Warriors in Red Armor

Disclaimer: Ido not own the rights to Star Wars: The Clone Wars or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These rights are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni, the Walt Disney Company, and their various publishers and distributors. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which earn me no money.

Chapter Six

Ark II

The mission had gone sideways. Yes, they had gotten the information and Ark had left the area without leaving anyone the wiser. But Kai had been arrested while Ark sliced into the Felucian Merchant's Guild computer system. Ark had felt terrible about continuing her work, but Ransom had insisted that she finish the job. Besides, as their leader had reasoned, what could Ark have done? Going out to confront the Felucians would have only gotten them both in trouble.

The worst part was that there was no way to communicate with Ark after the trooper had arrived. Ransom had worked with Ark to alter the earpieces, and now none of them worked within a certain distance of any GAR-official comm frequencies. It prevented government agencies from detecting the Red Squad, but it wasn't exactly convenient. Situations like this one were particularly bad.

As soon as she had extracted the information and crept out of the event without incident, Ark dropped the data chip at the Red Squad headquarters. She had changed in the back of the speeder and was wearing normal clothing by the time she arrived.

"I'm going to go to the Coruscant Guard precinct and see if Kai is there," she announced to Ransom. "Want to come along?"

Ransom grimaced. "I've spent too much time at that precinct lately. Comm me if you need backup, though."

"When does the community service start?" Ark asked, abruptly reminded that Ransom had her own problems.

"This weekend." From her tone, Ransom was not looking forward to her required time spent helping Coruscant.

"Ugh. Maybe it won't be so bad?"

If Ransom glared any harder at her holoscreen, she was going to burn a hole through it. "Weren't you leaving?" she asked sourly.

Immediately, Ark dropped down from the high of a successful mission. "You're right. I need to get there."

"Hey," Ransom said comfortingly, seeming guilty at her previous tone. "She's fine. Kai is always fine."

"I know, but… I want to be there for her anyway." Ransom nodded her understanding.

When Ark got to the Coruscant Guard's main precinct, she had to keep herself from sprinting inside. Doing so would only make her - and, by extension, Kai - look guilty.

She stepped to the desk, nodding politely to the trooper. How did one begin to ask about their friend who had been arrested?

"Can I help you, ma'am?" the trooper at the front desk asked. He seemed a bit bored, but polite. The small nameplate attached to his out-of-armor uniform introduced him as 'Silas'. The Republic being how it was, seeing a name rather than a number was a relief for Ark.

"Yes, sir," she started, stepping toward him. "I believe one of my friends was arrested this evening. How would I go about checking to see if she's here?"

Silas blinked at her. "Believe? You don't know if she was arrested?"

"No, but I heard she was," Ark insisted. "Do you guys have a database or something?"

"Uh, yeah. Can I get your name?"

"Arkularia Hutsa. I'm looking for Kai Makani."

To Ark's horror, the trooper frowned at that. "Hutsa… you aren't part of-"

"The Hutsa crime family?" Ark asked, irritation and worry making her snappish. "No, of course I'm not. It's a common name."

"Sorry, ma'am," Silas apologized quickly. "Let me go check the system and I'll see if your friend is here."

Ark nodded and tucked herself into a corner. She hadn't come all the way to Coruscant to be associated with the Hutsas again. She hoped that Silas was a discreet kind of person.

Thire I

Thire was thoroughly tired of this shift. He had to make it through another half hour before he could leave the precinct. It didn't help that he had decided to spend that time in the most frustrating way he knew: trying to find the GAR's informational leak.

Electronic information security was his job and he was karking great at it. Otherwise, Fox never would have made him the commander in charge of the specialty. However, Thire had been working on the leak for a long time - since he had first gotten access to the sensitive information stored by the GAR, in fact. It never failed: whoever was hacking into the system got in, took information, and got out again before the systems had even registered a hit. Not that they ever registered a problem at all. No, the only mark that the systems had been breached was that information went missing. Worst of all, there was no way to predict which information would disappear next. The GAR was rarely able to file accurate paperwork on what had disappeared and tracking the leak was almost impossible.

The constant irritation of missing data was enough to put him on-edge. To add to the fun, however, Thire also had to deal with a pair of chatty troopers standing in the hall outside. They had apparently decided that it was a perfect spot for a loud and dramatic conversation, the view of Thire's office doorway being too stunning to tear themselves away.

"I'm serious! She's one of those Hutsas, I can feel it!"

"There are no Hutsas in the Inner Rim," the other countered. From the voice, the trooper sounded like Ink, the Guard's medic. "They don't let their family members wander far, and especially not all the way to Coruscant!"

"She told me her last name was Hutsa," the first voice repeated stubbornly.

"Silas," Jek warned, and Thire relaxed a bit. Jek was a trooper with a good head on his shoulders. Maybe he would rub off on the others. "I walked through the entranceway and she sure doesn't look like a Hutsa."

"But there's-" Silas cut himself off as Thire appeared in the doorway. Thire eyed him, but the trooper simply gave a brief nod and continued anyway. "Hey, Commander. There's supposed to be a Hutsa who is super pale and they say she left to take her skills to the private sector. Word is that they're always trying to find her and kill her so she doesn't give away any family secrets. Her skills are the only thing keeping her alive. They keep her one step ahead."

Thire liked to encourage camaraderie between himself and his men. He believed that the best way to build trust was to build relationships. However, Silas's blatant disregard for the chain of command and the respect that should exist between a commander and a trooper was galling. Thire saw red, and not solely because he was looking at three young troopers who had painted their white armor with Coruscant crimson designs.

Jek, unaware of Thire's rising temper, grinned. "Heads up, Commander. According to Silas, we have a legend in the precinct looking for her friend."

Thire stared them all down. He had always wished he had a glare as chilling as Thorn's, but this time, Thire's was enough. Silas and Ink split off in different directions without a word. Thire caught Jek after the others had gotten out of earshot.

"Jek," he commanded, and the trooper halted mid-step. "What's this about a legend?"

Jek turned and gave a little shrug. "Well, Silas swears up and down that she's a Hutsa. If she's one of those Hutsas, she would be the one who left and sells her slicing abilities to people who can afford them. She's known as the Ghost."

"The Ghost," Thire repeated. "The most famous slicer in recent history just happens to live on Coruscant, happens to come into our precinct, and Silas happens to recognize her."

Jek looked sheepish. "Yeah, you may be right. It would be a lot of coincidences."

"Exactly," Thire agreed. "Still, I can't leave some poor woman to be gawked at by a bunch of shinies who think she's a famous slicer. I'll help find her missing person."

"O-okay, sir," Jek agreed, clearly confused about why Thire would agree to help with something so far beneath his station. The trooper led him through the winding halls and out into the main body of the precinct.

Thire didn't think it necessary to tell Jek that he would go insane if he had to stare at the cyberbreaches any longer. Besides, he reasoned as he followed Jek, on the off chance that this woman really was the Ghost, maybe she could help him find the perpetrator.

"Hey, Jek!" Chase called, lifting a hand in apology to Thire as he beckoned the other trooper over.

While he waited for Jek to assist the new shiny with some low-level but tricky forms, Thire's attention wandered around the precinct. He blinked as he saw a pale woman standing a few steps away from the front desk. Was it-? Thire grinned broadly as he recognized her for certain.

"Ark!" he called in greeting, striding over toward her.

She glanced up and took a moment to recognize him, but he attributed that to the armor he hadn't been wearing when they had met at 79's. When Ark finally returned his smile, she seemed surprised but pleased.

"Hey, do you have a map?" he asked and she frowned, shaking her head quizzically. Thire pouted. "Ah, well. I guess I'll just stay lost in your eyes."

"Gross," Ark laughed.

"I try," Thire agreed, chuckling along. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking-"

"There you are, Commander," Jek interrupted, walking up to the pair. He frowned at the realization that Thire had been talking to Ark. "Hey, how do you know the Ghost?"

Thire whipped his attention back to Ark, who seemed equally as stunned by him. "Commander?" she repeated.

"Ghost?" Thire asked, trying - and failing - to sound nonchalant.

Jek glanced between the two for an extended moment, but backed away as they made no moves to explain the situation. "Well… it sounds like the two of you have a lot to discuss. I'll leave you to it."

Ark began to speak, but Thire cut her off before she could say much. "Let's go to my office for this conversation."

She nodded and followed him back through the narrow hallways. Soon, they were safely tucked away in his office, and away from prying shinies. Thire flopped into the chair behind his desk, turned to Ark, and asked, "What the kriff?"

"I agree," Ark said, nodding fervently. "A week and a half of comlink conversations and you forgot to mention that you aren't a trooper, but a commander with the Coruscant Guard?"

Thire gaped at her. "I think the fact that you're an infamous slicer from an infamous crime family is bigger news than the fact that I'm a commander!"

"I'm not related to those Hutsas," Ark insisted. "And I told you that I worked in information securities!"

"Yeah, when civvies say information security, they usually mean debugging datapads," Thire snapped. He sat back in his chair, watching her with suspicion. "Have you ever sliced into a government system?"

"That would be illegal," she told him.

"That's not an answer!"

They stared at each other across Thire's messy desk, both scowling at the other. Ark cracked first, one corner of her mouth lifting in the barest hint of a smile. Thire immediately started roaring with laughter and she joined him soon after.

When Ark had brought herself more under control, she wiped her eyes. "So, Commander Thire of the Coruscant Guard, what does your job entail?"

He grinned across the desk at her. "I am in charge of the GAR's information security here on Coruscant."

"I take it that you don't just debug datapads," Ark guessed.

"Not exactly," he agreed. "Now, are you the infamous Ghost?"

"And if I am?" she asked carefully.

"If you are, I would like to contract your services on behalf of the GAR."

"You- What?" Ark asked, looking floored by his request.

"I'll level with you if you level with me," Thire offered. "I'm trying to trace a data breach and I'm getting nowhere. I could use some outside help. I'd put you on the GAR consultants' salary and I'm pretty sure I can make the pay worthwhile. But first, I need to know if I can trust you."

Ark eyed him for a long moment. Finally, she settled back into the seat and folded her hands over her stomach. "I am Arkularia Hutsa, the Ghost. I was born into the Hutsa crime family, but I left almost a decade ago. I… disagree with their methods. We are not in contact."

"Is there any chance of them trying to hunt you down?" Thire asked steadily. Silas's theory about a woman being tracked by the crime family had been wild and absurd when it concerned some hypothetical woman, but if it was true about Ark? It was difficult to tamp down the terror and rage at the idea of Ark being held to the judgment of the infamous and cruel Hutsas.

"None at all," she denied immediately, settling Thire's heart rate. "They've agreed to leave me to my own life. I am completely cut off, so I can't ask for money or power from them and, in return, they don't ask for anything from me."

"And your Red Squad stuff?" Thire pressed. "How legal is it?"

"Have you ever caught any of us doing illegal things?"

Thire was about to admit that the point was valid when Ark's little color drained from her face. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot - I came here for Kai," she told him. "I heard she was arrested."

"Arrested? Do you know who the officer was?"

"No, but it was at the Felucian Merchant's Guild headquarters in the political district."

"Oh, yeah," Thire mused, remembering that a call had come in earlier that evening. "Thorn was going to check that out. The report was of prostitution, though."

"There was a misunderstanding," Ark said stiffly. Thire had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. He was sure there was a lot more to it, but it was a simple enough explanation.

"Let me comm Thorn," he volunteered. "He should be able to give us an update."

Despite it being the early hours of the morning, Thorn answered the call immediately. "This is Thorn."

"Thire," he said by way of greeting. "Did you arrest Kai for suspected prostitution earlier this evening?"

"Yes."

Ark sighed, but perked up again when the sound of a laugh came through the comlink.

Thire frowned at his wrist. "Thorn?"

"This is Kai now," a female voice said through the comlink. "Thorn took me into custody, but decided not to charge me."

"Thorn decided not to charge you?" Thire asked, deciding this sounded highly suspicious. "Thorn, are you there? Are you okay? Did she kill you and figure out how to mimic your voice?"

"Thire!" Ark admonished.

"I'm fine, vod," Thorn assured after the sounds of a small scuffle had taken place. "She's not guilty of prostitution, clearly. I think letting her go with a warning is the right thing to do here."

"I agree…" Thire said, trying to gather his thoughts. "I'll catch up with you later."

He ended the transmission and looked immediately at Ark. "That event happened about five hours ago, right?"

"At least," she confirmed.

"Then why are they still together? Thorn doesn't like civvies - no offense - and he never takes this long with arrests. That's especially true if he doesn't plan to charge the perp with anything."

"I know what you're thinking," Ark told him, and Thire didn't doubt it. She had shown a remarkable ability to guess his thoughts during their conversations. "Kai told me that there wasn't anything going on between her and Thorn."

"And you believe her?" The words were confrontational, but his tone held nothing but curiosity - he made certain of it.

Ark chuckled, and the sound warmed his heart. "Kai never lies. She says she doesn't do anything she would have to lie about." He shot her a look and she added, "Outside of work."

"Well, that means there's only one thing to do from here," Thire announced, standing up. She watched him with a white-blonde brow quirked. "Want to get breakfast and talk over the job?"

Ark raised her other eyebrow then. "You actually intend to hire me?"

"If you're interested, we could use the help. I'm not getting anywhere with it by myself."

"And you think the GAR is going to agree with you giving the Ghost access to sensitive files?" From the look on her face, Ark doubted him. That was okay; Thire had enough confidence for the both of them.

"Well, you won't have unimpeded access. Just enough to get the job done. Besides, I'll let you in on a secret," Thire offered, leaning across the desk. She obligingly leaned forward as well. He whispered, "I have a brother working in the accounting department. And the processing department. And the-"

"Okay, I get it," Ark told him with another laugh. Thire would cheerfully take a blaster bolt somewhere painful if it meant that she would keep laughing that way. "You mentioned breakfast? What's open at three in the morning that won't potentially kill us both?"

"Come with me!" Thire said immediately. "I know the best diner in the Triple Zero. It has amazing fried nuna legs!"

Author's Note - No, Hutsas have nothing to do with the Hutts. The name translates to something, but I don't remember what it was or what language I translated it through, so we're just rolling with it. An ancient crime family whose name has taken on a whole new meaning. Sounds plausible, right? Anyway, in the canon of this story, the name itself is what is important, but I wanted to clear up that they have no relationship to the Hutts.

Thank you to those who have followed or favorited this story so far! Special shout-out to the two who left comments on last week's chapter: KarajeJinsta and Sued13! This story is finished and I'll be posting it either way, but your kind words have made me feel a lot more confident in publishing these chapters. I appreciate it!

Thank you for reading, feel free to leave some feedback, and I'll see you next week. Have a great day!