Coruscant's Finest is a hardboiled crime novella written by Dalton Wylind. It was released on Star Wars Fanon, the Star Wars wiki of fan invention as an eBook on June 12, 2010. A minor rewrite was completed and released the following day, on June 13. Since its release, Coruscant's Finest has received mixed to positive reviews from readers. In July 2010, the novella received the Best Mystery award in Star Wars Fanon's Summer 2010 Short Story Contest.

The story follows a Coruscant Security Force detective, Kendra Mali, and her partner, Itol "Sally" Sal, as they investigate an abnormal triple-homicide case on the ecumenopolis world of Coruscant.

Contents 1 Story 2 Publisher's summary 3 Plot synopsis 4 Excerpt 5 Appearances 6 Behind the scenes 6.1 Reception 6.2 Disclaimer 7 Notes and references 8 See also

StoryEdit

Main article: Coruscant's Finest/Text

Publisher's summaryEdit

Plot synopsisEdit

Detective Kendra Molti of the Coruscant Security Force is a well-respected and highly-valued homicide investigator and often receives requests for assistance from other detectives. She accepts one case that interests her: a triple-homicide on a well-populated street in broad daylight.^[5]

At the crime scene, there are three victims: Helen Snejana, a Human female, and two other Human males. The cause of death for both males is determined to be due to a V-Gun gunshot wound to the back of the head, and while the late Helen possesses the same injury, it was post-mortem, and it is discovered that she was also raped. Kendra and her partner, Iton "Sally" Sal, suspect that the murders were committed by more than a mere single person or street gang. Kendra even speculates that it was committed in order to "send a message" to someone due to its ruthlessness.^[5]

Kendra later visits the mother of Helen Snejana, who is so upset about the news of her daughter's rape and subsequent murder that she commits suicide while Kendra is there. Kendra, who blames herself for Snejana's death, becomes increasingly depressed and insubordinate. She soon develops an obsession over the case.^[5]

Kendra is horrified when she receives a call from Captain Peirpoint, her commanding officer, who is being held at gunpoint. The gunman tells her to inform Kendra that the request for the warrants will not be put through. With Kendra listening, the gunman shoots and kills Peirpoint. After Kendra calls units to and then arrives at Peirpoint's apartment, Sally calls her and says he needs to meet with her in private, without anyone else knowing.^[5]

Becoming more paranoid that she will be killed, Kendra uses an audio recorder to record her final thoughts and suspicions. She then enters the building Sally told her to meet him in, but finds it empty. Sally then appears, and, much to her surprise, reveals that he is aligned with those behind the murders. He then shoots her in the abdomen, severely injuring her. He reveals that he was the one that killed Helen Snejana and Captain Peirpoint. He takes Kendra's weapon and transceiver, kisses her on the forehead, tells her he is sorry, and seals her in the room. Kendra recalls that she had the audio recorder active the entire time, and takes comfort in the fact that her impending death will not go unsolved.^[5]

Although the ending is left largely ambiguous, the reader is left to presume that Kendra bleeds out from her wounds, and that Sally is later held responsible for her death due to the evidence on the audio recorder. It is never revealed who is behind the murders.^[5]

ExcerptEdit

AppearancesEdit

Behind the scenesEdit

Coruscant's Finest was first announced on Dalton Wylind's official WordPress blog on March 21, 2010. While writing, Wylind drew inspiration from Southland, Brooklyn's Finest, Carlito's Way, 88 Minutes, and The Departed.^[6] While writing, Wylind considered multiple times canceling the story, however, after the announcement of the 2010 Summer Short Story Contest, he chose to finish and publish Coruscant's Finest and submit it in the contest.^[3]

Writing was completed on June 4.^[3] The following day, Wylind announced that final editing and revising had been completed, and that the novella was finally complete.^[2]

The novella was released as an eBook on June 12, 2010, exclusively on the Star Wars Fanon Wiki, the Star Wars wiki of fan invention.^[4] A book cover, which was created by Wylind, was released on June 13.^[7] The story was also released on Wattpad on September 22, 2010.^[8]

ReceptionEdit

Since its release, Coruscant's Finest has received mixed to positive reviews from readers.^[9] Sean "Goodwood" Nash, author of the Tales from the Corps Series, criticized the story for its fast pace, lack of setting description and character depth. He also claimed the story "did not explore the full potential of a first-person perspective story." Atarumaster88, author of the Force Exile Series, also criticized the story for the aforementioned reasons, but claimed that the story had "tremendous potential to be excellent."^[9] Both authors suggested a rewrite, which Wylind completed the day after the story's initial release.

Little feedback has been given since the rewrite,^[9] although Star Wars Fanon user MPK stated that Coruscant's Finest was "impressive" and "gripping and exceptionally well-written."^[10] Furthermore, in a review of the nominations for Star Wars Fanon's Summer 2010 Short Story Contest, Atarumaster88 said that Coruscant's Finest's plot was "pretty exciting" and praised the story's mysteriousness, though still stated there was poor character development and rushed scenes. He ultimately gave the story a "thumb halfway up."^[11] Coruscant's Finest went on to win Best Mystery at the Summer 2010 Short Story Contest.

DisclaimerEdit

This work aims to not conflict with the canon as established by Lucasfilm, Ltd. As with all Dalton Wylind works, all terms copyrighted by Lucasfilm, Ltd. are their sole intellectual property, and the author does not seek to infringe on those copyrights. All comments should be left on the author's talk page or on the article's talk page. In addition, edits to this article or the novel should only be spelling and/or grammar corrections.

This work contains sci-fi action violence, profanity, and scenes that may not be appropriate for young children. Reader discretion is advised.

Notes and referencesEdit

See alsoEdit