The underbelly of Coruscant still was able to thrive under the rule of the Empire. The recent additions of imperial clone trooper security was able to maintain order on the surface, but only the most undesirable patrols traversed the depths of the capital city. To increase imperial presence would only draw more attention, and attention bred dissidents. A finer touch was required for hunting in the depths of the city. Bounty hunters were sufficient, plentiful and eager for employment; In the ramshackle markets and apartment complexes built around the city's massive support structures, the hunt was law. Where one bounty hunter fell, two more would take their place. They would hunt in the gutter, while the empire kept their shiny white armor clean.
It was just such a bounty hunter that now stalked through alleyways in silence, stepping over huddled figures seeking shelter from the chemical rain the upper city produced. The figure reached the end of the alley and glanced across a near-deserted market; the rain had driven the normally bustling crowds out of the open, and those who remained were hastily shoving perishables away before they were reduced to a sludge. The bounty hunter's fingers curled around the blaster at their side. The hunt wasn't yet over; this was the only way for their target to escape. Two weeks of trailing had lead to this moment. A bounty of that size wasn't one you simply gave up on.
As they turned the corner, one of the forms on the ground of the alleyway shifted. A tattered rag was thrown aside as the cloaked figure rose silently.
The bounty hunter stepped cautiously past boxes of exotic fruits as they cleared their corners. The noxious smell of scalded flesh and burning hair permeated the air; a stall's worth of chitliks had been left in the open when the toxic clouds first rolled through, leaving the small marsupials to partially dissolve in their containers. The bounty hunter adjusted the wrapping covering their nose and mouth, turning away from the gruesome sight.
The bounty hunter crept to the edge of the nearest alleyway, peering into the darkness beyond. Their instincts told them nothing. The trail had gone cold.
On the opposite end of the bazaar the cloaked figure eyed the back of the bounty hunter a moment longer before turning into the darkness. When they were confident the bounty hunter was not in pursuit, they broke into a run.
The warehouse district was close. A cache would be waiting with essentials; a forged imperial clearance, working papers for trade out beyond the outer rim, a blaster for protection. The dark cloak moved like a fluid through the maze of pipelines, alleyways and rooftops, silently and swiftly. The dark cloak jumped down into an alleyway, landing with a roll and continuing forward into crowds of individuals just emerging from their homes with the passing of the acrid rain. The figure slowed their pace. The danger has passed, but Coruscant was no longer a viable place of hiding.
The metallic whirring and clanging of machinery echoing through the district, the figure dipped into a side alley and immediately into an unmarked doorway. The hood lowered as soon as the door closed in their wake, blue eyes taking a moment to adjust to the sudden darkness.
Something was wrong.
There was not a moment to react before the blaster shot. An instinctual movement lit up the area. The bolt of plasma careened into the doorway's control panel, sending sparks showering off cold steel with the impact. The single glowing green blade lit up the features of its togruta wielder as she stood fast. The white patterns on her cheeks and forehead, the blue and white patterns to her montrals, the lekku that extended down her chest. She stood with confidence, but she knew she was already flanked and exposed.
"Target confirmed: Ahsoka Tano," hissed the bounty hunter's voice from the shadows, parsed through a modulator. An assassin droid. "My master is expecting your body upon her arrival."
Ahsoka stood fast, trying to size up her opponent. The droid was using cover, projecting its voice across the factories many mechanical components; she wouldn't be able to pinpoint its location... unless she was able to keep it talking.
"How did your master know I'd come here," she called into the darkness as she began to feel outward with the force. She could sense the mechanism in the door straining against itself, caught in a circuit that wanted it open. She wouldn't be able to escape that way, at least not while the droid was bearing down on her. She could sense the machinery at work within the wide warehouse and her cache, hidden in a military-grade chest within a malfunctioning piston. She had yet to locate the droid.
"My master's study of you knows no bounds," The voice echoed. "She has located all of your allies, all of your hideaways. You will not leave Coruscant without her knowledge, Ahsoka Tano."
"It sounds like she's a real fan," Ahsoka shouted into nothingness. Her senses were focusing farther and farther out into the building's space, her montral's rudimentary echolocation going to work in mapping the area. "Maybe I'll sign something for her before I cut her down," she continued. A voice from another lifetime resounded in her mind: snippy.
"You would sooner die where you stand, Jedi."
"I am no Jedi," she let out a low growl and took a single step forward. Another blaster shot rang out with a resounding echo. She deflected the bolt, her blue eyes snapping towards the source. The metallic sheen of the droid was just barely visible in the glow of the machinery some two hundred feet away. The droid's legs bent at an unnatural angle, causing its body to lie flat against the catwalk it clung to with talon-like feet. It had a massive sniper rifle trained on her, the sight glinting in the darkness. It realized she knew where it was almost as quickly as she reacted, darting forward behind a large outcropping of mechanical parts. The sniper fired three more shots as she made a break, all splintering against the metal grating of the catwalk she was on, the blasts one step behind her. Skidding behind cover, she could see the droid right itself, hanging upside-down on the catwalk before dropping twenty feet to the foundry floor below. It landed on its feet with a heavy crushing of stone. As it darted away to find a better vantage point, Ahsoka realized what made it so unsettling; it moved with the same unnatural grace General Grievous had during the clone wars. This model of assassin droid had become mass-produced mainly for their increased ability for adaptation and mobility. A closed-quarters fight with one would be a losing proposition for anyone but her.
The area was marked only by the continued pounding of pistons below, the automated manufacturing process continuing unimpeded by the conflict within. Ahsoka raised her chin, the forms of each mechanical structure becoming outlined in her mind's eye. Even so far removed from the jedi temple, the Force was still with her.
Another shot rang out, closer this time. It entered the metal pipeline behind her, a burst of boiling steam expelling into the space she once occupied. She took off running, using one hand to vault over the railing of the catwalk. She was in free-fall for fifteen feet before landing at the base of a colossal machine that blocked the droid's line of sight, two more blaster shots streaking into nothingness. She could hear the clicking of the sniper rifle's chamber as a red-hot cartridge ejected from it's side, clattering between pipes before hitting the ground. She listened closely in the direction the droid had fired from hearing only its huge feet landed on the catwalk she had been on moments before. There was a momentary pause, a clicking, and then the slight hum of the rifle as it recharged.
Eight shots a magazine, she thought, Followed by six seconds to reload. That's when I'll have my opening.
Now she just needed to stall.
Breaking from cover Ahsoka's lightsaber lashed out as another shot fired, deflecting it into a row of transformers that burst into a ball of blue thunder that arced through the nearby mechanisms. One wall of heavy pistons gave a loud complaint as their power source was cut and gradually slowed to a crawl.
The second and third shot she stood her ground, deflecting both back at the sniper. Both shots hit the wall behind the droid as it bent unnaturally backwards, taking aim between its own legs to fire the fourth shot. Ahsoka vaulted over a control panel that exploded seconds later as it absorbed the shot. She was sent sprawling with the force of the blast. She had hoped the smoke would obscure her from view but the droid had to have some manner of infrared sight; it fired two more shots as it straightened up, one of which she was able to deflect with her saber while the other seared her thigh.
Pain wracked her body and her teeth clenched hard, her sharp canines digging into her lower lip. She was bleeding, she knew that much, but she didn't have time to inspect the wound. If she got out of this, she could heal herself later. Her right hand felt incredibly empty; if she still had her second lightsaber she would have been able to deflect that shot.
Somewhere beyond the billowing smoke the droid landed hard on a metal surface; Ahsoka couldn't see. She rolled to her feet and dashed behind a dense series of pipes. The warning labels along their side read in various languages, but the gist amounted to, Caution: Extremely Explosive. She had to move, quickly. She scanned beyond for anything she could possibly hide behind. Two more shots, she reminded herself, just need to last for two more shots.
Reaching out with the force, she lifted a nearby barrel into the air and flung it in the direction of the assassin. The momentary distraction was marked with a crashing of metal on metal. It was just enough to allow her to run from cover behind the explosive pipes, ducking behind a large piston that had stopped when the control panel had exploded.
"It is useless to hide. I have the high ground," the droid intoned as it focused on her through it's sights. "Surrender now or be destroyed, Ahsoka Tano."
He's got two more shots. How lucky do you feel, Ahsoka?
Without waiting for an answer, Ahsoka jumped onto the pistol, vaulting off as a single blaster bolt shattered the piston's arm. She could see the droid taking aim at her forehead from a large control module some forty feet away. She ran across the open area with her lightsaber outstretched, springing over the pipes that bisected the area, sliding over the top of a smooth table. She felt the warm glow of the force lift her as she jumped.
The final shot rocketed past as Ahsoka's body twisted in midair. The beam of plasma passed under her arm, tickling her side. The droid pulled the trigger again but the chamber clicked. Ahsoka felt a familiar calm come over her as she arced gracefully in the air.
As her blade slashed through the sniper rifle from barrel to the stock and cleaved halfway into the droid's faceplate, the spent magazine ejected.
The assassin droid malfunctioned and crumpled at her feet as Ahsoka locked eyes with the bounty hunter that was now standing on the balcony above. The heavily robed figure had another blaster leveled at her.