Aylara Tehoe and Senator Eyri. Senate Building, Offices of Senator Pharliis
Eyri wished to be nowhere but her office at any point of the day now. After Iri’s death, anywhere she went was a test on her emotions. At least in her office, Eyri felt as if she had a sense of peace and security, she could be herself.
The statement to her people had been finished. It was well known that Iri Mosvaine of Pantora had been found dead earlier that morning, the Chairmen himself had contacted Pharliis to discuss what she knew.
It seemed that was all everyone wanted to talk about now, was Iri. Eyri was sick of riding the emotional rollercoaster. She didn’t wish to take leave to grieve, there were important issues to discuss with the committee and important work Eyri
did not want to leave to her Junior Representative, Barin.
The senator’s back was to the room, for if anyone did come in she didn’t wish for them to see the tears in her eyes. She cried all that she could that day. Now her eyes simply welled up with tears when thoughts of her friend came across her mind.
The view from her office was something she and Iri had always enjoyed. Eyri stood, wiping tears from her eyes as she gazed out the window at the afternoon setting of Coruscant. She leaned against a support pillar that merged the window into the wall of the office, taking deep breaths, eyes closed as she attempted to rein in her emotions yet again.
It was often surprisingly easy to get into places that really shouldn’t be that easy. Getting out was always more difficult, that was for sure, but you’d have thought with an ongoing investigation into the death of a key member of staff, the former might be a little difficult too. It seems someone important really was that keen on selling the ‘overdose’ narrative.
This was how Aylara found herself in the offices of one Eyri Pharliis, dressed in a rather convincing replica of a Coruscant Security uniform. The Identification she flashed to get in was legitimate, aside from an altered image file. She breezed past others dressed in similar garb to herself, as well as any staff members in the building which hadn’t been sent away. There weren’t many of those, which is why she’d been forced to go with the Security angle. She hated the uniform, no matter how advanced the technology, standardized never really worked for her. Now it was just a matter of finding the right room.
It took her a few minutes of wandering around, but, eventually, she caught sight of the Senator, facing out across the view of the City trailing away into the distance, leaning to one side.
That’s a good angleShe thought to herself, as she blinked twice, the imaging software built into her right contact lense capturing the picture. Not that anyone she might send the eventual file to could use it without the Senator knowing, but it was still pretty. Maybe she’d even like it.
After a few more brief moments of pacing to and fro, trying to see if there was a ‘better’ angle, she moved to open the door, sliding into the room softly, although by the time she spoke, she was already pulling off the outer layer of the security jacket, exhaling in relief as she rested the, to her, unsightly garment on a chair.
“Senator Pharliis? Sorry for your loss, I have some information you might be interested in.” Aylara finally spoke to draw her attention, waggling a datapad at the politician, maintaining an even smile that was warm without seeming at odds with the sombre mood of the office.
“I believe we can help each other out here.”
The unfamiliar voice caught her off guard. Eyri turned her head, frowning a little as she looked upon the stranger in her office.
She saw the datapad, saw the security jacket the woman was taking off. The “information” the woman spoke of caught her interest for a quick moment but was quickly pushed to the bottom of the priority list as she tried to figure out just who this was in her office.
“Um, thank you but-” Eyri wiped the last of the tears from her eyes as she stepped towards her desk, arms crossed almost as if she was cold. “Who are you, exactly?”
“Aylara Tewoe, I work for the Times.” Ayla maintained the polite smile, some situations called for obfuscation, but from what she’d read up on in regards to the Senator, playing it straight might work better with this particular individual. Quite rare for a politician really. Rather than carry on speaking, she instead placed the datapad down on the table, a holographic display flickering to life from the pad, presenting a list of names, some with faces. Originally this had included the recently deceased Iri, but, on a whim, Ayla had removed the woman’s image from the file, instead allowing the presence of the Senator's friends name to simply tell the story for her.
“You may or may not need me to tell you about just how nasty the Senate’s politics can be, but, I think you’d agree with me that this is a very long list for a short time, Senator. I believe you’ve had contact with the homicide division? It’s good to know someone is finally taking this seriously.” Ayla moved her hands forwards, flicking through the hologram, progressing the list. They were mostly aids, actual Senators dying was big news, but this amounted to those who might inform their bosses being knocked off. There were a few names here and there Ayla was fairly sure had nothing to do with this, gambling debts or whatnot she’d manage to dig up, but, a bigger list made for a more convincing tale.
“The thing is, Senator, how far can you trust any part of Security these days?”
Eyri watched as the holographic display flickered through names and faces of people she had heard of, some she knew, and many she didn’t. Eyri was in her first term as a Senator, that was true, but she had also been in politics for a long time before now. Many of the names she recognized, and she quickly made the connection between the list, and the status of all of these names. They were all deceased.
“I’ve talked with the homicide-” Eyri paused, catching her own words.
Homicide division? Homicide? It had been a detective, but Eyri had never really asked for which division. Leena had only stated that she was a detective. Everything pointed in one direction now, though up until this moment Eyri refused to come to that conclusion.
“What are you trying to say?” Eyri prodded, eyeing Aylara as she placed both hands flat on her desk.
“I’m suggesting that someone is covering their tracks, and they’re doing it in a way which doesn’t hold much regard for the lives of those working to keep the Senate on track and informed.” Ayla’s eyes drifted from Eyri for a moment, catching a specific name on the list. Journalists weren’t exempt from whatever was happening behind the scenes in this sordid affair. She’d need to remember to be more careful, or at least, carry a blaster.
“The thing is, brutal and only passably subtle as they may be, they’re doing a good enough job that they’re not leaving a trail beyond the names, it’s obviously caught up in the Senate, but ‘what’ and ‘why’ I should think the only people with answers to those questions are on this list.” Aylara reached down to lift up the datapad, the holographic display fading as she did so.
“The people of Coruscant, of the Galaxy, deserve to know if someone is steering their representatives through murder and misinformation, but a list isn’t a story, nor is it protection. I’m trying to uncover what it is all these people knew that got them in trouble, and why no one’s caught them so far.”
“And by got them in trouble, you mean, got them murdered?” Eyri asked, her face hardened in anger as she thought of her friend, of Iri’s final moments. What torment was she forced through?
Was this what her message was about the night before her death?
“Iri sent me a message the night before she died… she wanted to talk to me about something. I told her to meet me in my office the next morning but got no reply. That’s the last I heard from her.”
“Exactly.” Ayla nodded, looking down at the datapad she was holding, punching in several digits into the interface, before offering it over to Eyri, her other hand resting on her hip. “Go through it yourself if you feel the need to, I’ve added some contact details there, they’re mine. If you want to help, stay in touch. I can’t tell you what to do, but I’d share anything ‘before’ you tell anyone working for security, even those that seem like they’re trying to help. No one gets away with this much nasty without having insiders with them. Help me, and we can keep sharing what we know, and find the people that did this to your friend, stop, whatever it is they’re trying to do to the Republic.”
Eyri took the datapad cautiously, reaching over her desk to grab it. She watched Ayla for a few long moments before looking at its screen.
Did this go against anything that Eyri held as her values? The young woman searched through her feelings. Nothing about this felt wrong, if anything she was trying to help Iri, to avenge her murder. Right?
“I’ll do what I can.” Eyri said quietly, setting the datapad down on her desk as she looked at Ayla. “I’m not sure if I should thank you, but I appreciate the information you’ve brought me.” she said, giving a weak smile to Ayla in response.
“You can thank me when it’s over, until then, maybe hire your own security.” Ayla winked at Eyri as she turned to go, picking up the Coruscant Security jacket as she did, pulling it on with one movement and zipping it up. She was out the door in another moment, moving back through the building at a quicker pace than she’d arrived, yet still within what might be perceived as normal. She passed the final checkpoint to the outside world with a polite nod to the legitimate Security team, before making her way to the nearest public parking bays. This was a nicer part of town than she usually worked in, the lack of neon advertisements and countless alleys to disappear down made her a little uncomfortable. Still, it was convenient not to have to hide your bike.
Exactly where she left it, sitting atop the highest floor in the speeder-bike bays was the bright red model. Corellian make, which, was ironic given the news lately, she quickly opened it’s rear storage bay to begin stowing the Security uniform, leading her standing in the sun-touched parking bays wearing the white tank and black shorts she had on underneath, sighing with dramatic relief at not being cooped up in the uniform. She then retrieved a second datapad from the bike, flicking through to a list.
“One down.”
Half Pint
Bingelly
Fuzzybootz
Simple Unicycle
Sep
Heat
Nightwing95
Izurich
kittyluna45
