A/N: Here we go again, folks. The next series of chapters in Jas Dar Bynn's life. Thank you for the support of Rogue Jedi, it really motivates me and keeps the stories going. Well, here we go dear readers, on with part two!
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Rogue Jedi: Part 2
THE HIDDEN AGENDA
It is a time of chaos.
Infighting, terrorism, greed, and civil unrest are slowly spreading through the Republic; threatening the age of peace and expansion. The Jedi Order, guardians of the peace, are left blinded by the shifting shadows of the dark side.
On the distant mid-rim world of Bantoon, one such crisis is playing out. A ruthless bounty hunter has kidnapped the rightful heir to the throne, setting off a series of events that is slowly pushing the world towards civil war. A war that could likely spread beyond its borders, bringing about pain for all.
Jas Dar Bynn, a former Jedi Acolyte, has gone in search of the missing heir. Allied with former padawan turned bounty hunter, Mirax Fallenstar, the two search the fringes of the galaxy, trying to save the young queen, and help hold back the rising darkness.
Yet…some shadows will not be contained, a hidden agenda is playing out, which will bring more chaos and pain to those who seek to protect the people of the Republic.
Chapter 1: The Hunter
The system was as out of the way as you could get. A single star, with three planets in orbit, all lifeless rocks.
Yet, the system was not empty, a space station orbited the smallest moon, the traffic around it was busy, always were ships arriving and leaving.
Chaos bred business for beings such as these, and in chaotic times…
…business…was good.
To those that journeyed here, it was known simply as Number 3, or to the more official of its residents, Guild Station 3. It was here that the members of the Bounty Hunters guild processed their most valuable merchandise, verifying identities, and ensuring that the prize reached the one that would pay the most for it. It was a top-level place of commerce for those that dealt in the lives of the wanted and the wretched, and in times such as these…
…that business was good.
The station was busy, far busier than most trade ports in the Republic.
No sooner had one ship left, another arrived, the most recent arrival exiting hyperspace mere second after the last one jumped away. This ship, was similar to the others that came back and forth in this system, a small patrol craft, one of the enforcer models that had become so common to Republic law enforcement.
This ship, however, had nothing to do with the law. It had been liberated long ago from such service, and now…it served the interests of the fringe.
Its hull was a deep bronze color, a single golden animal claw was painted on its port side, just below the cockpit; its cylindrical body and three engine aft-section flared as it began its final approach to the station.
The station's weapons spun around, locking on to the small eight person craft. The pilot didn't panic or try to flee. Such an action was expected, all that was required to pass unmolested was the right access code.
Those that didn't possess such a code were now glittering debris in orbit of the unnamed moon. Once again, this was not a problem for the new arrival.
The co-pilot had a code.
A code that they now broadcast, and with it, received an all clear, and the weapons powered down.
The ship continued its journey, heading for one of the station's many landing bays. One had just opened up.
The ship was quite fortunate. There was so much to do, so much merchandise to process.
This was not a place for pleasure seekers, or kids seeking to buy their way into the guild. All who came here did so for business, this was a place for professional hunters and dangerous merchandise. It was the heart and soul of the business, and as had been said before…
…business…was good.
The ship fired its repulsor lifts, bringing it to a gentle stop, it touched down almost gingerly upon the deck of the station, the guild master and his body guards approached, eager to see what this latest arrival had brought them.
The forward boarding ramp lowered, and two hunters stepped out.
The guild master smiled, recognizing the woman on the left. She was pretty in an unkept and slightly frazzled sort of way. She was dressed in a black armored leather jacket, thigh high boots, and a long red skirt cut in just a way to allow her long legs freedom of movement. Her blond hair was cut short and uneven, her smile was wide and manic, and her eyes blazed with just a hint of instability.
To her right was a man in black, he wore an armored suit, with a heavy helmet, with a short pointed-mouth fitted with rebreathing gear. To those that frequented Guild Station 3 they would recognize the woman's companion as an Ubese. A fierce race of hunters that had grown even fiercer in the centuries since the Jedi Order had ended their challenge to the Republic.
Ubese hunters were common enough, what was uncommon was this one travelled with the young woman, a woman who had a lightsaber strapped to her thigh.
The Ubese people had no love for Force-users, that one would choose to work with one was an oddity indeed.
The Guild master smiled.
"Hunter Fallenstar," he called out in greeting, "Welcome back to Number Three."
IOI
The Ubese said nothing as his partner stepped forward. After almost three months of travelling and working together, he knew how to behave when they arrived in places like this.
We are in Mirax Fallenstar's territory now, he thought, best to let her handle things from here on in.
Fallenstar, or Miri, as the Hunter had come to know her grinned and strutted down the ramp and up to the guild master and his guards.
"Hi, Dowd," she said with that arrogant smirk that he had come to know so well.
She reached into her jacket and removed three small items, bounty pucks that they had picked up in the core a month ago.
"Brought you some merchandise, guild master," she said proudly, "I trust you can find good homes for it."
Dowd, the guild master, laughed and took the pucks from the woman's hands, he plugged them into his data pad, checking the names and current bounties placed on the people featured in the individual holos.
He nodded.
"Some well-known names here, Hunter Fallenstar. Impressive that you were able to bring these in on your own."
"She was not on her own," her partner said in perfect fluent Ubese, "We are partners, this one, and I."
Fallenstar chuckled.
"You remember Toome, don't you, Dowd? He was the guy that brought in Chir Fannewick a few years back?"
"Ah," Dowd said, nodding to the Ubese, "Welcome back, Hunter Toome."
He gave the man a sly smile.
"It is…surprising to see you. Last we heard; you were reported dead on Hutta."
The male hunter shrugged.
"I got better," he said flatly.
His words amused the guild master, who laughed out loud at his comment.
The hunter understood why.
Toome wasn't the first hunter to return from the dead.
In the hunter trade, a known name and a fierce reputation was as good as gold. Several well-known bounty hunters had worked the space lanes for many years, far longer than most species lived. It was safe to say that these hunters were not the same people that had first used the names. The bounty hunter Calo Nord came to mind, if the tales were to be believed, the man had been in business for almost three centuries.
Unlikely, given the dangers inherent in the work.
It was possible the hunter might have been from one of the long-lived alien species, but it was equally possible that it was a simple matter of a new hunter taking up the name and using it to boost their reputation. That was part of the reason that the man travelling with Fallenstar was dressed like the Ubese known as Toome.
He had his own reputation, not as a hunter, but as something else.
He didn't wish for it to harm their search.
He had needed an identity that would allow him to move through the hunter circles, without attracting too much attention. Toome had been known, in fact, he was just well known enough that the other hunters would not ask too many questions. The Ubese had a reputation for being a bit of a hothead, and quick with a blaster.
No one was going to risk angering him.
That reputation and history served the man in the armor well, add into the fact that Mirax Fallenstar had her own history in the guild, and you had the perfect cover story for them to be travelling to the various hunter hives throughout the galaxy.
No one questioned them bringing in captured bounties, it gave them an excuse to be here, and to hunt for their real prey.
The hunter fought back the urge to sigh.
This was the sixth guild base they had stopped at in three months.
He hoped that this time they would finally be able to find something.
He was starting to get impatient. The one they were hunting was not known for his subtlety.
Where are you hiding Targo Sei? He wondered.
What are you up to?
He said nothing as the guild master inspected the pucks that Miri had brought him. A team of guards stepped forward, and made for the loading ramp. It fell to them to unload the captured prisoners….or rather…merchandise.
So this is what I've become, he thought, this is how far I would go to accomplish my mission?
The thought troubled him more and more, but…
…what ever it took, he would do.
He normally would have been very uncomfortable doing this, turning in sentient beings for profit, but…as it turned out, all of these creatures had hired Targo Sei at one point or another, and had profited from his ruthlessness. They had all asked him to kill for them, some…with extreme brutality.
The hunter saw it as only fitting that they now discovered what it was like to be captured and handed over for credits. The one difference they were experiencing was that Fallenstar and her ally had brought them in alive. Plus, their removal served as a way to harm Targo Sei's support system. A hunter would have a hard time functioning without any clients to hire him.
And we're just getting started, the man who had taken the Ubese identity thought.
Targo would pay for what he had done.
He would answer…dearly.
He glanced over, sensing discomfort.
His eyes fell on the guild master.
Dowd shook his head.
"What?" Miri asked him.
"Nothing," the older man said, "Just realized that most of these people were all clients of the guild not to long ago. It is amazing how things like this turn."
Fallenstar shrugged, her expression remained bland.
"The only difference between a client and a piece of hard merchandise is the credits on the table. One is paying, the other is being paid for. It is not that different really, just a matter of timing is all."
Guild master Dowd nodded.
"I suppose you are right, my dear, cynical…but right."
He glanced up over his data pad.
"I trust the merchandise is intact?"
"Alive, but in stasis," she answered with a smirk.
"They are worth more alive."
"That they are," Dowd agreed. He motioned for his guards to proceed; they would handle the unloading of "the cargo." The guild master entered several commands on his data pad.
A device on Mirax Fallenstar's wrist beeped, she looked down and smiled at the readout.
"The full payment for this merchandise has been credited to your account," Dowd, assured her, "I trust you can handle the distribution of the credits to the rest of your team?"
"It won't be a problem," Fallenstar assured him.
She giggled as the wristband beeped again.
"Nothing like the sound of credits hitting your account. It is one of the most pleasing sounds in the universe."
Dowd nodded, perhaps he had had similar thoughts during his days as a young hunter.
He certainly didn't dispute Fallenstar's claims, that was for sure.
He looked up and shook his head, his cold careful eyes taking in the transport that had brought them to this station.
"Did the True Justice finally give out on you, Fallenstar?" he inquired, "I don't recognize this ship."
"The Justice is fine," she assured him, "Though, it can be a bit cramped when carrying passengers."
She smiled fondly at the craft before them.
"The Gilded Claw may not be pretty, but she has got it where it counts. It has served my little team well in the last few months."
"I'm sure," Dowd replied, "Though, I must say, I'm a bit surprised to find you working with a team. You always struck me as the lone kath hound type."
The woman shrugged dismissively.
"Some merchandise requires a bit more muscle than little old me can field," she replied, "Toome here is good back up, and the rest of the crew just fly the ship and fight when we needed them. It has been a good arrangement for all. We have managed to make a profit these last few months. Isn't that right Toome?"
The hunter grunted, playing the role of the strong and silent hunter that Toome had been in life.
The Guild Master chuckled.
"You do realize that this girl was once a Jedi? I thought your species didn't like working with Force-wielding types."
The Ubese sniffed.
"She pulls her own weight," he answered, "And when she finally doesn't, I will have the pleasure of watching a Jedi-girl die."
He turned and glared at Fallenstar.
"I will profit either way, credits or pleasure, it matters not, as long as I find satisfaction."
Dowd chuckled.
"What was that," Fallenstar asked, "My Ubese isn't that good?"
"He was saying he is honored to work with you," Dowd lied.
The hunter only just held back a laugh.
This hostility was all part of their act too.
Fallenstar knew exactly what he had just said to Dowd, she had only lied to make him think she didn't understand him.
The tension between the two hunters was as much an act as everything else. Ubese hated Jedi, just as Targo Sei did.
The two of them had hoped that someone who had seen Targo, someone who shared his disdain for the order might open up to someone like Toome.
So, far they hadn't, but the charade had served its purpose.
It helped sell the story that he was really Toome.
The hunter had not been known for being social able.
Fallenstar looked down at her wristband again, her expression turned thoughtful.
"Speaking of credits," she began, "You wouldn't have happened to have seen Targo Sei lately by chance?"
The guild master shook his head.
"Nah, I haven't seen that Mando in months. Why do you ask?"
"I sort of owe him," she replied, "I got a job a while back, the client approached Targo with it, first, but he turned it down, not enough money on offer. He apparently dropped my name, got me the gig, and I made a nice tidy sum off of it."
She smiled.
"Figured I would throw a few credits his way, finder's fee, you know. I wouldn't mind if he dropped my name again. I could always use more work."
"As I said, I haven't seen him."
Toome cursed under his breath.
Damn it, he thought.
Another dead end!
Dowd leaned in closer to Fallenstar, he whispered what he said next to her, not wishing to be overheard.
Toome heard it, but only just.
He had ways of enhancing his hearing.
"You may not wish to speak too loudly about Targo. He might be in a bit of trouble."
"What kind," she asked.
The guild master glanced around, making sure that no else was close by.
"Rumor is that he took a job, a well-paying private contract. He grabbed some high value target, and went rogue, never delivered it to the client. Probably, stashed it somewhere, trying to drive up the price."
Fallenstar frowned.
"We're not suppose to do that, it makes the whole guild look bad."
Her frown quickly morphed into a grin.
"Any price set on him yet?"
Dowd frowned.
"You know the code, Fallenstar. We don't hunt our own."
"That is the creed," she replied, "Officially, we don't hunt each other."
Her smile morphed into a smirk.
"What about…unofficially?"
Dowd snorted with amusement.
"Unofficially, the client wants their merchandise. They would be willing to pay for its recovery, and proof that the Mando was chastised for his decision."
Toome said nothing.
Foolish of Targo to burn a bridge that might help him if he got in trouble, but then again…he had never really cared about people, only what they could do for him.
Interesting.
He noticed something else too.
Miri had never stopped smiling, she looked like a predator savoring a meal to come.
That smile didn't make him very happy.
He had hoped that going on this job would help rehabilitate Miri; help her remember who she was.
He was starting to fear the opposite might be the case, she enjoyed the hunt, and the violence of what they were doing might just push her farther away from the light, and who should could have been.
He didn't want that.
"Targo's no easy prey," she said nodding, "The price must be pretty high to draw the type of people that could bring him to justice. You wouldn't happen to know who the client is, by chance?"
"That is a private affair between the guild masters and the client. You know the policy, Hunter Fallenstar. No names."
Dowd said no more, clearly that was his final opinion on the matter.
Fallenstar nodded, but her expression hinted at pure insolence.
"Right," she said.
Nothing more was said, nothing more needed to be said.
These people knew nothing about Targo, as he had thought, this trip was just another dead end.
The guards quickly finished unloading the cargo from their ship. Fallenstar said her goodbyes to the Guild master, signing a writ of transfer for her cargo, and proof that she had been paid for its delivery, and then she and her partner returned to their ship. He remained silent, not trusting himself to say something that he might regret. Not until the ship was safely clear of the station, clear, and checked for any tracking beacons, and or listening devices the guild might have planted.
He shook his head, only just holding back his frustration.
Damn it!
It seemed that they had been wasting their time this last three months!
It had been Fallenstar's idea to try and infiltrate the guild, try to get an idea where Targo might be hiding, but from what they had learned from the various guild bases they had contacted, it appeared that he had even distanced himself from the rest of his peers. Neither the guild, nor any of its hunters had seen Targo Sei in months.
The hunter digested that.
Most hunters didn't have the credits to remain idle for months. Which suggested that Targo was likely hold up some where with one of his clients. The man using the Toome identity could only speculate who would do that for someone like Targo.
The man was cold and vicious, he didn't make friends or allies easily. Which, in his mind meant, that Targo had either bribed or intimidated whoever it was into hiding him into compliance.
What that meant for him and Fallenstar…well…it meant that their hunt had just gotten a bit more complicated.
Miri sighed an ran her fingers through her uneven dirty blonde hair. She gave him a sympathetic look.
"Least we know that he hasn't turned them in yet," she said, "That is something at least."
The hunter nodded, and started undoing the release catches for the Ubese helmet.
It was a useful disguise, but it started to smell worse and worse the longer he had it on.
Right now, he could do with a shower.
"How did it go?"
They both turned to see a small furry alien emerge from the ship's engine compartment. The bat-like Chadra-Fan was dressed in a mechanic's overall's and holding a spanner.
"As well as to be expected, Shusk," Fallenstar said, "We got the cargo off loaded and we got paid."
Shusk turned to the Ubese, his whiskers nose twisting.
"Any luck on finding Val and the kid?"
"If we had any luck, it would be considered all bad," the hunter replied, finally removing his helmet.
He sighed heavily.
"Once again, we're back to square one."
The man who had been identified as Toome was not in fact Toome, he wasn't even Ubese. He was a human male of about average height. His features were pleasant enough, but would never be considered handsome or striking, he was a man who disappeared well into a crowd, and never really attracted attention.
His grey eyes were warm and compassionate, usually, he usually wore his dark black hair short, but a recent incident in the Nar Shadda sewers had resulted in him recently having to shave it all off, it was slowly growing back, but it had given him a start the first time he had seen himself bald in the mirror.
He had sighed.
Look at yourself, Jas Dar Bynn, he had thought.
What have you become?
It was a good question, and sadly, one that didn't have a simple answer.
Jas had been given to the Jedi Temple as an infant, only to be lost to the order nine years later. Since that time, he had grown to manhood on the fringes of galactic society. He had been a foundling to a Mandalorian clan, a captain in a powerful smuggler organization, and an acolyte of the Jedi Order, providing them with information that he had gleaned from his various underworld contacts.
Yes, he had been a man of many hats, but that had changed recently.
It had changed with the loss of the two women in his life. One a friend and former lover, and the other…an heir to a planetary throne…and…and…
Jas frowned.
He wasn't sure what else could be said about her, only that she was missed.
They were both missed, and that it was all his fault.
Queen Vessaria Istillo and her sworn protector Char Valenthyne had been kidnapped by Targo Sei. The bounty hunter had sought vengeance on Jas for the young Force Sensitive defeating him years ago. He had hoped, perhaps, to drive Jas mad out fear for the two women's safety, to make him suffer before he claimed his final revenge.
Jas had not given into that.
He had pledged to find Val and Vess and return them safely to their home world. As for Targo…well…
As far as Jas Dar Bynn was concerned, he had lived long enough.
Jas was more than eager to see his life…end.
"We need you to do a through scan of ship, Shusk," he told the mechanic, "We don't want to risk any surprises when we reach our next stop."
"Where is our next stop?" the Chadra Fan asked.
"We wouldn't mind knowing that as well."
From the cockpit two people emerged, the First was a wiry man with a bald head and a scar running down his cheek.
"We were just about to discuss that Burr," Fallenstar replied.
Burr, an enforcer and chief of security for the Cooper Halcyon organization smiled.
"Good he said, putting his arm around his companion.
"The kitten and I just need to know where we're going next."
Jas almost rolled his eyes.
He was grateful when he heard Shusk had volunteered to help on this mission, the little engineer's skills were more than valuable. Burr's decision to join wasn't so cut and dried, he had always been a bit too mercenary for Jas' tastes.
As for his "kitten" Jas had not quite decided what he thought of her yet.
Captain Rior was one of several independent pilots that had signed up to work for the Cooper Halcyon Organization. The Gilded Claw was her ship. How she got it, he didn't know. In their line of work, like the hunters, it was better to don't ask, and don't tell. She was one of the feline-like Cathar species, and along with her piloting skills was something of an expert when it came to fighting with daggers and knives.
She was also Burr's lover, which Jas didn't entirely understand, what she saw in enforecer was anyone's guess, but…the heart wanted what it wanted he supposed.
She must have saw something good in Burr, he supposed.
Jas wasn't sure what that was, but…
…it wasn't his place to judge.
The Cathar purred and laid her head on Burr's shoulder. Her every gestured suggested affection between them.
"It is good that we are getting paid, yes?" she said, "But perhaps we should be looking for another way to be finding this lost princess and her guard."
Rior's yellow eyes sparkled mischievously.
"The ones we have caught were guppies, Mister Jas," she said, her "r's" always stressed by her feline tongue.
"Too low level, perhaps, maybe we need a higher class of bounty? Someone who may know more about this Targo person."
Jas considered what the Cathar had said, she, like Burr, had motivations that he didn't quite get, but that didn't mean she wasn't wrong.
The people they had gone after had been mostly low-level thugs, that was true. They were people who had just managed to scrounge up enough credits to make Targo take notice, it was unlikely they would have hired him again, not until they rose far higher in their own organizations.
He looked at Fallenstar.
"What do you think, Miri?"
She shrugged.
"The Cathar isn't wrong," she said, "Skilled sadists like Targo do draw the attention of more powerful criminals, but if we decide to start going after them, we might be kicking a sleeping Rancor."
She shook her head.
"You know Targo Sei is an enemy, and it is safe to say that it is likely the intergalactic mining guild that hired him to kidnap Val and Vess in the first place, that makes them enemies too.
"The question you have to ask yourself, Jas. Do you want to risk angering one of the major syndicates? That would likely get Targo's attention, but it would also paint a big target on all our backs…
"…are you sure you want to do that?"
He considered it, not really liking the options that he had before him right now.
He had started this quest to find the girls; not piss off every syndicate on the outer rim, but did he really have a choice?
Rior was not wrong, up this point they had been targeting guppies, hoping to get Targo's attention.
His expression turned grim.
Maybe it was time to start targeting a few sharks, get some blood in the water, and see if Targo bit.
The major syndicates in the galaxy did have sources that Jas and his friends could not match, maybe one had heard something about Targo and his two captives.
Jas sighed.
It was worth a look.
"We can't continue to stumble around in the dark trying to get lucky," he said to Fallenstar. "The longer that Val and Vess are missing, the less safe they are."
"I hear what you are saying," she replied, "But this will be dangerous. We pick wrong, or go too far, and we will have even bigger problems on our hands."
It was a risk, he agreed, but again, he didn't think they had any real choice.
They had been out here for three months and turned up nothing.
So far, Targo had been content to sit back and wait, but if he got tired of waiting, or got bored, and decided to push Jas where he wanted him to go, the ladies would likely suffer. Men like Targo Sei were not above using the pain of a loved one to motivate an enemy.
That worried Jas.
He didn't want that.
Jas Dar Bynn looked at his crew, he was grateful for their help. Even if they had turned up so little.
"I'm going to go speak with Coop," he informed them, "See if his contacts have heard anything."
Gabe Cooper, or Coop as he was also known, was not simply the head of their organization, but a brother of sorts to Jas. He had been on his honeymoon when Vess and Val had been kidnapped, otherwise he might have been more of a help.
Since his return, he had his agents out looking for clues on Targo's whereabouts, hopefully he had turned up something new.
"And if they have?" Burr asked.
Jas smiled.
"Then things will be getting interesting soon. We should all be ready, who knows what we might turn up."
The Cathar flashed him a toothy grin with some very sharp teeth.
"I am being ready for anything," she declared.
I hope you are, Jas thought as turned and headed back to his quarters.
First a sonic shower, and then…a call home.
It had been a few weeks since he had last talked to his clan brother, the closest thing he had to a family.
He'll have heard something, Jas thought, trying to keep the ember of hope alive.
It was a big galaxy, but it was not that big.
I have to do something, Jas thought. Who knew how much time Vess and Val had left, how long until Targo got bored and did something to them…something terrible?
He tried not to think about that. He would speak with Coop; he would know what to do.
Hang on girls, he thought as made his way down the corridor.
I coming, and I'm going to find you.
He nodded, and took a deep cleansing breath, centering himself.
I'm coming…
…whatever it takes.
