Clawdite No. 2

Clawdite No. 2
Date of Scene:	23 June 2024
Location:
Synopsis:	A Clawdite assassin infiltrates the Temple.
Cast of Characters:	159, Navi, Annelia Belask, Cayde Alexis, Pike Windu

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Athena (159) has posed:
It's half past eleven at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and as per usual, all is quiet.

The Padawans and younglings were sleeping (or should have been) and the most of the Masters and Knights were also either sleeping, resting or meditating.

And yet, Jedi Knight Til Tensent is strolling quickly across the atrium, his expression slightly strained. He'd invited Navi to meet him at the Temple at this hour - it's late, yes, but recently, the young Jedi had been embroiled in helping some of the Masters with paperwork and politicking, and there'd just not been any other time to meet. He was also certain he'd be reassigned back to the Outer Rim, soon, as well, and didn't want to put off meeting with her for who knew how long...

"I'm sorry about the late hour," he tells the young Sephi girl. "I've been ... busy. And I figured venturing out in the city at this time wouldn't be ideal, for either of us." He offers her a wan smile. "Anyway, I figure we could take a walk through the Temple Gardens, and ... catch up."

Navi has posed:
Navi had agreed to meet, albeit not without some reluctance. Her previous time at the Temple wasn't a comfortable subject, mostly due to what had followed. But she needed to know some things, and had no intentions of missing a chance to speak to someone who had been here these last few years.

"I'm used to late hours, so it's no trouble," she replies. "Congratulations again for passing your trials, by the way. I'm happy for you. I'm not sure how much there is to catch up on... mostly I've been on Jedha, seeking peace through the Force."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    There's any number of reasons Ann might be up late. It seems this time, by the sheen of glisten on her forehead and her still not -completely- settled breath, it's because she's wrapping up after a late-night exercise session, given she's also coming from the direction of the training rooms. Takes... quite a bit for this woman to get that worn, so must've been an intense one.

    She slows a little, head tilting as she sees the pair conversing near the door. She comes to a full stop a second later, raising a hand in silent greeting from a little across the way.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Why is Cayde up late? Well, he's been subjected to a nighttime curfew these days, so he hasn't really been sleeping at night at all lately. He sensed Ann in one of the training rooms, and was going to join her but it seems she's already finished. The padawan looks toward Navi and Tensent, surprised to see the former here at some a late hour.

Athena (159) has posed:
Tensent smiles warmly at Navi. "Thank you," he says softly, leading her to entrance of the Temple Gardens. "I'm sorry. I should have been a better friend to you. And I've missed you," he adds, reaching for her hand. "I wanted you to know--" But then he notices Ann, sweaty and glistening, as well as Cayde, and he withdraws his hand quickly and steps away from Navi, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Belask, Padawan Alexis..." he says formally, bowing slightly. "It's... late, what are you doing awake at this hour?"

Navi has posed:
"Well... we weren't exactly brought here to make friends," Navi replies apologetically, bowing her head slightly. "It's possible I took the training too seriously and missed chances at becoming closer to my classmates, yourself included. So perhaps it was me who should have been a better friend to you. And others, too. I'm sorry I wasn't."

She watches his hand reach for hers, blushing faintly. And when he hesitates, she glances at him, and then toward Cayde and Ann. "Good evening, Ann, Cayde," she says warmly. "What's keeping you two up so late?"

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "With all the touring and such lately, have to stay up late to get as much workout as I want in," answers Ann, shrugging a little, helplessly. She walks in closer, finally.

    "Though one could ask the same of you Tensent- and especially you, Navi. What brings you by the temple?"

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde nods in greeting toward Navi and Tensent when they acknowledge him, but as per usual he just stands there watching the conversation. It seems Navi had previously known Tensent. Although his mind does wander a bit. Maybe he should just go back to his room and try to sleep again. Or maybe he should try to sneak out again, now that Ann is distracted...

Athena (159) has posed:
When Navi looks over at Tensent, he averts his gaze immediately, assuming a more steely demeanor.

"Navi and I were going to take a short walk in the Temple Gardens together," he says, suddenly looking slightly miffed. "We were going to discuss some of the suspicious activity we observed of the guests earlier," he says clearing his throat. "I suppose you two could join us, if you'd like." He turns to enter to Gardens, but stops short a few steps in, frowning. The bubbling fountain centered on the brick path leading into the garden appears to be broken. The water is overflowing out of the marble reservoir.

Anne and Cayde might find the situation a bit... off. Normally, one of the maintenance techs would have taken care of something like this by now - its ten minutes past the graveyard shift for the techs, and none of them were ever known to start their shifts late, for any reason at all...

Navi has posed:
"I've been staying in one of the Temple guest chambers, more often than not, since this whole political mess started," Navi explains. "And Knight Tensent and I had been going to take a walk in the gardens, to talk about..."

She trails off, seeing the fountain overflowing past Tensent's shoulder. And then she looks around worriedly, not sure what she's looking for. "Something is wrong," she says, more softly. "I don't know what, but I can feel it. Be on your guard... just in case."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    A pause from Ann, frowning- she glances at Cayde and Tensent, eyebrow raised for a moment.

    "Cayde, can you get a sense of where the custodial staff might be?" she questions over her shoulder, wiping at her brow with her sleeve now as she looks back to Navi and Tensent a moment.

    "Hopefully just an equipment incident, but... too many odd things around here lately to be confident in that."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde frowns, seeing the broken fountain. That seemed rather off, the maintenance techs should have already taken care of it by this late hour.

    Unless...it had only just happened moments ago. He reaches out into the Force, searching for any foreign presences nearby. Someone who doesn't belong at the Temple. Someone who isn't supposed to be here...

    He also searches for the maintenance staff and where they might be, as Ann seems to have an idea.

Athena (159) has posed:
"Well yes, that is... odd," Tensent comments, "normally the nighttime techs would have come to take care of this by now..."

And then Anne advises Cayde to get a sense about where the custodial staff might be. Cayde won't find much, but what he will discover is that one of them, seems to have blocked him out. Given that many of the techs used to be Padawans, this isn't unexpected, but it is unusual.

Moments later, one of the technicians appears, rushing to the broken fountain in a tizzy. "Ah, over slept my alarm," he says, and immediately shuts off the water flow. "Hmm... looks like one of the guests from earlier today broke the valve. Guess I'll have to go put in a formal request to order the new part..." And then he disappears. Too quickly, and adroitly, perhaps, for a maintenance tech.

Navi has posed:
Navi watches the tech hurry in and shut off the water to the fountain. She scowls faintly as he leaves. "That man... did that whole interaction seem somehow off to anyone but me?" she asks, looking between her three friends in mild confusion.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "No, that was odd, not nearly annoyed enough," Ann agrees, shaking her head a little. "And I'm fairly sure I would have heard about it if a tour guest or such broke a valve, given I was one of the guides today."

    She sighs quietly. "Alright, one of us should make a call to the actual custodial office for the temple and meanwhile the rest of us take a look at this thing and see -why- it might be broken, physically."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde frowns again, reaching out with the Force to attempt to stop the technician from leaving. Why was he blocking him? Had he something to hide?

Athena (159) has posed:
"Well," Tensent remarks, "I did hear about some of the guests from the tour overstaying their welcome and wandering into areas of the Temple unsupervised, so it's entirely possible that one of them broke the fountain and were too ashamed to admit it to the Temple staff."

Cayde is successful in restraining the tech from leaving, though he struggles violently. But after a moment, his body goes completely limp, and Anne, Cayde, and perhaps Navi as well will feel his life snuff out in the Force.

Navi has posed:
"Possibly, but I think it would have been noticed long before now if that were the case," Navi observes. "If it's one thing tourists do on these tours, it's complain. And I believe those guests were the ones I caught in a side corridor nowhere near the fountain. Unless there were /other/ guests who snuck away from tours while other Jedi were arguing with and distracting the tour guides." With a glance at Tensent.

Suddenly she gasps softly, shuddering and hugging her elbows as she feels the awful sensation of a life suddenly ended. "What happened?" she cries, forgetting to keep her voice low.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Perhaps she's less empathetic, perhaps she's simply more accustomed or inured- either way, the nearby death doesn't seem to hit Annelia nearly so badly.

    "Well that... isn't what I expected. Someone bring up a datslate with the temple staff directory? We should see who this actually is. Was, I suppose." With that she strides off in the way the 'tech' went, to search for identification tags, any recognizable features, et cetera.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde stares at the now dead technician...no....that couldn't possibly be right, he'd only tried to grab an arm. How could it have just killed him? There was someone else here...someone who wasn't supposed to be here.

    [I...do not know] he signs when Navi asks what happened.

    Ann had a good point, though. They should try to see who this really was and if he was actually supposed to be here. He tries searching the body to see if there is any source of identification or credentials on him.

Athena (159) has posed:
Tensent shrugs. "They might not have been the only ones, Belask's tour was not the only one going on at that time, and certainly wasn't the only one that happened that day --" And then the tech slumps over, dead. Tensent gasps quietly, quickly reaching to turn him over. His appearance is changing, his skin contracting and reforming into the face of a Clawdite with a distinct tattoo embedded in his temple. Navi will notice right away that this Clawdite isn't the one she'd seen at the cantina prior - he's too tall and broad. Clawdites couldn't change mass, so this one must have been another, perhaps in association with the other Clawdite. The other thing Cayde and Navi will notice is that he's foaming at the mouth. Upon searching the now dead individual, Cayde will discover a small blaster with a silencer on it, and an employee ID card, that matches his prior appearance.

Ann will stumble upon a roster posted to a wall in the Temple garden. On it are the various techs scheduled to work, and when. Of the thirteen posted, only two are assigned to work the graveyard shift.

"Belask!" Tensent says, "We... we found an employee ID on him."

Navi has posed:
"This is the second Clawdite I've seen making trouble in less than a week," Navi observes grimly, studying the body. "And not the same Clawdite as the /first/ one, either. Cayde, I'm beginning to think you have a Clawdite fan club. Watch that foam around his mouth; it may be a result of swallowing something poisonous." At Tensent's call to Ann, she adds, "Are there any Clawdites on the maintenance roster? At all? I'm betting there's not even any Clawdites presently living in the Temple. None that are supposed to be here, anyway."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "And some kind of poison pill, I'm guessing?" adds Ann, frowning further. "Bring the ID here, we might need to find whoever this guy replaced, dead or alive."

    She exhales, looking over at Navi a moment. "Don't think there are any, they're not exactly the most common species and usually seem to have better things to do than fix sinks."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Another Clawdite? Cayde examines the ID to see if it seems to belong to anyone he knows. Where was the real technician who was supposed to be in possession of this? Who was this imposter supposed to kill? And what did the fountain have to do with it?

Pike Windu has posed:
    Windu examines the body. "No wounds, sighs of trauma or disease. Ah, this is interesting."    

    The Master is looking in the man's mouth and indicates a broken tooth. "Poison cap. Broken, and recently. Bit down on it and out like a light."

Athena (159) has posed:
"Second?" Tensent says, standing up. "What do you mean?"

Then Pike suddenly arrives, and leans over the body, giving a quick autopsy. Tensent frowns. "Causing his own death was intentional, then," he says softly. "Who did he come to kill, I wonder..." He then gestures for Cayde to follow him as him as he makes his way towards where Ann is. "Come along now, don't tarry when your Master calls," he chides Cayde, "you need to let her have a look at the ID."

Tensent goes to join Ann in front of the board displaying the shifts for the techs, and reaching for the top left corner, opens a tab that displays all the reports the techs had filed for that week. The daytime reports look very spammy and are full of corresponding to dos, but Anne may notice that the reports for the night time shift have little to nothing reported on them, and sometimes state that the nighttime shift had no to dos and did not need to report in.

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Guy's not getting any deader," comments Ann to Tensent mildly, shrugging.

    "Y'know, I wonder..." she muses aloud, keeping the roster up to check against the ID but beginning to search menus to see if she can check shift assignment histories- see if it's the same small group of people on the night shift regularly.

Navi has posed:
"Master Windu and I encountered a female Clawdite causing some sort of trouble in a cantina a few days ago. The Coruscant Security Force was after her for some reason," Navi explains. She glances up and smiles as Master Windu arrives. "Oh! Master Windu! We were discussing an unusually high number of Clawdites on Coruscant lately. One of them is right here," she adds. "Dead apparently by his own hand. Or own teeth, really."

She lays a hand gently on Tensent's shoulder. "Calm down a little," she advises gently. "He'll get there in a moment. I've learned to trust Cayde's instincts. They always tend to lead to something interesting."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde nods and comes over with the ID, showing it to Ann. He examines the roster, frowning. Wait, who was in charge of the maintenance techs? Why wouldn't they have noticed something off?

    <Master....do you know who supervises them> he asks, projecting to Ann.

Pike Windu has posed:
    Windu smiles at Navi and continues his examination if the dead.

Athena (159) has posed:
Tensent frowns, Ann's comment clearly chafing him. However, he's obviously trying to do his best to not let it show. "Trouble? What kind?" Tensent asks. "Who was there?" He relaxes visibly when Navi places a hand on his shoulder. "Fine," he mutters.

Anne will see that it is normally the same people, and for whatever reason, seem to clock less hours than the daytime techs. She'll also see that the incident with the fountain is the only one reported for the nighttime techs in the past three weeks or so. It would appear that reporting in for the graveyard shift isn't actually terribly common - most of all the work was finished during the day shifts.

When Cayde brings over the ID, they'll be able to see it matches one of the techs assigned to work the graveyard shift for tonight. And if they pull up the employee details on him, they'll see his living suite is 49B, on the 22nd floor of the Temple.

Upon further examination, Pike will notice some of the dead tech's other belongings, stowed in hidden pockets inside his vest. A commlink, and a set of keys.

Navi has posed:
"She was trying to con a man who had been hired to play music for the economic summit... trying to get him to leave Coruscant and never come back in exchange for getting paid what was owed him for the summit. When he continued to question her, she tried to kill him. Master Windu and I intervened; that's when she revealed that she was a Clawdite. The CSF eventually caught her and dragged her away," Navi explains. "I must wonder if it was my two guest pests who hired him? They seem rather shifty in general." She is careful not to mention Cayde's involvement; after all, he wasn't accompanied at the time. Best everyone believe he was nestled all snug in his bed back in the Temple.

Pike Windu has posed:
    Windu lays a comlink and a set of keys next to body. As he removes his gloves, he gets to his feet. "We'll need hazmat to collect him. No telling how dangerous the poison is."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    "Don't know them, might be able to find it in here though," Ann answers, glancing over her shoulder at Cayde a moment before she continues flipping through. She takes note of the nighttime crew for a moment to be followed up on, as well as the quarters for this man, before looking into Cayde's question.

Athena (159) has posed:
Tensent's frown deepens as Navi relays to him all that's happened recently. "... I see," he says, listening to her carefully. "Perhaps, but there's nothing here than that incriminate them, and we still have no idea who this individual was hired to kill," he says.

Anne will find the supervisor listed under the employee details pulled up - the tech maintenance director, a Kel Dor named Torbu Shelan.

But then Tensent may distract her. "We should check the original tech's living quarters - hopefully he's alright." He makes his way towards the lift, passing Windu on the way. He glances down at keys and the commlink. "After all is said and done, I think we should take the body, along with everything in the dead body's possession to the CSF and see if their forensic analysts can make anything of it," he says, nodding to Pike. "But would you mind joining us? We can only hope that the original tech is alright -- but if he's not, having a healer on standby would definitely be helpful." Then, regardless of who accompanies him, he enters the lift and makes his way towards the original tech's living quarters.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Torbu Shelan...hm. <He should be questioned> Cayde replies to Ann once she has spotted his name on the roster. Wouldn't he have noticed something off, and reported it? After all, he worked with that team every day.

    He starts following Tensent toward the living quarters for the Temple staff.

Navi has posed:
"Maybe not, but they've had their thumbs in a lot of pies that don't necessarily belong to them lately. I'll be very interested in knowing just what they're up to," Navi observes. "Can we get someone to watch the body, to make sure nothing happens to it while we're checking on the tech he was pretending to be? I'll do it if nobody else does," she adds.

Pike Windu has posed:
    Windu is agreeable and enters the lift. "Someone must stay with the body."

Annelia Belask has posed:
    Ann nods to Cayde. "We'll talk to him- and do some digging about the other few, just to be safe. No telling how many might be a factor... though at that point, perhaps we review daytime staff as well... as well as staff recruitment..." she trails off, frowning as she starts moving to join the others heading upstairs- then stops in her tracks.

    "Actually- let me keep digging into this panel and I'll keep an eye on the body while I'm at it. Pretty good at handling myself if there's another one that might try to eliminate a jedi and clean up after this. Cayde, feel free to check the room with the others."

Athena (159) has posed:
"We'll just have to see what the evidence produces," Tensent replies to Navi.

Tensent nods when Ann says she'll stay with the body. "Might as well get in contact with the CSF as well. Let them know what happened, and the favor we'll be needing in the form of forensic analysis."

Once they reach suite 49B, they'll find the door locked, but Tensent makes short work of it with the Force. After entering, they'll find the original tech in his bedroom, sleeping, but the collar of his shirt has been pulled down in the back. Tensent frowns. "Master, what do you think...?"

Pike Windu has posed:
    Windu leans in for a closer look. "There is a bruise. He's been injected. Probably a depressant. Breathing is okay. He should wake up in five or s hours, I'd estimate."

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Well, he seemed to be fine...at least at first glance. But Cayde is already reaching into his mind, attempting to search his recent memories. Had he seen anything or anyone suspicious? When was the last time he actually reported in for the night shift?

Navi has posed:
"At least the substitute didn't murder him, like the other tried to do to that musician," Navi observes softly. "He must have been very sneaky to get in here without disturbing his sleep." Accompanied by a gesture at the sleeping tech.

"But why would anyone want to make the fountain overflow? That's hardly an emergency. Unless it was just to give him a reason to be out and about... but that doesn't exactly seem to be necessary, since we'd pay little mind to a night shift tech out and about anyway. The whole thing's such a headache." Navi sighs irritably. "Maybe we should give that fountain a more thorough looking-over. Something suspicious may be clogging the drain."

Athena (159) has posed:
Tensent frowns. "Whatever the Clawdite aimed to do, it must have been time sensitive, and he'd planned for this poor chap to take the blame. I'm glad we caught him, despite the supposed perpetrator's untimely and unexpected passing. And sadly, you're wrong, Navi. I checked the frequency of the night shifts, and they don't report in typically. Only on rare occasion if there's work to be done that the day time techs weren't able to get to. And this tech, while he does normally take the night shifts when necessary, also does take day time shifts as well. Seeing him out and about without reason would have been suspicious."

The man remembers nothing notable, other than being aware of the fact that the fountain had been reported broken at a late hour, a couple of hours before the day time shift had ended. The last time he'd reported in for night duty had been a few weeks ago, and he'd planned to wake at the customary hour and report in. But of course, while he'd been sleeping, he'd been drugged -- probably by the Clawdite.

Tensent sighs. "This definitely warrants more investigation, but there's not anything else we can do for the moment. Belask will take the body along with all its possessions to the CSF, and hopefully they'll be able to have a forensic analysis for us soon." He pauses, turning to Pike. "Master, I'm sure Belask could use your assistance, and Padawan Alexis, you should rejoin your Master. I'm sure Belask could use your assistance, and if not, it could be a teaching moment."

Pike Windu has posed:
    Windu nods. He glances at Cayde and then leaves the room for the lift.

Cayde Alexis has posed:
    Cayde sighs, finding nothing concrete. All these odd happenings, but none of the evidence ever seemed to point to anything solid. Perhaps it was time to go on the offensive, so to speak. Do some digging of his own. Gianka and Emissarius had to have offices at the rotunda somewhere, perhaps he'd find a lead of some sort there.

    He hurries out of the room and back down to where Ann is still looking through the roster. <We should search their offices>

Navi has posed:
Navi sighs. "Maybe that's true, but I still doubt it would look very unusual for a night shift tech to be out and about during that shift. It's a big temple, with lots of things that can break down. And I do think we should check that fountain, to make sure we didn't overlook anything." She turns to follow Cayde and Master Windu toward the turbolifts.

Athena (159) has posed:
Tensent arches a brow. "-I'd- think it was odd," he says. But of course he would have. He'd always been pretty dogmatic, but had become even more so with the passing of his Trials.

But before Navi can reach the lift, Tensent reaches forward to grab Navi by the wrist gently. "Wait," he says softly.

Now that Pike, Cayde, and Annelia aren't around, his expression softens. "I'm... really sorry about tonight. I know this wasn't what either of us had planned. We'll figure out another time, I promise," he says. "But for now, you should rest, and I'll..." his gaze suddenly grows distant. "I'll try to get some rest, too." Then he turns to leave.