Chapter 5

It's been two days since our mission from Naboo. Since we returned, our story has spread throughout the halls. I guess you don't have to be the Chosen One to earn a reputation. But instead of being "The Hero With No Fear", people call me "The Hero Of Another World" (I guess they're not that creative with titles). Right now, I'm hangin' around with a few Younglings. "After we gotten through the army of droids, we ended up in the factory where these Geonosians were guarding where Master Unduli was kept," I said to the children.

"What did you do Shado?" A little boy asked. The other kids in the group were anxious too.

"What did I do you ask? I'll tell you. I kept it real. I beat them fools with the power of my gangsta. They was all like 'What's goin' on up in here?' And I was all like 'Simple. You're just getting' whipped by da Shado'. And after kickin' and punchin' with skills that my other Master taught me, I showed them not to mess with me again after I gave them the Rocksteady."

"Your old Master?" a Zabrak boy asked.

"That's right. Back in Frisco, I learned how to fight by my old man's old friend. He taught me everything I knew."

"Do you miss it?" A Twi'lek girl asked. "I mean, do you miss Frisco?"

"Of course. That's where all my friends and family are. It's hard not to miss it."

"What happened next?" a dark-skinned boy asked.

"Aight, little G. After I showed them bugs a thing or two and got Master Luminara outta there, that was when we met Grievous."

"Wooooooowwwwww." the children said in amazement.

"We fought against him with everything we had. The cyborg moved very quick. We were able to dodge most of his strikes. He then turned toward me and slashed. I barely got out of the way as his blade brushed against my skin. I yelled 'you think you could defeat Shado the Great like that?'. I quickly struck back with my lightsabers, making powerful strikes with my weapons. But the General was still standing even after the punishment. Barriss and Luminara tried to use the power of the Force to slow the General down, but it was like he couldn't be stopped. It looked like it was over, until I…"

I stopped talking when I heard someone behind me clear their throat. I turned around and saw Barriss leaning on the wall. "I see you're storytelling."

"Hello Ms. Offee," the younglings said.

"Master!" I said as I stood up quickly. "What's up?"

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Umm… 11:30?"

"That's not what I meant. Didn't you ask me yesterday that you wanted to learn Soresu?"

"Oh, that's right!" I said. "Can you please show me?"

"Of course. Though from what I'm hearing, you don't need me to teach you 'Shado the Great'," she said with sarcasm in her voice on that last part.

I chuckled nervously. "Oh, that? That was… creative license. You know, to make the story a bit more interesting."

The Mirialan shook her head. "Your creative license needs work." The children chuckled softly at that statement.

"Well, you heard her," I said to the younglings. "Time for you to go."

"Awwww," they moaned.

"Do we have to?" the twi'lek girl asked.

"Yes, you do. Now run along. If I have time, I might teach you the ancient art of breakdancing." As the kids left, I then told them "And remember don't do drugs!"

"Are you ready?" Barriss asked.

"Let's get this show on the road!"

The two of us went to a sparring room at the end of the hall. Barriss turned typed in a few settings on the console connected to the wall. The room was lit a dark blue and a couple of training droids shaped like balls popped up from the floor. "Follow me," the Mirialan told me. I followed her to the center of the room where we got into our defensive stances. "Form III is a style that mainly revolves around survival rather than victory," she explained.

"Then let me start!" I said as I charged at one of the training droids.

"Wait!" Barriss replied, but it was too late. As soon as I turned on both of my lightsabers, I leapt at the enemy and was ready to strike. The droid quickly dodged the attack and fired a laser at my back. I felt the hit and was pushed forward by the blow. I turned around and got back into my defensive stance. "I tried to warn you, this is a Soresu-only training session. If any other style is used, the droids will counter and strike back."

I deactivated my blue lightsaber and attached it to my belt. "Okay. So how do I play?"

"The main objective of the form is to block the attacks as much as you can and then strike at an opening."

"So its based on opportunity?"

"That's one way to call it. Just do as I do." I went into the same defensive pose: my lightsaber was held back and pointed forward while my free hand the target. My MP3 Player was on "2 of Americaz Most Wanted" by Tupac and Snoop Dogg. The droids began to fire their lasers at us while moving in different directions. I blocked most of the shots as the enemy robot continued to fire. "Clear your mind. Focus on the movements of your foe." As I blocked, I watched as the droid moved. It was going in a pattern. Everytime it fires, it stops at one place to launch its attack. It was vulnerable when it moved. "Once you see the opening, attack it." Just as soon as it began to move, I made a fast slash that chopped the robot in half.

"That was too easy," I said. "How about you make it a little more challenging."

"I knew you would say that." It wasn't long until another batch of droids shot up from the ground. For the last hour in the half, we've been working on the technique. I was getting the hang of it. The area around us was littered with scrap metal. When we finished, Barriss deactivated the training robots on the console. We went outside the room and walked around the halls.

"That was a good workout. Just what the doctor ordered."

"I have to admit, you learn fast."

"Where I'm from, you needed to be."

"Where is he?" a raspy voice said. We looked forward and saw Yoda walking around the halls on his cane. "Gone, he is. Where, I wonder."

"Master Yoda," Barriss said.

"Shado and Barriss," Yoda greeted. "Good day to walk, it is."

"It is, Master."

"So, what's up?" I asked. "You lookin' for somethin'?"

Yoda lowered his head and sighed. "Missing, Driftdraft is."

"Driftdraft?"

"Driftdraft is Master Yoda's Hawk-Bat," Barriss said.

"A Hawk-Bat?"

"It's a creature native here on Coruscant. They usually live in flocks."

"So they're like pigeons."

"If you want to put it that way. But Driftdraft was separated a long time ago. Since then, he's been in master Yoda's care."

"Aight. So how do we find him."

"Different from others of his kind," Yoda said. "Red underside he has. Stripes on his wings, blue in color they are."

"Cool. This shouldn't take long." I turned to Barriss and said, "What's the hold up? Let's do this."

"Alright then. But don't do anything foolish. After all, we'll be in public."

"Ha ha. I'll keep that in mind. Besides, what can happen?" The two of us left the hall and stepped out of the building. From there, we went down some stairs that led to the city streets below.

Anyway, check this out. As we were going to the city, there was a deal going down in a different part of the city. It took place in an abandoned warehouse in the Old District. From what I heard, it's supposed to be Coruscant's underworld where a whole bunch of stuff happens. But let's get to what's going on. Sitting in a large chair in front of a desk was a man wearing a fancy suit. On each side was an Esoomian bodyguard. If you have no idea what an Esoomian is, I'll tell you. They're big-ass dudes that have a tusk jutting from each side of their face. Did I mention that they're big and strong? Don't want to run into an angry one of these at the club, know what I'm sayin'? On the other side of the table stood a Rodian in shackles. You know, green guys with long lips and three ears on their heads. Standing next to the captive was a woman with silky white skin. Her head was completely bald except for the long, bushy ponytail on her head. There was also a long antennae jutting from her head as well. She wore a sleeveless shirt and long pants with large boots. This was one of the most vicious bounty hunters in the Galaxy. "Good work," the man said in a cool voice. "You have captured our spice thief. To tell you the truth, we thought it would take longer. However, I see that we chose the right person for the job in you, Aurra Sing."

"This target was weak," Aurra said. "I've killed Jedi Padawans that put up more of a fight than him."

The crime boss chuckled at the remark of the renowned bounty hunter. "Here is your payment."

He slid a credit chip across the table. Aurra stopped it with the tip of her finger and used a scanner on it. The machine read that there were eight hundred credits. "Do you take me for a fool? You said that this job was eleven hundred."

"I did?" the boss asked rhetorically. "I'm afraid I don't remember."

"You know we had a deal."

"How about this." The boss signaled to his to bodyguards to move in front of table. "You can keep the money and get out of my sight, and I won't exterminate you on the spot." The two giants pulled out their large clubs and patted them in their giant hands.

"I think not," Aurra said as she pulled out her lightsaber that was attached to her belt. The boss snapped his fingers and the Esoomians ran straight at her. Aurra dodged the clubbing blows of one of the Esoomians and slid under another, causing the two giants to bump into eachother. Aurra then turned on her lightsaber and went in for the attack. The two bodyguard tried to defend against it, but it was too late. With one slash, the red blade from the Jedi killer's weapon sliced past their clubs with ease and delivered a killing blow to both Esoomians. Their dead bodies crashed to the ground.

The boss was about to get off his chair, but Aurra stopped him by placing the end of her lightsaber inches away from his Adam's Apple. He looked down on the weapon, sweat dripping from his head. The boss was scared stiff. "L-Look," he began. "I d-don't have the m-money."

"How foolish of you," Aurra hissed.

"Please… I-I beg you," he pleaded. "Don't h-hurt me with t-that." A sick smirk came to Aurra's face. She turned off her lightsaber and attached it to her belt. "I'm sorry, Ms. Sing."

The bounty hunter walked away from the desk. Just as the crime boss took a breath of relief, a laser shot went through his chest. The attack came from Aurra's blaster, which was still smoking. "You've been forgiven," she said with little emotion. She then turned to the Rodian that she capture. The captive was scarred stiff. The bounty hunter then pulled out another device and pressed a button that released the Rodian from his shackles. "Since my employer is… retired, you are officially worthless. And seeing that you have no further use, I let you live." The Rodian stood confused. However, when Aurra pointed her blaster at him, he got the message loud and clear and left the building. Aurra put away her gun and left the warehouse still pissed off that she was cheated of a rightful bounty.

Now where was I. Oh yeah, down in the streets of the city Barriss and I searched for the Hawk-Bat. During this time, I was listening and singing to "Area Codes" by Ludacris. Needless to say, many people that we passed were giving us looks as we walked down the streets. I guess they never heard of a guy breaking out the beats. "I got hoes. HOOOOOEEES! In different area codes. Area, area codes."

"Shado," Barriss said to me as she nudged my shoulder.

"Hey, Master. What's up?"

"Don't you find that song degrading? It's talking about prostitution, for crying out loud."

I gave Barriss a blank stare. "It ain't about anyone I know."

The Mirialan sighed at my response. "How about we split up. We should double our efforts."

"Aight, I'm cool with that."

"Just don't do anything embarrassing… or along the lines of stupidity."

"Who me? I don't know what you're talkin' about, Master. And besides, I'm from the streets. This shouldn't be too hard."

"And yet, I still have a bad feeling about this…" The two of us went our separate ways. I walked around the streets looking high and low (but mostly high). Aside from the vehicles that flew overhead, there was nothing. For the last twenty minutes, the only progress I made was in making my neck sore. "Man, this is whack," I thought to myself. "I could be finding a place where I could grab a bite to eat. The only thing I'm doing is breaking my neck. And if I find a flock of Hawk-Bats and get shitted on, Im'a have to go off on someone." Suddenly, a small animal flew over me. I looked carefully at it. "Red stomach, blue stripes, and all alone?" "Perfect." I chased after the Hawk-Bat as fast as I could. I had to swim through a large crowd of people. Then the thing turned a corner into an alley. I raced through and I'm pretty sure I passed by Anakin makin' out with Senator Padme. But then again, I wasn't really paying attention to the couple. I had to leap over a few garbage cans and homeless guy's legs, but I made it out. I was hot on Driftdraft's tail as I dashed through the streets. I was right under it. That was until I crashed into someone and fell to the ground hard. When I sat back up, I saw Driftdraft turning another corner. "Damn!" I hissed as I pounded a fist into the ground. "Yo, dog. What's the big deal!"

"What did you just call me?" a rough feminine voice said. She got up and as soon as I saw her face, I was shocked.

"Oh shit," I said. This was not just any woman I was staring at. This was Aurra Sing, the most notorious bounty hunter (right next to Boba) in the Galaxy. "Yo, my bad," I said nervously as I backed up and got up.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she hissed. "Look where you're going, kid. And why are you running around like that?"

"Um…" I had to chill out and think this through. "If I tell her that I'm looking for Yoda's pet, she'll probably kill me where I stand," I thought. "If I tell her I'm a Padawan, she's still gonna kill me. Time to play it smooth. And I know just what to do." "Aight, I'll give it to you straight. See I was with my homie from the south side, all chillin', knawmean? At the same time, we was also watchin' his girl's pet Hawk-Bat. But then the fool opened its cage to give him a Pringle and the next thing we know, the damn thing flew the coop, know what I'm sayin'? So then my bro, he be all like 'G, you gotta get it back, man." And I'm all like 'Why me, cuzz?' Then he be all like 'Cause, I ain't gonna get no play tonight if it ain't back.' Then I say 'You's trippin', yo! You shouldn't 've opened the damn door!' Then he says 'Look, I'll give you some creds if you get my girl H-B back. And I'll also give you the 4-1-1 for some hot honey my girl knows.' And since my boy never lies, I said 'Fine. But this chick best have a badonkadonk, know what I'm sayin'?' And he says 'Ah, fo'sho my nizzle. She's got some booty, yo!' And that's my tale."

Needless to say, my story confused the bounty hunter pretty good. She looked at me with a squint and said, "So, let me see if this is right. You're friend's girlfriend's Hawk-Bat escaped and you're looking for it so you can get money and probably have some intercourse?"

I paused for a second. To tell you the truth, I didn't know she would understand what I said. "I'm beginning to think he owes me more than just that. Like a bucket of chicken." She then glared at me with piercing eyes. "You know what, I think I best leave. Gotta hurry. Peace." I ran away as fast as I could. I turned the corner where I last saw Driftdraft leave and went through the alley. "That was too close," I thought to myself. When I came out, I found myself back to where I started. I looked around and saw Barriss on the other side of a crowd. "Hey, Master."

"Where were you?" she asked.

"Around. I was able to find Driftdraft."

"Really?"

"Yep. And I would've gotten him too if it wasn't for Aurra Sing."

"You met Aurra Sing?"

"That's right. I lost track of him and the only thing I could do was talk my way out before she got any ideas."

"Usually a Jedi that crosses paths with her wind up either brutally injured or dead."

"She's that bad, huh."

"Correct. Maybe since you're weak in the Force, she couldn't sense you as a Jedi."

"So what brought you here?"

"I followed Driftdraft to this location. He must still be here."

Just then, a shadow passed over us. I looked up and saw Driftdraft again. "Yeah, and there he goes!" We chased after it. The Hawk-Bat was moving fast this time. It was also passing vehicles and turning on corners. After a while, Driftdraft was tiring out. So were we. It looked like the chase would be over as the Hawk-Bat began to lower closer to the ground. That was until it was caught by someone on a swoop bike. "What's that?"

"What now?"

"This is turning out to be my lucky day," the voice from the driver said. She turned toward us and smiled. It was Aurra Sing.

"Not you again!" I said.

"Well, I see that you're actually one of these Jedi fools. And isn't this Yoda's little pet?" she said as she raised the cage with Driftdraft in it.

"Bring it back, now!" Barriss demanded.

"I don't think I will. In fact, Hawk-Bat stew is my favorite meal."

"No way!" I shouted.

"You should be lucky that I won't kill you… Well, not now anyway." Aurra quickly left the scene on the swoop.

I looked around and saw a red speeder car that just landed. "Over here!" I said to Barriss. The two of us rushed to the speeder and got in.

"Hey, what are you doin'?" the owner shouted.

"Sorry, homie G. Jedi business."

"Do you even know how to drive this thing?" Barriss asked.

I smiled nervously at the question. "Of course I do… not." Before Barriss could argue, I already got the thing hovering off the ground. I turned my MP3 Player to "True Crimes" by Bishop. "The city of Coruscant appreciates your co-op, homes," I said to the driver. We took to the skies. The ride was rough as we trailed behind Aurra. Barriss was screaming like hell as I drove. I ducked and weave through the traffic. It wasn't too long that I spun the car and we dangled upside down (thank god for seatbelts). We then saw a large truck-like vehicle coming at us and honking its horn. Barriss screamed even louder. I was able to drive the speeder under the tanker and turn it back the right way. We were still hot on Aurra's tail. After thirty minutes, the swoop bike of the bounty hunter began to land. "We have her now!" I shouted as we went in for a landing. We stopped in a destroyed part of the city. There were many deep canyons and broken structures. The place looked like someone nuked it with bombs. "Where are we?"

"Oh the Force. This place… This is the Dacho District."

"The Dacho District?"

Barriss nodded. "Also known as the Dead Sector. Over seven hundred years ago, an explosion was set off under the planet. The event unleashed lethal neurotic gases which killed over three hundred thousand people, making it the biggest deadly incident in this planet's history. No one really knows the cause, but there are a few that say the bodies of poor and disadvantaged immigrants were processed into fluids."

"Damn. That's horrible."

"We Jedi never set foot here. It's because of the Force in the area. This place produces a nightmarish feel from all the tortured souls that resided here."

"I still can't sense anything, but this place creeps me out all the same. Let's get Driftdraft and get outta here."

"For once, you said something agreeable." The two of us went deeper into the Dead Sector. We turned on our lightsabers as we hiked through the place. It's funny how the place got colder as we went. And darker too. But that didn't stopped us. After an hour or two of wandering through the still crumbling city and crossing over its bottomless pits, we ended up on top of a broken roof. On the other side stood Aurra Sing and Driftdraft still in a cage. Behind her was the hellish background of the rest of the Dead Sector. "You're trapped, Aurra Sing!"

"Give us back the Hawk-Bat and no one gets hurt."

Aurra turned toward us and folded her arms. "Think again. I plan on having your pet as a recipe for my soup. But since you're here, I might as well entertain myself." She then walked a few steps forward. "Stand still so I can make this quick."

"We won't give in!" Barriss said as she grabbed her lightsaber.

"Bring it on, bitch!" I shouted as I pulled out both of my lightsabers

"Fine." The bounty hunter pulled out a large gun known as a slugthrower rifle.

Needless to say I was rather… impressed. "DAMN! This bitch is packing the HEAT!" I turned my MP3 Player to "Death Ruins" from Shadow the Hedgehog. The battle begun as Aurra fired her weapon between us. Barriss and I went separate ways as the slugthrower's bullets hit the ground at a quick rate. She tried to target Barriss, but the Jedi was too fast. I saw my chance to go in for an attack, but Aurra saw it coming and pointed the weapon at me. I zigzagged around while spinning my lightsabers to bounce away any bullets that came into contact. Barriss used her Force Push, but the bounty hunter leapt out of the way and began to fire while in midair.

She then landed next to me and was ready to pull the trigger. I kicked the rifle out of her hands which landed close to the edge. Just before I could strike, Aurra had already pulled out her own red blade and guarded against my attack. We parried against each other. I spun my blue lightsaber while swinging with my red. Aurra blocked and used a spinning swing. I backed away and leapt up with both lightsabers ready to land a hit. Aurra raised her lightsaber and shoved me away. She then ran at me and began to slash. I blocked her attacks and moved to the side where I countered with a powerful slash from my blue lightsaber. The attack was blocked. I rolled under her blade and attacked again. Aurra blocked my strike once more. I then swept my blue lightsaber across the ground, but that was avoided when she leapt over me. I turned around to see her ready to slash. Before I could react, I was pushed back by hit. She then Force Pushed me. I turned over and saw that she was about to attack again while I was still on the ground.

Luckily, Barriss dashed between us and blocked Aurra's lightsaber. Barriss went in for a powerful slash, but Aurra countered with another Force Push. Barriss slid back and the two jumped into the air and slashed at one another. The attacks were blocked as they came down to the ground. When they landed, Barriss thrust her lightsaber forward. However, Aurra moved to the side and slashed down. The Mirialan blocked the hit and used the Force. The bounty hunter was thrown into the air and landed a few feet away. Barriss raced toward her, but Aurra jumped up and used the Force to throw debris at her. The Mirialan sliced through the large pieces of junk. But before she knew it, she was hit hard in the head by a large piece. Barriss was knocked out cold.

I got up and charged after Aurra. The bounty smiled and broke off a large beam from behind her and threw it at me. As soon as it got in range, I jumped and tore it in half. I kept going while dodging and blocking until I slashed at the bounty hunter. She blocked the hit, but I spun kicked her in the stomach, which caused her to stumble. I was ready to slash again, but she blocked the hits. We were then locking blades and pushing against one another. I then heard something coming toward me. I looked to my left and a large piece of the wall slammed into me. I pushed it off my body and realized how close to the edge I was. I was about to get up, but I saw Aurra up in the air and ready to finish me off. It looked like it was all over until I heard a voice say "Use the Force… Use the Force…" At first, I thought I was going insane. But at the moment, I rather be trippin' than be ribbons. With all my will, I used raised out my hand. The next thing I knew, the bounty hunter crashed to the ground. "Did I… Did I just use the Force?" I thought to myself. I turned and saw Barriss who was still on the ground, but saw the whole thing. But the moment of confusion was stopped by Aurra's blade coming down on me. I rolled to the left. Then I rolled to the right when it slammed again. I stopped when the bounty hunter stood in front of me. Before she attacked, I countered by spinning my legs. She fell down as I stood back up. Just then, I realized that we were both close to the edge. Not because I took a second look at the pit, but because the ground below us was breaking apart. I looked around and saw Driftdraft's cage. I rushed over and grabbed it before running away from the edge. I put it down next to Barriss and turned around to see the ground still breaking apart as the bounty hunter lifted herself up with the slugthrower that I kicked away from her before. Before she could aim, the ground collapsed and Aurra fell into the pit screaming. The two of us looked down to see if she was in sight. We saw nothing but darkness. "Damn," I said. "That sucks. You think she survived?"

"I'm sure we haven't see the last of her," Barriss said. "Like I told you before, she's one of the most dangerous and resourceful bounty hunters in the galaxy."

"We got Yoda's pet, so let's go back." Barriss nodded and we left the scene. When we got to the speeder, I was about to sit in the driver's seat, but Barriss 'persuaded' me to let her drive.

We cruised at a normal pace over the city of Coruscant. The sun was setting over the city. "Shado, I have to say that you're skills are improving with every battle."

"Yeah, well, you know…" I gloated.

"But didn't you say that you weren't able to use the Force?"

"That's right. I don't know how it happened… but something told me to try. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

I smiled. "You did it, didn't you?"

"Did what?"

"You used the Force on her when I was on the cliff."

"I assure you it wasn't me. When I opened my eyes, I saw you use it by yourself."

I was speechless. It really was me who used the Force after all. "I guess I don't know my own power." After a half hour, we landed in front of the temple and climbed up the stair. Waiting at the front was Yoda resting on his cane. "We're back," I said to him. Barriss opened the cage and Driftdraft sat on Yoda's cane.

"Worried me, you did, Driftdraft."

"Even though we had interference from Aurra Sing, we were able to bring him back safe and sound," Barriss said.

"Aurra Sing, you said?" Yoda sighed. "Troublesome her past was. But clouded her future is, I sense."

"Heh… Such as life," I said with a shrug of the shoulders.

Barriss glared at me. "Shado," she hissed.

"I sense a stronger presence of the Force, young Shado," Yoda said to me.

"Yep. First time," I said.

"Tomorrow, you will be trained in the ways of the Force," Barriss said. "In order to be a Jedi, you need to master arts of both the lightsaber and the Force."

"Bring it on!" I said. "I can take it."

"A powerful warrior, I sense. Just begun, your journey has."

"Then I better get ready for a wild ride." I yawned and stretched my arms. "Well, I'm gettin' tired. Time to hit the sack. See ya, Master Yoda."

The Jedi Master bowed to us and left the scene. Barriss and I made it back to our quarters where we put away our equipment and went to bed.

Author's Note 1: In the next chapter, Shado, Barriss, and Mace Windu go to Cloud City to hunt down Count Dooku. There will be some randomness, ebonics, droids, and… Wu-Tang Clan? This will be the craziest chapter yet.

Author's Note 2: I hope I have everyone is in character here. Aurra's a first for me. And if anyone has suggestions or comments, please feel free to post them.