The Story of forgotten Jedi Owen Sun
Chapter 13: The Jedi Assassin
Five years later…
It was one thousand eight hundred and forty-six days since the Battle of Naboo and the galaxy had been fairly timid since then, only until very recently did things begin to deteriorate in the Jedi Order as many Jedi Knights were being targeted by an unknown threat. Many questions were abound in the Order with no answers as to who or what was behind these apparent assassinations, the Council kept what little information they had on the issue confined to themselves. No one outside the Jedi Council knew the severity of what was happening, the rest of the Order was very much in the dark left with rumors and speculation.
On the lighter side of things like the model pupil Owen continued in his evolution as a Jedi becoming stronger and wiser each day under his Masters tutelage. Still young with much to learn he kept his mind on the present instead of the future, where his path would take him only the Force could decide.
Meanwhile on the planet of Anaxes.
Master Arca and his Padawan Owen Sun had been sent to settle a border dispute between Anaxes and its sister planet Axum.
In the busy city of Pols Anaxes the Master and his Padawan linger in the Anaxes Citadels cantina dreary over the day's events.
Owen sighed heavily in his seat. "Master I think I've had it with the planets diplomats"
"No one ever said being a Jedi was glamorous my young Padawan" chuckled Arca.
"We still have to sort this matter out or the Senate could soon find these two Core Worlds secede from the Republic" foresaw Arca as he downed a cup of ale.
"Undoubtedly right Master but Jedi training aside with these deceitful, back-and-forth tactics it's hard to determine just whose right and whose wrong in all this" exhausted Owen.
"You must look less at the situation as a whole and more at the individuals behind it, often you'll find both parties at fault, scheming to further their own goals" Arca educated.
"(Sigh) what's happened to the galaxy Master, finding an honest politician who truly wishes to serve the needs of their people nowadays seems rarer than an Adegan crystal" contemplated Owen.
"I know what you mean Owen but it is our duty to sort out this mess and strike a fair contrast between the two" reminded Arca.
"Yes, as always yo-" Owen stopped in mid-speech.
"What is it?" wondered Arca.
He paused for a moment. "Nothing Master, I thought I sensed something" he answered.
Arca looked around the busy cantina teeming with life. "I sense nothing Owen" he assured.
"Uh of course Master, I'm sure it was nothing" replied Owen.
"Well moving on I think we-" Arca was cut off as Owen spotted a circular red dot on his Masters chest.
Without saying a word he leapt at him knocking Arca to the floor but it was too late as the beam of plasma connected going right through his shoulder. The cantina went into frenzy everyone running for cover from the shot, those who weren't ducked down underneath their tables. "Master are you alright?" asked Owen panicked.
"Augh it's my shoulder" replied Arca blood dripping from his wound.
Another few shots whizzed by their heads in the cantina, he quickly grabbed Arca pulling him behind the bar for cover. "A Sniper no doubt" confirmed Arca in clear pain.
"Can you move?" asked Owen.
"No, I'd only slow you down" replied Arca wincing from the pain.
"Slow me down?" questioned Owen.
"Yes Owen, you need to track that Sniper down before he gets away" ordered Arca.
"But your shoulder" conjectured a concerned Owen.
"I'll be fine my Padawan the shot went straight through, it's a clean wound" assured Arca.
"Are you sure Master?" questioned Owen.
"Yes, go before he escapes, he'll surely leave now that he has been discovered" Arca recognized.
"Now go!" he ordered cradling his blood soaked shoulder.
With that Owen left Arca and went after the Sniper, Arca called upon the Force to mend his shoulder. It wouldn't heal the wound but it would stop the bleeding, the wound was too severe to be healed completely.
Near the now broken glass window Owen looked past the busy skies around the buildings and skyscrapers of Anaxes for the possible location of the shooter. Even as he frantically looked Owen couldn't help thinking. "Why me and my Master, what made us so special?"
His thoughts were cut short by what looked like a suspect in the distance; pulling out his macrobinoculars he spotted a masked figure with a heavily armed sniper rifle attempting to disembark. Owens Jedi training kicked into gear leaping through the broken window down to the platform below. Brushing his blond Padawan braid out of his face Owen caught sight of an airspeeder with two people about to board. He speeded down the walkway jumping into it before they could react. "Sorry folks, Jedi business" apologized Owen.
He immediately took the speeder high in the air to the vicinity of the mysterious Sniper; Owen panned around finding nothing. For a second he thought he lost him but out of nowhere a rocket hit the bow of the speeder almost blowing it in two! He then caught sight of the Sniper hovering just a ways in front of him on a jetpack. Hitting the thrust on the throttle he went zooming towards the Sniper at an uncanny speed; the speeder came too fast for the Sniper connecting with him as he was tossed onto a nearby building.
Owen bailed on the airspeeder as it was falling apart and jumped for where the Sniper landed. Cartwheeling onto the building's rooftop he drew his lightsaber, surprisingly the mysterious Sniper that nearly killed him and Arca was knocked out from the crash lying motionless on the rooftop. Owen walked over to him very carefully, getting closer he noticed the Sniper was wearing a black body suit with an armored chest plate and arm/leg guards. The armor was unique in design, clear enough Owen could see himself, along with the body suit he sported black boots and gauntlets. Peeking in closer he noticed that the Sniper was wearing a bulky helmet with a piece of garb draped in the back flowing down to his shoulders, like everything else about him it looked very unique and seemed almost ceremonial. Owen went to subdue the Masked Assailant but was greeted with a kick square in his face.
He fell back nearly unconscious from the sudden strike as the Masked Assailant picked himself up hastily trying to repair his jetpack. Owen quickly leapt up surprising the Masked Assailant. "Who are you?" he sternly asked.
The Padawan got no response except a glare from the black browed eyes of the helmet; the Masked Assailant then put his arms in the form of an x to his chest and retracted two sword blades from beneath his forearms. He then motioned his hand egging Owen Sun on. With no hesitation he struck with his saber, every strike was harridly parried however as he blocked each attempt with his forearm blades. Above the vast Anaxes Citadel Owen and the Masked Assailant continued to clash with neither gaining any advantage, finally after several minutes of fighting Owen sensed a weakness in his technique swinging for his legs but that proved to be a mistake as the Masked Assailant blocked him and thrust his blade into Owens hand, he then kicked him in the stomach knocking him to the ground.
In tremendous pain he immediately dropped his lightsaber; the Masked Assailant put away his forearm blades adjusting his jetpack as Owen lied on the ground wondering if his hand was still in one piece. He ignited his jetpack and began to thrust upwards, hand or no hand Owen knew he couldn't let him escape. Getting the momentum he needed the Masked Assailant got some height and began to disembark but with everything he had left Owen Force jumped up onto his back, the force of the impact jarred him as they hovered dangerously in the busy skies of Anaxes. Punching with his good hand Owen tried to do whatever he could to halt his escape, he grabbed at him struggling to get the Jedi off his back but he suddenly found himself in a modified sleeper hold. After several seconds of struggling he began to fade going limp, sensing victory Owen loosened his grip. That would be all he needed as the Masked Assailant suddenly elbowed Owen in the face plummeting him to the building below, while shaken by the fall he managed to pull himself up again but as he rose the Masked Assailant was in wait firing a small dart from his wrist into Owens neck.
His vision faded and suddenly he saw three Masked Assailants in his view, Owen fell to the ground knocked out as the tranquilizer dart had done its damage. He then shot off upwards into the skies of Anaxes…
Several hours later as night started to descend on Anaxes Owen awoke to the sounds of a loud airspeeder nearby, his eyes fluttered open looking up to see his patched up Master helping him to his feet. "I see you've done well my Padawan" stated Arca.
With dim strength left Owen responded the best he could. "Uunhh…no Master…he got away"
"Let's get you some help" assisted Arca just noticing his severely mangled hand.
He placed him in the speeder as Owen passed out again. There would be even more questions now that would unfortunately remain unanswered as the Masked Assailant got away nearly killing both of them, Arca was no doubt upset wanting an explanation as to just what the hell had happened?
The next day Owen awoke in the Jedi Medical Corps Infirmary of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
Still a bit groggy and disoriented from the bacta tank Owen slowly opened his eyes. "Uunhh" he groaned.
"Easy my Padawan, you're not fully recovered yet" advised Arca.
Owen suddenly remembered his altercation with the Masked Assailant leading to his inevitable escape, particularly what happened to his hand. Frantically he looked down checking on the damage done only to discover it wrapped in bandages. "You were pretty banged up when I got you here, the Jedi Healers and medical droids did a lot better than the doctors on Anaxes" informed Arca.
Arca then moved his shoulder with his arm wrapped in a sling in discomfort remembering the two who worked on him. "They weren't the best doctors but it was all I could find on such short notice"
"Is my hand-" Owen was cut off by Arca.
"Calm yourself my young Padawan your hand is still intact, the doctors didn't fair too well in their repairs but once I got you here the Jedi Healers took care of the rest, the bacta tank healed most of your wounds along with the majority of damage to your hand" assured Arca.
"But you will still need more time for the rest of you to heal" he added.
"Jedi Healers?" questioned Owen. "Then we must be back at the Temple"
"Correct, after I informed the Council on what transpired they insisted we leave Anaxes and speak with them immediately" updated Arca.
"Are you going to be okay Master?" asked Owen looking concerned over his severe injury.
Arca smirked. "I'll be fine Owen, its not the first time your Master has faced grave injury ha-ha" he chuckled recalling his many bumps and bruises over his hard life as a Jedi.
Owen gazed to the bed in shame. "What is it my Padawan?" queried Arca.
"I failed Master, he got away, I let him escape" he replied.
"Owen I've been waiting to ask you this for a while now, what exactly happened up on that rooftop?" wondered Arca.
"Well, from what I can recall after I left you in the cantina I…"
Owen went on to describe the entire event to his Master, including his perilous fight with the Masked Assailant.
"So you can see now Master I failed you" declared Owen wrapping up his story.
"No Owen, you did the best you could, sometimes I forget how young you still are, you've learned much over the past several years, more than any I've ever trained but you must remember you are still learning and this Masked Assailant you described was a skilled bounty hunter no doubt and a skilled bounty hunter can be a match for any Jedi" consoled Arca.
"Even so Master I feel I've let the Council down" he dejected.
"Owen the bounty hunter was able to avoid detection from us yet still you sensed something when I did not, even after I was wounded you went after him and did your duty as a Jedi" assured Arca.
"I know Master but I've never failed you or the Council before, I just feel-" Owen was cut off by is Master.
"Everyone fails my Padawan, no one, not even a Jedi is perfect, every Jedi admittedly ornot in some small shape or form has tasted defeat" stated the wise Master Arca.
"Yes Master, (sigh) as always you are right" understood Owen.
"You should be commended by your actions, not ashamed; you've served the Order valiantly" praised Arca.
Silence hung in the air for a moment as he weighed his Masters wise words…
"So what happens now?" Owen wondered.
"We are to see the Council to be debriefed about everything on Anaxes, with the information you gathered about the bounty hunter I'm sure the Council will know what to do next" notified Arca.
Owen arose from his bed still feeling the effects of his many wounds. "Augh!" he moaned.
"Whoa, whoa easy now Owen, you get some more rest and let that hand heal, we'll go see the Council when you're ready" recommended Arca.
He disagreed but realized his Master knew best. "Very well Master, I'll stay put"
The medical droid hovered by giving him a final bacta injection. "Let the bacta do its job, I'll see you in a few hours" departed Arca leaving the Jedi Temples Infirmary.
But as Arca made his way out the door Owen needed to know one last thing. "Master before you go, I was wondering even now why would a bounty hunter be after us?"
"I don't know Owen, he was skilled and those weren't exactly bounty hunter tactics he used" answered Arca.
"We've made lots of enemies over the years Master but the only ones I could see pulling off an endeavor like this would be the Hutts, could be reprisal for what happened years ago on Nal Hutta and Nar Shaddaa" considered Owen.
"We can't be too sure, the Hutts are known for their disregard for the law but attacking two Jedi…it just seems out of their league, no I'm afraid we may never know who hired him but one things for certain, he tried to kill us and the Council will not tolerate this" Arca retorted.
"But we'll discuss it later with the Council, you get some rest, I'll be back later" advised Arca departing.
Hours passed with Owen awaking to find his hand almost completely healed, removing the bandages he made his way to the Temple Dormitories to his quarters changing into his customary Jedi garments and robe. As he met up with his Master they entered the Council chambers to find Masters Yoda, Windu, Mundi, Koon and Poof all in attendance, the rest of the Council were away on other unknown Republic issues.
Arca and Owen approached the Council.
Windu caught their approach. "Master Arca, Padawan Sun, it is good to see you both alive again"
"Yes, it seems you two have a habit of finding trouble" discerned Mundi.
"We have heard very little of your encounter with this mysterious enemy, do you care to elaborate on what happened?" questioned Koon from his antiox breath mask his Kel Dor species required.
"Well as I informed you on Anaxes we were taken by surprise, after being wounded I instructed my Padawan to go after him" informed Arca.
"Um yes, how feel you?" asked Yoda noticing the sling.
"I've had better days, for now the bacta combined with my Force heal can only do so much" admonished Arca.
"Hm yes, continue" motioned Yoda.
From there Owen picked up the story and began to tell the Council of his perilous encounter with the Masked Assailant…
"As I approached he was already knocked out from the crash" continued Owen.
"What did this Masked Assailant look like?" asked Windu.
"Yes, I am curious as well?" questioned Mundi growing more interested.
Owen did his best to describe his unique attire- the body suit, clear armor, plus of course the bulky helmet and assumed ceremonial garb.
The detailed description seemed to unsettle the Council as Owen could feel their unrest through the Force. "Are you sure of this Padawan Sun, we need to be absolutely certain" questioned Poof.
"Well…yes of course" he replied unnervingly.
Windu gave Yoda a concerned look almost as if they knew who he was talking about.
There was a moment of grave silence in the circular chambers.
Finally, Arca got up the nerve. "We believe him to be a bounty hunter, possibly hired by the Hutts in the Y'Toub system for interfering in their slave and smuggling operations years ago"
"No, not Hutts but the dark side I sense here" stated Yoda.
Arca and Owen looked at each other both confused and concerned, after a hesitating nod from the rest of the Council Windu spilled the truth of the situation. "We know of this, this Masked Assailant as you called him we have seen him before, it has been some time since he's traveled in Republic space but by your description there's no mistaking it must be him" explained Windu.
"The Council has known of this for some time, we thought his actions had ceased but his attempt on your lives proves that he is continuing with his operation" clarified Mundi.
"The Council knew of this?" questioned Arca out of turn.
"Um yes, through the Force hard to detect is Masked Assailant, ability to mask himself even from the Council, but certain are we that strike down Jedi wherever they may be he is" Yoda enlightened in his usual broken basic.
"We believe that someone has hired him to assassinate Jedi and Jedi alone" divulged Koon through his breath mask.
"But bounty hunters don't do that kind of work" examined Arca.
"No, bounty hunter he is not but Assassin he is" stated Yoda.
Arca and Owen were astounded. "Why didn't the Council let the rest of the Order know what was going on?" questioned Arca once again out of turn.
"The Council does not hold itself accountable to you Master Arca" stated Mundi defending the Jedi Council.
Mace held up his hand calling off the defensive Ki-Adi-Mundi. "We didn't yet know the identity of this Assassin and news of this getting out would only disrupt our efforts of trying to track him down" updated Windu.
"And the fact he disappeared for so long, the Council came to the decision that he had stopped his assassinations" added the Kel Dor Koon.
"But stopped them he has not, time now to deal with threat before more Jedi lives are lost" Yoda advised.
"What are you suggesting?" wondered the silent Poof.
"The Council will confer on the issue, leave us to deliberate and we will decide what shall happen next" ended Windu.
With that Arca and Owen left the Council chambers waiting on the steps of the Jedi Temple for the Council's decision. "Master how could the Council not warn us of such dangerous information?" wondered Owen questioning the Council's methods having faced the Assassin first hand.
"It puzzles me as well my Padawan, there must be some other force at work here for the Council to take such precaution" pondered Arca.
A Temple Caretaker approached the two Jedi. "The Council is ready for you"
They entered the Council chambers once again.
"Deliberated we have on issue threatening our Order" began Yoda.
"We deem that this Assassin will strike again if not stopped" informed Windu.
"Therefore we have decided that you young Sun will track this Jedi Assassin down and bring him to justice, then we shall determine just who he is working for" supported Mundi.
"Me?" he questioned pointing to himself.
"Yes, you Owen" replied Windu.
"But what about my Master, shouldn't he come with me?" questioned Owen.
"Thought on this much we have, Master Arca though brave and strong to take you on mission in no condition he is" perceived Yoda.
Owen was hesitant about doing this alone remembering the altercation on Anaxes. "B-But I am just a mere Padawan, shouldn't you send a more capable Jedi…Jedi Knight Kenobi perhaps" suggested Owen.
"If we were to send Obi-Wan or any other Jedi for that matter it would reveal the secret amongst the Council" educated Windu.
"Beside the point he is busy training young Skywalker" added Poof.
"I'm afraid your encounter with the Assassin has brought you into this Padawan Sun, you are the only two outside the Council who know of our dire situation, we would like to keep it that way" clarified Mundi.
"Know of your reservations we do but little choice does the Council have, stand by and watch no longer we can" explained Yoda.
"The Force has made its choice, we trust that you will succeed Padawan Sun" stated Koon.
Owen didn't know what to say, everything was happening so fast; he was still shaken from Anaxes. Although the Council had very much painted themselves into a corner they felt given his skill Owen could succeed in his task. "Where would I even begin, the Assassin could be anywhere by now?" questioned Owen.
"After Arca contacted us about the Assassin several probe droids were sent to follow his ship, according to reports we discovered in the coreward database we believe it to be a cloakable spy vessel by the name of The Apparition" divulged Windu.
"Our latest scans indicate it is in the Middle Rim region, we concur, he is on the forest world of Kashyyyk" informed Poof.
"Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld why would he be there?" wondered Owen.
"We deem he is there to poach the fur trade" explained Poof.
"You mean poaching the Wookiees" confirmed Owen.
"Um yes, kill then sell their hides no doubt" added Yoda.
"While you're there try to stay as discreet as possible, I doubt the Wookiees would enjoy seeing a Jedi on their world" advised Windu.
"Remember you will be out of comm. range so you'll truly be alone on this mission" cautioned Koon.
"But enough talk, you must leave us now, I trust you will fulfill your mandate set by the Council, May the Force be with you Owen" wished Mundi.
"May the Force be with you" the rest of the Council said in unison.
Apprehensive Owen left the Council chambers with his Master; on their way down the turbolift he questioned himself and the mission. "Master I'm not sure if I can do this on my own"
"My young Padawan, you are the most gifted student I have ever trained, understand you already have the skills to accomplish this task it is merely a matter of you believing in yourself" imparted Arca.
"The ability is already inside you my Padawan, that is why the Council has put their faith in you, face your fear, conquer your doubt and you will complete this task" stated the wise Arca.
"Yes Master, I-I will do my best" replied Owen insecurely.
Owen readied himself for his toughest challenge yet as even though a large doubt still loomed in his mind the words of his Master had inspired him like nothing else ever could. Win or lose the Jedi Council had put their faith in him; time would tell if he would succeed. Owen Sun was to find the Jedi Assassin and bring him to justice.