Not a day goes by that he doesn't remember the fight over Devron. Out of the many times Bane had faced a jedi, that had been his best performance. He couldn't get the memory out of his head. Looking Skywalker in his eye, was- it was something to be treasured. That jedi was far more powerful than any other Bane had faced, and, he liked to think that besting Skywalker meant he could best, well, anybody.

Now, Bane wasn't the type of bounty hunter to sit on top of a tall building and hit his targets from far away. He liked to, as he called it, 'get right in their face' before he killed them. But, there had to be exceptions. Like today. He hadn't used a sniper in quite a while, and was having some trouble with it. It was a Valken 38, a weapon the Republic often used. Lots of power and precision, but hard to get used to.

This was a fast job, and there wasn't any time to get used to the blaster, as unfortunate as it was. The target was a long ways down the road, and he would need luck to get a kill shot.

You don't need luck when you have skill, he reminded himself.

"Todo, status?"

"All good here, sir!"

"Good, start up the engines. I'll be there soon."

"Got it."

There. The target, a senator from somewhere in the expansion region named Tuli Valkn, was making some sort of speech, or talk. Right up on a podium, where everybody could see her. Now, just make the shot, he told himself.

PTCHEWW

He loosed a bolt. The barrel smoked, obscuring his vison through the scope. He grabbed a pair of macrobinoculars from his belt, and sure enough, the laser had hit the senator precisely where he meant it to.

"Beginners luck, I guess."

He quickly started packing up the blaster.

"Todo. Have they located me?"

"Not yet sir. Just looks like confusion."

"Good. Get the ship's systems on full power. I'm on my way."

Bane hopped to the next building and then climbed down a slippery ladder into a back alley. His speeder was waiting. He hopped on and got going.

"I think th-"

"Todo, repeat that."

"You have 2 police speeders on your tail, sir.!"

"Damn it. Todo, meet me halfway with the ship."

"On my way."

Bane swivled his head around, and sure enough, two automated coruscant police on speeder bikes were chasing him, and catching up. No use for a blaster yet. I'll keep running for now. Bane knew this part of Coruscant well, but the droids knew it better. He took every shortcut he knew but they were still right behind him, glued to his tail, unwavering. He knew they would have backup on the way, but maybe, just maybe, if he could destroy these two he could slip away.

I just have to slow down enough to get a good shot with my pistol. Hopefully they won't fire those laser cannons they have.

Bane cut his throttle, and in one swift motion, drew his blaster and shot both droids as they sped past him.

"Todo. Im clear. Where are you?"

"I'm here."

Bane was confused for a moment before he looked up and saw the Sleight of Hand, his modified Telgorn dropship, hovering above him. Right on queue, a hatch opened on the bottom, and he used his rocket boots to fly up into the ship.

"Todo. We have one last stop."

"Where?"

"Pick a building that was in sight of where the senator was shot. Get me there."

Todo 360, the techno service droid loyal to Bane, did some quick calculations and looked at a map of the area stored in his quick access memory, and in just a few seconds, they were on their way.

"We are here, sir."

"Open the hatch.

"What are you doing?"

"Open it, Todo."

"Fine."

Bane jumped out of the hatch, sniper rifle case in hand, and flew down to the rooftop below the ship. He quickly assembled the rifle and placed it on the edge of the rooftop, facing the still largely confused crowd that the senator had been speaking to.

"Todo, i'm coming back up. Find a way off of this slimeball."

As Todo backed the ship away, Bane used the rifle to fire a random shot into the crowd. He then jumped off the building, and used his trademark rocket boots to fly into the ship, where Todo was waiting to execute the course into the navi-computer. Just as Bane was settling in, his communicator chirped, and so he picked it up and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Bane. Are you busy?"

"No. Just finished a job. What do you need?"

"I'm putting together a crew. Big hunt. We can do an even split."

"How much would my portion be?"

"Depends on how big the crew is."

"Under 5 people?"

"Could be."

"Alright well where are you?"

"Zygerria. The usual spot."

"Zygerria is one dirty planet."

"I know, but the person whos paying for this is here."

"Alright then, i'll be on my way."

"Hit it Todo."

By the time the police had reached the top of the building and found the rifle, Bane and his companion were long gone in hyperspace, en route to a crime hotspot, the planet of Zygerria.

Zygerria was notorious for it's crime and slave trade. It was primarily a monarchy, ruled by the rich nobles who let everybody below their status suffer on some of the craziest streets in the galaxy, rivaled only by the underworld of coruscant. Nevertheless, every decent bounty hunter came here at least a few times in their life, as the countless people needing jobs done was a good supply of credits.

Bane wasn't here to pick up a random job from some random noble he found at an even more random slave auction. He was here for a real job. A big one. One that required a crew. But he wasn't the one setting up this crew, instead, it was a hunter he almost trusted with his life, Aurra Sing.

Todo landed the ship on the most inconspicuous pad they could find, which happened to be just across the way from a popular tavern in the area. As Bane walked down the exit ramp of the Sleight Of Hand, he thought about getting a drink, but decided there were better things he could be doing. So, he pulled out his communicator and contacted Sing.

"I'm here. Where are we meeting."

"I see you through the window. Come across the road."

"That old place?"

"It's related to the job. Just get over here. I'll meet you when you walk in."

"Roger that."

He closed his communicator and sighed, before starting to walk towards the smelly tavern.

"Todo. Guard the ship. Keep the engines hot until I tell you not to."

"Got it."

A few seconds later, he arrived at the base of an old stone staircase, leading up to a balcony full of every kind of criminal you could imagine. There were hunters, slavers, robbers, pick-pockets, pirates, smugglers, spice dealers, and more. Upon entering, Sing waved him into a back room. It was small, and in disrepair, with sunlight shining through cracks in the wooden patched walls. There was a circular wooden table in the center, with 5 seats. 2 of them were filled.

"Embo. Hardeen."

"Bane. Take a seat."

"So this is the infamous Cad Bane, huh?" Said Hardeen.

"In the flesh."

Sing took a seat across from Bane and tossed a holo-projector onto the table, and keyed the activation button. It displayed a map of some sort of building.

"The targ-"

She was interrupted by Hardeen, saying

"I need a drink."

"They don't serve anybody back here."

Then, Bane spoke up.

"Allow me."

He got out of his chair and walked out of the room. He made his way over to the bar, where a group of Rodians were arguing and blocking his way to the bartender.

"Pardon me."

One of the Rodians turned.

"Back off, Duros."

"I need a drink." Bane said slowly.

This time, all of the Rodians turned, and one spoke out.

"You heard him. Back off."

"Did you hear me when I said I needed a drink?"

Bane put his hand on his holster. The Rodians saw and lunged for him. He skillfully dodged the first Rodian, using his rocket boots to land a powerful stomp in the aliens back. The next Rodian grabbed a bottle off the bar, smashed it, and came at Bane. He drew his blaster and shot the man in the foot. The Rodian tripped, hit his head on Bane's foot, and then ran off to help the first one. The final Rodian, terrified by Bane's blaster aimed at his head, put his hands up and walked away. Finally, Bane walked up to the counter.

"I need 4 big drinks."

"Thanks for getting rid of those dirty Rodians. Always causing trouble, they are."

"My pleasure." Bane said, and tipped his hat. The bartender pushed 4 glasses of drink across the counter, which bane picked up and began walking back to the room where the rest of the hunters were sitting. Just before he made it to the door, a fourth Rodian stood up behind him, holding a blaster.

"Hey, you!"

Bane stole a glance backwards, and saw the blaster. He was thinking of doging with his rocket boots and then drawing his blaster, but soon he saw other gangsters in the bar drawing blasters and aiming at him. After a moment of thinking, he turned and threw the tray of drinks at the fourth Rodian, while simultaneously dropping a smoke grenade from his belt.

"Where did he go?" One said.

"I'm right…. Here…"

The scoundrel turned to see Bane pointing a blaster directly at his head, aswell as at the other gangster who was standing up.

"You had enough?"

The gangster glared. Bane grabbed his shoulder, as if to apologize, but instead he used his wrist device to shock the man unconscious. Bane then picked up all the drinks at the nearest table, and set off for the back room. When he entered, the rest of the crew were fairly confused.

"Bane, how did you manage to get into a bar fight?"

"Rodians."

"Well sit down."

He sat. Sing began discussing the mission.

"The target is a group of jedi led by jedi knight named Pabo-Jill. Last time I checked, he was somewhere on the planet Crait."

"Where the hell is Crait?"

"The rim. It's a mining colony."

"Then what are they doing there?"

"Some weird occupation thing, I don't know."

"Have they got any clones with them?"

"There are three Venators in orbit, so we can assume at least a battalion is on-world."

"I thought this job was big?"

"It is. Not only do we have to find and kill all the jedi, but we also have to find the thing they are there to find. Supposedly a crystal of some sort."

"Sounds easy." Bane remarked.

"We'll see."

Bane stood up. He had enough on his mind about this job, and he wanted to get one more question answered.

"So, Aurra, who's the employer here?"

"That's an interesting question."

"I agree with Bane." Added Hardeen, "Who hired us?"

"You really want to know?"

"Yeah, I do." Responded Bane. "But I think I already know."

"Take a guess, Cad."

"A man by the name of Dooku."

"You couldn't be more right."

The three stared at Sing. Hardeen broke the silence.

"Well then. Let's get going. Who's ship we taking?"

"Bane's is the only one that can fit all of us."

"Alright then. Lead the way."

Bane led them out of the back room and out of the bar. As they were walking across the street he turned on his communicator.

"Todo. The ship still ready?"

"Yes."

"We are about to arrive. Open the door and start the systems."

"Doing that, sir."

The four hunters walked into the ship. Embo and Aurra sat down without a word, as they had both been on the Sleight of Hand many times before, but Hardeen, his face hardened. He seemed to be disgusted by the lack of decoration. Or maybe it was the smell. Duros had a very distinct smell. Bane downloaded the coordinates of the planet Crait into the nav-system, and was about to tell Todo to take off, when Aurra spoke up at the last second.

"Take us to a neighboring system first. No need to alert the republic of our presence too early.

"Alright then. Todo, take us to the nearest other inhabited planet."

And so they took off into the sky. After reaching a safe jump point, Todo and Bane were preparing for the jump to hyperspace, when a proximity warning rang out across the ship. Bane looked at the detection system and saw 2 small freighters coming in at high speed, and they were armed.

"What is it?" Hardeen asked.

"Pirates." Responded Bane.

"Is this thing armed?"

"I have 3 cannons, a turret, and a droid."

"That enough?"

"Should be."

Hardeen was about to speak up again, but before he could, Bane hit the sublight thrusters to full power and brought the ship around, straight towards the oncoming pirates. The pirates fired the first volley, lasers slicing through the space around Bane's ship, but none hit.

"Todo. Start hitting them."

Todo plugged in to the targeting system and decided to focus on the larger of the two vessels. The Sleight of Hand fired a powerful burst from its Ion Cannon, which surprisingly disabled the pirate vessel's shields in just three shots. The laser cannons finished it off.

The other pirate vessel came around, firing at the hunters a few more times with its laser cannons. This time, it scored hits, knocking Hardeen out of his chair.

"Strap in next time."

"I know, I know."

Bane started to bring the ship around, but the remaining pirate vessel was closing fast, and continuously firing. Another blast hit Bane's ship, disabling the laser turret on top and damaging the sensor array.

"Targeting system has been damaged. Handing over manual control." Todo said.

Bane took control of the laser cannons, and started firing volleys at the pirate. None hit, and the pirate flew in a wide circle around the Sleight of Hand. Just as Bane was pulling around, another blast took out the engines on Bane's ship. The pirate was coming in with a grappling hook to board the ship, but just as it was coming into range, it was destroyed by another ship, which then proceeded to fly off.

"Engines and sensors are fried."

"Call a tug from the surface."

"Those cost a lot of credits."

"We have a lot of credits."

Bane turned on a comms beacon, and leaned back to wait for someone to answer. Soon enough, a tug arrived. It was an older model, and looked like it had seen quite a few generations. It locked onto the Sleight of Hand with it's dual tractor beam projector and towed into down to a landing pad.

Todo dropped the exit ramp, and the hunters walked out into the bustling city. Soon after, the owner of the tug walked out of his shit, and asked for his credits.

"How much?" Bane asked.

"2,000."

"That's overpriced." Said Hardeen.

"Best I can do is 1,700."

Bane put his hand on his holster.

"I think you can go lower."

Seeing the holster, the tug operator stutterd.

"Uh- I can do 1,000."

"Good enough."

Aurra got out the credits and handed it to the tug operator, who started to walk away.

"Hey, you!"

The tug operator turned.

"Where can we find a decent repair place?"

"Ju- Just over by that pad. Big place. Lot's of lights."

The hunters turned and walked in the direction of the repair yard. It was located inside a large concrete warehouse, which was bustling with both people and droids. Ships of every shape and size were parked inside and outside the building.

"There's a big line." Said Bane.

Aurra took charge.

"We don't wait in lines."

She led them in front of the line, which got them the attention of several people in line, who all started yelling.

Bane drew one of his blasters and shot at their feet.

"Stay back."

The attendant looked at Bane.

"You. We have a ship that needs urgent repairs."

"What happened to it?"

"Pirates."

"I- Uh- i'll send someone to inspect the damage and name a price."

"We name the price, thank you very much."

The attendant nodded, and pointed to one of many mechanics standing in a circle near a side exit.

The hunters walked up to them, and one mechanic, a short human male with blonde hair and a brown beard, came up to them.

"Let's see the ship."

Bane pointed the ship out to him, and as he looked from a distance, he started to name prices.

"No, no. We name the price." Repeated Bane.

"Alright, how much?"

"2,000."

"That's less than half our usua-"

"That's. The. Price."

"Got it." The mechanic ran inside and grabbed a few other workers before heading towards the ship.

The planet of Crait was the most uninteresting blank white ball of rock on that side of the galaxy. As Bane got his first glance of it through the main viewports of the Sleight of Hand, he couldn't help but remark about its blandness.

"Who would ever come here?" Said Hardeen, clearly thinking the same thing as Bane.

"Jedi." Said Aurra.

"Todo, locate the republic cruisers." Bane told the techno service droid.

"Directly ahead, Bane. Although there seems to be 2 instead of 3."

Bane turned to Aurra. "You sure your intel was right?"

"One of them must have left." Just as Aurra finished speaking, an alarm went off within the ship, and the comms system started beeping.

"Who's hailing us?"

"The third venator. It's behind us. Must have been out on patrol."

"Hardeen, get your helmet and get up here. You're the only one they wont immediately recognize."

While the other clustered into the back end of the ship, Hardeen sat down in the pilots chair and answered the call. The republic officer spoke first.

"Attention unidentified ship. This is Captain De Lero of the republic warship Thunderhead. State your intentions in this system!"

Hardeen was quick to reply. "Hello Thunderhead, this is light freighter-" He thought for a moment to come up with a fake name for the ship, since the entire republic knew the name of Bane's vessel. "This is the light freighter Raynon. We are en route to the Sullust system from Naboo, but our hyperdrive had a small malfunction."

"Do you require assistance?"

"Uh- Negative. We are almost good to go."

"We will wait here in case you require assistance, over."

"Uh- Copy."

Hardeen disconnected the call.

"Great." Bane said. "What now?"

Before Aurra could devise a plan, the venator called again. Hardeen answerd.

"Yes?"

"Raynon, you are not listed on any ship manifest for naboo or sullust, over."

"That must be a mistake, we are reisterd in both those systems."

"Raynon, how many crew do you have? What are their names?"

Embo walked up and cut the call. Hardeen jumped out of the seat and was replaced by Bane, who immediately hit the sublight engines and began flying away from the venator. Looking through the ships rear viewport, Aurra saw several interceptors launching from the republic ships docking bay.

"Here they come!"

"Todo, get on the gun."

Todo hooked into the ships systems and took control of the laser turret. The four interceptors came alongside the slightly slower freighter, and began hailing it.

"Dont answer. Todo, hold your fire."

"Bane, whats your plan here?"

"There is no plan. We just wont fire first."

"Well, thats good and all, but two of them are now directly behind us and charging their weapons." Said Todo.

"Alright, start shooting then."

Todo began opening fire. The interceptors returned fire, and Bane hit the rear deflector shields and began evasive maneuvers.

All at once, the entire ship rocked.

"What was that?!"

"We're hit!"

"I can tell that much! How bad is it?"

"Weapon systems are down and we are leaking fuel!"

"Damnit! Get us out of here!"

"To where?"

"Anywhere!"