A/N: So this is the fifth story in a series of Fanfics. I'd highly recommend reading the others first, as this one will contain spoilers for the previous ones (also, the backstory will make more sense), but it's not absolutely necessary if you're determined not to :)
Disclaimer- I own nothing Star Wars. It all belongs to Disney, its respective creators, etc. All I own are the characters I've created and the plotline I've come up with :)I hope you enjoy it!
Coruscant-
Some claimed Coruscant was the jewel of the Empire, a shining example to the rest of the galaxy. Certainly the people of Coruscant thought so. It was the center of the Galactic Empire, home to the Emperor himself and to the waning Senate. One giant city, filled with every species imaginable. They said it was a place of commerce and elegance, a place the rest of the galaxy should emulate. But to him, it was just another planet. He had seen the lower levels that most tourists didn't even know existed. He had hunted there, slept there, lived there. And it disgusted him. All of it. These people were weak, living in either luxury or crime. They were so focused on their own tiny lives, their own planet, that they had forgotten it was far from invincible. But Shaen Mog was indifferent to them, to their lives and their views on the galaxy. If they wanted to live in ignorance, let them. It would earn them a rude awakening one day.
Shaen nestled his rifle further into his shoulder, banishing the thoughts from his mind as his target came into view. He watched through the magnifying scope as a green-gold armored Mandalorian woman checked her ship over one last time, no doubt making certain any security measures it had were firmly in place. He waited patiently as Kadira Sal walked around her ship, disappearing from sight for a few seconds. When she came back around she seemed satisfied, checking the holster at her side to be sure her pistol was there. Shaen used his helmet's systems to zoom, looking at the make of the blaster for a moment, frowning when he realized it was a modified scout model. No trigger, just a pressure pad that was used to fire. Not exactly the most popular choice among Mandos, and neither was the vibrosword strapped to her back. His contact had never mentioned it, just saying she carried an illegal DC-17. Not surprising that she wasn't packing it on Coruscant, but still… The vibrosword was an unusual choice for someone wearing heavy armor.
Kadira moved off a few steps, breaking his train of thought and causing his finger to tighten ever so slightly on the trigger. It wasn't the plan, but plans had to be adaptable in order to work. Kadira placed one hand to the side of her helmet subtly, as if speaking on a comm link. Shaen tensed, knowing she was using a HUD system not unlike his own to scan her surroundings. He had chosen his vantage point carefully, but there was always a chance her systems could pick up on his own tech.
She dropped her hand from her helmet, obviously unconcerned, and Shaen slid his finger off the trigger carefully. It wouldn't do to have an accident now. He kept her in his sights as she began walking, careful to avoid the small pockets of gang members scattered on nearby street corners. She was obviously trying to keep as low of a profile as she could, avoiding conflict where possible. A weequay stopped and turned to stare, obviously nervous at the sight of the Mandalorian woman, but Kadira simply walked on, ignoring the reaction. She definitely wasn't a bounty hunter, then. Not if she was willing to ignore a reaction like that, and there was no way she was ignorant of it. Not with the wraparound view her HUD provided her with. No, his guess was that she just wasn't interested. She was here for a different reason. He smiled grimly within the confines of his helmet and settled down to wait.
She would be back, and then everything would fall into place.
Kadira Sal sighed as she made her way through the crowded streets of Coruscant, missing Keldabe already. She didn't like the city, especially here in the lower levels. Everything was claustrophobic, making her feel like the Emperor himself were breathing down her neck. Gang members were present on almost every corner, watching the crowd for some target that would be an easy hit. There was even the occasional group of stormtroopers, usually moving quickly. This was a place where they had little power, and that made them nervous. Jett, a former clone trooper turned Imperial fugitive, had recently told Kadira how they used to always walk in groups here, never venturing anywhere by themselves for fear of being jumped and overpowered, usually killed. Looking around, Kadira could see why. Ironic, how the Emperor claimed to be in control of the entire galaxy – never mind the growing rumors of a rebellion – and yet he wasn't even fully in control of his own planet.
"Politicians," she muttered under her breath, ducking around a rather irritated looking Wookiee who was haggling with a droid vendor.
In all, the city just felt oppressive. She couldn't wait to get this rescue over with. It was an easy job, just an extraction of a nervous senator, but something about it now had Kadira feeling uneasy. She had the distinct feeling of being watched, though she had yet to pick up anything on her scans. Not to mention the last senator Kadira had been sent to rescue had shot her in the back and turned out to be an Imperial agent. Not exactly an experience she wanted to live through a second time.
"Any news, Ran?" she asked into the comm embedded in her helmet, wondering if Ran Scorlo was even paying attention. He was the boss of this whole operation, deciding who would be rescued and when, leaving the how to her. She frowned when she got no answer from him. "Ran?"
No signal came from her comm and she felt her frown deepen. Something definitely wasn't right here. But she could hardly turn back now. She had a fugitive waiting for her, one who was frightened that their time with the Empire was running out. She couldn't exactly abandon them to their fate, not after promising a rescue.
"Shab, Ran, you better not have gotten me into something we can't handle," she murmured, glancing at the faces around her with even more caution than before. "Because I'm really getting sick of being shot at."
Kadira waited silently for the senator, glancing up at the ruins of the former Jedi Temple a short distance away. It was patrolled by Shadow stormtroopers, dressed entirely in black and making use of some sort of cloaking device. She had glimpsed them using her HUD only occasionally, a testament to the quality of their tech. Though why they were guarding the building still was beyond her. If they were really worried they ought to have just torn it down, instead of letting it stand as a silent reminder of the Jedi of the past.
Kadira frowned, realizing where her train of thought was leading. It was an old question, one she had buried along with the rest of her past. Were the Jedi all the Empire said they had been? Or had her father been correct, all those years ago on Corellia? He had said that the victors often rewrote history to their own advantage, painting the vanquished to look far different than they had been in reality. He had cautioned her then not to make snap judgements, as she was sure he would caution her now if he were still alive.
She sighed, shaking off the thought. It didn't much matter anymore. Her job was to rescue a senator and smuggle him off Coruscant. She would leave it to the scholars to figure out whether or not history had been rewritten.
A noise from the shadows caught her attention and she turned slightly, tilting her helmeted head in the direction of the sound as she leaned back against a rickety railing.
"Ready to come out now?" she asked wryly. "Or are you going to stand there and watch me for another fifteen minutes?"
There was a second's hesitation before a figure stepped out of the shadows, the cowl of a dark cloak pulled up to hide the figure's face.
"…Kadira Sal, I presume?" the figure ventured finally.
Kadira was silent a moment before she sighed and pushed herself off the railing.
"You're not the Senator," she closed her eyes and leaned her head back, silently cursing Ran. "Sithspit, is anyone a senator anymore? I mean, an honest-to-goodness senator, not just an imposter pretending to be a senator. Because there is a difference."
"How do you know?" the figure asked, taking a step back.
"Well for starters, if you're going to try to impersonate someone, at least make sure they're the same gender as you. Because unless the senator's voice has gotten quite a bit higher and more feminine, then I'd say it's a safe bet that you are not him. Not to mention he's a twi'lek, not a togruta….Fierfek. I'm going to kill Ran."
"It's not Scorlo's fault," a deeper voice accompanied a second figure out of the shadows. Kadira pulled her pistol without thinking, startled. "You can holster your weapon, I'm not here to harm you."
"How in the name of te Manda did you manage to sneak up on me?" Kadira's tone was low and dangerous, and her pistol remained pointing at him without wavering.
"Just a piece of advanced tech, something you should appreciate," the male spoke again, reaching up to remove his hood.
"I don't appreciate anything that leaves me in the dark," Kadira replied. The figure simply shrugged and pulled his hood down, revealing himself to be the twi'lek senator Kadira was supposed to be extracting.
"You'll forgive the deception. I had no way of knowing if you would take my friend on board if you knew the truth, and she has to get off of Coruscant."
"…Scorlo knew about all of this, didn't he?" Kadira asked slowly, holstering her pistol but resting her hand on it just in case.
The twi'lek nodded in affirmation. "He thought the deception would be best. This is Kahlse, you'll hopefully be smuggling her off planet."
"So now I'm too childish to make my own decisions. Fantastic," Kadira sighed. "Alright, what is it I'm supposed to oppose doing so much that even Ran thinks I should be kept in the dark?"
The senator glanced at the still-hooded togruta, finally sighing and giving her a nod. The young woman reached up and removed her hood, revealing the intricate white and red marks of her race. She was thin, with sweeping white patches over her eyes that gave her the illusion of a mask, along with a number of thinner lines along her cheekbones. Her headtails were not full length, indicating that she was young, probably still in her teens.
"Why do you have to get off Coruscant so badly?" Kadira asked finally, using her helmet's systems to scan the woman's face and look for any matches on the holonet. None came up.
"…She's a force- sensitive," the senator said finally. "I've hidden her as long as I can, but people are starting to notice… That's why your comms are down. I didn't want you to be able to call a patrol, if you decided not to help."
"Great. I'm a snitch as well as a coward now," Kadira let out an explosive breath. "…Do you have any idea what would happen if I was caught smuggling her offworld? If the Empire got its hands on her-"
"They can't," Kahlse spoke up, glancing between the Senator and Kadira. "It's a risk I have to take. I can't stay in this city it's… it's stifling. There's so much darkness here," she trailed off, rubbing her forehead with one hand as if even talking about it gave her a headache.
Kadira let out a slow breath. "…Shab," she said finally, shaking her head. "Why did you bring her this close to the temple? They're hunting force-sensitives, and this is the first place they're looking. We're going to have to get out of here, and do it quickly. The last thing we need is Imps on our tail when we're getting off planet. Do we have a place for you to hide, to be safe for a while? Or are we just making it up as we go?"
"Scorlo knows the location. We have a safehouse set up, and a network of smugglers like you to get her far away from this place."
But Kadira was shaking her head. "You tell me. I am not playing this game of blind corners, people get killed. You tell me where I'm flying, and you tell me how."
The Senator hesitated a moment before nodding, albeit grudgingly.
"So… You'll help?" Kahlse asked, sounding hopeful.
"I'll help," Kadira said, letting out another sigh.
"…No offense, but... why?" Kahlse ventured again, frowning. "Your kind doesn't care much for force-sensitives."
"First off, don't refer to me and my people as 'your kind'. I'm not referring to you as that, so I'd appreciate the same amount of courtesy. And second, it's jetiise we don't tend to like, and we have our reasons. But to be frank, I dislike the Empire even more, and if this is how I get to thumb my nose at them then so be it," Kadira said, crossing her arms over her chest and fixing her helmeted stare on Kahlse.
The togruta teen stared back for a moment, seemingly determined to hold her gaze, before finally looking away. A staring contest with an expressionless visor was almost impossible to win, and Kadira preferred it that way.
"No more stereotypes, ok?" Kadira asked finally. "I won't assume you're like the jetiise who killed my vod, and you don't assume that I'm some brainless di'kut who can only hit things and blow stuff up. Deal?"
Kahlse hesitated a moment before offering a small smile and a nod. "Deal."
Kadira turned back to the twi'lek senator, tilting her head. "Anything else I should know?"
But the man shook his head before leaning over to embrace the young togruta. "Stay safe, young one. And find peace."
Kadira frowned at the last part, but said nothing. Perhaps it was a strange old jetii saying. Stars knew they had been full of them.
"Come on, Kahlse," Kadira said finally. "Let's get you off this rock."
A/N- As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts/opinions!