CHAPTER 2

A moon coated in cityscape, Nar Shadda orbited the foul, soiled world of Nal Hutta: the Hutts home planet. Equally foul and soiled, this worldwide metropolis would, to most eyes, appear as a deep, dark hole for the galaxy's lowest beings, but to certain views, it was a sanctuary. And to Carletta, it was an opportunity.

She would land on the lower levels of the sprawling, filthy city and quickly head off deep into the underworld of crime, bounty and death. The nights would be long and time slowly tick by, yet nothing made Carletta's resolve faulter. As long as the Force and her lightsaber were at hand, she felt ready for the brutal future that lay ahead of her.

The Imperial transport hovered down to the nightly surface of the moon, landing deep below the spires and skyscrapers that were decorated in bright, flashing neon lights. The ship hunkered down onto an empty street with only the echoes of shouting, languages of all kinds and the occasional blaster shot. The craft's ramp lowered, where a black robed figure exited - accompanied by a small platoon of people dressed in heavy black armour. Their masked leader slowly moved to a dark alley way. The troops cautiously scanned the area high and low with their rifles. Suddenly, when they were halfway through the alley, they halted. A man could now be seen walking towards them from the other end. He had a grizzled face, wore a tatty trench coat and filthy boots. He moved with a weary stance, keeping his hand close to where his blaster might be.

'Darth Lasc I might presume?' he said once they were face to face. The masked Sith nodded.

'You said you had something "promising" to share?' said Lasc, almost doubtfully.

'Good thing they told me you had a habit in being sarcastic, otherwise I would've doubted you were him. Nothing personal, it's my job to not trust anyone.' said the man, who made a short bow. 'Agent Antel Gyb at your service. Follow me, she's close by.' Gyb took the lead, quickly moving out of the damp alley, while Lasc calmly strode by his side. The troops behind kept turning their heads every which way, particularly over their shoulders.

'So, how's the war effort been coping?' said Gyb as they marched down the gloomy street.

'Pathetic,' Lasc answered. 'We've been seeing more defeats than victories for weeks now. Every day a new traitor keeps popping up to try and take the throne. Consider yourself lucky you don't have to work so close with our so called "invincible" army.' Gyb gave a hollow laugh.

'I wouldn't call myself lucky when having to work in a place like this. Spice dealers, murders every minute, smuggling as far as the eye can see, this place is the worst paradise in the galaxy. But in times like these, you take what you can. We're here.' Gyb pointed to an old, tall building. Its lights were not at all as bright as others, there were a couple of washed out drunks lying by it and some of its windows were lit.

'This is the home of our possible recruit?' said Lasc, slowly turning to Gyb.

'Probably not.' said Gyb certainly. 'If my contacts are correct, this is the home of her latest target.'

Lasc made a faint 'tch'.

'I don't see the point in trying to deal with more bounty hunting scum. We've already dealt with enough.'

'Not with ones like her.' said Gyb. 'In the three weeks I've monitored her, she's taken down nearly forty bounties and I'm not talking about catching smugglers that forgot to pay some crimelord, I'm talking high end spice dealers, other bounty hunters and even crimelords themselves. Which reminds me to say that we should all be on guard and stick to my plan.' Lasc turned to his troops, who looked to him for permission. A simple nod was all they needed, which Lasc gave curtly.

Gyb then continued. 'We'll be taking the stairs right up to the 22nd floor - make sure your weapons are ready at all times. Lord Lasc and I will take point, so hold back until I give the signal.' All of them nodded together. Sith Troopers were exceedingly loyal and possibly more attentive, which made missions like these easy to command. 'All right, let's get this house visit done and remember to stay silent.' With the ushering of a hand, Gyb led them into the building. Even though they all wore masks and helmets, they could still notice the strange smell that even they dared not question. Creeping through the empty lobby, Lasc drew his lightsaber from his belt, but Gyb waved a hand and shook his head. Lasc lowered his weapon reluctantly and did not ignite it. The direct approach was more his preference than the sneakier ways of ambush.

They moved up the long flights of stairs, the troops always looking up and down for any threat. Any sound, no matter how normal it maybe, would have full attention from all of them. Time inched by, when Gyb finally stopped and pointed at the door with a large 22 on it. He gently opened it, with only a squeak coming from it. As Gyb drew his pistol, they crept into the corridor. Rows of doors went up right, or down left, which, at last, provoked a sound from one of them.

'Which room is it?' said Lasc in the most quiet voice he make. Gyb pointed to the left and headed for a door numbered 67. The others followed cautiously, prepared for whatever came their way. Putting an ear to the door, Gyb could hear muffled voices. He couldn't tell what they were saying, even for his trained ears, but one voice sounded calm and female, while the other's was male, loud and very panicked. Reaching into his pocket, Gyb pulled out a small device shaped like some small , black dish. Pressing a button at its centre, Gyb put the dish against the door and pressed his ear to it, hearing the two figures in complete clarity.

'-those scumballs should've paid my price!' said a man defensively, whom Gyb guessed to be Zabrak from the accent in his voice.

'I tried to offer you the easy way out,' said a young woman's voice with a surprising calmness. 'But if that's your attitude, then you only force my hand.' Suddenly, Gyb, along with the others, heard the unmistakable sound of a lightsaber igniting. Several blaster shots fired, but the following sounds made out that the saber had deflected them. Gyb stood back and readied his gun, expecting the door to come crashing open, when smashed glass sounded from within. Lasc and his troops looked to Gyb, who rolled his eyes.

'So much for the subtle approach.' he muttered irritably before kicking the door open with a particularly thunderous kick. At last, Lasc ignited his blade and followed Gyb in. The apartment was a large space, but a complete, grotty mess - no different to all the others on Nar Shadda and before them all was a man swinging out the broken window on an ascension gun and a hooded figure jumping out after him, her white bladed weapon shining out in the darkness. Gyb and the others went over to the window frame, watching closely at the falling figure, who only just caught hold of her prey's stray ankle. They swung straight for the building the gun's rope had clung to and hit one of its windows. It shattered against the chaser's boots, as the fleeing man reeled in his cable, while trying desperately to kick off his tenacious foe. Gyb raised his eyebrows at the scene - he was impressed, but he soon realised he wasn't here to see a show.

'Come on, we'll follow them.' he ordered, but none of them made for the stairs. They aimed their blasters toward the top of the neighbouring building. Gyb passed Lasc a spare gun, who handled it gingerly.

'Crude, old tools.' Lasc murmured.

'At least they're effective.' said Gyb, overhearing him as he fired his cable high into the night sky. Following his lead, the others shot as well, all of them reaching their targets. Together, they swung out of the window, bracing the strong currants of wind. Gyb enjoyed the rush, actually hoping it would last longer, but very soon their feet hit the metal between the building's windows, making a strong clang. Reeling in the thin, black rope, they climbed the structure with a burst of haste. Now, they'd lost sight of the two duelling figures. Reaching the top, Lasc was the first to hurriedly clamber over to the short wall, where he saw a pair of shadows dart through a doorway.

'Where are they?' said Gyb as he and the troopers joined him.

'They're heading downstairs!' Lasc replied as he shot off and ignited his crimson sword. There were many flights of steps, most of which were jumped over from top to bottom by the focused Sith Lord as Gyb kept up. Soon, they reached a corridor, which was echoing with the sounds of blaster bolts firing madly. The source was revealed to come from another corridor to their right, as they watched the hooded woman fly back out of it with her lightsaber being spun defensively like a buzzsaw. She didn't seem to notice Lasc, or any of the troops behind him.

Eager for a fight, Lasc made a move forward, but Gyb put a hand on his shoulder.

'Not yet,' he said quietly. 'Let's see how she handles it.' Lasc tutted under his breath, looking on with crossed arms as he saw the assailant make a quick move forward, heading back into the corridor. The blaster shots kept sounding, when the sudden noise of a slash halted all sound. Lasc couldn't stand holding back now, he headed for the corridor and saw the man lying on the floor, his pistol cut clean in half. His attacker looked over her shoulder, seeing the small audience she'd attracted.

'Did he owe you money, or did you want to collect on the bounty?' she said casually. 'Either way, it shows the Empire must really be getting desperate.' Lasc scowled from behind his mask, but Gyb remained nonchalant. Her appearance was already reminiscent of a Sith. She wore a black cloak with grey robes, sturdy boots and a ghostly mask.

'He's not what we want.' said Gyb. 'It's you we all share an interest in. Lasc, I'll leave it to you.' Beckoning to the Sith Lord, Lasc turned off his weapon and stepped forward, while ushering his troops to lower their guard.

'I am Darth Lasc, I work for a recruitment branch in the Sith Empire, along with my associate Agent Gyb here. As you'll probably be aware of, our effort in the new war is becoming poorer and flimsier by the minute. We're at a point where we need all the help we can muster.'

'Me included then?' the bounty hunter interrupted.

'It's what Gyb here hopes.' said Lasc coldly. 'And I'm almost in agreement. The Force is not only strong, but balanced with you. You lack fear and, as I can see here, ruthlessness.'

'How so?'

'He's still alive.' said Lasc simply. 'I'd be more impressed if you had cut him in half instead of his weapon.' The hunter made no reply.

'I think we should just cut to the chase,' said Gyb impatiently. 'Will you accept our invitation to join the Empire, train as a Sith Lord and aid in fighting the Republic?' The figure walked in a small circle, pondering the chance.

Moments passed, when she finally faced them again.

'All right,' she said. 'I'll come. Seems better than having to stick around this scum filled sphere.' Lasc chuckled wickedly, putting everyone ill at ease.

'Never take coming to our side so lightly. That's how most recruits die. On the first day even, so I'll lend you one bit of advice; be wary; always.'

'I will be.' the hunter said grimly. 'So, if we're done talking, shall we make our way out of here?'

'My thoughts exactly,' said Gyb. 'But what about your bounty over there?' He pointed at the crumpled heap at their feet.

'It doesn't matter anymore. Any real worth he had in being caught was lost as soon he threw himself out the window. I'm done here.'

And so all of them made their way out. The troopers had now stopped scanning their surroundings and kept a constant vigil on their party's newest member, while Lasc exuded a feeling of easiness now that he knew this new recruit had some limitations in bringing about death.

'One last question,' said Gyb. 'You gotta name?'

'Carletta.' she answered and spoke not a word more when they reached the rotten, foul streets.