Chapter 8:
A single loud blaster shot echoed through the streets. It hung in the air for several seconds before Ves realized that she was still alive. She was too scared to open her eyes and only heard the police blasters returning fire. Soon another equally loud one, followed by another and another. Each flew with a terrifying crack accompanied by the sound of a body hitting the ground. Ves finally forced her eyes open. She saw the cops in full retreat, almost tripping over each other. Her would-be executioner was lying next to her, his head nearly ripped off by the bolt.
Soon a speeder, carrying the familiar silhouette of her savior, descended to rescue her. Jukko tried her best to patch her up, giving her enough stimulants to supply a small army. Ves could just barely limp with Jukko's support and so she loaded her onto the speeder and raced off.
They eventually found a dark corner where they would be safe for just a moment. Jukko immediately resumed her treatment of Ves, applying a Bacta pad to her leg and applying splints to her broken fingers. She was barely done when Ves held onto her with panicked strength and started crying: "I thought I was going to die."
Ves was more scared than she had ever been in her entire life. More scared than when the first shots were fired at her, more scared than when she woke up in the slaughterhouse, more scared than when she walked into the prison alone. But she was also more grateful than she had ever been. Grateful for having Jukko, for always being able to count on her.
Jukko tried her best to comfort her, but it still took a while for her to calm down.
Eventually she recovered enough for Jukko to say: "I'll always be here for you." Ves sobbed: "Why?" She responded: "Does it matter?"
Unfortunately, their moment was cut short by the confines of their situation. They were likely still being hunted, so they had to think of a plan and quick: "We can't keep running forever" Jukko started "If you don't like the game, change the rules. Time for them to run scared for once." Ves interjected: "We don't even know who's after us." Jukko continued: "Well, what do we know? They must be involved with the police, that much is clear. Did Hokzam tell you anything?" - "Not much, he was clearly scared stiff." Jukko considered, then said: "If he was scared, it must be someone really bad and influential. They have ties to organized crime but also got police dancing to their tune. They have real power on this planet, enough to hide 780 million credits while the Senate is actively looking for it. I'm guessing either politician or corporate." Ves added: "They also had insider info on the bank" Jukko looked surprised. Ves elaborated: "Yeah the workups on the security systems were far too detailed for anything else."
They both considered their answers for a moment and then said nearly simultaneously: "Derant Beviste"
Beviste, one of the few human members of the Banking Clan and owner of several banks on the planet. He had more political capital than entire solar systems and was known for his shady practices.
"That just leaves the why." It occurred to Ves first: "The money is insured, right? So he'd be able to keep it while not pissing off his shadier clients." Jukko continued her train of thought: "As long as he eliminates all evidence of his involvement he'd be golden. Just another crew of overambitious fools, the money lost to the digital aether. But wouldn't it be risky, even for him?" Ves countered: "He's spent his entire life swaddled in money, people like him don't know consequences." Jukko smirked: "Guess he's about to learn."
"That only leaves drawing him out." Ves grabbed her rig: "Hold on, I got something" Sure enough, her backdoor into the GCN network was still open. "Now all we need is some way to link him to it." Jukko had an idea: "Didn't he pay for half that precinct's education?" Ves almost immediately found an image of the indicted police sergeant shaking hands with Beviste. "With the insider info we got, it should be enough for an indictment." Jukko checked her weapon: "He'll scurry off the second it comes down. Are you ready to go?" Ves' body was broken, but her spirit was reignited with resolve: "Let's get the slimy bastard!"
For the second time that week, a GCN broadcast was interrupted by one of Ves' special messages. Only this time, she interrupted the senate committee on the heist with vital information implicating Derant Beviste. No sooner had the signal returned to the senate committee than they voted to indict him. Ves and Jukko were already on the way to his mansion.
"Damn it, he's already running!" They spotted his luxurious speeder leaving for the nearest spaceport escorted by two police interceptors. "We'll have to deal with them first. Hold on, Ves!"
Jukko closed in and lobbed one of her explosives at the left interceptor's engines. They immediately went up in flames and fell out of the sky. The second returned fire and chased after them. "Let's see how badly they want us." Jukko piloted the speeder straight into oncoming traffic. She weaved through the maze of vehicles with surprising finesse. Ves held on to her for dear life.
The police interceptor tried its best but soon lost them. They broke off the search and tried to return to their client. It was then when Jukko reappeared from above. Flying their speeder inverted, she dropped another explosive down on the interceptor. It fell to pieces long before it hit the ground.
All was going well when they saw a chrome spaceship proudly bearing the insignias of both the Banking Clan and the Beviste Organisation taking off. "Damn it, I can't get through those shields!" Ves shouted against the rushing wind: "Stay with them, I'll force them down!"
The airspace over Coruscant was infamously crowded, requiring constant communication with ground control to even attempt to leave the planet. Ves would hijack that connection to slice the ship. Still, the ship was climbing at an alarming rate and they could only follow them for so long before either the speeder or the air would fail them.
Ves first tried to hijack the connection. Surprisingly enough, it was relatively easy. The real trouble came with infiltrating the ship's systems. She first tried slicing the controls. They were far too complex for her and she failed miserably. The ship was now already two kilometers off the ground. The air was getting thinner, making it harder to think. She next sent every malicious script she had ever downloaded to the ship's CPU hoping one would work. Nothing happened. Four kilometers off the ground. It was now freezing, making her already slow one handed typing even slower. She tried to infiltrate engine controls, but got nowhere. Six kilometers above the ground. She had one last chance before the air would be too thin to breathe. She nearly broke her hand hitting the terminal in frustration, but then came the breakthrough: The cooling system. Like she hoped, it was almost comically underdefended. All she had to do was change one value and the engines failed nearly instantly.
Takeoff turned into an emergency landing back on the runway. It was almost a crash landing, for sheer force of their impact. The ship remained intact, but hit the ground hard. The two landed right next to it. Jukko helped Ves limp to the airlock, then rigged it with one final explosive. The ship's damaged hull proved no match and so they rushed in. They found little more than several service droids, from pilots to butlers, on board with Beviste cowering in the corner. He started begging for his life, offering the entire 780 million in exchange. Jukko kept her rifle trained on him while Ves grabbed the account key and transferred it to a series of proxies.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
She tossed the worthless key back to him then left.