Star Wars: On a hunt

Summary: Early days of the new empire. Anakins battle with Obi-wan ended a year ago, and he is now known and feared as 'Darth Vader' When the emperor senses the arrival of a powerful jedi master on Coruscant, Vader is tasked with killing him

Disclaimer: I don't own SW.

Chapter 1: Price on a Jedi's head

An old, rag-tag transport ship descended into Coruscant's atmosphere. It joined the endless stream of ships on their way to the enormous planet, that was built full with so many buildings that you couldn't see anything else but tones of black and grey when you looked down at it.

The planet consisted out of one mega-city with over ten billion inhabitants. Everyone in Coruscant started in the poor-district lower levels. The more levels you go up on this planet, the less dangerous, filthy and poor the area surrounding you becomes.

The transport ship descended, passed by an imperial sentry ship. The transport ship didn't stand out from the crowd in any way, not to a non-force sensitive being that is.

The Royal Palace,

The emperor sat on his throne, flanked by two royal guards dressed in red uniforms, wearing their characteristic helmets. His scarred face was cloaked by the hood he wore over his head.

He suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise, and his mouth fell open a bit.

He clapped his hands and the door leading to the throne room opened up a few seconds later. A group of some twenty stormtroopers entered the room, carrying the standard-issue DC-15 rifle. The first of the stormtroopers who had entered the room saluted to his emperor.

'Summon Lord Vader. Tell him I've sensed a… disturbance.' The emperor commanded. 'Yes my lord!' replied the trooper and he and his squad turned around and paced out of the throne room.

They returned not much later, but this time they had a tall, black armour wearing man in their midst. He wore a cape that dragged behind him and loud sounds of breathing could clearly be heard throughout the room. 'You summoned me?' Asked the man in the black armour.

'Yes, my loyal apprentice. I've sensed the arrival of someone with an unusually strong presence in the force.' Replied the emperor. 'A jedi? Do you want me to dispose of him?' Vader asked. 'Yes, my young apprentice. But be careful. As I said before, his presence is stronger than usual.'

Vader nodded to the commands and turned around swiftly. The stormtroopers that were standing behind him jumped out of the way as quickly as they could and Vader paced out of the room, scaring some of the troopers with the sound of his breathing device alone.

The lower levels of Coruscant,

The thick crowd of shady individuals walked in two streams, one leading up and one leading down. Sometimes two of the individuals would bump into each other, and they would shout at each other in anger. Amongst these individuals was someone who stood out immediately.

He was wearing thick, brown robes and wore black boots. He was a Cerean, which could be told by his long shaped, wrinkled forehead. He was very tall and muscular, towering a head over the most of the people he passed by. He had a black chin strap, beard and a short ponytail on top of his long shaped head.

He seemed to transmit some kind of light that intimated the shady individuals he was walking amongst. His name was Yi-Ka Badri, a respected and well known Jedi knight who had already passed his trails when he was twenty-two, two years ago. He was in the temple when Order 66 had been given.

The initial surprise left him cornered in between a squad of Clone troopers, but he managed to escape them and flee the temple. His former master, the dug Rothar, hadn't been so lucky. He had been right behind him when Anakin Skywalker suddenly arrived, Rothar, not knowing that Skywalker had just turned to the dark side, was killed after a short battle.

The battle lasted just long enough for Badri to flee out of the temple. He had battled his way through the clones that had been lined-up outside and escaped to the lower levels where he had been for a year before taking a transport away from the planet, in search of other Jedi survivors.

But no matter where and how he looked, he hadn't found anyone. Now he had returned to Coruscant to do something against the laws of the Jedi order, but the Jedi order didn't exist anymore. He wanted revenge on Darth Vader, to avenge his fallen master.

He was suddenly alarmed when a patrol of stormtroopers marched towards him, shoving the criminals that lived in these areas to the side with brute force. Badri let his hand slide down to his belt, where his lightsaber was hanging from. For one moment it seemed like the captain of the squad looked at him, but his attention was distracted when a Gran crook pulled out a blaster and aimed it at the squad of troopers.

'Get out of here, imperial scum! This is our territory!' yelled the crook and many people on the streets cheered for him, some of them pulling out weapons of their own. The stormtroopers quickly formed a circle, so that they would be able to see an attack from any direction coming.

'This is your last chance! Drop your weapons!' yelled the captain of the troopers, but to no avail. The three-eyed Gran fired his blaster, hitting the trooper captain in his chest. Blood flew through the air and the captain fell to his knees, letting out a cry of pain. Another trooper now aimed his rifle for the Gran and killed him with two shots from his DC-15 rifle.

A fire fight now started. Several crooks fired their cheap blasters at the stormtroopers, and some of them even charged at the troopers with knives and clubs. A blonde haired human lunged a trooper with his knife, but he was knocked out by the blunt back end of the trooper's rifle.

A Kalee crook pulled out a repeater rifle and started spraying at the bunch of troopers, killing many of them before he was killed himself by a shot between his eyes. He fell against a wall and smeared blood all over it.

Badri had managed to stay out of the fight, until a trooper aimed his blaster for him and fired at him twice, both shots where dodged by Badri, who was very fast and agile and jumped out of the way of both shots. He pushed the trooper into another one with the force, knocking them both into a group of crooks who then mobbed them with their clubs and sticks.

The use of force had been noticed by the remaining troopers and they now turned towards him, firing away at him, leaving Badri with no choice but to wield his lightsaber. A green stripe of bright light shot into the air with the press of a button. He deflected every single shot they fired at him whilst charging forwards. He reached the bunch of troopers and cut two of them in half with a single slash.

The five remaining troopers backed down in panic and fired away at the random, but none of their shots hit the jedi knight. He stabbed one of the troopers in his stomach, killing him instantly. He then kicked another trooper against his head with a high kick, knocking him into another trooper.

He then cut both of them down with two quick slashes. One of the last two troopers lunged at Badri, trying to wrestle him down, but Badri pushed him against a wall with the force. He then dashed at the last trooper and stabbed him in his chest. He then turned around and saw the trooper he had smashed into the wall recover and get back up.

A quick slash beheaded him. He deactivated his lightsaber and turned around, only to be confronted by four Rodians carrying blasters. 'Your not going anywhere Jedi. Do you guys remember what the price on the head of a Jedi is? That's right, five hundred thousand credits.' The largest of the Rodians announced.

'Let me through, it would be unwise for you try and stop me.' Badri replied, attempting to warn the men confronting him. 'Look around Jedi. We outnumber you, fifty to one. You don't stand a chance.' The Rodian said. Badri looked over his shoulder, the Rodian was right. There were at least forty men of different species standing behind him, wielding all sorts of weapons.

'Let's get him!' shouted a short Duro, wearing old clothes and wielding a sword. He dashed at Badri with surprising speed, but the Jedi turned around with incredible quickness and ignited his lightsaber. He slashed and the green beam cut the Duro's head off. Now, all the other luck seekers stormed at him and even he was overpowered now.

He used the force to jump high up into the air and flipped backwards, managing to land outside the circle of men that wanted his head. He turned around and ran as fast as he could.

The men following him had no chance against the speed of a Jedi and his endurance allowed him to disappear out of sight.

He took a staircase up to a higher level, which was also a risky place to be because there were more and more patrols with each level you moved up. Badri paced to a tavern as fast as he could and entered it. He walked passed a few Twi'lek thugs and addressed the barkeeper.

It was an old Peripleen, who looked like a reptilian male gorilla. 'Any rooms free?' asked Badri. The Peripleen nodded slowly and pointed to the staircase on the left. 'Room seventeen.' Badri nodded in reply and walked towards the staircase. He climbed it slowly and entered the his room. It was dark and small, but it had a bed and it was better than nothing.

He lay down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

The higher levels,

A Whipid, towering over the public surrounding him paced towards the imperial headquarters, the point where all patrols come together. He walked up to the two stormtroopers guarding the entrance. They immediately aimed their rifles at the Whipid when he came too close for their liking.

'I want to see Vader, I'm here for the job opening.' The whipid said. 'Line up.' Said the trooper and he pointed to the row of bounty hunters of all species that stood inside the headquarters. The whipid told an imperial captain his name when he reached the front of the queue and was told to wait.

Darth Vader, flanked by two stormtroopers entered the room. All bounty hunters turned towards him. He let his eyes go through the room, to sort out the bounty hunters he found fit for the job. He told a Thisspiasian, Wookiee and the Whipid to come forward and follow him.

They entered a small, dark room. 'What are your names, bounty hunters?' he demanded. 'Warru Ciskis.' Said the Thisspiasian. The Wookiee let out a cry that sounded like 'Rugus.' And the Whipid told lord Vader his name was Tynn.

Vader nodded. 'I want you three to hunt down and bring back the Jedi that is in the city at this time.' He explained. 'I will pay five hundred thousand credits for the one who manages to get him here.' The three bounty hunters all nodded. 'I'll pay an additional hundred thousand credits for the one who brings him back… alive. Tell this to any other bounty hunter you think of as competent enough. Dismissed.' He commanded.

The Whipid and the Wookiee walked out of the room, soon followed by the slithering Thisspiasian.

The tavern,

Badri woke up and sat up in his bed. He yawned before stepping out of his bed. He washed his face with some water and walked downstairs. He paid the barkeeper the owed fifty credits and left. He stepped outside of the tavern, unaware that he was being watched through the scope of a blaster.

He walked into an alley that wasn't as crowded as usual because of the early hour, still unaware that a large figure followed him. He was suddenly warned by the force and ducked down, the shot fired by Tynn just missing him. Badri turned around and ignited his lightsaber, a confident look on his face.

He dashed at the Whipid, but was slowed down when the large alien fired again. He deflected the shot and it was sent up into the sky. The Whipid now charged in under the cover of another shot, that the Jedi deflected into the ground. He wasn't called one of Coruscant's best bounty hunters for nothing.

He impressively dodged the Jedi's slash and managed to ram the Jedi with his broad shoulder, sending him flying through the air. The Jedi flipped backwards and landed on his feet. He dashed at the Whipid and his stab wasn't dodged this time. The Whipid was impaled and fell backwards after letting out a cry of pain. '

Some people that witnessed the fight fled in fear, some others let their hands slide to their weapons.

Badri was about to lower his defence when a knife missed his right arm by a hair. He swirled around and saw the Thisspiasian Ciskis slither towards him, being propelled by his large, muscular tail. He carried a large knife in his right hand and slashed at the Jedi as soon as he was in range, but the Jedi through up his lightsaber and his weapon burned right through the steel weapon.

The Jedi slashed again, this time severing the Thisspasian's arm. He then cut upwards and the wound it inflicted was lethal. Badri looked around and saw what he was expecting. He had been surrounded by the crooks on the streets, six Rodians and two Humans who were all carrying standard-issue blasters.

'Give up, Jedi. There's a price on your head.' Said one of the Rodians. Badri was ready to attack his adversaries, but the Rodian was hit by a bolt in the head before Badri could kill him. Five other bolts where fired, and another Rodian was hit, he fell down, clutching the wound in his stomach.

The Jedi looked around to see who was assisting him, when he saw a Wookiee walking towards him. He was carrying a bowcaster. His roars scared the other bounty hunters away, this particular Wookiee seemed to have a reputation.

Badri turned towards him and lifted his lightsaber up, getting in his characteristic stance.

The Wookiee roared and repeatedly fired bolts from his bowcaster. Badri leaned over backwards to dodge the first bolt whilst deflecting the other shots with his lightsaber.

He bent his body back upwards and pushed the Wookiee against the wall using the Force.

The Wookiee bounced back off the wall and fired his bowcaster again, but the bolt was sent into the air by Badri. Badri charged forwards with incredible speed, and his slash cut the Wookiee cleanly in half, killing him instantly.

Then suddenly, a chill moved over Badri's spine. He had felt something very familiar in the force and it was nearing him, fast. Badri twisted around and now saw the one he wanted to kill the most. Darth Vader stood in front of him, his red lightsaber drawn.

'Impressive Jedi. I knew these bounty hunters would lead me to you, Badri.' Vader said. Badri got into his stance. 'Finally! I'll get my chance at revenge!' He cried out.

End of chapter