STAR WARS: BLADE HUNTER
Epilogue
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
The Republic Dark Age is upon the Galaxy. During the series of conflicts known as the New Sith Wars, thousands of worlds were abandoned to the New Sith Empire, while more were abandoned during the Republic's retreat. Thousands of longstanding corporations went bankrupt; lawlessness spread as the Republic government became increasingly overburdened and ineffectual; and numerous mines of valuable minerals dried up.
More and more, the black market for hilt and heads grows. Jedi, Sith and the like are hunted for their lightsabers and garments. Our hero (of sorts), Korva Wenn has seen his fair share of fights. He is no strangers to lightsabers. The legend of the Blade Hunter begins….
Chapter One
Ferz stood in the rain, dripping with water and sweat. It's not every day that you hold a lightsaber, let alone two. He knew the buyer was on the way, but such a remote part of Makeb made him nervous. Trading under the nose of the Hutt Clan was a dangerous engagement, especially with spies everywhere. "Come on… where is this guy?" Ferz exclaimed quietly, his voice shaky from nerves and the chill in the air. He saw a figure in the distance slowly approach. He was tall, with a blaster rifle over his shoulder. This guy is walking around with Republic firearms like it's nothing.
Suddenly, Ferz felt an uncomfortably cold hand grab his arm. Before he could react, another covered his mouth and he was pulled into the shadows. "Did you tell anyone else we were meeting?" A gruff voice said. "No, the Hutt Clan has spies everywhere, that would be suicide." Ferz felt a blaster poke into his back. If the approaching figure wasn't going to kill him then the mysterious stranger surely would. "Well I tend to keep things to myself, so I guess a few of those spies caught wind of our deal. Looks like we have a problem." Ferz' heart sank. He was dead for sure. The stranger drew his blaster away from him and placed it on his shoulder. A realization sunk in, the blaster was not a blaster, but in fact the arm of a HK Droid. Is this guy a droid? His voice sounded altered, but maybe he was wearing a helmet? His head span with questions as the figure grew closer. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his heart sank further.
Corran Joflos was one of the best Bounty Hunters for the Hutt Clan. He knew that. He also knew that an unknown figure had landed in an X-70B, an Imperial Agent Prototype Starship about an hour before the kid. Why the hell would an Imperial Agent want to trade with a slaver? The safety on his blaster was very rarely off, as Corran much preferred a hands-on approach to his targets. But something felt off. He had his safety off and a thermal detonator at the ready. Walking into any situation unprepared was foolish, so he had his two best trainees with Precision Blasters ready a few clicks back. As he approached, he heard a coarse voice speak through a helmet. "Just give me half a minute and I'll be off your planet." No respect for the king. Corran had been through this routine a thousand times. He drew and aimed his blaster. "Now I can't see you through all the shadows and rain, but I sure as shit can fire until I hit somethin'. Wouldn't you agree?" Corran waited for a response, receiving nothing in return. "I'm curious, what exactly were you going to do with all that money Ferz? You plannin' on investin' in the spice market? You know there aint a ship on this planet that'll ship a slave away! So come on out here and do your good friend a favor, give me sabers, and we can arrange a pardon of some kind." Corran waited patiently, keeping the blaster pointed directly on the source of the voice.
Suddenly, he heard an explosion from behind him. He fired directly into the shadows, as the echo of the explosion carried through the valley. Without time for another breath, he felt a sharp pain in his right leg. The sound of the blaster finally hit him, as he fell to his knee. He was never a man to scream in pain, but the blast was focused. The shooter knew where to hit to disable his target. He saw a small canister roll from out of the shadows. A blinding light erupted from the canister, and he felt himself lose balance. Faintly, from under the sound of his ears ringing, he heard the Imperial Starship take off. As he lay there in pain, he felt the damage of his defeat. More-so than his leg or ears, his pride was bruised. I'm going to kill that son of a bitch.