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Zic Orves: Jedi Assassin

He actually walked into the crosshair. I love it when they do that.

Zic Orves was positioned above his target-- about two hundred meters above-- and about five meters to his left. He was also holding a highly customized verpine sniper rifle, which was trained on his target's head. The target of course knew none of this.

The target was a fat man pacing back and forth in a small office located high above Coruscant. He was speaking to a hologram, and appeared quite exasperated. Zic bided his time; he understood the value of patience.

A voice broke the monotonous gusting of wind, and brought the aging Jedi back to the reality of his situation. He was high up, and exposed to the elements.

"Master Orves, I have a special assignment for you when you return. It is important that you come directly to me when the mission is completed."

"Of course, Master Windu, I am almost finished here. I should be along shortly."

Mace never bothered to ask if he was busy, and likely wouldn't care if he was. It was however, dangerous to his mission's success when he was interrupted by outside forces, especially when he relied upon stealth and anonymity to complete his work. Zic decided to remember to turn his comlink off from now on. Surely, that was better for everyone.

The fat man finished his conversation, and stopped his pacing to put his head into his hands and catch his breath.

Zic squeezed the trigger.

"A padawan? What makes you think that I can train a padawan? My line of work doesn't easily allow me to bring another along, never mind an inexperienced padawan who needs training."

Zic and Mace walked through the halls of the Jedi Temple, Mace's robes flowing behind him. Zic's rifle case still hung at his side.

"The padawan is not entirely inexperienced. She has been trained in a special course in weapons and tactics provided by the clone unit we've created just for that purpose. All Jedi must take a padawan at some point," said Mace.

"But haven't I always been an exception to the rules?"

"Not this time, Zic. Today you are just like any other Jedi, lightsaber and all."

Zic sighed heavily. "Very well then, where is she?"

Mace motioned to Zic's right. "Right there."

Zic looked to find a young girl of perhaps fourteen. She had short black hair and a fair complexion. Any other person would have said she was pretty, but Jedi don't notice pretty. What Zic did notice was that she carried two lightsabers at her waist.

Great, twin lightsabers. This is going to be fun

"Name?"

"Nara," the girl answered confidently.

"Here is the information on your next assignment. It doesn't require you to be at the location for some time. What you do with that time is your decision," said Mace.

"Thanks a lot," said Zic as he took the holodisc.

"I will contact you when it is appropriate. Until then, good luck."

"Of course, Master Windu," said Zic. "I'm sure we'll do just fine."

Zic and Nara walked quickly through the Temple.

"Where are we going?" Nara asked.

"To get some new equipment," Zic said. "I get to test all of the new experimental weaponry, seeing as my job requires, well, weaponry not used by most Jedi. You do understand what my job is, right?"

"Of course, I've been in training since I was a youngling. You're an assassin. A Jedi Assassin."

"Maybe so, but be careful where you throw that word around, some of the Masters don't like the way it sounds. We're defenders, peace keepers, 'assassin' doesn't sound very peaceful, so we try not to say it. I say they have their robes on too tight."

"Like Master Windu?"

Zic smiled. "Yes, like Master Windu."

Maybe she's not so bad, wasn't brought up by those stuffy types at least. Gotta be worth something.

"We still do, you know. Keep the peace. We just do it a little differently. Remove the bad guys, rather than negotiate with them."

"How many are there?"

"Assassins? Not sure. Not many, I think. It's not like you could tell if you saw one, you'd be hard pressed to tell if he was a Jedi, let alone an Assassin. We don't look like them, which reminds me, tuck your braid into your hair."

Nara pushed the traditional Jedi braid behind her ear. "Right, we can't have the possibility of civvies realizing that Jedi are walking around assassinating people."

"Civvies? You really were trained by the clones then. I'm sure they also told you that we don't wear robes, and we don't flash lightsabers all over, either."

Nara looked slightly disappointed about Zic's last statement. "I understand everything."

They continued past the Archives, winding though corridors and along lesser-used paths, until they came to an out of the way door in a deserted hallway somewhere deep in the Temple. Zic walked in and came out with a rectangular case not unlike the one he was already carrying, and motioned for the girl to follow him.

"We'll get something to eat, and then we can go out and see what you can do. I might even let you try the new blasters, if you ask nicely, that is."

Zic and Nara left the cantina and took a speeder to the location of their next assignment. The target was supposed to be in a large storage complex in a more seedy part of the planet. Luckily, it was mostly empty of people, just a few working-types here and there.

They walked along the side of the building until they came to a door guarded by two men. Zic waved his hand as he walked in, the men said nothing. Nara followed closely behind him. They continued through the complex, passing doors and large rooms alike, keeping a steady pace.

Zic's comlink crackled to life as he walked, the familiar voice streaming to his ears. "Zic, recent intelligence states that the target may not be in the room originally described. If you cannot find him, abort the mission."

"Received."

Mace never fails to interrupt during a mission; at least he has good reason this time. Having my pocket talk to me in enemy territory is a great way to get myself killed. I must remember to turn that thing off from now on, it might save my life one day.

"It's important to remember that we don't always work long range. Sometimes you have to get close, especially in a building like this one that has no windows. It can be messy, but whatever you do, never use your lightsaber. It's a sure sign that a Jedi was present. I usually use a blaster pistol, but depending on the situation I may use a garrote or perhaps a blade. I'm assuming you're familiar?"

"Yes, Master. Completely"

"Good."

Zic stopped abruptly at a room marked 1138.

"This is us," he said. "Stand back."

He knocked three times and waited. There was some fumbling behind the door, and then it opened revealing a well-dressed Neimoidian man.

"Excuse me, but would you be Desal Harwicc?" Zic asked.

"Yes, a how may I help you?" asked the Nemoidian. He stretched the first word and emphasized help, in that particular way Nemoidians have of speaking.

Zic surreptitiously pulled a small blaster from his sleeve and fired it twice into the Nemoidians's chest. He fell backward and was dead before he hit the floor. Zic turned just as the door was closing. Nara had a look of interest in her eyes, like an eager pupil excited about learning. Zic started walking after replacing the blaster in his tunic.

"Learn anything?" Zic asked.

"What did he do?"

"The Nemoidian? I don't know. They don't tell me what they've done. I just get a name, a location, a holoimage, some background, and whatever else they might have."

"Who's they?"

"Jedi Intelligence, Bothans, probably. Republic Intelligence, it's all overseen by Mace Windu. Basically I deal with the targets too difficult for standard clone military. Or other specialized work involving little-known or unknown targets that still require Jedi intervention. You wouldn't see me going after Dooku anytime soon. That's Jedi business. To everyone else, I'm not a Jedi. I don't exist. Didn't anyone tell you this?"

"Not like that. It was mostly hard training, less 'why' and more 'how'."

"That seems unfair; you didn't even know what you were getting into. Of course, none of us did…" His voice trailed off. Nara seemed to notice he was thinking, so she remained silent.

The pair walked out the same way they entered, leaving two guards quite confused as to why they didn't remember ever letting them in.

The Master and Padawan were situated on a balcony lost among the heights and precipices of Coruscanti urbania, overlooking the usual tangle of structure and durasteel. It was midday and sunlight brightly lit the sides of the buildings, reflecting images of passing speeders and rising smoke. Directly across from them was a lone landing platform about three miles away, easily visible in the clear air. Nara held the weapons case that Zic had picked up the week before.

"Well, let's see what we've got. You can do the honors, Nara. I did say I might let you try the new gear, you've earned it, at any rate," Zic said.

Nara undid the clasps and opened the case revealing what appeared to be a long range rifle, broken into four pieces, complete with scope and another attachment Zic didn't recognize. There was also a small datapad.

"Shiny," Nara said.

"Hm?"

"Reflects light, might give away our position."

"You're right. Frakking prototypes, never work like you want them to, completely, anyway. Probably accurate as hell, though. Assemble it, you've got twenty seconds."

Nara quietly pieced the weapon together.

"Not bad. But what's this for?" Zic pointed at the attachment.

"It fires a tracking device. The target should be viewable on the datapad. They would know that they've been tagged, though."

"I don't normally need to track. If I'm chasing somebody, something's gone wrong."

"For when something has gone wrong, then."

Zic eyed her sheepishly. "They should be arriving soon. Set up."

Zic assembled his own rifle while Nara aimed hers toward the platform.

"They should be here soon, keep an eye out. They're Zabrak, the guards are human. You've seen the file. I don't normally get assignments with multiple targets," Zic smiled at her as he aimed his weapon. "Things are different now, of course." He paused. "They're arriving"

A mid-size transport ship came into view and landed on the platform. Two droid guards came out and looked around, followed by two Zabrak men, in turn followed by four armed humans. A third Zabrak walked out from the building adjoining the platform, and greeted his friends.

"I'll take the left, you the right. Synchronize our shots, on three. Middle is whoever gets there first. If a guard gets in the way, take him out."

Zic lined up his shot. "Ready, Nara?"

"Ready, Master."

"One,

Two,

Three."

Zic fired his rifle. Like always, he felt no recoil. He saw the outermost Zabraks fall, leaving only the middle, who was now surrounded by guards. He fired twice more and saw four shapes fall, two droid. The remaining Zabrak fled behind the ship while the remaining guards took cover and began firing in his direction.

"Duck!"

Zic and Nara crouched behind the rail just as a volley of blaster bolts passed overhead and struck the building behind them.

Zic took aim once more. The Zabrak was still behind the ship-- he could see his ankles—the guards were running around the back to protect their charge. "Gave away our position, damn shiny weapons. Next time let's just wave our lightsabers around and dance, it might be less conspicuous."

"I have a shot, Master. I'm going to tag him, in case something goes wrong."

The Zabrak jumped as the projectile entered his left ankle. A guard picked him up and ran into the building while the other provided cover fire.

"I think something just did."

"Just hold your lightsaber out the window, they'll know we're Jedi, everything will be fine!" Zic shouted. Their speeder was currently being chased without prejudice by Coruscant Security, probably because Zic was flying quite erratically, and also at ludicrous speed. Nara held an activated green blade out of the window and waved it, careful not to clip any slow-moving civilians. A signal that clearly stated: Jedi Business. Their pursuers backed off after decoding the message. Nara held the datapad in her lap tracking any movement of the Zabrak man.

"He's still in the building, they don't seem like they're in much of a rush to move him. We should make it there before they can, at this rate."

"Good. Once we're there we'll both go in and finish this, the guards as well."

"Agreed."

The speeder raced through the skyline, narrowly avoiding collision roughly every five seconds, sometimes six. Zic wasn't using the designated lanes of traffic, but rather wherever seemed like the best and fastest place to fly at the time. He was short on time, and meant to make up for it. A few sharp turns and frightened faces later, they arrived at the landing platform they were viewing through rifle scopes only minutes before. A small trail of blood led to a sealed durasteel door.

"They're through that door, three rooms over. It's the quickest way in," Nara said.

"Cut through it then, you've got two ways to do so."

Nara grasped the hilts of her lightsabers, flicked them on, and proceeded to force the tips into the perimeter of the blast door. She slowly lowered the blades, leaving two large lacerations rimmed with glowing molten metal. She had almost finished going all the way around when the door burst inward and set itself down quietly, leaving the way open for entry. She looked back to find Zic smiling smugly, hand raised.

"Jedi," he said, shrugging.

Nara put her weapons away and proceeded into the doorway, blaster drawn. Zic followed. They entered a dark room, windowless, the only light coming from the newly created doorway and the still red hot bits of metal that now littered the floor. It appeared to be a storage room of some kind, plastoid crates lined the walls, some smashed open by the twisted door that lay in the middle of the room. They exited through the only available door, in the right corner.

Now in the lead, Zic continued down a short hallway until he came to the first of three doors on the right side. He looked at Nara, who shook her head no. He went to the next, to which she nodded yes.

Zic closed his eyes and tried to picture the room. There were the two guards, one was wrapping the Zabrak's ankle with a cloth, there was Bacta spray lying next to him. The other guard stood looking out the window, blaster at the ready. He motioned to Nara to stay behind him, and readied his blaster as his finger neared the button to open the door. Nara stood back.

Focus. Just keep the girl out of the way. They have no idea what's happening.

Zic pressed the button, blaster raised and ready. The door slid open, revealing the two guards and original target, still recumbent. He fired twice at the closest guard, and shifted out of the way as a third bolt was returned. He quickly turned and fired just as the window guard was turning around. The sound of blasterfire repeated and ended all at once. The Zabrak man still lay on his back. Zic aimed his blaster at his head, and was about to pull the trigger when he noticed a strange smile spread slowly over his face, his black teeth and tattooed face accenting his horned visage. "You lose, Jedi," he said.

Zic's mind whirled as he saw the mission for what it really was—reaching with the Force he could now feel the clones in the next room, the emptiness that once marked the presence behind him, the girl, his responsibility. He saw her crumpled body on the floor without seeing it, saw the blasters, the plastoid armor, heard the sounds of blasterfire he once thought directed toward him but were actually intended for someone else.

The hand holding his blaster involuntarily contracted and opened, firing the killing shot to the Zabrak and letting the pistol fall to the floor. He spun around into the hallway, coming face-to-face with the betrayal. The Clone Troopers of the Republic targeted him with their blasters and prepared to fire. Zic flung his hand out, summoning a powerful wave of the Force that knocked them back against the walls and into the adjoining rooms. For the first time in many years he detached the adorned hilt of his lightsaber from his belt and ignited the weapon, a crackle of long-forgotten energy sounded throughout the dwelling, the purple blade cutting through the half-light of the hall, illuminating the body of his deceased padawan, the stunned clones, and a small truth.

Zic raised the blade and brought the point down through the back of the nearest clone, and spun around to deflect incoming shots behind him. He pulled the aggressor toward him and speared him on the end of the light. Turning once more he brought the blade across another clone, and cut another in two. He cleaved arms, shoulders, and heads from their bodies, decimated forms into alien shapes, and controlled the weapon like he had used it every day of his life. Five more men fell before him before he awoke from his warrior's state, and found himself in what appeared to be the main room of the house. He deactivated his lightsaber, newly comfortable in his hand, and re-entered the hall where he carefully lifted the body of Nara, and carried her out to the landing platform and the awaiting transport.

As Zic was situating himself in the speeder, his comlink came to life. It was a transmission stating that the Clones had revolted and instructing that all Jedi come to the Temple immediately. Zic pulled the speeder around and headed for the only home he had ever known, a safe place where he could put his charge to rest, and try to salvage what was left of the Jedi Order.

One thought entered Zic's mind as he flew toward his destination.

Good thing I forgot to turn it off.