STAR WARS

Fall of the Republic

Act 1: A forced Unleashed

The jedi have fallen. Now, a year after the Rebel Alliance was born, hiding in the shadows, the Empire had conqouered almost every planet in this Galaxy, and propably were already searching for a new one. While many people have died in this one year, because they were trying to destroy the empire, just like Starkiller, Maris Brood was still standing. Or crouching.

She kneeled on a rock, a few meters away from her target. She put the spyglass back into her pocket, grabbed the blaster which was hanging from her belt, and aimed at the head of a bounty hunter called Stilyion Gartes. She had been chasing him for over 3 months now, and she never had been this close to him before. She didnt know why though. He was good at killing his targets, no doubt about that, but he was lacking the ability of hiding. While she still wondered if somebody might have helped him, her fingers had positioned the scope at his head, without her really noticing, and she pulled the trigger, resulting in Stilyion to fall, and die before he even hitted the ground. She used her force speed to get next to his body as fast as possibly, so that she would avoid being seen, checked if he was really dead, and then decapitated him, as a prove. She stood up from the ground again, looking at her hand, soaked in blood of a dead person. Sure he was a Bounty Hunter, so he had been killing alot himself. But it still was hard for her to think about it. As she suddenly heared something like a car, coming closer, she used force cloak and walked back to her stone, from which she watched as an Speeder parked next to the house and a guy, probably Stilyions target, approached the front door, were the corpse of the bounty hunter was lying. When he found the body and realised that the guy was dead, he jumped up, and ran into his house, propably calling the police. Something Maris didnt need right now. She left the save rock and walked through the near and dark forest, back to her ship.

After an half hour, she already saw her ship sticking out of all the green around it. She slowly approached it, suddenly feeling that something was fishy about the situation. She stopped and gazed into the deep forest. Could it be, that somebody followed her? So far, she only got noticed twice, but you never know. Not sure what she would be facing now, she instinctively grabbed her Tonfa Lightsabers, not activating them though, and hid behind the next tree, perparing to get attacked any time. She never stopped looking for some sing of an enemy, while at the time she was trying to get her DGT out of her pocket, to figure if someone was inside her ship. She gasped quite as she heard a crackle somewhere near her. She jumped backwards, and flipped around, just in time to watch something braking the tree she was hiding behind, barely seconds ago. The second her foot connected with the ground, she activated her sabers, and dashed torwards the spot she last saw any movement from. To her dissapointment (and fear too), she didnt hit anything, and rolled to the side, avoiding a slash of something storng enough to cut down a second tree, that wasnt about 2 meters away from the point where the weapon made contact with the ground. She now jumped, having the advantage that she already was on the ground this time, right at the point were she suspected to find her attacker, started to spin around her own axis, turning her lightsabers into an deadly tornado. When she percipienced a grunt, she landed on her feet, turned around, and looked at a silhouett of something that just got fried by electricity. Seemed like she broke the stealth pack.

She pointed her lightsaber at the throat of the shaking figure, and waited till the pain cause through the electricity, would force her to meet the laser of her sword. At the end of this meeting, Maris was carrying two heads, not caring about who set him onto her. She was used to get attacked once in a while, cause hunting down bounty hunters, gets you an own, most of the time not that low. Especially cause she was well known for killing those with the highest bounty, and usually took away the job from other hunters, which they didnt take on the light shoulder. She unactivated her lightsabers, and hung it back at her belt, looked once more at the rest of the corpse, before she went into her ship, ready to take of this planet, and back to Coruscant, to get the bounty. She smiled happily, thinking about the fact, that she now got the doubled amount of Credits. She didnt know that this one return to the Planet of the Empire, would start something that would effect the whole Galaxy.

Out of the puddle of rain shot some drops through the air, as the foot stepped into it, pulling the upper body with it, while the head on top of the body turned around in fear, scared that his hunter might still be after him. He regretted it immediately as he felt onto the ground, tripping over an empty and wet box. He tried to get up again, but he was too slow, resulting in him being grapped by the collar, and being pulled closer to his hunter, the guy, that wanted to end his life. He struggled in fear that he would be dying here, and a tear ran down his cheek. Not having any mercy, the bounty hunter put his gun at the forehead of his defenseless prey. He grinned evil, showing how much he enjoyed this, slowly pulling the trigger of his blaster. As his prey fell onto the ground, he sighed, sad over the fact that the funny part of the night was over. He watched amused as he saw the blood flowing out of the hole in his foredhead, and filled the ground below the head.

"Enjoying it a little bit too much again?"

Tareyk turned around, looking into the face of his Twilek Partner Ferila.

"What are you doing here? The leader told you to assassin Gero. If you fail, you'll be killed." he said, in a calm and not caring way, like he always does. His Partner winked at him, and took a step to the site, offering the view of a dead body, lying on the ground, wrapped in, what seemed to be a fishnet, while the other end of the net was chained bound to Ferilas waist.

"I see." Tareyk said, glaring at the blood that was flowing out of the sliced up throat of the leader of the Kirepiks, which were well known for searching for a way, to bring back the jedi, and overthrow the empire. He and Ferila were send to kill them off, so they wouldnt be able to thwarting their plans.

"So. Slicing and dicing?" he asked, licking his lips while watching as more of the blood was flowing out of Geros throat.

"Yeah, best way. Never fails." she answered, glaring at the bloody mess herself, enjoying it just as much as Tareyk did.

"No time to waste here." she then added, snapping out of the trance, and tapping on her partners shoulder as she pasted by him.

He turned around to her, grinning at her, thinking what he always did: How right you are.

Maris ship landed silently at the port of Coruscant, and like usually, there was a port guard, who wanted to check her papers, before he let her through the frontier. After that, she found herself on the market, where the most people immeditely tried to sell her some stuff, which would have never been allowed a year ago. She hid her Lightsabers under her coat, and a pulled the hood over her head. Covered in the shadows, she walked past amlost every stall, till she arrived at a bar, in which she was already awaited. As she approached the door, a Cathar was reaching out for her hand. She took it, and the female Cathar helped her inside. She usually never saw the face of a middleman, since almost all the time, they were dress like her. The Cathar guided her to a table in a dark corner, and prepared a seat for her. Even though Maris was confused that the Cathar said down, but she sat down across from her, looking at her yellow, slit-like eyes. Althought it wasnt very clear, a thought was growing in Maris head.

"So you are the client that wanted Stilyion to be emilinated?" she asked, and all the Cathar did was nodding. "Well then. I have taken care of him for you, and I've got his head in my ship, if you want a prove."

The Cathar smiled, looked at the entrance door, before she focused at Maris again.

"Okay. Show me the prove."

After the two of them made their way through the market, avoiding all the annyoing sellers, till they arrived the entrance of the port.

"Its in here." Maris said, pointing at a gate that had the number 2 on it.

The Cathar nodded, following her to the gate, where Maris reached into her pockets to get the key for the gate. When she got them, she put a small silver key into the keyhole, and was about to turn them, when she got interrupt.

"I wouldnt do that if I were you." a voice next to hear said.

Both women turner to the source of the voice. Standing there, in front of an hardly damaged podracer, was a boy, brown shoulder long hair, and cold blue eyes. He was about two years younger than Maris, but his look made him seem much older.

"Why not?" Maris asked, while the Cathar looked around, looking out for trouble.

"Because~e, a minute ago, about twenty Clone Troopers went in there, positioning themself around the ship." he explained. "And I think they are propably waiting for the pilot of the ship, which, I guess, is you. So. If you dont wanna die a fast and painfull death, you might be better off, not going in there."

She looked between the boy and the gate, trying to figure if she should rather believe the young stranger, or should go in there, and risk to get discovered, or even killed.

"But a few Troopers wont stop a Jedi, right?"

Maris now looked in shock at the boy, hoping that her client overheard that. But of course she didnt.

"Your a Jedi!? Damn!" she yelled, backing off a little bit, before she screamed: "JEDI! A JEDI!"

Maris couldnt believe how bad that just went. She lost the credits, got discovered, and was now surely hunted down by some Clown Troopers.

"Hey!" the boy called out. "Over here!"

Maris glared at him, a mixure out of anger and hope sparkling in them, and she decided to trust him this once.

She followed him through a back alley, avoiding the blaster shots that were heading torwards her. "Where are we going!" she asked, only to have to avoid a grenate, this time from the front. "Hey!"

"Dont ask, run!" he yelled back at her, and guided her through the streets of the town, pushing other people out the way, and finally stopped in the shadows of a dark side street.

The boy waited till her breathing calmed down again, before he said:

"I am Tarus. Viewer of the planets, and manipulater of the force."