged. They would stay here up until the exact time for departure. She looked at the chrono on her wrist. Breen and Haruk should be leaving in their own speeder. Another few minutes and they could go down to the garage. Lankin abused the patience of the other two drivers during that time. While they did not seem to appreciate Lankin's humor, Meira did.

"Why was the droid mechanic never lonely?" Meira asked as they descended int he turbolift. The other drivers groaned, but Lankin jumped on.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because he's always making new friends."

The doors opened and the other two drivers moved as quickly as they could to their own vehicles. Meira held back, her senses scanning the garage. Kol might have already done so, but it never hurt to double check. Kol signaled the other two transports out and then those of them that remained piled into the last vehicle. At Kol's question, Meira moved the seat forward as far as she could. She didn't need the leg room. Lankin guided them out from the garage and began their route toward the spaceport. Meira turned, looking back into the passenger section of the vehicle where Kol sat with the two Corellian security personnel. She could not sense anything out of the ordinary from them. Her eyes flicked to Kol and she sent him a force equivalent of a shrug. Perhaps it was all just paranoia.

"Uhh... ma'am?" Larkin said, his eyes scanning his monitors and viewports

"What is it?"

"I think we've got a tail. You see the speeder a few back from us? Blue and black?"

Meira swiveled, searching, and then spotted the speeder. "I see it." she said, eyes flicking to Kol. "Stay on course, don't change a thing."

"Yes ma'am." Larkin said. His knuckles whitened slightly as he gripped the controls tighter, but there was no sudden change to their transport's speed or direction.

Meira turned back to sit facing forward in her chair in time to see another speeder, this one a nondescript gray, merge in front of them. She had enough time to note the tingle rising at the back of her neck and to shout "Look out!" before the speeder in front of them braked hard. Lankin was barely able to bring their transport to a hovering stop before slamming into it. Other transports and speeders swerved around the two stopped vehicles, blaring horns as they did so. The blue and black speeder took up position behind them.

"Lankin." Meira said, her voice calm and slow. "Bring the vehicle down slowly. Let's not provoke them."

"What's to stop them from killing us?" one of the security men in the back asked, his hand reaching toward a blaster.

"If they were going to just kill us, they would have shot us down. Stay calm." she said, adding a touch of the force to that command. "This is why the Senator hired Ben and I. Let us handle this." Leaning forward, Meira removed the boot from her left leg, exposing the prosthetic. She pushed the boot under her seat, making sure the pant leg on that side did not cover the hidden hatch in the calf of her prosthetic, where her lightsaber was concealed.

[Ghostie]

If the situation had been different, one might have looked at the back seat of the speeder and found the scene quite comical. Kol Gedyc was a big man. Tall, muscular, and just all around large. The two Corellian security officers that had been voluntarily smushed into the back of the vehicle with him weren’t quite as immense as the Jedi Master, but they clearly had a build like any other soldier. Kol was rather confident as they took off from the garage nestled nicely inside of the hotel that if one of the doors on the speeder were to fling open, there would be a mass expulsion of human flesh from the back seat. One thing was for certain; that if trouble cropped up, the three of them would be hard pressed to reach for their weapons. With his shoulders pressed in and finding his arms hard to move. Kol tried to sip from his cup of caf.

Tried.

Despite the scene of what amounted to human sardines in a can in the back seat, when Meira looked around, she didn’t grin. Kol was quickly finding that she was all business, the majority of the time. Not a bad trait to have, but he wondered quiet just how she kept from being so wound up, all the time. As his fellow Jedi Master sent him a feeling through a few ripples of the Force, something which amounted to a sort of bored shrug, Kol met her eyes and raised his eyebrows in response. It seemed that the whole cloak-and-dagger routine Breen and Haruk had set up just might not be needed. Kol didn’t sense anything off from the security officers next to him.

“So, did either of you serve in the War?” Kol asked the officers, trying to strike up some conversation while on the way to their destination.

“Yessir…” Said the one on the far end, the older man, clearly proud of his service. “... First big battle was Yaga Minor.”

“Yaga Minor?” Kol said, faking interest. He knew quite a bit about the Battle on Yaga Minor. All there was to know, even. It was a topic he hated bringing up. But he stuck with it, for his cover. “I heard Yaga Minor was pretty bad.”

Their conversation was cut short, however, when the driver and Meira pointed out the fact that they had a speeder tailing them. Kol thought he had sensed something in the Force, just as they mentioned it. Just as the driver mentioned something, Kol nodded as Meira looked back. He would’ve looked back as well, had it not been so hard for him to move in his seat. Sipping his caf calmly, Kol nodded again as Meira said to stay on course. She had literally taken the words right out of his mouth.

“Ah, damn!” But staying on course would be impossible to do, as another speeder seemingly dropped right out of the sky in front of them. Their driver did a hard brake check as to not cause a collision, and Kol lost his drink. The still hot caf tumbled out of his large hands, and onto his pants and across one knee. It burned a bit, but Kol didn’t have anything to try and soak the liquid up with, save for trying to wick it away with his bare hand. Doing so, the Jedi watched as the officer he had struck up a conversation with reached for his blaster, but Meira’s commanding tones quickly talked him down.

The driver of the speeder that the Jedi were in slowly lowered the vehicle to street level. Taking a big sigh over his spilled drink, Kol looked around at their surroundings. They were in the heart of Coronet, sitting on an expansive sky bridge. Large towers of durasteel reached for the stars all around, and shops littered the surrounding area. As did a lot of traffic. Between pedestrians and other speeders, Kol knew that when this whole situation devolved into a fight, the Jedi were going to have to be careful of the collateral damage they could cause. As Meira was busy with something in her boot, Kol sent her such a through the Force.

As their speeder touched down, it was almost in and instant that the Jedi Master’s viewport was filled with the imagine of a Twi’lek brandishing a disruptor rifle. The man was blue, a Rutian, and had a scowl across his face. With all the patience of a hungry nexu, he knocked on Kol’s viewport with the barrel of his rifle, making a repetitive thunking sound until the Jedi lowered the glass. Bracing himself, Kol knew where this was going the moment it happened.

“Where be da Senatah?!” The Twi’lek asked in a thickly accented voice, gained more than likely for years of speaking Huttese. He was clearly not playing around. “Where be Breen?!”

“You and your friends made me spill my caf.”

“Breen! Now!”

In the span of the blink of an eye, Kol lifted the gull-wing door of the speeder with all the force of a charging reek, right into the Twi’lek’s torso. The alien went one way, sprawled out on the duracrete bridge, while his disruptor rifle flew over the speeder and to the opposite side of Kol’s door. The Jedi heard the weapon clatter down as he quickly climbed out, taking into account all of the Twi’lek’s friends he brought along. Four in front of Kol, including the Twi’lek who was quickly getting to his feet. The Jedi could sense a few more on the other side of the speeder and behind him, and kept them at the forefront of his mind. They ranged in species from Aqualish to Human, and they were all heavily armed and armored. And they had their weapons pointed at the large, bearded man who had just clotheslined one of their own with a door.

“I’ll give you guys one chance to hop back into that speeder.” Kol announced to the group. But they didn’t seem to keen on the proposition. The Twi’lek had since pulled out a blaster pistol, which he fired in Kol’s direction just as the Jedi finished talking. But Kol’s lightsaber was already in his hand. As the blasterbolts came his way, the iridescent green blade sprang to life with a sharp snap-hiss, and Kol swatted the bolts away from himself and the speeder, and back into the group of mercenaries.

[Meira]

As Lankin brought them down, the two other speeders followed, moving into positions to flank them. Meira's emerald eyes were wary, looking around for any other threats or possible escapes. For now, it seemed they were obliged to let the trap close on them. From behind her, she sensed Kol's warning and sent him back an acknowledgement. She could see that some pedestrians had stopped to watch what was happening, but there wasn't much she could do about them now. If things grew violent, most of the civilians would run. She and Kol would just have to do their best to stop any of them from coming to harm.

They hadn't been settled longer than a moment before a being tapped at the Kol's window. As he spoke to the Twi'lek, Meira's eyes scanned in the other direction. The grey speeder was now settled on the other side of their own from its counterpart, and three figures had emerged from it, standing so as to use their speeder as cover, and training blasters in their direction. "Keep low." she whispered to the other men as The Twi'lek barked at Kol.

Then, Kol slammed his door upward, knocking the Twi'lek back and to the ground. The officers jerked, ready to spring out, but Meira stayed them with a sharp "No." They paused, looking at her. "They don't know how many we are, yet." she said. "No reason to give that awa-"

The downed Twi'lek produced a pistol and shot it at Kol. The other Jedi was faster, however and his lightsaber sprang to life, deflecting the bolts. "Cover him!" Meira shouted toward the two officers. Well trained, they hesitated only a moment at the sudden revelation of the lightsaber and sprang out, shooting their own blasters toward the attackers as Kol deflected incoming shots. Meira told Lankin to stay low. The speeder was well made and would be able to absorb most of the fire, so long as their assailants didn't break out anything heavier.

Since the charade was up, Meira slapped the hidden panel on the calf of her prosthetic, activating the spring mounted mechanism and revealing her lightsaber. Pushing the compartment closed again, Meira used the mechanical leg to deftly kick out the windshield of their speeder. It flopped over onto the hood of the vehicle. With a sweeping gesture, Meira sent it hurtling toward the grey speeder, where the other three attackers had also opened fire.

"You have them handled?" Meira asked Kol. The flying windshield has cause the three from the grey speeder to dive for cover. Meira used that time to crawl out over the hood of the speeder and drop down to the side opposite from Kol. Activating her lightsaber, she prepared to charge the three. "Use the speeder as cover." She said, more for the officers than for Kol.

She then dashed forward just as one of the three she was charging popped up form behind the grey speeder. It was a woman, human, and she was leveling a blaster rifle and readying to fire. She managed to get off a few shots, but Meira swatted them away, angling them toward the ground as she moved. A brief glance around informed Meira that most of the civilians were scattering, having heard or seen the blaster fire. Hopefully they'd all get clear. Meira made it to the grey Speeder, throwing her weight against the side of it and taking a moment to calculate her next move.

Something small sailed over her head. Her eyes tracked the object, registering it in an instant. "Granade!" she shouted, one hand reaching out toward the sphere but not finding a grip on it through the force before it landed near their speeder. "Get out of there!"

[Ghostie]

The civilians that had stopped whatever their busy lives had deemed necessary in order to watch the comotion of speeders all proceeded to retreat from the platform and scream as they saw Kol’s green lightsaber blade ignite. Some dove into shops, whos doors were quickly locked by the owners. Some went for their own vehicles, to escape the madness. And still some just plainly ran in the opposite direction of the madness that was about to unfold. As the mercenaries opened fire on the Jedi Master, only a few innocents were left who hadn’t found shelter, and that number was quickly dwindling.

The red blaster bolts aimed Kol’s way were all swiftly caught on his blade at first, and either directed into the duracrete in front of him or back into the group of four. Those that did find their way back to their shooters were absorbed into whatever armor they were wearing. That, Kol knew, couldn’t last for long. If he could keep redirecting their fire back at them, their armor would give way long before his arms grew tired. Some Jedi argued that the form of Soresu was just a nut waiting to be cracked. In a situation like this, Kol would disagree.

The security officers that had been sitting with him hesitated for a moment, before springing from the speeder and firing back into the mercenaries. One of the officers laid prone on their back seat, just behind the Jedi Master and to the side, and pulled his pistol out to return fire. The other officer used Meira’s door as cover, crouching and firing back as well. Meira herself he gone to take care of the other speeder that had landed behind Kol, and he trusted she could handle it herself. Meanwhile he had gone from catching every bolt his could on his whirling green blade, to protecting the officers next to him. It was a well practiced tactic, from Kol’s time in the War. The Aqualish and a Human had already fallen under sustained fire; the latter incapacitated, and the former unmoving.

“We’re good, here!” Kol called back over the din of blastefire. Again, a well practiced skill from the War. “Could use some more caf, though! You?!” Meira’s only response, however, was the warning of an incoming grenade. The whole pitched firefight seemed to stop as the round cylinder, not unlike a lightsaber hilt, clattered across the roof of the Jedi’s speeder. The two mercenaries that were left took cover and waited to see what was going to happen. Turning just in time to see the explosive over his shoulder, Kol lunged to move away from the vehicle, but it was far too late.

There was no heat, however. No deafening boom of fire and shrapnel going off and shredding everything in the vicinity. Instead what came forth was the loud, sickening sound of rapid expanding and hardening liquid. And adhesive grenade, “glops”, as soldiers would call them. After all, that was the sort of sound that was made. They didn’t kill, but rather completely immobilized their victims. The poor officer that was taking cover by the speeder door was now completely stuck to the side of the speeder, as a teal sort of paste covered his entire torso. The one prone in the backseat had his hands glued to the seat. Kol had been lucky enough to avoid the worst of it. The worst of it, which didn't mean all of it. Some of the same teal paste found its way to a bit of Kol’s long, blonde hair that wasn’t tied back, sticking the golden locks to the man’s cheek. The Jedi Master was quick enough to whip his head around and throw the hair back into the rest of his mane.

But that maneuver ruined the rest of his hair, of course.

Grimacing, Kol took stock of the situation before the firefight started again. He was rather upset about his hair. He hoped that scrubbing would take care of the glue, as his golden mane was now almost all nearly blue. Lightsaber still lit in his hands, the Jedi Master readjusted his grip on the green blade before charging after the two last mercenaries on his side. With his back-up incapacitated, Kol wanted to end this quickly. And then get back to the hotel to fix himself.

[Meira]

An adhesive grenade, thank the Force. Not sparing another moment, Meira prepared herself. As she saw Kol charge toward the other speeder, she tensed her leg, pulling the Force into herself. She took one deep breath in, and as she released it she pushed with all her might onto her leg, releasing the Force with her breath to augment the leap. Meira rose, then arched backward in a powerful flip, bringing her to the opposite side of the grey speeder, where the three mercenaries were taking their cover. She landed between two of them, her lightsaber moving in a humming blur of purple light. It cut through the barrel of one blaster as it swung toward her, the hilt connecting with the rifle bearer’s temple with a painful thunk. He fell to the ground. She grabbed the other bounty hunter, moving him between herself and the third, who had managed to line up a shot. The one she held grunted as the plasma bolt dug into his armor. It hurt, but did not burn through. Meira pushed him toward the other and they fell in a tangle of limbs and armor. With a pull of the Force, Meira yanked their weapons from their grip. She threw them away, well out of reach.

“I’ve got three subdued here.” She shouted, augmenting the sound of her voice with the Force to ensure Kol would hear her as she leveled her lightsaber over the two that were still conscious. “I’ll get them secured an-”

The speeder door flew open. Meira, sensing it just a moment before was able to jump back, but not quite quick enough to deflect the heavy blaster shot that grazed her shoulder. From the speeder, an armored figured came barreling out behind the volley of blaster bolts, and then jumped. From the being’s pack, jets ignited and the armored figure lifted quickly into the air. Meira was able to make out that the dull brown armor was of the Mandalorian style, but could not spot more detail, as one of the other bounty hunters had tried for a vibroblade in his boot. He lunged at Meira with the blade and she quickly slashed with her lightsaber, severing the man’s arm just below the elbow. He screamed and fell to the ground, clutching at the seared stump of his arm. The other conscious bounty hunter bellowed, pulling a holdout blaster from his own boot and firing it at Meira. She deflected the shot and it flew back at him, catching him in the neck. He fell over, dead.

“There was a Mandalorian with them.” she shouted at Kol as she moved toward the writing man “Got away.” She deactivated her saber and began to help the man to cover the stump of his arm and to make a quick sling from his belt. She bid him stand and walked him over to the unconscious man. A quick search proved he had no weapons. Meira quickly bound his hands and feet and left him there. Bringing the injured man with her, she moved back toward their speeder, where she saw that the rest of the fight had finished. The speeder was covered in the teal colored adhesive. The driver and the two security officers were all stuck inside.

“Sit down.” she ordered the injured bounty hunter. In the distance, she could hear the sirens of the Corellian Security forces on their way. From a pocket she produced a comm, which she activated. “Haruk, come in.” she said into the comm. After a moment, Chi replied. He and the Senator had arrived safely at the spaceport. Breen was about to begin his speech. Meira acknowledged, informed Chi that they’d managed to take some prisoners. Perhaps they would give some insight into who had betrayed the Senator.

[Ghostie]

As Kol charged the speeder, the last two mercenaries hailed down blasterfire all around the Jedi Master. He focused on swatting away that which directly harmed him, but Kol didn’t reach out for the bolts that would miss, and he didn’t slow down. With what was his backup literally glued to the inside of his speeder, and Meira dealing with the other gang of mercenaries, Kol wanted this to end quickly. One short sprint later, and he was standing on one side of the speeder, with one of the mercenaries. The man, a human, kept firing, right up until the point when Kol’s green blade sliced through the mercenary’s rifle. The thug tried to attack the Jedi Master with the broke parts, finding no better alternative, but with one hand Kol grabbed him and spun him around, sending his head on a collision course with the side of the vehicle. He crumpled to the ground in an instant, unconscious from the heavy blow.

After that, Kol turned himself to find the last hired goon. The lanky Rutian Twi’lek who had knocked on Kol’s window before, looking for Senator Breen. They spied each other across the speeder at the same time, and the Twi’lek tried firing his pistol at Kol, but the only sounds the weapon made were a series of rapid clicking. Bone dry. Kol gave the alien a small smile, before using a slightly Force-induced jump to leap on top of the vehicle in a single bound. The speeder rocking heavily as he did so, the ceiling caving in just a bit. Kol pointed the tip of his lightsaber at the mercenary, and uttered just two words.

“Drop it.” The Twi’lek had other ideas, however. He dropped his blaster pistol, in a sort of way. He dropped it by throwing it at Kol as if it was a ball in a sports game, which such accuracy and speed that caught the Jedi off-guard. Kol brought his green blade up to bear in time to cleave the weapon in two, but the moment was all the Twi’lek needed to produce a pair of vibro-daggers, one in each hand, and join Kol on top of the speeder. The alien dodged from side to side a bit, getting into a fighting stance, but the Jedi just stood there, unimpressed. As the Twi’lek bobbed and weaved, and finally lashed out at Kol with one of the knives, a lightsaber was brought to bear against the mercenary’s offending arm, biting through the blue flesh. The man howled in pain, before falling and tumbling off of the speeder.

“We’re secure here, too!” Kol called out, shutting off his lightsaber and hopping down from the vehicle. But at that exact moment, an armored man in with a jetpack rocketed overhead, his engines echoing off of the durasteel buildings around and flooding the streets with noise. It was armor Kol would recognise anywhere. Armor he always hated seeing. It was a Mandalorian. The Jedi watched the man retreat from the scene, shielding his eyes from the Corellian sun. Once Kol was sure he was gone, and it wasn’t just a ruse, he made his way quickly back over to Meira, who was talking into a comlink. Sirens grew closer, coming to inspect the scene. Security, ambulances, and the like.

“I saw him. You alright?” The Jedi voiced his concern for his companion, but a quick once over proved that Meira was relatively unharmed. Still, Kol was concerned, if even on a professional level. His hair, at this point, had hardened into a thick, teal substance, the blonde completely gone. But otherwise, he was okay. “Nice work. I suppose everyone can be questioned later about the leak?” Hi voice, in truth, was a bit hopeful that the answer to that question was a yes. Because more than anything, he wanted to get back to the hotel and try to wash out the adhesive spray from his mane. But if he had to sit in an interrogation room with comical hair, than so be it.