Chapter 1: My Name is Archangel

Core World

Correlian Sector

Correlia

3648 ATC

My eyes watch the street of the the Correlian night. I watch from a place both obvious and hidden, as I observe, wait, and analyze everything that happens. I have no weapon in my hand, nor do I appear to have any weapons visible, but that is my secret. I do not need a weapon. I have other things at my disposal that does not require me to carry any sort of weapons on my persons. Anyone with an obvious weapon is a fool. A true warrior does not give his enemies any sort of advantage. It is in a warrior's best interest to use every single skill, tactic, and dirty trick in their arsenal to win against an enemy. That also includes mental combat.

I watch as normal citizens, law abiding, follow the rules that dictate their every move, their every word, and their every action. I pity them. Rules, morals, and ethics are for the fearful, the weak, and the unintelligent. These things hold back a person's true potential, prevent them from becoming the superior being that they could be. I, myself, am not bound by law. I am not bound by laws. I break the laws as I see fit. I do not follow morals taught by society. I teach myself morals based on what I see in the galaxy. I have ethics that are based on facts, not feelings or emotions. I serve justice wherever I see fit. There are those who deserve a second chance, and there are those that are not worthy of life and should have never been born or created into existence.

I kill without mercy, without hesitation, and without regret. To be unwilling to kill is a weakness, a sign of pacifism, of an unwillingness to do what is necessary. Killing, however, is not always the means to achieve the optimal results. It is merely one path to take, and all options should be considered.

I am called many things. I am called a terrorist by the Empire. I am called a savior by the people. I am called a loose cannon by the Imperial Senate. I am called the hardest bounty in the galaxy to capture by the Hutt Cartel. I am called a brother by my fellow Mandalorians in Clan Kilon. I am called all of these things, and I am well aware of all of these names, but labels have no meaning to me. I am whomever I choose to be. I am a bounty hunter killing or capturing targets. I am hacker, finding the dirtiest secrets of everyone and compiling them. I am an assassin, beyond invisible, and deadly without having to put much effort. I am a brother who has an adopted sister and parents. I am human by default, but my genetics show that I am anything but human. I am so many things that even now, I struggle to comprehend the randomness of my existence, how I came into being, how long I have existed, and when I will cease to exist.

I am not afraid of death. I am not afraid of anything. The only thing there is to fear is nothing at all. Whenever I have been close to death's door, I have spit in its face, and looked it straight in the eye. Death, in turn, stares me in the eyes, and we battle for whoever can hold the gaze longer. Death fights with an unrelenting power, and I fight with a patience that knows no bounds. No matter how many times death tries to claim me, to take my life, I have always returned stronger, and with a new lesson learned.

Once my scanners have found me an access point into the Imperial database, I begin to slide down the building that I stand on, making sure that my sounds are minimalistic as possible. I cannot change this operation going the wrong way, or I risk losing the payment, and I do not take failure lightly. I can feel the wind as it flies by me. It's exhilarating, blood-rushing, and scary. I lied about not having any fears. I have fears like anyone else, but as I said before, death is not one of them, but for some odd reason, falling from death-causing distances does give me jitters. Call it a birth defect or something of that nature, but no matter how much I have trained to face the fear, and no matter how many times I've overcome the fear, it still exists.

I push the thought aside. I can laugh at myself later. Right now, I have an Imperial encrypted lockbox to find and crack open.

If my sources are accurate, which is fifty-fifty at best, this could be the information heist of the century, and I could possibly get information that could get me into a favorable light among many very intelligent and powerful people. If my sources are inaccurate, I will likely have my reputation further enhanced, which will lead to the Empire devoting numerous resources into my capture and likely execution. I hear that my reputation has become so well-known that even the Emperor's right hand, Darth Vader has taken an interest in me. Whether these rumors are true, I do not know, but I do know that a fight against a Sith Lord would be an experience I will probably not survive.

In any case, my life will either turn for the better or for the worse. Either way, I'm happy and busy. As I deactivate my gloves that can help me cling better to smooth surfaces, I find myself free-sliding and then falling. As I keep my body straight and my eyes on my path, I watch for the next ledge or object to grab on. If I do not time this right, I will be pulverized by the force of the landing. Without a moment of time, I grab an outstretched pole and do a couple of swings before coming landing atop another building, not nearly as tall as the one I was on, but one that affords me a view of the informations storage center.

The Empire invests a lot into Correlia, and with good reason. Correlia was one of the founding members of the Old Galactic Republic. Here stood the home of some of the oldest and the best hyperdrive and ship manufacturers in all the known galaxy. Correlian Engineering Corporations and Czerka Corporations were two of the many, but ships was not the point of interest in my hunt today, but rather shipyard locations across the galaxy as well as some points of interest that could make a massive boon with the right clients and right data. Whenever data was related to the Empire, I was always curious to know. If there's one thing that I know about the Empire, it's that they keep a tight lid on all going-ons, even the less significant things.

I hold my arm up and a holographic display comes to life. I switch to 3D mode to look more at the map I've been provided by my employer. Although the map is lacking information, I can improvise, one of the most important lesson I picked up from my Mandalorian. Taking a sigh of something I couldn't place, I stand up and use my wrist-mounted cable shooter to create a line towards the floor I need to get to. I then take out a weapon that is considered so primitive by the galaxy that no one in their right minds would ever use it. It's a bow, but not a simple wooden bow. It's a highly modified Beskar alloy, foldable, and with a laser sight that can only be seen by certain vision goggles, or my cybernetically enhanced eyes. Sliding to the other building with both hands holding the bow, I use the momentum to kick at the glass and shatter it.

As soon as I crash my way into the building, an alarm begins to sound. I had better make this fast. I sprint as fast as I can. As I sprint down the maze of hallways, Imperial Stormtroopers are pursuing me, and I dodge and shift, but do not slow down. I can risk taking a bolt or two. Besides I have already set off alarms all over the place. I might as well make as much noise as possible. I pull my blaster from my hidden holster and fire, taking a few heads with some accuracy and luck, but I know that more Stormtroopers will be arriving soon. Even though standard Stormtroopers are beneath me, sooner or later I will be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. In order to stall their progress, I activate a one,way shield that blocks the hallway. It can deflect all forms of blaster fire and lightsaber. It will remain active for three minutes, bareul enough time for me.

Leaving the Imperials to deal with the shield in their path, I make a mad dash for the main informations center. It is immediate to me I am in a library when all I see are data shelves, hundreds of them all streaming with information. Left alone and with infinite time, I could spend hours trying to even make sense of even a fraction of it. If did not have a means to narrow in on the data I want, this would all be a waste, but as I slice into the main control console, I activate a worm to slither through the data and narrow search parameters until only one remains.

The worm is fast, but it will still take two minutes and forty-nine seconds, and the shield will remain operational for two minutes and twenty-seven seconds. I silently pray that the worm hurries up. With some time to prepare, I use a couple of grenades in some crevices of the entrance. I also set down some compact explosives. If I am lucky, I can collapse the entrance and buy perhaps a few more seconds.

I hear an explosion down the hall. The shield is down, and with one minute and thirty seconds left to go, I grit my teeth. Noticing that there is no cover, I grab one of the large data shelves and grunting and exerting all my strength and cybernetics, I push it down to make a makeshift cover. I do it just as the Imperials round the corner and open-fire. I feel a bolt graze my head, the heat painful. I grab my sniper rifle and begin to take down targets one by one. Every two point three seconds, I take down a target, duck down, and do it again. I reload after every sixth shot. The second suddenly begin to turn to minutes as I watch the worm work.

"Osik," I curse silently.

I toss a thermal detonator blindly, not knowing of anything will be hit by it. I then take a couple more shots with my sniper rifle. I tilt my head slightly as a bolt passes by me. I duck down, trying to think of another way to stall them. I pull out another grenade, thinking it to be a thermal detonator, but then I realize it's a flash grenade. Gripping it, I look out to see at least twenty stormtroopers firing away at me. Now would be a good time to use it.

I swing my hand with the best angle I can manage and take cover as the flash washes overy everyone. I can hear the shouts of confusion and anger. I turn to look at the console to see it is finished.

Ten seconds.

The flashbang will likely work for...four seconds.

I holster my sniper rifle and take shots with my blaster pistol. About five go down quickly, but then, fifteen more troops enter the room.

I immediately feel the pain of a bolt on my arm. Normally, I would be wearing my armor, but today, I wore a standard Imperial pilots outfit. It was light, nimble, and provided some equipment I found useful. I also thought it to be a bit more casual, which would draw less suspicion.

I duck down once again. If I try to fire now, I'll be dead. I then notice that the terminal has completed its task. I quickly tap commands and retrieve the data spike. I then begin to climb one of the shelves, narrowly avoiding fire. As I climb to the top I notice several panels on the ceiling. Taking a deep breath, I get a running jump, I use the momentum of my jump to kick my legs into the panel and open it, then continuing the swing and entering the shaft.

This position is not exactly the ideal place, but it is better than trying to go back through the exit. Using the 3D map to guide me, I hear stormtroopers below marching to try to cut me off. I take a left turn and then find myself in a vertical tube. This appears to be a maintenance shaft for droids. I check to make sure I am not being followed and I take the way up, taking care not to slip and fall. The air is relatively thin, so I try not to exert too much energy into climbing, even if I have climbed like this hundreds of times.

When I can hear the wind rushing from above, I know that I have reached the roof, The hatch above blocks me from freedom, but a solid punch to it and it easily breaks. I hop out in a low crouch, searching for any dangers. I then hear some TIE fighters around, and the sound is coming fast. Cursing, I begin to relay some orders to my ship. Stealth technology is so rare in ships that it might as well be considered illegal, but I simply took some old technology and improved upon it. Using a Krayt Dragon crystal that I procured in my travels, I incorporated it to substitute lightsaber crystals into a technology conceived by the old Sith Empire thousands of years ago.

Then, I can see a TIE Fighter right on my tail, firing away. At this point, I may as well be digging my own grave. I duck and weave desperately, but the TIE Fighter continues to chase me. As I approach the edge, I do not hesitate for a second, I jump and find myself fall for a second before feeling something beneath my feet. Then, my ship appears and I waste no time in finding the upper hatch and entering the ship.

The elevator descends at rather slow pace, too slow. As I exited, I made my way briskly over to the console, which was piloted by my droid and friend, CX-66. Although appearing to be a standard protocol droid, I had programmed him to be the best non-living pilot possible. He may not be a combatant, but he never leaves the ship, so it all works out in the end.

"Master, how goes your trip? Did you achieve the objective?"

"Yes" I said, "but I may or may not have to lie low for a time. Prepare the hyper-drive to light-speed while I hold off the incoming TIE fighters."

"Yes master," CX replies.

Without wasting a moment, I run for the upper turret, trying to get a good view. I can see six TIE fighters in hot pursuit. I fire off a few warning shots, seeing how they will proceed to engage. Predictably, they split, three in each group. I track their every move methodically and try to discern where they will appear next. I also listen for their distinct sound, which is never difficult to miss. I hear fire coming from outside, but I keep steady. As one swings by me, I retaliate with a volley of fire, taking the wing off of one, which then explodes in a fireball. I then am hard-pressed to keep up with another who flies in an erratic pattern. I miss each time, but I try refocus. I see another that comes from my right side. I fire a shot that narrowly misses. I try again to fire, but the TIE is already out of my field of vision. I hear the engine of another and am prepared to turn and fire, destroying another one. Two down, four to go.

"CX, how long?"

"They hyperdrive is nearly ready."

With a grunt of affirmation, I continue my task at hand. I can feel a slight shake as the ship shields absorb the damage. I turn to another screen that shows me the visuals been seen. The TIE fighters are flying in circles, rotating every so often. I wait and predict where the next one will happen, and then I take a chance shot. The shot hits dead center and the target is obliterated. The other three still linger. I can feel my patience waning now. This was taking too long. No more messing around. Time for the TIEs to fly or die...actually die at this point.

I see the next one coming and take it down quickly. The other two are now beginning to fly even more erratically than before. I now have to rely more on sound. I listen as the sound fade in and out. My eyes narrow in concentration. Without warning, I swivel and take down one trying to flank, but as soon as that one is down the final comes in and fires on the turret. I wince slightly at the flash and I shift slightly as the impact hits. If I did not have to remain in an atmosphere, I would like to scrap this one with my bare hands then incinerate the scraps, but I let my annoyance pass as I wait, and then before I can take a shot, I see everything disappear. The stares blur and the familiar blue color fills my view.

I slump back in my seat. Another contract fulfilled, but before the information can be delivered to the client, I have to make a copy of the information myself.

00000000000000000000

Outer Rim Territories

Lothal

2100 Hours

3648 ATC

Kanan and Chopper were engaged in a game of holochess. The game was already an hour in, and Kanan was weighing his options out carefully. He was trying to take down Chopper's various minion pieces, but the droid had seen some of his tricks and made a counter attack, but the Jedi would not be deterred so quickly. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve, but he wanted to see if he was either forced to use them or if an opportunity presented itself. His master had always taught him to watch and observe before making a move. To combat an enemy, it was best to know how to do so. Really, it was common sense, but it was astonishing to see how many people seemed to forget that and just charge in, blasters and lightsabers blazing.

Ezra and Zeb were currently engaged in a quarrel about what to watch over the holonet. Sabine, surprisingly, had taken the time from her artistic side to join them, not really to do anything with anyone, but more to just be there with them, leaning against the wall, watching the whole spectacle. She probably was getting more inspiration for her artistic side. Hera was also there, but the ship was landed for the night and they could all rest. She sat, watching Kanan and Chopper playing, a slight smile on her face. It was one of the few times that Kana could recall seeing that everyone in the same room other than the cockpit. With all the differences in the crew, it was rather difficult to get everyone in the same room for a reason other than to go over missions or fret over space battles in the cockpit. It actually made Kanan somewhat relaxed.

The day had gone rather well. Like most days, they had stolen some Imperial supplies and given it to those in need of course. Everyone seemed to be content. Sabine detonated a few explosives, Zeb had taken down a few Stormtroopers with his staff. Ezra had been himself, as usual, Force knew that boy was trouble despite his skills and helpfulness. Hera stayed back, staying amused at the way the crew quarreled. Kanan was just happy that they had pulled off a job without much of a hassle, considering that most of their jobs usually ended up going haywire. He dared not to hope for too much luck. They would undoubtedly have to deal with awry plans and jobs hundreds of times.

"And in greater news, last night, Coronet City on Correlia experienced a sudden attack as the Imperial Headquarters building was infiltrated and important data stolen from the Imperial archives. Imperial authorities and Stormtroopers witnesses have identified the attacker as the terrorist designated Archangel, who staged a one-person operation to retrieve data pertaining to Imperial operations. Twenty-two Imperial Stormtroopers lost their lives to defend the archives."

Kanan's eyes and ears perked up as he listened in. Everyone else seemed to follow his lead. Even Ezra, albeit with confusion, listened in. Whenever rebellion in general was on the Holonet, the crew was always listening in.

"Archangel has been classified as the most-wanted criminal in the Empire as well as by the Hutt Cartel, but his movement is erratic and hidden. He is known by none and no one is capable of providing any information about him or his past. Information pertaining to this mysterious man is extremely rare and difficult to come by according to Imperial Intelligence. Archangel's bounty is still at large, with ten million credits on his head. It is even said that the Emperor's right hand, Darth Vader, has become involved with apprehending Archangel, but no one has confirmed nor denied these claims. We will continue to update you with further news as we get. In other news..."

Zeb whistled. "Ten million? Not bad."

"Who is this Archangel," Ezra asked.

"Archangel," Sabine said," is someone the Empire's been trying to track down for over eight years. Not much is known about him, but what is know is that he hasn't been caught yet, and if you saw all the stuff he's done, then you know why he's such a big deal."

"So we know Archangel is a he," Ezra said, "Anything else? Species, physical features?"

"He's human," Hera said," but that's about everything that anyone knows, The Empire's not keen on telling the exact information, but even they don't have much to tell. Every crime that involves Archangel is large and is in the news. If the stories are all to be believed, then he's really good, and as far as anyone knows, he works alone. Always."

"Still," Zeb said, "there's only so much he do alone."

"Hey," Ezra interjected, "I got by just fine myself before I got here."

"Ezra," Sabine said, shaking her head, "you had no weapons and were a thief out for survival. Archangel is a lone wolf who can hold off small Imperial armies single handedly. Not exactly comparable."

"Hey," Ezra shouted, "I'm not that helpless."

"In any case," Kanan interrupted, "We should get to sleep for the night. We have a long day tomorrow. We need to be up at 0600 hours sharp."

"In that case," Zeb said, "I'll take my leave."

"Same here," Ezra replied.

"And actually get some sleep," Hera said, "Don't get into an argument or fight."

Zeb and Ezra sighed. Hera was always on their case about getting on each other's nerves, but then again, it was her ship, so they had to obey.

This story is already turning out to be so cliche that it's not really that great in my opinion, but I felt compelled to get the idea out. Maybe it's something worth working on. That depends on the viewers. Subscribe, favorite, follow, and Review. When reviewing, be honest about it. I know people can say "It's awesome" or "I love it" or "Keep it up". I don't want to hear that. You can add that in, sure, but actually tell me what could be better, be it grammar, writing style, the theme, the character development, anything so I can improve upon what I write.

Also, my OC is not going to be overpowered. I simply drew inspiration from other Star Wars characters and incorporated already-seen abilities into my character. I don't know if my character came across as too good or anything, but he won't be.

If you have a problem with the story, well then there's that great thing called the BACK button. Seriously, if you object to this story, then read something else or go write your own idea. If you're going to bang on my story and not give me anything to improve on, you're wasting your time. I write stories for fun, to learn, and to get ideas out. That being said, I hope you enjoyed this. Peace!