Disclaimer: All the places and characters belong to George Lucas except for Keyn, Shen and the Senator

Disclaimer: All the places and characters belong to George Lucas except for Keyn, Shen and the Senator.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Padawan Nik/kan and my brother for working out the plot with me.

Prologue

The black-clad stranger moved easily through the busy crowd.  He was a powerfully built man of about thirty, wearing knee-high travel boots and a black flightsuit.  His alert, dark-brown eyes flickered here and there as he walked along the crowded streets.  Shoulder-length, jet-black hair had been tamed and tied back with a leather thong, and a fairly long, grey, metal cylinder hung from his utility belt.

The stranger's keen eyes picked out his intended target, and he began to move purposefully yet discreetly towards it, never taking his eyes off a certain long-haired woman dressed in a senator's aide's pale-white robes.  He stalked the woman for the next fifteen minutes as she threaded her way through the crowd, carefully concealing his actions from her.

The senator's aide walked briskly down the crowded streets, then turned into a darkened alley, perhaps a shortcut.  She was obviously hurrying somewhere, and her anxiety conveyed itself to her stalker.  The stranger sensed her mood and smiled grimly, it was good to be the hunter.  The dangerous game he played challenged his senses and presented an omnipresent danger of becoming the hunted instead.  He liked living on the edge and doing something, not just standing around when something could be done.

He jerked himself away from his rampant thoughts and focused on the task ahead.  The man slipped away silently, as quiet and lithe as a panther.  He moved quickly along an alley running parallel to the first one, then cut across an open space to hide in a dark corner.  The aide would definitely pass him in little while.

The stranger waited patiently until, presently, his keen hearing picked up the soft tread of feet on the hard ground.  He tensed as the woman moved past him with short, dainty steps, obviously pre-occupied with her own problems.  A calculated jump landed the man straight in the aide's path.

The fair-skinned woman barely had time to cry out in surprise before the stranger jammed a blaster pistol under her chin.  His voice was soft and yet harsh at the same time as he spoke:

"Listen, I know who you are.  Take this message to Senator Jy'are: She has one week to release all the Rebellion prisoners.  The Rebel leaders are being courteous.  After one week, they will take the Senator hostage and demand the prisoners' release."

"Who … are you?" the aide stammered as the stranger released her and strode away.  She got no answer, but noticed a dull, metal cylinder swing from his belt.  A lightsabre – the weapon of the Jedi.

Please give comments.  I don't know whether I should write more…