Assasins Incorporated

[Marcus Telcontar]

Coruscant.

The home of the Galatic government, a teeming mass of beings, trillions of people in buildings that stretched to forever. The whole planet just one city.

A noisy, smelly, crowded place. An ugly place. A place that had been likened to hell.

And a place where one could slip in and hide if you knew how.

He was at present in a dark and unlit alley, waiting in the rain. His clothes were shabby, an old fashioned sword at his hip, an even older fashioned device in his hand. He had a few weeks worth of growth on his face, untidy hair. Dark eyes that looked outwards, waiting and watching.

For an hour he patiently waited for his quarry to appear. An Imperial Commander, surrounded by 6 troopers. He knew from survellence that this being was paranoid about blasters and ambushes and had a ray shield. The troops covered anything that got close enough and there was enough to deal with a Jedi.

As his hand reached back to take out a long arrow from the quiver on his back, the other hand raised the bow he held. He passed one of the tail stabilizers passed his lips in a ritual of targeting he had adopted from the old man whom had taught him this weapon. Unheard of outside of true primitive societies, he had laughed at first. Not now. Not after seeing it's uses.

The arrow was notched and he drew the bow back, pulling the string taunt. The tail stabilizer touched his cheek as he took careful aim. And waited.

BOOM.

Right on time, an explosion a few hundred meters away rang out. The Imp turned and from 400 meters range, he fired. The arrow sprang out, hurtling on it's way.

Normally, no one could fire an arrow that distance. But with the Force, he could keep it's flight going for far longer and also correct it's flight with small inputs. The arrow pierced the ray shield......

The Imperial was turning his head to see where the explosion from when...

THWACK

The arrow suddenly seemed to come from nowwhere, skewering hte Imperial through the skull. He twisted and went down without a word, sending the guards into confusion. They twisted around looking in vain from where the arrow had come from.

Already disappearing into the shadows further, the Jedi Master Marcus Q'Dunn put the bow on his back, before walking away, undetected and unseen, the darkness swallowing him as he vanished into the Coruscant night.

[Darth Turbogeek]

Arcan IV.

The moons were out, but there was plenty of cloud cover, so that the quiet feet of Darth Turbogeek were hiddenfrom sight. Moving with only noises that would be mistaken for background. Soft boots lent themselves for sneaking, as did the skintight midnight black fighting suit.

He was cold and calm, because the assasination target was a dangerous one for him. He had been following for days and he had seen this one had permanent guards, who were extremely good. to the point where he was considering using alternative methods than what he wanted to do.

He moved to the shadows of an alley and then... he could hardly believe hois luck. The NR Intelligence officer, who was actually on the take and had offended a client of Turbogeek's actually came out of his home alone!!

MIstake!

His hand moved in a blur grabbing the small device from his hip and hten throwing in one smooth action.

With the Inel officer reaching up to his neck, thinking he had been bitten by an insect, Turbogeek knew his aim had been true. The poisioned dart worked fast and the officer fell. The assasin ran across the street, took the dart out of the neck of the now dying officer and ran smoothly, quietly and in a few paces, invisibly off. In a few seconds, it was too late. 10 seconds later, someone noticed the crumpled form.

30 seconds later, a hue and cry had erupted.

29 seconds too late. The assasin was gone.

[Jyanis Scorpion]

The new night vision goggles were outstanding. Though only in different shades of green, he could count the dust mites on a rose petal from a good click away if he felt the need to. It came equipped with a twenty times zoom feature and laser painter that he could configure almost any weapon to.

His gaze focused on one of the many street levels of Coruscant below him. Perched high on the building, his vantage point was very good. Numerous craft sped by and pedestrians made their way at their own pace. It had been raining just a few hours earlier and the air was damp and sticky. He felt the urge to light up a cigar and pass the time away, but resisted, knowing it could cost him his life in more ways than one.

He got down on his stomach from his crouching position and patted the weapons at his side - a habit of his when he was anxious. His lightsaber remained in his lower vest pocket, as he thought he would have a better chance of holding on to it if he needed to make quick and leave early, or late.

At each hip though was something else he needed to hold on to. A pair of Model B Railguns. Even more noteworthy about them was the modified magazine and ammunition. Something of his own design. Concentrated H20 bullets, or, more simply put, ice bullets. They were kept frozen within the specially designed magazine and when fired, left no exit wound and no trace, as they melted almost instantly after entry.

He lifted the goggles up a bit to rub a drop of moisture from the top of his cheek, and noticed an armoured limospeeder pulling up to the front of the building. Quickly he flipped the goggles back down and zoomed in close. One Imperial, long double set of rank bars. That was him. He tapped into the laser painter and double checked the man again before lacing him.

Leaning over the edge of the building he watched him pass beneath and enter, with four stormtroopers watching over him.

He grabbed the cord rolled up beside him and latched it to his belt harness, then jammed the hook into the ledge, securing it tightly with his heel, and turning his back to the edge, he leapt off, and prayed to whatever gods there were that the cord wouldn't snap.

Stopping just above the window, he fiddled with his harness and gave the cord a bit more slack, lowering him down into a plain view of the apartment inside. Looking down he made sure he was at the right height. Two. Four. Six. Eight. Ninth floor. This was it. He was about to count the windows to his left when the door opened, and in stepped the Imperial. Now with a closer look he knew it was the right commander. The man placed his cap on the coat rack, and as it fell upon the hook, a second rain began to drizzle down from the clouds.

He wasn't seen. He hung suspended outside the window and drew his Railguns from their holsters, the rain pattering off his shoulders and rolling down his frame to his feet. The man turned towards the window, picked up a small datapad from a low table, and took no notice of the shadowy outline of a figure beneath the raindrops.

He raised both weapons at his hips and jammed on the triggers. The glass shattered into tiny shards and the Imperial was whipped into the air like a ragdoll, already over a dozen holes leaking blood from his body before he hit the door he came in through and smashed it down into the corridor. By this time, Jyanis Scorpion, Jedi Warrior, was gone.

[Marcus Telcontar]

It was turing out to be quite a nice day. The sun was shing and a cool breeze blew the stink away from the slums, which e was walking through now. it was an alien neigbourhood, dirty, decrepit and just plain dangerous for a human. Which was partially the reason why he was disguised. The other was at the end of the street - an alien who was at this point in time arguing with a group of Jawas. An odd place to find the desert scavengers of Tatooine, but as he had learned from long travels, you see the strangest beings in the strangest places. He couldn't understand what the group were arguing about, but it didn't matter.

As he walked closer, he took a device out of his pocket, palming it. The argument was getting more and more heated as he got closer. Quite suddenly, Q;Dunn tripped up, flying into the alien and going to ground in a heap. The snarling beast didn't notice the device placed in it's cloak as the two got up, the alien snarling it's anger.

"My apologies" said Marcus, getting up and then walking away. The alien seemed to pause, before shrugging and seeing where the Jawas went that it was arguing with. 10 seconds later, the alien quite abruptly exploded, the miniturised detonator going up in a blast sufficent to kill the Imperial sympathiser, slaver, drug dealer and smuggler.

The Jedi was already gone, a bit of flotsam in the sewer that was the alien quarter of Coruscant.

[Rogue Jedi Warrior]

The lowest dark levels of Imperial city - "Junktown"; a place of grim nightmares. The magnificent kilometer high skyline of Coruscant descends into a desolate slum, mostly populated by spider-roaches, armored rats, mutated grotesque subhuman creatures and wild beasts roaming in the night. The dim streetlights (mostly non existent) reveal a dusty and oil greased duracrete surface covered with litter and garbage. Giant sewer pipes form an intricate network running hundreds of miles, often running over as much as under ground. Pipes can be expensive though. Through wide open channels, a black molasses thick liquid of filth, chemicals and excrements flows like an nausea inducing river. The stench is undescribable. Between the buildings, there are fuel barrels and emty crates. These are resting places for the homeless; those who are not dead of sickness or famine yet. The poverty is endless - a grotesque contrast to the luxary of Imperial quarters at Coruscant's higher levels. Metal remainings of wrecked swoop speeders are scattered at every street corner, usually stolen and raced by gangs like the "Lost Ones" or other criminal scum. When the streets are quiet, bounty hunters and smugglers favors Junktown for descrete "business" meetings.

So much for Imperial Law and Order. City management pretends the place is non existent. Law enforcement is a rare sight indeed in this district, by locals referred to as "Junktown". Yet, there are some. Like this group of Imperial stormtroopers wandering through a dark alley for example..

On top of an old abandoned building, I scout into the distance.. adjusting my macrobinoculars to get a better view of my target: 5 stormtroopers. With great ferocity, they knock down doors, searching for valuables. Most likely some illoyal troopers looking for some poor soul to murder and rob. How ironic. Some would say these scavengers are the results of a greedy and corrupt system. I'd say they are just looking for a way to inflate their lousy salary. Right?

Right

I lie down on the rooftop for maximum stability, placing my weapon into position; a highly modified crossbow resembling a wookie bow caster. Yet, this one is different. The multiple bowstrings give much greater range. Tremendous strength is needed to c0ck this weapon. A wookie would not be able to do that. Not even a gundark. But little does that trouble me. With the Force as my ally, I swiftly pull the retriever backwards, load a class F hi-explosive quarrel from the ammo cartridge, twist the quad polarizer setting knob to "sniping mode" - all done in a motion blur of movements taking less than a second. I peer through the Low-Light scope, moving the targeting reticula across..

There they are.. walking down the alley towards me, getting closer and closer. I can see them firing their blasters into the air, using sewer pipes for target practice. A kid running across the street becomes the next target. He barely manage to seek cover escaping the lethal blaster bolts. How fun it is spreading decease and death..

Bastards. I rest my elbows on the ground. My index finger is suspended to the trigger with the touch of a feather. The scope readings informs me what I allready know; range to target ticks down.

1253.. 1252.... 1221.. 1220 meters

As the cross hair hovers over the leading trooper's head, I remember the words of my former mentor. In a moment of clarity, I ignore the aiming, closing my eyes. My breathing stops. The blood flowing trough my veins slows down. My heart stops beating. The trigger is lightly touched.

* click *

Peeeeeeoooooowww

Propelled by the quad polarized magnetic accelerator and the kinetic energy of the bow string, the projectile screams out of the nozzle. I extend my sphere of influence letting tentacles of the Force reach out..

Me and the bullet are one. I am the bullet

My inner eye grabs the perspective of the bullet. Wrapped in an envelope of energy, a glowing quarrel flies 1600 km per hour. Pulled by the strong side winds channeled through the streets like a compressor, it heads 2 degrees off the mark. Quarrel twists and rotates in midair guided by the Force. A split second later. Impact. Straight on target. The high density warhead detonates releasing its explosive charge. A tremendous explosion shatters the ground and a magnificent fireball builds up, lighting up the entire 21'st street. Already knowing the outcome, I open my eyes seeing a spiraling column of fire and smoke in the distance. Target eliminated.

I spring to my feet, run toward the exterior emergency staircase winding down to ground level and disappear into the shadows. There is much work to be done.

[Helenias Evenstar]

Another cold night.

In fact, it was even snowing. For such a place as Coruscant, that was bizarre. But when you think about it, a whole planet devoted to a city was quite strange in itself. For me, I didn’t like this un-natural planet. It was too clinical, too dirty, too dank and dark. Once, I loved those very qualities, for they suited my nature of fighting in the shadows. Now however, I had a different point of view. Sure, shadows were best for the fighting I was good at, but not if you didn’t know what pile of refuse you were going to tread in next. And you had to face it, on the surface, Coruscant looked bright and sparkling – but descend a few levels and you would find your self wading in **** up to the waist. Someone once said to me that if you removed the layers of rubbish this place was built on, it would all collapse with nothing to stand on.

On my way in, I had stolen away on an Imperial registered freighter, sneaking off as the cargo was unloaded. Once safely away, I had used a public access terminal to check for a message in my public message store. There was one.

Feel like having some fun?

The message was unsigned, but I had known whom it was. In the month or so we had found each other again, he had told me of what he had in mind. I found that insane, incredible, and completely stupid and impossible.

I also loved it.

Much different to the times I had known Marcus as Hunter or Tohmahawk, he was now telling me everything. His plans, his desires, his fears and hopes. He was open to me, as only a man would be with his woman. In the years between our separation and our reunion, he had grown however quieter, more reserved. His initial passion for me hadn’t gotten less, but I noted his moods were different. As well as quieter, he seemed… sadder. He certainly didn’t smile as often as he used to. And he had taken a student, Alaina Eldric. I never thought he would ever have the patience for that. She certainly viewed myself with suspicion. Which, if the truth be told, I could understand, especially as I learned her past and how she had become the Jedi’s student. In some ways, I could understand why she viewed me as some sort of interloper. It also must have been difficult for her to reconcile the fact her Master was in fact married.

Or used to be, 10 years ago. Marcus had gone Jedi after he thought I had died. I thought he was dead too and not until a month ago, had we found out to the contrary. Given our vows to each other the day we wed, it was proving a hard thing for a Jedi, whom had committed himself to the Order, to now find that he was breaking one of the very rules that he was teaching Alaina.

A Jedi shall not know love.

I saw the sense in that, so did he. But…..“For right now, to hell with that. The fact is, you here with me, I never thought I would have you back in my arms. For now…. That’s all that matters” he had said. A notion I could well understand, given I was now under the same Jedi code he was. Yes there were other Jedi whom also went contrary to that same code, but both he and I understood that it was there for a purpose. Well, for now… when we had to face that problem, we would at least face it together.

It was, for this time, an uplifting thing to wear my wedding ring openly and know it stood for more than past memories. It stood for something real and now. And the man it troth me to, he was not far away, the bow and arrow in hand, with Alaina standing next to him, tall and golden haired. They seemed to be discussing something quietly together. The bow and arrow was another change – he had put aside the high tech toys he used when he was Hunter and Tohmahawk, instead going back to truer weapons of the Jedi. I had to admit, it suited him.

What suited me was this rather superb sniper’s rifle I had finished assembling. Black, beautifully built, it was almost a work of art. A bit heavy for a woman, it was nonetheless incredibly well balanced and in the past maintained. I had also taken to maintaining this weapon in the manner it deserved, treating it like… like well almost a lover. You just don’t come across rifles like this one in a lifetime and if you did, you looked after them… and for that, they would look after you. I was on the top of a Coruscant building, turning my head to look through the scope to the quad nearly two km away. Even for a weapon of this power, it was a long, long shot, there was no guarantees at all it would even have the accurate range. Just shifting the tripod it rested on slightly, I adjusted the crosshairs, bringing then into focus…

“Helenias. He’s stepped out of the building” called out Marcus, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Allright. Is he…?”

“Walking in the right direction? Yes. In your range, estimate…. 10 minutes”

Ahhh, excellent, Our target was being predictable. Which mad our job easier. For the next minutes, I used the scope to check for anything that might be able to spot us or even stop us. Nothing. And Marcus certainly was seeing or feeling nothing, as he watched the progress of the target as it walked up a boulevard through the macro-binoculars he now had in his hands.

“Target….. in zone” he announced.

I had to move the scope around a bit before I picked up our target – a fat excuse of an Imperial, a corrupt doddard, one whom was in the pay of The Back Sun. Two scumbags in the shape of one. I began to set myself as the crosshairs firstly moved to the back of his head, then upwards, to aim about 10 cm above his head. The projectile would drop as it flew, so I was making allowances for that. There was no breeze either. Just cold, clear, still air. Perfect.

I put all other thoughts out of my mind, concentrating on just this one thing. The only thing that now existed for me was the rifle and the target.

My breath stilled as I took final aim.

My heart beat slower.

My hand became rock steady as my finger slowly squeezed the trigger.

POW!

The bullet screamed out….. I held my breath as I waited…. The corrupt Imperial’s head quite abruptly gained a red splotch before he fell down.

“Target Down!” I announced.

Even as I turned, Marcus and Alaina were already running for the exit. I packed the rifle and in 30 seconds, I was following. For the moment, we would split up…. But we would regroup later. For now, it was time to run to safety.

[Aurelias Kazaar]

I hate Coruscant, the brown-haired man thought as he crouched on the rooftop across from the house. He removed a light colored cigar from his cigar case, lighting it. The flavor was barely there, but considering the man was on a job...he figured sacrifices could be made.

The cigar reminded him of the Jedi Padawan, Estelle Russard. It had been two months since the man dropped her off on Yavin IV, the site of the Greater Jedi Order's training base. In all honesty, he kinda missed having 'the kid' around. Even if he did prefer to work alone.

Aurelias Kazaar removed the sniper scope from the silver case as he puffed, a compressed rifle following. Clinching the cigar in his mouth, Kazaar took a look at his target.

Waru Saley, was a crime lordess who'd decided to make Coruscant her turf. With the Empire looking the other direction, Waru had done a good job setting up a 'protection business'. But now, she'd gone too far. And Gorgja the Hutt wanted her removed.

Kazaar had two stakes in this operation. One, he was being paid 35,000 creds for the removal of her. And Second, the woman had information on the bounty currently on Kazaar's own head. So far, Aurelias still hadn't found out who had it, only that the bounty was almost 75,000 creds.

That 'n whatever Millard was offered. Maybe there are honorable Imps out there.

He laughed at his own joke, as he focussed his scope on Waru. The white-haired woman held a data pad as she stood on her balcony. The pad was too far away for Kazaar to read, but the bounty hunter knew he'd get a chance to read it soon enough. Waru left the room, then four minutes later, she exited the house.

It was then he saw the Imperial begin to walk towards her. The fat man moved towards Waru, a smile on his face. It was then, he saw movement off to the side. Three figures, muted by the falling snow.

Kazaar watched as the Imperial's head suddenly exploded as a bullet passed through it.

Son of a BITCH! Kazaar cursed as the saw the three begin to move away from the house.

I'm gonna kill 'em. Whoever the hell that was...I'm gonna kill 'em!

He turned, staring at Waru as she began to run back towards the house.

Screw it...I need the cash.

A quick shot later, and the woman was slumped next to the Imperial, a blaster bolt in her stomach. Cursing again, Kazaar started walking toward the house.

Let's see if the bitch has info.

[Darth Turbogeek]

Frelling commerical flights. Always running late, full of smelly unwashed beings that didnt even speak a real language.

He had come back to Imperial Centre - one great big frelling mess of buildings and beings. It was ugly, but it was better than the dump called Arcan IV he had come from. Now, maybe this hole was ugly, but it exluded power and influnece and was more his kind of place. From his memories of his last trip there, it was noisy, crowded, with lots of shadows and dark alleys, lots of escapes routes and hiding places. ABsolutly perfect for what he was.

And as he stepped off the ramp from the shuttle, he breathed in the smog filled air. As much as it was foul like a Rodian's armpit, it was better than the flatulence enhanced shuttle. Someone obviously forgot to change a filter or a scrubber had broken, so was just plain glad he didnt have to put up with it any longer. Turbogeek adjusted the lapel of his business attire, something he had not worn before, but much more in keeping with his new identity of Terlogee Anasta, Medical broker. He was shaven and had his hair trimmed, which changed his entire look, from the vagabond to something actually mildy handsome. But what really was changing was his self image - from naive and bouncy newly released clone, to a more confident and knowing smuggler, Dark Jedi, healer, medical equipent trader but above all....Assasin. It paid damn well and now with a few hits under his belt, his resume was looking more and more attractive to get some of the big hits

And if you wanted to get the big hits, Imperial Centre was the place to come. He looked up at the cloudless sky, filled with speeders and other aerial transports and barely paused as a human suddenly gagged and dropped dead.

Turbogeek stode off towards the checkpoint on the edge of the landing field, quietly laughing to himself. Yes, Coruscant was the place to be, but you had to make the trip worthwhile Poisoning a simple datapusher for a Hutt made sure he could call the trip a business expense.

[General Tohmahawk]

You know what sucked?

It was this planet. I hated it. A misreble dump, just a foul cesspool of the rubbish of the Galaxy, at least in my opinion. I hated this place... this zoo. It was the smell. I felt... saturated by it, it nauseated me, made me sick. How could anyone actually want to live on Coruscant? But the worrying thing was, beings did. Willingly. Okay, so the Galaxy was mad and that was proof of it. I personally would just want to detonate the core and use the remains for salavage.

And who was the pretentious jerk who called this dump Imperial Centre? What, were they proud of this floater in a 'fresher bowl? I sure as hell wouldn't be. I mean, why couldn't of the Death Star done it's thing here and done the Galaxy a service? As I looked up from my sabacc cards, I swore I would gut that damn Hunter that persuaded me to come to this stinking tapcafe that I would not pee in, for fear of catching a disease. And here I was, staring down one the ugliest aliens I ever had the displeasure to view.

"Yeah come on, pay up" I snarled. The alien said some gibberish, most likely decrying its broken and creditless state. Or something like that.

"I. Dont. Care. Pay up". The thing squealed again, before quite suddenly going for it's blaster. Damn fool, I knew it was going to do that. My own Rail Gun was already in hand and without taking my boots off the table, fired twice from under the surface. The first blast shattered the table in a huge spray of shrapnel, the second bullet it what was basically pet food after the hail of sharp splinters scything through the air, blowing the remains apart in a bloody spray. The double crack of the rail gun drew the attention of everyone, then they turned away, not wanting to get involved. With a highly nasty look on my face, I took my boots off the table, stood up, while now covering the cowering friends of the now splat mark. One of moron tried to go it's blaster. Whith a flick of the wrist, I shifted aim, fired and retargeted the others again as a second alien became red paste.

"Pay NOW"

Funny, they seemed to be rather keen to hand over their credits. And then get the hell out of there. For me, it had been a good game of Sabaac - and the nice removal of a smuggler who had been a pain in the ass for me in the past, who had been on a list of bounties, wanted dead. Well, time for me to collect. I walked around the remains of the table, looked at the splatter for some id. Afterall, I had to prove my claim.

Not that there was any disputing that this red smear was dead. Just had to prove whom it was.

[Aurelias Kazaar]

This is the only problem 'bout some bounties, Kazaar grumped as he cautiously made his way into the chateau of the, now dead, Waru Saley.

They want proof of the damned kill. And a simple picture won't do it. Morons.

The cigar smoking bounty hunter slipped into the immense chateau, attempted to not make his presence known. All ready, security guards and Imperial Troops had begun to search for the killers of Waru and the bloated Imperial. Aurelias figured, he had about 10 minutes before someone checked where Waru was last scene.

Enough time for me to get in and get out.

It was the datapad which caught his sharp eyes. The one the crime lordess had been staring at before her sudden demise. It indeed did link her to the Cloud City Crime Lord Kimikii Crei, however, she was also linked to Gorgja the Hutt- and apparently had done business with Sanis Prent once. Each of them, were suspected of setting the bounty up on Kazaar's head.

Hell...damned hell... Aurelias sniffed as he stared at the pad.

It read: Kazaar no longer with his Jedi friend. Bounty now $50,000. Is rumored to be heading to Kuat, then Imperial Center. Keep and eye out for the kastrazka. All debts will be off.

Kastrazka? That's a word I've heard befor' but where?

"Hey! Hey! Who're you!" A voice snapped Kazaar out of his thoughts.

Dammit

"Jist the cleaners. 'Ere to clean up. You?" Aurelias smiled as he looked at the guard.

"Hands up!"

Shrugging, the bounty hunter raised his hands...then, almost nonchalantly, shot the guard in the chest with this blaster.

As the guard fell, Kazaar climbed out the window. He had his proof of the kill, now time to leave.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Twilight.

He sat in a balcony, nearly 200 floors above the street below, which had a smattering of being walking up and down. A rope was attached to his belt, with a huge loop of rope tah would allow him to abseil to about the twentieth floor when the time came, later that night. For now, he just sat looking over the huge expanse of the landscape, deep in thought. It was so wonderous what had been created here, so magnificent, so completely and utterly soul destroying under the surface. A place that he wished he could sweep clean and start again. It stunk of misery, of hardship of greed and corruption. There was nothig like Coruscant to remind one how beautiful the rest of the Galaxy was. He knew billions of billions of beings lived here without a choice, born or drifted here, drawn here for the dream of the privedges, the money, the glamour. Only when to get here to be sucked into the cesspit of misery, pain and agony that was life of the planet.

It had been better when the Jedi had been here, with the New Republic. Years ago before the present wars started. And from where he sat, he could see the ruins of the Jedi Temple, destroyed years ago in a huge battle. Paradoxically bought low by the woman whom was now at this side and also was now a Jedi. She had a hand on his shoulder, also looking outwards to the Temple's remains.

"What are you thinking Marcus?" she asked softly.

"I was looking at the Temple. Just remembering"

She smiled gently. "I still would have bombed it if I had known you were there. The Jedi needed an enema"

His hand reached up and took hers, squeezing gently. "I'll not disagree with you. Besides, it is not what happened to the Jedi that I think of. It's the weight the Imperials put here - they are corrupt and they are choking the life out of the beings below them.... all those billions down there who cant fight back or wont out of fear. It is them I think of"

Helenias Q'Dunn, the Jedi's wife was silent for a moment. "So what is the answer?"

"I dont know..... I really dont. I'm only one man Helenias, even if I am a Jedi"

"So... do you say that this is a waste of time?"

He looked over the edge, judging it was now time. He picked up the rope a threw it over the edge, watching it fall and uncoil. "I dont know". He clipped his abseiling harness on, looping the rope around himself and setting his feet of the edge of the balcony. "But what is worse - to stop fighting for freedom or to fail?"

She smiled sadly at him. "I never known you to fail at anything Marcus. Your too stubborn" She came over and kissed his brow. "The Force be with you Marcus Q'Dunn, Jedi Warlord"

"And with you, my wife, my Jedi Warrior. Be well"

"I will Marcus. See you in a month"

He nodded, smiled and then leapt off the edge. The rope whipped and screamed as he flew freefell downwards, moving dangerously fast as he decended. Helenias would already be on the move, getting clear and to safetly. Alaina was waiting for him in a speeder on ground level. They too would be gone in five minutes after this last job was done. He kept decending, now controlling the rate of his fall, feet kicking him away from the walls. A minute later, his hand grabbed at the brake, the rope squealing as he slowed and then stopped. His feet pushed hard outwards, he swung far out and then in, timing the rope release precisely to fly hard into a window. It shattered and exploded inwards, the Jedi tumbling to a stop and on his feet, drawing his sword. A lone human was inside, who turned, totally startled at the unexpected arrival, fumbling for a weapon.....

The sword scythed through the air, smiting the human and cleanly cutting his neck, head and body going in seperate directions as they were seperated by the sword Icefist. Both pieces fell to the ground, the head bouncing and rolling to a stop, face upwards, with a startled look on the now dead features. The weapon fell out of dead fingers, a lightsabre. Q'Dunn reshefed his sword, bent down, picked the weapon up, turned on his heel and ran back to the window. One huge Force enhanced pull snapped the rope from its anchor far above, the other end in his hands tied to an anchor point. He was out the window and sailing down the wall in a blink, hitting the ground seconds later, then running with Jedi speed to make his getaway.

The was no emotion, there was peace. A Jedi whom had fallen to the Dark Side had been taken care of. One less blight of evil to pervert the Galaxy.

The Jedi Master dropped down a chute and into a dark garage, making good his escape.

[Aurelias Kazaar]

Damn these guys are fast.. Kazaar hurried after the trio, his blaster drawn. When he saw the group split up, he was torn on who to follow.

The woman or the man? Decisions decisions....

Quietly as he could, the bounty hunter slipped forward. If the people appeared too dangerous, he would call The Dutchman and head back for Kuat. Aurelias had found the information he needed, now, this was personal.

"And with you, my wife, my Jedi Warrior. Be well"

"I will Marcus. See you in a month"

Aww...frell they're Jedi. Son of a Bith!

As Kazaar reached for the slave control to The Dutchman he paused.

Wait...Jedi are here? What the hell's goin' on?

He puffed on his cigar, as the duo separated. When the male killed the dark-clothed man then disappared into the chute, Kazaar wondered if he'd started to snort spice.

Following a Jedi through a chute...Damn fool, you must be missing Estelle.

Taking one last puff from the cigar, Kazaar threw it on the ground. He took a swig from his bourbon-filled flask, then as silently as possible, followed Q'Dunn down the the shaft into the garage.

[Jedi Neo]

::Strangly enough as Marcus was entering the garage he saw a man dressed in a red coat entering from another doorway. The man in the red coat seemed a little alarmed and perplexed as he looked through the ruined Jedi Temple for a communications room of any kind. The man in a red coat looked at Marcus.::

Hello there, do you know if there is any communication equipment in here? I need to contact some people who are helping me with getting food and medical supplies to the refugees down below the streets of this planet?

[Darven Calmoarn]

"Krasst!" Markoth is swearing again, stomping up and down an old footpath, and swinging his arms about. I jog to catch up to him, ducking a wild swing, and grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Markoth, what is it?" My green eyes search his, as he takes a deep breath and exhales violently.

"One of our contacts on the surface has gone sour."

My face falls. "Was it Nadiene?" She has been keeping cartons falling off random freight ships for several years now. Never the same place twice, never the same company twice in a row. She is a real professional, and sympathetic to the rag tag group of people I am trying to take care of.

In the distance we hear a baby crying, and its mother shushing it. Markoth seems distracted by the sound for a moment, then shakes his head no. "Not Nadiene. She's an angel of mercy, especially when it comes to getting nerf milk for the kids. But I'm talking about Kesl'ya."

I draw a blank, then recognize the name. "The Bothan?"

He nods. "Yeah, we contacted him two months ago, concerning power cells. Its been harder to find them, as you know..." I nod, trying to urge him on. "Anyway, I think he's been playing both sides, and today when I went to the exchange, I - it felt wrong. So we bugged out." Markoth punched his palm. "I hate this."

"You did the right thing." I look over his shoulder at our ramshackle dwellings. All the rooms down on these levels have been condemned, but we've spent considerable time retrofitting and ... Frell. We needed those power cells.

[Jyanis Scorpion]

Jyanis hopped over the random puddles of water in the alley. Drops of rain rolled over his black slicker. He came to the end and backed up against the wall. It was one of the older buildings, and cracks could be seen winding up from the ground.

The blue skinned Jedi Knight flipped down his goggles. He turned off the night vision, as it was less cloudy and there was still light, though dim. Instead he switched on the infrared heat sensors and stared up at the traffic, some five hundred meters over his head. The blurred red images of beings in their vehicles shot by. He had been informed that a lieutenant colonel would be transferred to another garrison along this route within the hour. According to a profile Jyanis had on him, he was a decorated soldier in the Imperial Army, and was usually accompanied by an armed guard in his Avalrius Hovertransport.

Jyanis sat down in the light misty rain. He pulled his knees up to his chest and crossed his arms over them, giving a tug on his hood. He was getting hungry, but ignored it, and allowed the feeling to pass by. He estimated it was close to thirty minutes before he jumped up. He magnified the image on his goggles and sure enough, an Avalrius was slowly flying through traffic. Jyanis scanned the vehicle thoroughly. With his goggles he could see three men in the rear, and a pilot. Two of the men looked to be carrying rifles, as there was an outline of what appeared to be a weapon across their heat signature.

He carefully took aim at the bottom of the engine and laced it. Then he reached under his slicker and pulled out a metallic tube, roughly sixty centimeters in length and nine centimeters in width. A small targeting screen stuck out from the top, and close to the front was a brace handle. It was an NRSF light antitank weapon. The hovertransport loomed overhead, and Jyanis quickly straightened and set the tube across his right shoulder, wrapping his left hand around the handle and placing his right hand near the trigger button atop the tube. He waited until he could be sure that it would not go astray, and fired. The rocket made a beeline for the engines, leaving a light stream of smoke in its trail. The rocket punctured the armor but didn't explode. The force of the impact caused the transport to fishtail slightly, before the rocket exploded in a fantastic spray of fire and light. The delayed fuse worked well.

The Avalrius spiraled downward and hooked into the alley over Jyanis' head. The transport smashed into the wall of a building and scraped past a fire escape ladder. The flaming wreckage nosedived into the permacrete and skidded to a halt, wedged on his side in the alley. Jyanis made fast and jumped up, kicking the broken doorway in. He could already hear sirens blaring in the distance. Looking inside he flipped up his goggles. They weren't useful here. He reached out with the Force and sensed one life aboard. The smoke began to clear in places, and a blinking red light illuminated the limp body of a trooper. His armor was scorched black and he was barely breathing. Jyanis felt some remorse in what he was about to do, but he knew not even bacta would save the man now. He pulled his Railgun from its holster, took aim at the man's chest, and fired.

[Marcus Telcontar]

As his boots touched the floor of the garage lightly, he suddenly realized he wasn’t alone in the garage. A man was already entering the area by a more conventional means, dressed in a red coat, who was rather taken aback to see the travel stained and unkept man drop through the chute. He could feel red-coat was somewhat confused, but not threatening. Red-coat stared at the Jedi Master, whom had one hand, hidden, touching the hilt of his sword.

“Hello there, do you know if there is any communication equipment in here? I need to contact some people who are helping me with getting food and medical supplies to the refugees down below the streets of this planet?” asked red-coat. His sense did seem genuine, which gave Marcus the confidence to take his hand of the sword.

“Yes I do. I have a speeder close that has what you might…” Another presence had appeared in the Jedi’s mind. With a smooth and fast action, he had his bow off his back, with an arrow notched and ready to be drawn back and fired in a second. His hand was stayed as he recognized the presence from a chance encounter a few months ago. “God damn it, what the frell are you doing snooping after me Kazaar? Get yourself here now and explain”

His attention turned back to red coat while Kazaar was coming into the open. “The name’s Marcus. It seems we share a similar concern”

[Aurelias Kazaar]

Kazaar glowered as his name was called out by the man standing there. There was no way whoever it was could have recognized him, even if they had caught a glimpse of him while he was preparing to kill Waru Saley. Unless they were....

Jedi...Son of a bitch Kazaar's brown eyes glared as he sauntered out of the shadows. He kept his blaster drawn, as he walked towards the two figures How in the hell...

When he saw who it was who called out to him, the bounty hunter inwardly cursed, Thomahawk

"Since when does...hey," he nodded towards the red coated man, "Since when a man of your stature come to Coruscant, den of the Empire. Don't tell me you're here t'defect."

He smirked, "I never saw ya for a traitor, Gen'rel."

When QDunn turned his gaze towards Aurelias, the latter quickly spoke, "Don't even try t'deny it. I gotta thing wit' faces. Plus, I did useta hang out wit' a Jedi. You deny you're whoya know ya are, and I shoot Red Coat right now.

"And before ya ask. Ya almost frelled a bounty of mine up real bad. Ya real lucky ya didn't or else I'd have a real problem with ya."

Kazaar nodded again towards Red Coat, "Ah relax pal, I'm jist jokin'. This guy and I go way back, ain't that right?"

He fired off another question, taking the moment to remove, cut, and light a dark, oily cigar. It's flavor began filling the garages as Kazaar's rough, short voice spoke it's question, "So...I know why I'm here. Why're a 'ere?"

[Jedi Neo]

::Neo looks at the man who had just addressed him::
You sir, need some tact. But then they say that about me as well, so don't take it personally.

As for what I am doing here on this planet I would tell you, but there is an issue of trust. You see, in some cases what I am doing is breaking Imperial law, and we all know that Imperials hate that. But I just can't stand to do nothing, so in a sense I have become a leader of sorts.

::Neo then looks at the man who was once called Thomahawk.::

I hope that you can afford the long distance charges because I have a very long call to make and see if I can get something arranged.

Well, I guess at this point I have said too much, so if you gentlemen would please tell me who you are. As for me, call me Jedi Neo.