Author's Note: I hope you will enjoy the prologue. It has been a long time since the first story was finished. I wrote the original a while ago but I rewrote most of it due to advice and tips from friends while I was on deployment. The status of this stories will be on my profile.
Chapter: Prologue
Coruscant, also known as the Imperial Center to its devoted occupants, was the beating heart of the glorious Galactic Empire.
Since the end of the horrific Clone Wars, the economy boomed, entering into what historians called another galactic wide golden age that had not been experienced since the era of the High Republic. With the great purge of the traitorous Jedi by the dutiful clones, crime on all Imperial ruled worlds dropped to an all-time low with the highly trained stormtroopers taking up the mantle of peacekeepers and protecting order in the region. The remnants of the despicable and villainous Izini Nation had all been wiped out by the reliable Imperial Security Bureau. And no matter the enemy that may be lurking in the shadows, with the ever watchful eye of Imperial Intelligence, all citizens were guaranteed true safety.
All these accomplishments and more would never have been achieved if it were not for their humble savior, Emperor Sheev Palpatine.
At least, that was what she made the public believe. Spreading such narrative was child's play for someone of her caliber. It always amazed her how submissive people were if you gave few empty promises.
A steady beeping noise filled the bare spacious office. The brown haired woman moved to her terminal and pressed the button to allow the incoming transmission.
"Yes?"
"Madam Director, Agent Cross and Isard have returned from their mission, and are standing by for debrief."
The director grinned at the delightful news. "Thank you. You may let them in."
"As you wish, Madam Director."
The transmission ended. It only took a few seconds before the doors to the director's office slid open. Two Imperial agents, a woman with shoulder-length black and white hair and the other, a man with short and professionally cut snow-white hair, entered and walked to her desk. They went into attention.
The two agents saluted the director. "Agent Isard and Cross, reporting for debrief," the female agent, Isard, announced.
The director laced her fingers together and placed them on top of her desk. "Black."
"Star," the two agents responded in unison.
She nodded, confirming the two individuals were indeed her agents. One could never be too careful in the art of espionage, especially with the threat of civil war on the horizon.
"Was the mission a success?" she asked her agents.
Isard dropped her salute and placed her hands behind her back. "Yes, Madam Director. The bounty hunter has procured the HVT as you requested with no difficulties or knowledge he had help reaching it."
"As well as ISB being tipped off the theft had occurred, and them receiving a description of the assailant by me posing as a a factory worker from the supply depot," Cross added. "As we speak, they should be in pursuit of the bounty hunter."
"Excellent," the director grinned. "You two have done well for the Empire. You may return to your regular duties, agents."
"Director," Cross said, gaining a raised eyebrow from her. "May I speak with you privately for a moment. It's in regards to the mission."
The director knew this was coming. Jahan Cross was always the honorable sort, seeking justice and wanting to better the Empire. The tasteless mission of making sure coordinates of Imperial shipments of blasters being stolen would make someone of his personality to question his leadership.
That being said, she preferred someone idealistic and loyal as Cross than someone who had a blatant lust for power like Agent Isard. Ysanne Isard was a necessary risk though, due to her calculating ruthless nature. No question asked if a promise of higher status and control was given.
"As you wish." She looked at Isard. "Have a pleasant evening agent. Please send my regards to your father. I have not seen much of him since his promotion to Director of COMPNOR."
"I will Madam Director."
Isard sent one last salute her way before exiting the office. Now just the two of them, the director looked at Cross, her face devoid of emotions like always.
"I know what this is about, agent, and I want to say, I do appreciate that, with your reservation for the mission, you still accomplish it to completion. I know it was rather untasteful to betray the Empire we are sow to protect."
Cross looked shocked from her gentle words. He probably expected cold dismissive words from the woman who plotted the downfall of Izini Nation from within. Her reputation in the ranks, while completely accurate, did not deserve such an apprehensive attitude towards her.
"I just want to know why, Director," he asked. "And who is this bounty hunter you ordered us to protect? He looked to be the same age as the new students of the academy."
"As for who he is, I cannot divulge that information. Classified, as you may have already guessed."
She turned her chair around, gazing at the beautiful cityscape of Coruscant as the Sun began to set on the horizon. Just as she predicted, multiple Imperial patrol transports came whizzing by her office, bright spotlight scanning below. They were all converging in the area where she deployed her agents at.
"As for the reason why, that is quite simple." She turned to face him once more, a grin teasing on her lips. "The peace and betterment of our Empire."
A young man wearing a brown tattered duster, toting a rucksack, sprint in-between two males, colliding into one of them.
"Hey, watch where you're going you peedunky!"
He ignored the man and kept with his fast pace. He had more important things to worry about; like escaping for example. He placed a gloved hand on top of his pristine wide-brimmed hat to secure it in its rightful place as he zipped through the hordes of people.
A couple meters away from him, a squad of stormtroopers tramped out of the alleyway and marched towards his direction. He hooked an arm around a light pole to halt his fast momentum. He could make out the lead trooper, signified by their singular orange pauldron, catechizing everyone with authority. Most likely questioning if they saw him based on their rough treatment. He muttered a curse under his breath from their rotten timing.
He peered over his shoulder, seeing the ISB led squad of stormtroopers that was hunting him, barging through the crowd like a bulldozer to capture him. His legs started to move on their own as he sauntered forward. A plan would naturally reveal itself soon. Working in a high stress situation was what he did best after all. He dipped his hat down to cover his ice-blue eyes, rolling his shoulders so that the collar of his jacket covered up his simplistic tattoos on the bottom half of his ghostly pale face.
With his hands in his pockets, his eyes roamed the area to analyze his options. The troopers in front of him were inching closer to him by the second, and he felt those seeking him from behind breathing down his neck, hungry for their prize. Though his heart was racing so hard it might burst out of his chest any second, his face remained calm and had a hint of a grin on his lips. He noticed two Twi'leks—a couple by the looks of them—chatting and flirting the day away in front of him. He placed a hand on the female's lower waist, not even muttering an apology as he forced his way through them.
The young man veered off to the left, taking quick glances at the two squads of troopers. They both were still in a direct path towards him. Looked like nothing short of a miracle would stop them in reaching him. He scrunched his shoulders up to hide his face further as he started backtracking. Looking at a window's reflection, he spotted the lead stormtrooper questioning the Twi'lek couple. He slipped his hands out of his pockets, pressing a button on the gauntlet that's on his left wrist.
An explosive, originating from the female Twi'lek went off with a dull pop. It was non-lethal of course. He preferred not to kill civilians, much to his mentor's dismay. Too much of a hassle to stay your hand, his mentor always argued. Blots of electricity darted from person to person, successful hitting all the pesky stormtroopers and some of the nearby civilians. Chaos shortly ensued right after.
People started screaming in panic, scattering away from the scene of the attack. The young man easily blended in with the confused and scared masses as he ran past the ISB agent and their squad of troopers, whose attention was no longer on him but focused on calming the situation and blocking off the area.
He took a sharp right turn, separating himself from the terrified horde of civilians and into an alleyway. He jumped on a dumpster to reach the fire escape ladder of a building. He then proceeded to climb his way up to the roof. The cocky grin he wore never left his face. It should take a good amount of time before reinforcements arrive since they have to travel through streets full of scared people running amok. All in the day's work for the bounty hunter extraordinaire.
With a pep in his step, he strolled down the roof. That was a bit too close for his liking, but that's what you get for his line of work. Staying up long tired hours to gather vital information for heists. The adrenaline pumping thrill of hunting an unsuspecting target. Oh, he could not forget about the sweet freedom of no longer being under his overprotective mother's wing.
He loved it all!
But, if someone would ask him if there was one thing he hated about being a bounty hunter, it would be favors. He loathed favors.
He pressed a green button on his gauntlet with a sigh. The very word left a bad taste in his mouth. It was because of a favor that he was on the stuck up planet Coruscant. His employer had requested a favor from him and he had no choice but to drop everything and accomplish it like a loyal dog. Despite the favor he was obligated to do would help someone he cared about, he still wished he could have the option to deny the employer. It was the principle of the matter.
Regrettably, he owed his employer too much to do such an act. Such the deal when you were born in his troublesome family.
His ears perked up at the sound of his incoming speeder bike. A smile appeared on the bounty hunter's lips from the delightful sound. The good news was that once he handed over the information, he could say hello to the sweet madam known as freedom and finally get some moolah. Favors do not pay the bills after all.
He turned around to see the inbound speeder. "Oh come on!" He shouted as he flung his hands in the air. He ducked under cannon fire and started high tailing out of there.
The sirens of the Imperial patrol transport start to blast loudly as the enemy race after him. He leapt over the large gap between buildings. The bounty hunter reached inside his inner coat pocket to fish out a metallic baseball-sized sphere and a baton-shaped device. He pressed the button on the sphere and counted to five before tossing it high in the air.
The sphere attached itself on the bottom of the transport. Not even a second later, an electrical pulse spread from the device and onto the transport, disabling it completely. The vehicle abruptly commenced with a fast descent. The bounty hunter slid over an air condition unit and hid behind it for cover. He placed the baton in his mouth as he opened his rucksack to grab a special tool for this situation.
First the bounty hunter heard the explosion of the Imperial vehicle crashing nearby, then he was welcomed to the pleasant sound of heavy blaster fire in his direction. The Imperials had him completely pinned, but they had not won just yet.
He removed a cylinder shaped tool from his bag. Removing his pistol from his holster, he attached the item to the barrel with a twist. He spat the baton in his free hand. Pulling the pin of the baton, he threw it over his cover.
"Grenade!" One of the troopers warned but it was far too late.
He heard a startled gasp followed by a sharp snap. He shivered from the sudden dropped in temperature.
Maximum effort.
He rolled out of cover, eyes quickly taking in the position of every stunned stormtrooper. Raising his blaster rifle, he aimed at the closest trooper and fired a single shot. The bolt found a nice snug home in their head. As soon as he hit his mark, he shifted to his next target and dispatched them with the same cold efficiency. Almost methodically, he disposed of the rest of the troopers before they could retaliate.
Standing up, he smiled at his handiwork. This was why he was one of the best at his job. Well, self-proclaimed best, but that still counted in his books. He detached the modification and stowed it in his rucksack. A run-of-the-mil speeder bike soon flew up next to him. Fashionably late as always. Next time he would steal a newer model.
He picked up his hat that came off during his short exchange with the Imperials. He patted the dust off of it and returned it back to its lovely home. He casually walked to his speeder then hopped on it. He spared a glance to the sole surviving Imperial—frozen in place from his cryo-grenade.
While he could understand the shock of seeing an agent of the infamous ISB being turned into an icicle could be quite the eye opener, he thought stormtroopers were better trained than to succumb to the shock of losing their apparent leader.
With a mocking two-finger salute to the Imperial popsicle, he flew off in the horizon. After an hour or two of flying, he arrived at a seemingly abandoned area. The bounty hunter was sure he lost anyone that might have been following him. He was quite proud of his ability to lose any tails. He took out his personal holocommunicator to contact his employer.
A blue wiry hologram of an older woman with the same complexion as he and short sliver-white hair flickered to life. "Hey Mom," he greeted with a smile. "I got the package for sis like he asked. Want me to drop it at the usual spot?"
"Yes, please do," she answered curtly.
His eyebrow quirked up in mild curiosity. His mother seemed to be more annoyed than usual. She was usually in good spirits when they communicated by things other than how she was wronged by his aunt figure, Ahsoka. "You okay, Mom?"
"Yes, I'm fine Ky," she responded quite harshly. She sighed, and then looked at him with almost a pleading expression. "Do you wish to deliver this information to her? I know you desire to meet your...sister," she spat with disgust.
Ky will not lie, the chance to finally meet with his infamous older sister was quite an enticing offer. He only heard bits and pieces about her from his father and Ahsoka. Sadly… "No can do Mom. I gotta do a bounty soon, or else I'm gonna end up penniless and dead by starvation."
While he liked to meet his sister, he did have priorities. Surviving was quite high on that list. He was sure he would have another chance down the road anyways. He was lucky like that.
"I see," she growled.
Okay, something was definitely wrong with his mother. "You sure you are okay?"
"Yes. I simply do not want to help that woman's kin."
Ah, he saw the big picture now. How could he possibly forget that age old grudge. It was one of the main reasons why he became a bounty hunter.
He understood his mother's rage and anger towards his sister's mother. In all honesty, he would probably react the same way if he experienced the same thing she did. That being said, his mother should really bury the hatchet by now. It had been close to eighteen years since she discovered his father and Ahsoka's past relationship. Besides, he believed they're even at this point. His mother got the man at the end and had him shortly after the union.
"Look, Mom, you really should stop blaming Auntie Soka about—"
"Ky," she cut him off with a hiss, sharp blue eyes narrowing at him. "What did I say about mentioning her name around me?"
Ky and her had stared off before he folded with a long sigh. He did not know why he even bothered trying to bandage the old wound of hers with words. Not like it worked hundreds of times before.
"Sorry, Asajj. It will not happen again."
"See that it doesn't, Ky." She ended the transmission.
Ky removed his hat off his head, letting his shoulder-length hair breath. He ran a hand through his black hair, heaving another sigh. "Things I do for family."
Author's Note: It was a lot of fun to write this. I did a great amount of research for the this story. I learned a lot of Star Wars facts that I didn't know about beforehand. It was hard to write this with Disney always putting out new canon materials that made some stuff I wrote invalid and the like. I try to implement the fun bits from Legends and the previous installment while still staying true to canon. It was challenging and fun to do. I hope you all will like the journey.
Till Next Time
Updated April 4 2021. (Thanks to Tessa Saddie Bridger for assistance in pointing out the multiple errors of the prologue)