End of the Road
The embassy was a short ride on one of the local commuter shuttles. Qui-Gon sat next to Raven, relaxed, trying to focus into the Force, looking for clues as to whether or not the blast was related to his mission. Beside him, he could sense Raven's tautness, as though she were prepared for an attack from any direction. He couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking or planning. Surely she wouldn't have come this far without some kind of plan for gathering information. At least, he hoped not.
His mind wandered from the matter at hand for a moment to speculate on his trust in regard to her. The Jedi couldn't decide if he really trusted Raven, or if he was simply using the hospitality she had offered. It was a thorny question, one that necessitated mediation only in the fact that he couldn't separate his emotions from it. The fact that she had left the Order bothered him quite a bit, but her reason was even more grating. Many times he had found himself at odds with the Council and many times he had taken a different path than the one they had chosen. Why couldn't she have just done the same? He couldn't reconcile leaving the Order over something that simply came down to be recommendations. But perhaps that was purely against her character. Still, it made her challenging to trust.
Raven touched his arm, breaking his train of thought, to indicate that they were at their stop. Qui-Gon stood and made his way to the exit, Raven following closely behind. When they were on the walkway, the pair walked side-by-side, Raven giving either verbal or physical indications as to how to get to the embassy. He didn't fail to notice that a number of times her hand would reflexively go to her side, brushing either the holster with her blaster or her lightsaber hidden beneath the folds of her over-tunic. Nothing around him gave him indications of danger, though, and he wondered if her fears were grounded. The Force was silent in regard to threats that might be surrounding them.
Abruptly the pair came upon a large crowd of people being held back about a block from the embassy. Smoke could be seen on the far side of the building, darkening the sky like thunderclouds. People milled about, being held back by CorSec guards and barricades. Raven pulled Qui-Gon close. "Why don't we split up to see if we can glean anything from the crowd?" she said quietly into his ear. He nodded, and she added, "I'll take this side while you move around the other. Be careful." The last almost seemed to be an afterthought; however, Qui-Gon couldn't help but speculate again on her loyalties and where they lay.
He slid through the crowd, moving easily through gaps of people. No one seemed to really be talking of anything he found useful or intriguing. Most of the conversation was speculation of the cause of the explosion, the public's views of the latest political scandal. However, none of it seemed to have anything grounded in facts or reality.
It didn't take much time for Qui-Gon to reach the edge of the crowd, bordered by barricades set up by the CorSec. He stood for a few moments, watching as the building still burned at the edges, glowing from the spiky flames that licked at the metal supports usually hidden beneath the shiny exterior of the building.
"It's a shame," sighed one of the guards standing a short distance away from the barricade. Another guard nearby shook his head in agreement and said something that Qui-Gon couldn't quite hear. "Is that so?" the first replied. "Well, I heard the captain say over the comm that there were some Twi'leks hanging around. He thought they might have been a part of one of the local gangs, they looked familiar. Do you think someone hired them? Sometimes gang members will sell their blasters, if they're hard up for money."
The other guard visibly shrugged, making some other kind of response. Qui-Gon moved away from the barricade back into the crowd, thinking about this piece of information. Given its source, it was probably relatively reliable, although he still doubted that this incident was linked to his personal mission. He was soon back to the rear of the crowd.
Qui-Gon lingered behind the people, waiting for Raven to reappear. From beneath his own cloak he pulled a datacard and began perusing its contents. This card held the specifics of his mission, details he didn't feel entirely comfortable revealing to his somewhat dubious partner. The political speaker in danger was in fact Valorum, and he had to give her credit for that guess, however educated. Threats had been received by his father, alluding to the fact that he ought to keep a tighter reign on his son. The most recent letter had been hand delivered, by a person Qui-Gon was being to suspect must have been a runner. The mission was filled with absurdities, but one of the greatest came from the fact it was printed on Alderaanian paper. The only place to get such paper on Coruscant was the Alderaanian embassy. Someone was trying to perpetrate that race. But why? The letter itself was rather unremarkable, stating that in the near future if Valorum didn't get out of the center stage, he might be permanently removed. Thus, a Jedi was sent to uncover the plot.
A touch on his arm attracted his attention, and Qui-Gon found Raven on his arm. "I found out a few trails that might be useful," she told him quietly, "but unfortunately I stirred up a little trouble in the process. We need to head out." Using a gentle touch with the Force, she attracted his attention to a small group of humanoids standing in a loose circle, speaking in argumentative tones. Then one broke off, a regular-sized human with dirty blond hair and brown eyes, racing through the crowd towards Qui-Gon and Raven.
"That would be our exit cue," she grinned, pulling Qui-Gon away from the crowd, taking long, running strides herself.
***
"What did you do?" Qui-Gon called to her as they ran along the walkway. Raven darted between people, moving in and out of small crowds to make the chase that much more difficult for their pursuer.
"He's a rival of mine," Raven replied, "and I got a little too close trying to get information from his group." She was hedging the issue, but now that wasn't very important. "Here!" Raven moved to the edge of one of the walkways.
"What are you doing?" he asked, a little alarm on his face. Raven ignored him, pulling out her blaster. She climbed onto the handrail, balancing carefully. From somewhere under her tunic, she produced an attachment, which she hooked onto the barrel of the blaster. Then, she released the safety and took careful aim below them. "Raven?!"
The smell of ozone dissipated around them as she fired the blaster once. He could feel her through the Force guiding the hook that shot from the end of the blaster. "End of the road," she told him, turning and offering her hand. "You with?" Qui-Gon glanced down below, the towline moving in the wind between the buildings.
"If you explain yourself at a later date," he said finally.
She nodded, handing him the blaster. Suddenly, a bolt shot over her head, her hair nearly singed. Raven whipped around, her hand straying to her saber but then shook her head. The meaning, that they were running out of time, was clear on her face. "You jump, I'll take care of the rest. I can't hold you. You're too large. " Suddenly, he understood. She scrambled on his back, and he leapt off the walkway to the astonished gasps of onlookers as a few more bolts whizzed past them. Raven gasped, her head tucked next to his, but then she tightened her grip for the free fall.
It was an exhilarating feeling as the buildings sped past. Raven watched as the rope lost the loop of slack in the middle, and then she closed her eyes and reached out into the Force. Pain burned its way through her back, where she had been hit by a bolt, but she ignored that, concentrating on their fall and slowing that descent. Raven felt a slight snap, something that would have ripped the blaster from his hands without the Force manipulation, and tightened her grip as they reached the bottom of the fall. Momentum carried them through a fast swing. Qui-Gon shifted slightly beneath her, and she felt him let go of the blaster. They fell a few more meters and landed on another walkway at least fifteen stories down. The landing itself was heavy, and beneath her, Qui-Gon rolled, sending Raven tumbling to the ground. Her back ached and was covered in sweat from her short but intense exertion.
She lay in a disorderly heap, limbs sprawled, as she fought to regain her breath. Raven watched Qui-Gon stand up. He moved back to the edge of the walkway and called her blaster to him on its next swing. His hands found the recall command on the attachment, and soon the grappling hook was back on the end of the blaster, the tinges neatly sticking out of the barrel.
Qui-Gon came back to kneel next to her. "That was fun," he mused, then his look turned serious when he saw the spreading damp spot on her back. His strong hands shifted the outer tunic, considerately leaving her lightsaber hidden. "A laser bolt," he muttered to himself as he pulled off his own cloak and began shredding the soft, brown fabric into strips. Ignoring the small crowd that had gathered upon their arrival, he bound her small but messy wound and asked her how she felt.
"A little light-headed," Raven begrudgingly admitted. "He got in one good shot, apparently."
"Explanations later," he replied, and for the first time she noticed the small group of people. "Nothing to see here," he informed them, waving his hand slightly towards the crowd. There was a murmur of disappointment, but they soon dissipated, whether or not by their own will.
Qui-Gon helped her to her feet, but she faltered and almost fell. "Maybe more than a little," she amended, feeling ridiculous as he supported her. "I didn't lose that much blood," she added, more to explain the sudden weakness to herself than him.
"Might be shock," he replied. "Come on, let's go back to your apartment. Then you can explain to me why we had to make that sudden exit. At least now we're even." He put one arm under her to help support her, and Raven moved slowly away with him, trying to move her back as little as possible.
"Yeah, even," she said through her teeth against the pain. She'd never had such a close call before, and it left her reeling. "Guess we found our trouble," she couldn't help but add with a smile.
The embassy was a short ride on one of the local commuter shuttles. Qui-Gon sat next to Raven, relaxed, trying to focus into the Force, looking for clues as to whether or not the blast was related to his mission. Beside him, he could sense Raven's tautness, as though she were prepared for an attack from any direction. He couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking or planning. Surely she wouldn't have come this far without some kind of plan for gathering information. At least, he hoped not.
His mind wandered from the matter at hand for a moment to speculate on his trust in regard to her. The Jedi couldn't decide if he really trusted Raven, or if he was simply using the hospitality she had offered. It was a thorny question, one that necessitated mediation only in the fact that he couldn't separate his emotions from it. The fact that she had left the Order bothered him quite a bit, but her reason was even more grating. Many times he had found himself at odds with the Council and many times he had taken a different path than the one they had chosen. Why couldn't she have just done the same? He couldn't reconcile leaving the Order over something that simply came down to be recommendations. But perhaps that was purely against her character. Still, it made her challenging to trust.
Raven touched his arm, breaking his train of thought, to indicate that they were at their stop. Qui-Gon stood and made his way to the exit, Raven following closely behind. When they were on the walkway, the pair walked side-by-side, Raven giving either verbal or physical indications as to how to get to the embassy. He didn't fail to notice that a number of times her hand would reflexively go to her side, brushing either the holster with her blaster or her lightsaber hidden beneath the folds of her over-tunic. Nothing around him gave him indications of danger, though, and he wondered if her fears were grounded. The Force was silent in regard to threats that might be surrounding them.
Abruptly the pair came upon a large crowd of people being held back about a block from the embassy. Smoke could be seen on the far side of the building, darkening the sky like thunderclouds. People milled about, being held back by CorSec guards and barricades. Raven pulled Qui-Gon close. "Why don't we split up to see if we can glean anything from the crowd?" she said quietly into his ear. He nodded, and she added, "I'll take this side while you move around the other. Be careful." The last almost seemed to be an afterthought; however, Qui-Gon couldn't help but speculate again on her loyalties and where they lay.
He slid through the crowd, moving easily through gaps of people. No one seemed to really be talking of anything he found useful or intriguing. Most of the conversation was speculation of the cause of the explosion, the public's views of the latest political scandal. However, none of it seemed to have anything grounded in facts or reality.
It didn't take much time for Qui-Gon to reach the edge of the crowd, bordered by barricades set up by the CorSec. He stood for a few moments, watching as the building still burned at the edges, glowing from the spiky flames that licked at the metal supports usually hidden beneath the shiny exterior of the building.
"It's a shame," sighed one of the guards standing a short distance away from the barricade. Another guard nearby shook his head in agreement and said something that Qui-Gon couldn't quite hear. "Is that so?" the first replied. "Well, I heard the captain say over the comm that there were some Twi'leks hanging around. He thought they might have been a part of one of the local gangs, they looked familiar. Do you think someone hired them? Sometimes gang members will sell their blasters, if they're hard up for money."
The other guard visibly shrugged, making some other kind of response. Qui-Gon moved away from the barricade back into the crowd, thinking about this piece of information. Given its source, it was probably relatively reliable, although he still doubted that this incident was linked to his personal mission. He was soon back to the rear of the crowd.
Qui-Gon lingered behind the people, waiting for Raven to reappear. From beneath his own cloak he pulled a datacard and began perusing its contents. This card held the specifics of his mission, details he didn't feel entirely comfortable revealing to his somewhat dubious partner. The political speaker in danger was in fact Valorum, and he had to give her credit for that guess, however educated. Threats had been received by his father, alluding to the fact that he ought to keep a tighter reign on his son. The most recent letter had been hand delivered, by a person Qui-Gon was being to suspect must have been a runner. The mission was filled with absurdities, but one of the greatest came from the fact it was printed on Alderaanian paper. The only place to get such paper on Coruscant was the Alderaanian embassy. Someone was trying to perpetrate that race. But why? The letter itself was rather unremarkable, stating that in the near future if Valorum didn't get out of the center stage, he might be permanently removed. Thus, a Jedi was sent to uncover the plot.
A touch on his arm attracted his attention, and Qui-Gon found Raven on his arm. "I found out a few trails that might be useful," she told him quietly, "but unfortunately I stirred up a little trouble in the process. We need to head out." Using a gentle touch with the Force, she attracted his attention to a small group of humanoids standing in a loose circle, speaking in argumentative tones. Then one broke off, a regular-sized human with dirty blond hair and brown eyes, racing through the crowd towards Qui-Gon and Raven.
"That would be our exit cue," she grinned, pulling Qui-Gon away from the crowd, taking long, running strides herself.
***
"What did you do?" Qui-Gon called to her as they ran along the walkway. Raven darted between people, moving in and out of small crowds to make the chase that much more difficult for their pursuer.
"He's a rival of mine," Raven replied, "and I got a little too close trying to get information from his group." She was hedging the issue, but now that wasn't very important. "Here!" Raven moved to the edge of one of the walkways.
"What are you doing?" he asked, a little alarm on his face. Raven ignored him, pulling out her blaster. She climbed onto the handrail, balancing carefully. From somewhere under her tunic, she produced an attachment, which she hooked onto the barrel of the blaster. Then, she released the safety and took careful aim below them. "Raven?!"
The smell of ozone dissipated around them as she fired the blaster once. He could feel her through the Force guiding the hook that shot from the end of the blaster. "End of the road," she told him, turning and offering her hand. "You with?" Qui-Gon glanced down below, the towline moving in the wind between the buildings.
"If you explain yourself at a later date," he said finally.
She nodded, handing him the blaster. Suddenly, a bolt shot over her head, her hair nearly singed. Raven whipped around, her hand straying to her saber but then shook her head. The meaning, that they were running out of time, was clear on her face. "You jump, I'll take care of the rest. I can't hold you. You're too large. " Suddenly, he understood. She scrambled on his back, and he leapt off the walkway to the astonished gasps of onlookers as a few more bolts whizzed past them. Raven gasped, her head tucked next to his, but then she tightened her grip for the free fall.
It was an exhilarating feeling as the buildings sped past. Raven watched as the rope lost the loop of slack in the middle, and then she closed her eyes and reached out into the Force. Pain burned its way through her back, where she had been hit by a bolt, but she ignored that, concentrating on their fall and slowing that descent. Raven felt a slight snap, something that would have ripped the blaster from his hands without the Force manipulation, and tightened her grip as they reached the bottom of the fall. Momentum carried them through a fast swing. Qui-Gon shifted slightly beneath her, and she felt him let go of the blaster. They fell a few more meters and landed on another walkway at least fifteen stories down. The landing itself was heavy, and beneath her, Qui-Gon rolled, sending Raven tumbling to the ground. Her back ached and was covered in sweat from her short but intense exertion.
She lay in a disorderly heap, limbs sprawled, as she fought to regain her breath. Raven watched Qui-Gon stand up. He moved back to the edge of the walkway and called her blaster to him on its next swing. His hands found the recall command on the attachment, and soon the grappling hook was back on the end of the blaster, the tinges neatly sticking out of the barrel.
Qui-Gon came back to kneel next to her. "That was fun," he mused, then his look turned serious when he saw the spreading damp spot on her back. His strong hands shifted the outer tunic, considerately leaving her lightsaber hidden. "A laser bolt," he muttered to himself as he pulled off his own cloak and began shredding the soft, brown fabric into strips. Ignoring the small crowd that had gathered upon their arrival, he bound her small but messy wound and asked her how she felt.
"A little light-headed," Raven begrudgingly admitted. "He got in one good shot, apparently."
"Explanations later," he replied, and for the first time she noticed the small group of people. "Nothing to see here," he informed them, waving his hand slightly towards the crowd. There was a murmur of disappointment, but they soon dissipated, whether or not by their own will.
Qui-Gon helped her to her feet, but she faltered and almost fell. "Maybe more than a little," she amended, feeling ridiculous as he supported her. "I didn't lose that much blood," she added, more to explain the sudden weakness to herself than him.
"Might be shock," he replied. "Come on, let's go back to your apartment. Then you can explain to me why we had to make that sudden exit. At least now we're even." He put one arm under her to help support her, and Raven moved slowly away with him, trying to move her back as little as possible.
"Yeah, even," she said through her teeth against the pain. She'd never had such a close call before, and it left her reeling. "Guess we found our trouble," she couldn't help but add with a smile.
