Coruscant Police Departement - Pilot

A small pilot chapter about an idea I had for a fanfiction in the Star Wars universe.

Most stories happen all over the galaxy and it is almost always about the fate of the galaxy, so I thought: Why not something different?

This is about a detective on Coruscant solving crimes.

The idea came about when I was binge-watching crime shows, and I thought: Why not?

Please comment what you think about the idea, and I would like to hear your own ideas about cases and how they could happen and could be solved in the Star Wars universe.

Think about what you know from crime shows and how the methods there could be applied in a far far away galaxy.

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The light in the room was dim. It was bright enough to see the table, the two chairs, and every small dent in the durasteel walls, yet it managed to create an oppressive atmosphere.

But it wasn't to him.

Rooms like this have been his living room for the past thirty years. In and out. Again and again and again.

After some time, the atmosphere stopped having an effect on him.

Instead, he started to use it to his advantage. Coupled with the right words, the right photos, the right files, he could create anger, fear, anxiety, whatever he needed to get the truth out of those on the other side of the table.

He was curious if the person who would enter the room in the next minute could do so, too.

As if his thoughts had summoned him, the door to the interrogation room opened, and a man in a grey immaculate uniform entered.

The man's brown hair was chopped short, and his posture screamed military discipline. Yet, his face and body alone wouldn't stop any of the more belligerent individuals who walked around the streets of Coruscant from trying to mess with him.

That would be done by the uniform since only the dumbest of the dumbest would try anything as long as they recognized it.

After all, despite its newness, the ISB, the Imperial Security Bureau, already got a reputation. And anybody who even tried to mess with it simply disappeared, never to be seen again.

"Detective Jake Bender?" asked the ISB agent.

"Yes, that's me," answered the man who had waited inside the room.

"I am Agent Silver. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet me," said the ISB agent before sitting on the chair opposite Jake and putting a datapad on the table.

"It is not like I could say no. When the ISB wants a meeting, it is not voluntary. Yet, I would like to know the reason for this meeting," replied Jake and noted how different their postures were.

While the ISB agent sat straight in his chair, Jake slouched in his. From the outside, it looked like the table was a border between two opposites.

Nonetheless, there was one thing that connected the two men.

Their ability to ferret out the truth, no matter the methods they had to employ and how long it would take.

"It is simply a routine questioning of everyone working in a public institution above a certain rank and who has been working in those same institutions before the transition of the Republic into the Empire two years ago. That it took so long for us to get to you is simply due to the constraints on the ISB's resources and your relative... well... insignificance."

"I am not offended," said Jake. "I know that I am not high on any list that holds any importance to the ISB, and to be sincere, I don't want to be. Anyone on those lists tends to not have a happy life."

Agent Silver gave him a bland smile, neither confirming nor denying any of Jake's words, yet both knew that his words held some truth to them.

"Anyway," continued Agent Silver "we're here today so that I can carry on the mandatory interview for all planetary employees who have a high enough position to get access to sensitive files. Especially those who were already working during the days of the Republic. And you have worked in the CPD for a long time."

"24 years, give or take," replied Jake without care.

"Of course, there was the two-year suspension without pay where I worked mostly as a PI, but officially I was still employed."

"Two years without pay?"

"Well, not literally, more figuratively. They still paid me but only a fraction. Not enough to maintain my then apartment and standard of living. Had to look for a secondary income. Besides, I would have been bored otherwise."

"You are quite open with that part of your life. Most wouldn't speak so openly about being punished."

Jake simply shrugged. "It isn't something you wouldn't find out if opened my file so there isn't any reason why I should try to hide it."

"There is also a remark that you agreed to it without protesting," said Agent Silver, clearly trying to get Jake to say more.

Yet, Jake didn't clarify or elaborate, merely raising an eyebrow as if to say he was waiting for the next question.

Understanding that he wouldn't get a more comprehensive answer at this point, Agent Silver continued with his questions.

"Your file says that you got a promotion after a certain case called by the local media the 'Ikar murders' named so after the allegedly first victim Dee Ikar. That was the first case you got that was bigger than it first appeared, correct? Now, what exactly happened? And I don't want a word-by-word rendition of the file. Tell me in your own words."

Jake leaned back in his chair, looking up to the ceiling.

"The 'Ikar murders', huh? That was quite some time ago." He looked back at the ISB agent and started to talk, knowing that he would sit in this room for a very long time if he didn't start.

"I think that was sixteen years ago, a year after I became a detective. My second or third case without my mentor looking over my shoulder and criticizing every little thing I did. Back then I was in the 355th Department and our operational area was low to middle class. It was a normal day when I was called out to what seemed like a normal homicide..."

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