The Archeri Bust [Boonta][Winter/Bendik]

[tenkalus]

The galaxy, it seemed, did not stop moving even at the height of war and politics. While the war Summit was being conducted to discuss the threat that the Archeri Plague presented, people still ate, speeders still sped, factories kept producing, thieves still stole. It didn’t seem to matter to the galactic community as a whole that the Archeri were advancing through Hutt Space virtually unopposed like a bantha through sand. Every day, their territory grew. And like the Mandalorians, in their own way, each planet that they conquered provided them with a fresh new army.

Things were getting bad and Winter knew it. If the Supreme Chancellor and the Empress couldn’t come to an accord, the galaxy as everyone knew it would eventually belong to the Archeri.

He thought of this as he marched a murderer through the doors of a district security precinct on Coruscant. He’d tracked and arrested the man summarily, since the local security was having trouble getting into the mind of a killer. Winter had analyzed patterns and thought like someone who had wanted to bait the security forces down a trail. A man who thought he was smarter than everyone else and wanted them to know it. After he’d gotten in the criminal’s head, he’d successfully thwarted another murder before it could take place.

With a quick shove, Winter released the murderers arm and pushed him toward the nearest officer. “Book him.” He said simply.

The sergeant at the front desk raised an eyebrow and looked the man over before turning his gaze to Winter. “Lockheart. Good to see you kid. What’s the charge this time?”

“That piece of work right there is your alphabet killer, sergeant.”

Alphabet, it was laughable. The man had left clues throughout his crime scenes with trails leading back to his victims. Both victims had been alphabetically synchronized and so the media had dubbed him the Alphabet Killer. Winter had stopped him before “C”, but it was still two corpses too many.

“Got any proof son?”

Winter nodded, looking up past the sergeant to settle on the HNE broadcast showing looped footage of dignitaries arriving on Prahzi for the Summit. He spoke airily as he watched the Jedi escort the Supreme Chancellor inside. “Yeah. Murder weapon is in his left jacket pocket. Run the DNA and you’ll get a match for the two victims. Additionally you can take the skin cells from under the victims’ fingernails and match it to his DNA. He’s got scratches on his right pectoral that should match victim two’s nails. Open and closed. Unless I am assigned another mission off-planet before the arraignment, I’ll stand in to testify as needed.”

The sergeant didn’t need more than that. He nodded at the information and waved the officer now holding the killers arm down to the cell block. “You heard him, lock the bastard up. I’ll call in forensics.” Then he turned to Winter and sighed. “As always, Master Lockhaert, we appreciate the assist. There are a few cops around here who think you’re around to show us up and make it seem we aren’t doing our jobs. But frankly I don’t give a damn about that train of thought. At the end of the day lad, you’re helping us take killers like him off the streets.”

Winter broke his gaze from the screen and smiled back at the sergeant kindly and reached up to shake his hand firmly. “I’m glad to be of service sergeant, whenever you need. You’ve got my com frequency if you need anything.”

Speaking of, right at that moment Winter’s comlink chimed and he excused himself from the desk politely. “Winter Lockhaert.” he answered.

A droid voice sounded over the speaker. “Jedi Lockhaert. You have been summoned by the Jedi Council for briefing and are asked to report as soon as you are able.”

Winter nodded to the sergeant and waved goodbye as he stepped out the doors again, “I’m on my way.”

---

Thirty minutes later

“A peacekeeping mission? Are you sure you want me for this? It’s not exactly my specialty.” he asked cautiously as he stood before the assembled members of the council.

“The situation on Boonta is getting desperate.” Replied a Master, “There have been reports of rioting and protests throughout the capital city and several attempts by smugglers to sneak people beyond the blockade. The government is calling for a full investigation into the situation, as they are concerned that this may be an Archeri tactic to slip agents onto their world prior to invasion. We understand active warfare and aggressive peacekeeping are not your forte, Winter. But that’s why we are sending you with backup more suited to that aspect.” The Jedi master on the end seat motioned at the door and it slid open in time to admit a familiar face, though not one he was hoping to see.

Winter kept his face neutral as the council introduced his new companion. “Winter, I believe you are acquainted with Jedi Knight Bendik Covell.”

Lockheart kept his eyes on his peer as he came to stand beside him and nodded with a polite smile. “We’ve met.” was all he offered.

In truth, they’d more than met. Winter and Bendik had trained together as initiates and then padawans. They were almost polar opposites from each other. Where Winter was cool and collected and patient, Bendik was brusque, and aggressive for a Jedi. There was no doubt in Winter that Bendik was a good man. They just went about achieving goals in very different manners.

Jedi Covell had been a singular source of torment as a child for Winter however. He’d been one of those young men who had not taken to adolescence gracefully, and occasionally would let his aggression get the better of him when he would square off with Winter in the training ring. There had always been something about Winter’s mentality that seemed to get under Covell’s skin, and Winter had had the training saber burns and bruises to prove it back then.

Maybe it was the way that Bendik approached situations. He tended to follow expressed rules to the letter. where Bendik would learn a lightsaber form that dictated your footwork had to be just-so, Winter would improvise and utilize his own dexterous talents to make sure he went against that footwork to throw his opponent off balance. Winter used the rules to his advantage by bending them or outright breaking them to get the upper hand against Bendik, who was too rigid to adapt to the change. They’d been rivals of a sort, though Winter had never truly seen it that way, and had come out almost even in training in most areas. Bendik, however, had gotten the better of him in the sparring circle more often than not, and likewise, Winter had pulled ahead when it came to creative thinking and investigative tasks and research.

But the past was the past. They were both men now and both fully fledged and vetted Jedi Knights.

“Bendik has already been briefed on the particulars, Winter. He will support your investigation by any means possible and together you will pacify the unrest at Boonta. Your primary objective is to determine the legitimacy of the refugee situation there however. We have no doubt that the people aboard those ships need aid, gentlemen. The question is whether or not there are any infiltrators hiding among them. You’ll need to find something to convince the Boonta government that it is safe to bring them down and render aid.”

Winter bowed respectfully, “We will do all that we can.”

“Then you leave immediately, May the Force be with you.”

Winter turned on his heel and strode from the chambers. He could hear Bendik’s boot-falls behind him. When the door slid shut again, Lockhaert turned and regarded his old classmate.

“Ben. It’s been a long time, good to see you. Looks like we will be working together again.” he said with his usual smile as he extended his hand.

[Ghostie]

Red and blue lights flashed intermittently outside of Latli’s Lentels, surrounding the building and attempting to bring order to an chaotic situation. Former patrons and curious onlookers gathered outside meters back from the tall, wide windows - some of which were broken in various sizes and shapes - as they tried to get a peek at just what was happening inside the locally famous eatery. Coruscant Security Officers walked in and out of the establishment, taking witness testimonies, collecting evidence and holos, and otherwise trying to control the scene and wrap things up as quickly as they possibly could. They, for the most part, looked mildly frustrated and upset; either because their favorite place to stop for a certain noodle dish was now in pieces, or because their usual boss was being overridden by some Jedi Knight from the Temple.

This Jedi didn’t look like any normal Jedi, though. Standing in the middle of the restaurant with the Sergeant in charge of the Security Forces, he wasn’t dressed in robes but rather a long, olive green jacket, open to reveal a low-cut, white shirt. And on the opposite hip from his lightsaber was a blaster pistol. Definitely not standard Jedi fare, from what most of them knew. More than a few of the officers passing by shot him either curious, frustrated, or a mixture of looks thereof. Their boss received much of the same, especially when he gave a hearty chuckle as the two of them stood in the middle of the mess, not bothering to help sort things out.

“Geez, Tyr…” The older, experienced human started, stroking a hand through his beard as he grinned and looked around. “... Make a mess everywhere y’go, or just in my district?” He gave a bit of a chuckle at the end of his words.

“He pulled a gun, Zarrek.” Tyr pointed down to the Aqualish in cuffs, one of several beings on their stomachs and different states of alertness. Waving his hand down the line, the Jedi Knight continued. “I didn’t know he was going to have back-up.”

“I’m NOT with him! I’m just an innocent bystander!” A Twi’lek shouted from the other end of the line. “I was just enjoying my - !”

“A bystander who assaulted a Jedi! You’re just lucky he didn’t pull that laser-sword of his!” Zarrek barked loudly and suddenly, and the Twi’lek piped down immediately. Pausing for a moment, he looked back to Tyr, and pointed to the man’s right eye. “Sure you don’ want someone t’look at that?” But the Jedi Knight simply shook his head.

“Nah. I’ll take care of it, later.” Tyr winced a bit as Zarrek pointed at his right eye, the swollen dark skin around it have grown to a puffy state of blues and purples across his face. “You got these guys from here?”

“Yeah, you’re free t’go, Tyr. Thanks for the report of what happened.” As the Jedi Knight started to walk away, Zarrek called back to him. “And hey! Next time someone pulls a gun, take it outside my favorite place to grab a bite, huh?!” Tyr just waved a lazy, half-handed wave to the man in response as he kept walking. But the Jedi didn;t get very far before his pocket started to buzz. Making his way past the police line and through the crowd, Tyr darted down the street and away from the comotion a bit as he pulled out his holocommunicator. Activating the palm-sized device, a representation of one of the High Councilors of the Jedi Order appeared over the small pad.

“Jedi Knight Bendik Covell? We request you return to the Temple immediately for your next assignment.”

---

Tyr chaffed as he stalked his way up to the door of the Council Chambers, his eyes narrowed - one of which was now looking like a days old fist-fighting injury after an application of kolto and the Force - as his footfalls were the only thing echoing his frustration as he kept his emotions as in check as he could. It wasn’t the new assignment; some investigation of a ship just off of Boonta. Not exactly something up the young man’s alley, but he had trained under one of the Order’s best Investigators, so he could make do. It wasn’t the hurried request from the Council that he set off immediately; such things were commonplace, especially nowadays when the Archeri Plague was involved. No, what really grinded against Tyr’s gears was the partner the Council had chosen for him. Usually, the Jedi Knight preferred to work alone. It was simply how he operated, and he liked it that way.

And then the Council had insisted on sending him with Winter Lockhaert, of all people.

As the door to the Council Chamber slid open, Bendik simply stood on the edge of the portal until he was announced, his dark eyes boring into the man near his age standing in the middle of the room. He had a bit of a long face, a little unkempt stubble, and his hair was rather dark and made up. But there was little mistaking Winter as the child who used to grate against Bendik during their early years of training in the Temple’s halls. There was something about the man that always tore at the Jedi Knight’s nerves, and drove him insane from his earliest memories of Winter. Perhaps it was Winter’s complete disregard of rules in general, bending them past the point of breaking. Or perhaps it was his nonchalant and meticulous attitude towards everything. But whatever it was, Bendik was not happy to be seeing his old classmate once again.

The Jedi Knight stood at attention next to his new partner as the Council, or what there was, seeing as how many members were on Prazhi for the Summit with the Imperials, finished their session. Bowing in silence as the Jedi Knights were dismissed, Tyr was quick on Winter’s heels as they left the chamber. And just as the door slid shut behind them, the young man in front of Tyr turned and offered his hand, greeting his old classmate as if either one was happy at the impromptu reunion. Eyebrows furrowing, Tyr shook Winter’s hand once with a firm grip, and spoke up in a tense voice.

“Ben. It’s been a long time, good to see you. Looks like we will be working together again.”

“My ship is already prepped, Lockhaert. No need to waste time on pretending we’re happy about this, is there?” It was, perhaps, a bit confrontational, Tyr thought. But it was nonetheless the truth. Leading the way down the hall, Tyr called for a turbolift. There was a whoosh of air, and then a capsule was in front of them. Stepping into the small lift that was made of transpirasteel, Tyr keyed for the main hangar bay once they were both situated. “What do you know of the situation on Boonta?” Far less confrontational than his last statement, Tyr simply wanted to see what gaps he had to fill in for his partner.

[tenkalus]

Bendik was still right to the point and by the book. It was a trait that Winter himself only possessed half of. The book was great and all, until you had to improvise when things went pear-shaped. And when a Jedi was getting involved, things almost always went south.

“My ship is already prepped, Lockhaert. No need to waste time on pretending we’re happy about this, is there?”

“No.” He said with an amused grin, “I suppose there isn’t.”

He followed Bendik into the lift and clasped his wrists behind his back casually. It was quiet for a moment before his old companion chimed in again, “What do you know of the situation on Boonta?”

Winter shrugged easily and answered in a tone that he would have shared if discussing the weather, “Government is on high alert, given the Archeri Plague is potentially on their doorstep. People are scared, tensions are high. That typically means folks are going to start acting stupid. We go in, ask some questions, turn over some rocks, find some clues and determine whether or not the Archeri are targeting Boonta next. The usual. No sweat.”

Nothing was ever that simple, and Winter knew that he was grossly oversimplifying the situation. Maybe it he was doing it to emphasize the difference in approach he and Bendik might have to a situation like Boonta, just to annoy the other Knight. It wasn’t his initial intent, but it may have been a subliminal thing that passed through his mind if he was being completely honest with himself.

The truth of the matter was that he and Bendik Covell had their work cut out for them. While they were both dressed in civilian clothing and not easily identifiable as a Jedi, he knew it would be a miracle this time around if they didn’t both end up drawing their lightsabers eventually. Tensions were very likely near a breaking point and the desperation of a frightened mob of people could not be underestimated. Boonta was a leaking barrel of fuel sitting next to a sparking wire. All it would take was a single erg of energy to set off the whole pile. And he and his old schoolmate would be in the middle of it all.

Not to mention that whatever was determined at the end of the investigation would potentially carry the weight of thousands of lives with it, in one direction or another.

The weight of that decision was not lost on Winter Lockhaert. They would have to be thorough and swift.

“Quite the shiner you got there.” he continued as he looked up at the floors passing by. He briefly shifted his gaze to Bendik’s eye and lifted his chin to indicate it before returning his stare to the levels zipping past. “Beating up old ladies again?”

As the lift stopped, Winter stood aside and let Bendik exit first without waiting for an answer, extending his arm out the door in invitation. “Age before beauty.” he said with a challenging smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

It was one of the old situational traps that they used to spring on each other. It was a mental challenge of wit. If Bendik forced Winter out of the door first, Winter could simply claim that age brought wisdom and beauty carried ignorance, so Covell would have done him a favor in the silent admission.

If by contrast, Covell tried to claim the exact same verbal high ground, he’d still be admitting that Winter was better at something than he was, even if it was just looks. A true master of intellect would have walked out and said nothing, ignoring the jibe and continuing on their way. Back in the day, Winter had received his share of situational traps and had smiled the way he always did, look Covell in the eye, say nothing and move on. He knew it pissed the man off. But for a man like Winter who lost a few more lightsaber sparring matches than he won against Bendik, Winter was not above being petty and pushing buttons.

Bendik Covell had never once ignored Winter’s prods to date. He’d always been too proud.