Disclaimer: The character Kaiya, her appearance, equipment, and unique abilities belong to me. Everything else belongs to George Lucas and company.
Chapter One:
CLANG! The neural disruption collar rang as it fell to the ground. The young woman rubbed her neck gingerly where the collar had chafed her tender skin. 'After a year, I'm finally free.' Kaiya looked over at her former 'master'. "Serves you right for turning me into your little slave," The man, Dren Seifas, had hired her as a personal assistant for his shipping business. Her assignment was to get close to him and report on his supposed illegal dealings. If necessary, she could kill him, but her clients preferred him alive for trial. Unfortunately, the rich merchant had a taste for more…unsavory practices than just bribing customs officials. She sneered at the worthless corpse on the floor. "I did learn one thing from you." She started looking for some clothing. What Seifas had her wear wasn't designed to cover anything, but to incite his lust. "I learned never to trust anyone." Oh, she learned that lesson well. The local law enforcement had hired her as an informant and spy to work in Seifas Shipping, but never tried to free her. Her boss turned her into a sex slave for him and his business partners. 'I never got caught spying; he was planning on collaring me as soon as he hired me.' She finally found some non-descript clothing that wouldn't turn heads. 'I need to get back to my ship and get off this moon.' For a freelancer like Kaiya, Nar Shaddaa offered many job opportunities. Especially since even the local police weren't above hiring 'specialists' like her. "Their just as dirty as Seifas; leaving me here to rot for a year. Good thing I got my pay up front." She muttered under her breath. She limped to the door, but stopped and glanced at her tormentor. The odd wound looked like something had literally caved in his chest. They would never trace it to her, even if they bothered. She walked out onto the ferrocrete sidewalk and disappeared into the crowds milling about during business hours.
--
Luke Skywalker looked up as a datapad was dropped onto his desk. He looked up at his long-time friend Han Solo. "What's this?"
Han sighed and looked out toward the jungles of Yavin IV. "I heard from the Princess you were lookin' for Jedi."
Luke blinked, then absently picked up the datapad and began skimming through it. "I told Leia I was looking for Force-sensitives, not Force-users. The Jedi were all hunted down by Darth Vader. I'm trying to rebuild the Jedi by searching for Force-sensitive individuals who can be trained as the next generation of Jedi. I've already found three or four potential candidates that I still have to look into. What you've brought, Han, is-" Luke stopped as he began reading in more detail. "Han, where did you get this?"
The former smuggler shrugged. "I was bored 'cause Leia wasn't around, so I decided I'd try my hand at lookin' for your Jedi. That datapad contains a list of people my old smuggler buddies and I thought might be what you're lookin' for. Why? Find something interesting?"
The last of the Jedi nodded as he continued reading. "There are rumors that a mercenary has 'weird powers'. Apparently, this Rogue Saber has been able to do things no one else can. One witness claims she saw the Rogue jump three stories to chase after a criminal. A medical report states that strange injuries are often present on captured or killed targets of the mercenary. The final point of interest is that the Rogue Saber carries 'blades of dark light'. Hopefully that's a lightsaber. Han, this is really good. I need to check this out." He moved to head for his X-Wing, but Han blocked his way.
"Luke, I know you're a Jedi and all, but the last known sighting of the Rogue Saber was Nar Shaddaa. The Smuggler's Moon isn't like Mos Eisley or even Jabba's palace. It's a moon of Nal Hutta. You don't want to go messing with Hutts again, do you? Besides, the last time anyone's ever seen the Rogue was a year ago. She's been missing for a long time. Most people think she's dead."
Luke stared at Han. "Her? How do you know the Rogue's female?"
Han shifted a little. "I used to know the Rogue back in my smuggler days. We did a couple of jobs together with Chewie, but we never stayed in touch after I left for Tatooine."
Luke ducked around Han. "I'll be careful, Han. Don't worry. Besides, this is the best chance I've got for rebuilding the Jedi Order. I have to follow every lead." He walked over to his X-Wing. "Tell Leia I'm heading for Nar Shaddaa and I don't know when I'll be back." He powered up his ship and headed for the Smuggler's Moon.
--
Kaiya stared at the cloaked figure in front of her ship. She made sure her arm blades were strapped securely then walked toward the figure. She stopped six feet from him? Her? It? The cloak prevented her from seeing what race or gender. "What do you want?"
"You are the Rogue Saber, correct? I have a job for you."
Kaiya didn't like this. She preferred to deal with clients face to face. And that voice…it was garbled. Maybe a droid? She mentally shook her head. "Who's my client and what's the job?"
The figure seemed to go into a coughing fit, but Kaiya soon realized it was laughing. "Hehehe. I work for…individuals who require the death of Luke Skywalker. As for pay-"
"Hold it!" Kaiya was both worried and shocked. "Luke Skywalker? As in Rebellion Hero, Jedi Master, Killed Darth Vader Skywalker?! How do you expect me to knock off a freakin' Jedi, especially the one who killed Vader and Palpatine? No way. Find some other poor fool to kill himself. What makes you so sure I would take this job? And how would you expect me to kill him? He's a JEDI! You couldn't pay me enough credits to even think about it!"
The figure was silent after her outburst, but only for a moment. "Well, we have heard of your skills, including one that allows you to be undetected by bio-scanners. You don't seem to register on them for some unknown reason, so we believe you can avoid detection and surprise Skywalker. From what has been recorded, this 'Force' existed in all life. My employers believe your lack of detection may allow you to sneak up on Skywalker without him using his Jedi powers. The element of surprise combined with your own impressive talents should be more than enough to kill him."
Kaiya seethed. "You're insane! I'm not going to do it! I happen to enjoy living. What if your little theory is wrong? What then? I'll be fighting a Jedi with no advantage and him using the Force. Forget it! Like I said, no amount of credits could cover the risk."
"I'm afraid I can't accept that. We need you for this, Rogue. As for payment, I think you'll find this adequate compensation." The figure made some strange sounds, then Kaiya winced as she felt a sharp pain on the back of her neck. She put her hand up only to feel blood and a small cylinder. She pulled the object from her neck and stared at it.
"What is this?! What did you do?" She shouted at the figure.
The figure cough/laughed again. "That, my dear Rogue, is a special drug developed by the Empire for use on difficult prisoners. It is a very potent poison that causes severe pain up until death. It is slow-acting so you have time, but be assured there isn't enough time for you to get a cure. If you kill Skywalker we will give you the cure and a large amount of credits for your efforts."
Kaiya glared at the figure. "Damn you! How can I even find Skywalker? He's never in one place for too long."
"We have established four possible locations for Skywalker to appear: the Bespin mining platforms owned by Skywalker's friend Lando Calrissian, the planet Skywalker came from, Tatooine, the moon of Endor, where Skywalker killed Darth Vader and the Emperor, and Yavin IV, where Skywalker destroyed the first Death Star. I would recommend hurrying on your way; the poison is slow-acting, but the pain may soon become too much for you. You are our best chance at success. Others like Boba Fett demand too many credits, but you were a perfect choice. Besides, with your past training I'm sure you'll succeed."
Kaiya wanted to scream at her newest client, but doing so would serve no real purpose. She ran into her ship and began taking off. She had just put the coordinates for Bespin in the navicomputer when she felt the first bolt of pain lance up her back. She fell to the ground and shook as she tried not to scream. 'And they expect me to kill a Jedi in THIS condition?' She finally blacked out as her ship entered lightspeed.
--
Luke walked of one of Nar Shaddaa's more respectable landing platforms. With Artoo guarding the ship he could focus on finding the Rogue Saber. Han had provided him with a contact from his old smuggling days who might know where she was. Luke had no real information on the Rogue, not even a face. Han had never seen the Rogue's face since she always wore a mask when they met. Luke headed toward the bar Han had described, passing traders and mercenaries right and left. When he went inside he immediately noticed a human that matched the description Han gave. Luke slid into the booth across from the man. "I'm looking for information on the mercenary called the Rogue Blade. Do you know where she is?"
The man sighed, "When Solo contacted me, I dug up some info for you, but if you want to see the Rogue, you need to just pack up and head for Bespin."
"Bespin? Why?"
"The Rogue's been contacted by some shady group wantin' her to track down some poor bastard. If the Rogue's after 'im, he's dead. I was gonna see about talkin' to her, maybe setting up a meeting with you, but she left in a hurry."
Luke sighed, "So she was heading for Bespin? Any clue who this organization who hired her is? Or how about the man she's been hired to find?"
The man shrugged, "Sorry. No one knows anything about 'em. Fact is, no one's ever heard of 'em before. They just popped up a week ago, looking for the Rogue. We told them she disappeared a year ago, but it seems they were right, 'cause she showed up today at her ship. Funny thing was, when I tried contactin' her, she didn't respond. I was one of the Rogue's main middle-men for big clients, so I can't think of why she'd ignore me like that. Another weird thing was the security feed for her ship's platform was erased. The port authorities told me she blasted off without going through customs or getting clearance. All they got was a com sayin' she was headed for Bespin. It was really weird, not like the Rogue at all."
Luke stored this information away until later. "Well, thank you anyway. I'll head for Bespin and see if I can catch up." He shook the man's hand then walked out. 'Why would she head for Bespin? There's nothing out there except the mining platforms. No one could hide there for long, so what could she be looking for?'