Authors Note: It was hard to describe in words my vision for the Assassins helmet, so when you're reading the story just picture it somewhat like a cross between the Predators mask from the movie and the Imperial Scout Troopers helmet from Episode VI and the rest of it as described.
The Story of forgotten Jedi Owen Sun
Chapter 14: The Hunt is On
Owens Jedi Starfighter exited hyperspace, ejecting from his hyperdrive ring the lush and green Kashyyyk came into view, he made a quick pass around the planet scanning for the Jedi Assassins ship The Apparition. Its advanced cloaking device made it difficult to spot but around the top rim of the planet his scanners picked up a faint reading, bringing his Starfighter in closer he completed a full scan of the immediate area and sure enough found the ship cloaked nearby. Owen had found the Jedi Assassins ship but his scan revealed no one on board. "He must already be on Kashyyyk, his ship is probably remote activated" said Owen to himself.
Wasting no time he brought his Starfighter in.
Owen entered Kashyyyk's atmosphere, kilometer after kilometer of wroshyr trees dominated the planets surface making it hard to land but after several passes he was able to find a perfect landing spot nestled into the forest. "Humph, must have been expecting me" he joked.
He slowly landed his Jedi Starfighter and used the ship's sensor array to scan for any movement, with the ship Owen had been commissioned an R4-P astromech droid to aid on his mission. "R4, boost the sensors strength to maximum" ordered Owen needing more power.
Picking up random beasts and creatures from the forest they waited a few minutes for the right scan, then suddenly the R4 droid whistled and beeped sensing something. "Yes R4 I see it too" said Owen.
"It's quite a ways from here but it might just be what I'm looking for" he said looking over his Starfighters console display.
Owen leapt out of the Starfighters hatch. "You stay here and watch the ship, I'll be back shortly"
The R4 droid groaned in response. "Don't worry the ships beacon will keep most of the creatures away, I'll be back soon" said Owen as he left darting through the night forest.
Owen had been to Kashyyyk only once before on a peace keeping mission with Master Arca a few years previous, he knew very little about the planet except that the Wookiees were the ones in charge and they didn't take kindly to outsiders on their world so Owen knew he had to be discreet as the Council advised.
For several minutes leading into an hour Owen followed his datapads portable scanner through the dangerous forests of Kashyyyk serenaded by krek beetles all around him. "Blast, where is he?" said Owen to himself looking through the thick forest.
Then, by pure chance he caught sight of a small light off in the darkness, it was quite the distance but he began towards it getting himself close enough to spot it with his macrobinoculars. The dim light came into focus and appeared to be a small fire; Owen got closer and waited in the distance looking over his scanner once more. "Whatever it is should be right there" he thought.
Owen waited and waited up to the point where he considered if he should approach or not but suddenly two figures then emerged from behind a wroshyr tree. He promptly whipped out his macrobinoculars again to get a better look, focusing in on the two he had found the Assassin, but the other figure was lizard-like in appearance. "Must be a Trandoshan" said Owen to himself.
He remembered his encounter with the warlike species the last time he was on Kashyyyk with his Master. The two seemed to be organizing a deal, Owen then panned around to the fire and saw plenty of Wookiee corpses litter the area. "They must be negotiating on a poaching deal" he thought.
Time dragged on and he knew he had to make his move or the Assassin would escape. "Well, it's either now or never" thought Owen.
He took a moment to prepare himself for his first action alone; Owen looked skywards to the bright moons of Kashyyyk. "May the Force guide me" he said to himself.
Owen stealthily moved in remembering his Jedi training making sure to not make any noise moving past a family of tach creatures, quietly leaping onto a wroshyr tree he Force jumped from tree to tree until he was right under the two.
Meanwhile down below.
"This is not the amount we discussed" threatened the Trandoshan with a series of hisses, growls and grunts in his native Dosh tongue.
"It's either this or nothing" replied the stern Assassin through his helmet voicebox.
The Trandoshan then caught sight of some dust and debris falling to their heads; looking up he saw nothing but darkness until a yellow blade was suddenly ignited.
The Trandoshan snarled in his primitive tongue but was too late as Owen jumped down and sliced him in two, he then turned his blade towards the surprised Assassin. "Surprised to see me" he simply said.
Without a seconds hesitation the Assassin kicked him in the gut but Owen caught his foot in time and blocked it, standing on just one leg Owen instantly kicked the other out from under him knocking the Assassin to the ground. He quickly rebounded however tossing a flash grenade towards Owens feet, the flash blinded him and the Assassin escaped through the forest. The footrace was on as Owen slowly collected himself and went after him; he pulled out his lightsaber to hack through the wild, untamed brush as he ran after the Assassin in the distance. After awhile though the pace had quickened and Owen lost him to the thick forested jungle of Kashyyyk. "I can't let him get away" he said pulling out his portable scanner.
Owen scanned the area profusely but nothing came up, he looked around frantically trying to see any signs of the Assassin but there was nothing. "He covered his tracks well" thought Owen.
Just when it seemed he'd lost him suddenly three swift objects emerged on the scanner, the Assassin had shot three tiny circular cutting blades at him. Owen instantly drew his lightsaber and swatted two of them away, the other spiked into a nearby tree. "(Whew), I'm one lucky Jedi, those things would've went right through me" he commented.
As the adrenaline wore off Owen quickly refocused himself, using his datapad he plotted the blades trajectory then turned west darting through some of Kashyyyk's harshest woodland cutting through the thick undergrowth and tough kashyy vines in his way. "Can't lose him" he thought.
Then off in the distance finally Owen caught sight of him again, he quickly darted towards him. The Assassin had come to a dead end as a large overgrown wroshyr tree stump blocked his path. He bobbed his head about trying to find a way past but it was too late Owen had caught up with him. "No jetpack I see" he remarked.
The Assassin turned around knowing once again he'd have to go through this Jedi if he wanted to escape, with that he drew his forearm blades that Owen knew all too well. A shiver went through his mended hand as he remembered their altercation on Anaxes, suddenly a rise of emotion began to brew in Owen, but his trained Jedi mind pushed aside his anxiety and doubt as the Assassin charged at him murderously trying to cut him in two. Owen blocked each strike as the Assassin wasn't playing around, he wanted him dead.
Meanwhile far above in the trees.
A group of Wookiees tensely watch the fight as in the dark Kashyyyk night Owens yellow lightsaber and the Assassin's shimmering forearm blades tell the story; all they could make out was the sparks and flashes from their duel.
The Assassin continued to take the fight to Owen as he blocked his tenacious strikes; once again the unrelenting apprehension that sank in the young Padawans gut began to creep into his thoughts, it affected his judgment and threw him on the defensive. He started to wonder if the Council had misplaced their faith in him, Owens self-doubt proved to be his biggest obstacle, but just as things seemed to be at there worst he remembered the inspirational words of his Master before the mission. He took them to heart as new confidence sprang up in him, with renewed vigor and zeal Owen showed his true skill as he suddenly surprised the Assassin throwing him clearly on the defensive. Striking as hard as he could with each blow he quickly pushed him back, then catching the Assassin off guard he began twirling his saber rapidly in a circle. The unpredictable technique slowly backed the Assassin into a corner, with no response to the frantic twirling of Owens yellow lightsaber he suddenly ceased the spiral and kicked the Assassin in the chest knocking him down. Getting back up Owen wasted little time as he Force pushed the Assassin into a tree stump, as he collected the wind knocked out of him the cunning Assassin got up again and shot a cable from his wrist that wrapped itself around Owen.
He fell to the ground helpless. "What else you got" Owen joked.
The Assassin cracked a smile from underneath his bulky helmet to the Jedi's witty remark, with haste he quickly slingshot his way over the overgrown stump using his cable. Owen tried reaching for his saber but couldn't get his hands free as the cable tightened around him, so steadying his mind he promptly pulled it back towards him with the Force, then using his saber freed himself and went back after the Assassin. Owen Force jumped over the stump and panned around looking once more for the Jedi Assassin. "He couldn't have gotten far" he said to himself.
Then looking up in the trees he heard what sounded like an engine roaring, suddenly out of nowhere a rocket exploded right at his feet! Owen Force jumped up onto another wroshyr tree just in the nick of time avoiding the blast. "That was too close" he thought.
But the noise of the engine was confirmed as Owen looked up and could see that the Assassin had his jetpack back. Another rocket was fired blowing the thick wroshyr tree in half, Owen leapt off just in time again though. The Assassin panned around the treetops scanning for the pesky Jedi, sensing the Assassins confusion he ignited his blade and Force threw it at him but it didn't connect as the Assassins agile jetpack whirled him out of danger, Owens yellow saber then spun back to him. "Damn, missed" he cursed sternly.
Now that the Assassin knew were Owen was he made no mistake firing rocket after rocket into the trees below blowing up the whole section of forest. Down below Owen did the best he could to avoid the explosion but Jedi or no Jedi he was caught in the blast. A rocket hit the tree Owen was perched on and he was blasted clear of the area, after the fireworks stopped the Assassin scanned the destroyed area to make sure he got him. "Humph, get up after that Jedi" said the Assassin coldly.
Satisfied he was dead the Assassin then climbed higher above the engulfing smoke and fire of the ruined forest with his jetpack and tapped the control panel on his wrist computer. The Jedi Assassins ship The Apparition then appeared into the atmosphere above him; he quickly uncloaked his ship and made his way in leaving Kashyyyk behind.
Meanwhile all the way down on the forest floor a charred and broken Owen Sun lay unconscious.
Owen slowly came to making sure he was still in one piece. "Uunhh" he moaned picking himself up.
He immediately noticed a large burnt hole through his Jedi robe. "(Whew), thank the Force"
Finding his bearings Owen looked around, all that was left were fallen burnt up wroshyr trees and charred vegetation all around him, the Assassin had hit the area good and now was gone. "I've got to try and catch up with him" he said to himself.
But Owen suddenly felt a disturbance in the Force, igniting his blade he panned around the area, he was being watched. Whatever it is was getting closer, he then saw movement in the trees and nearby bushes. His Padawan heart beat faster and faster, it wasn't the Assassin, he started to become rattled. Owen quickly refocused himself remembering his training and the Code that was his life. "There is no emotion, there is peace…" he thought closing his eyes to see with the Force.
All of a sudden a group of Wookiees descended from the trees directly upon him. "Grrraaawwwwrrr!"
They had him surrounded as Owen fell back into his saber stance. "I'm not here to hurt you" he said trying to calm the angry Wooks down.
With a series of snarls, grunts and growls they responded sounding very irritated. Owen didn't even begin to understand Shyriiwook so as a sign of good faith he put away his lightsaber. While still on the defensive the group seemed to calm down a bit more.
He extended his hand slowly. "See, I-" Owen was violently interrupted by a giant paw of one of the Wookiees.
Owen was knocked out instantly; they then picked him up and carried him through the forest to their village at the behest of their Wookiee Chieftain.
The Wookiees entered their Chieftains hut and threw Owen to the floor relaying the disturbance in the forest, jarring him awake Owen slowly opened his eyes to find a large gash on his forehead; the Wookiees claws had done its damage. With a gazed look up he found himself standing in front of the Wookiee Chieftain Tarfful. "Why have you come to our world Jeedi?" growled Tarfful in his Shyriiwook tongue.
Owen hadn't a clue of what to say, he obviously couldn't understand the large Wookiee and had no form of translation, from his appearance however he could tell that this was a Wookiee of importance, the Chieftain began to grow impatient. "What am I going to do, Arca was the translator last time" he thought.
He then stood up as the Wookiees prepared for the Outsiders explanation. "I could try Basic" Owen thought.
He gave it a shot. "I don't understand Shyriiwook" replied Owen.
"What did the Human say?" growled one of the Wookiees standing behind Owen.
"He doesn't understand our tongue" explained Tarfful who seemed to understand Galactic Basic.
Owen didn't have time for this; he knew what was counting on him and had to get back to his ship immediately. "Listen, I may not understand you but if you can understand me I need to get back to my ship and catch that Assassin" stated Owen.
"So you're the Jeedi the masked one was trying to kill" moaned Tarfful.
"I don't wish to hurt any of you but I must be allowed to leave, now" pleaded Owen sensing an agreement.
Owen began towards the wicker huts door but was abruptly stopped by one of the Wookiees. "Rrraaawwwwrrr!" he snarled. "You're not going anywhere Jeedi!"
Tarfful weighed what to do with this Jeedi, after several careful moments he came to his decision. "Very well, for helping us with the Trandoshan slaver I'll shall let you leave" growled Tarfful.
The group of Wookiees behind Owen growled violently in disagreement. "My decision is final, you will let this one go, he killed the slaver" barked Tarfful.
"But part of our sacred forest has been destroyed because of this Outsider!" growled one of the Wookiees.
Tarfful stood up off his Chieftains chair. "GRRRAAAWWWWRRR!" he roared savagely. "You will obey my orders!"
Owens heart skipped a beat from the ferocious growl. "For my sake I hope everything's going okay" he thought concerned.
"Now take this Jeedi away before others in the village see him" ordered Tarfful.
Two of the Wookiees grabbed him by the arms forcefully, they were about to remove him when Owen realized there was no way he'd get there in time, he needed a faster way to get to his ship. "Wait, I need your help, please!" pleaded Owen being dragged off.
Tarfful stopped them. "Wait; let me hear what the Jeedi has to say"
They let him go confirming what Owen already knew, he understood him.
"I am grateful that you've heard me, but I need to get back to my ship, it could be miles from here, please, I need something that can get me there faster" explained Owen.
Silence hung in the Kashyyyk night for what seemed like a lifetime. "Fine, it is agreed then Outsider, you helped us, now we'll help you" agreed the Wookiee Chieftain.
"Give the Outsider one of the Katarn beasts and send him on his way" ordered Tarfful.
Owen sensed they had come to an agreement. "Thank you" he said as the two Wookiees removed him from their Wookiee Chieftains hut.
The Wookiees took Owen to one of their tamed Katarn beats "Now be on your way Outsider!" snarled the Wookiee in disgust.
Owen jumped up onto the creature and with a snap of the reins rode it out of the Wookiee village back off into the forest. Following his datapads scanner through the thick underbrush after just a half-hour he had found his ship using the resourceful Katarn but began to feel lightheaded as the gash on his forehead from the powerful Wookiees claws hadn't closed. Bleeding profusely he placed his hand on his wound concentrating with the Force, a few seconds later it was gone. Under the wisdom of his great Master Owens Force healing power had come a long way in five years, he was now an adept able to heal larger wounds and abrasions, still no where near the greatest of the Jedi Healers who could mend flesh and bone. "Augh, now that feels better" he commented as his lightheadedness dissipated.
But just as Owen got off the Katarn he heard a loud earsplitting squeal bellow from the forest, the Katarn went feral as its instincts kicked in nearly trampling Owen. Regrettably for the beast he ran straight into a giant Urnsori'is, these insect-like beasts were merciless killers with uncanny intelligence and quickness, the Wookiees revered them for there killing prowess often falling to them in battle. The giant beast wasted little time sinking its incisor-like teeth into the hopeless Katarn; its fatally poisonous bite instantly overtook the unlucky creature as it began to consume the Katarn whole. "Time to go" remarked Owen.
The monstrous beast wasn't finished however as it immediately turned its attention to a fleeing Owen Sun snapping its large, jagged teeth at him, he rolled out of the way as it tried crushing him with its rigidly, long legs. "R4, start the ship!" yelled Owen as he continued to dodge the Urnsori'is legs.
Growing impatient the Urnsori'is let out another ear shattering squeal not used to its prey putting up much of a fight. The Jedi Starfighter slowly ascended, R4 kept the ship in range for his Master to jump for. Just as the Urnsori'is had Owen cornered next to a wroshyr tree he leapt as high as he could with the Force and caught the end of the Starfighters wing, pulling himself up and into the cockpit the Urnsori'is snapped at Owens dangling foot just missing it. "Alright R4, let's get out of here" he said in relief as the defeated Urnsori'is let out one last squeal at its escaped prey.
Owen quickly took the ship high and into Kashyyyk's orbit, scanning for any signs of the Jedi Assassin he hoped it wasn't too late, but it was, the Assassin was long gone. "Blast it, he got away" he cursed.
Suddenly a volley of green plasma connected with the wing of his Jedi Starfighter, collecting himself from the fierce jolt of the surprise attack he figured there was no way on Coruscant it could be the Jedi Assassin. "Nah, couldn't be" he thought.
Owen was surprised to say the least as the sleekly, silver plated Apparition uncloaked firing on all cylinders towards his ship. "By the stars he's still here" he stated in disbelief.
He didn't have much time to get himself organized as the Assassins ship let loose with four proton torpedoes; Owen dipped the nose of his Starfighter taking him into a steep dive but the torpedoes were already locked onto his ship, one way or another they were going to hit something. "This is where the fun begins" stated Owen reengaging himself.
Owen had to think fast as the proton torpedoes were gaining. "R4 I need you to fire the spare part canisters" he ordered frantically.
With a sudden jerk the parts ejected from his Jedi Starfighter, following their target trajectory the torpedoes converged on the scattered fragments and exploded violently. Owen received a fierce jolt for his trouble.
Coming back around the northern orbit of Kashyyyk he couldn't quite believe what his sensors were telling him, the Jedi Assassin was gone. "What?" he said irritated. "Where did he go?"
His ship never went to hyperspace and there was no record of him landing anywhere, it was as if he disappeared. Owen furrowed his blond eyebrows wondering what to do next. "(Sigh) Well R4, I'm not sure what we do next" stated Owen both confused and agitated.
He sat there for what seemed like forever. "Well I can't just sit here, I better make another pass" he thought.
Suddenly it hit him. "Wait a parsec" he recalled.
Owen was so focused on the Assassin he blindly forgot about his ships advanced cloaking device, it had jammed his radar and sensors while all the while lining itself up for a perfect shot. His Starfighters radar suddenly bleeped back online, the Assassin was right on top of him. "There he is R4, coming in at two ten" he confirmed.
Uncloaking The Apparitions rapid-firing laser cannons let loose an array of fire, Owens Jedi senses kicked in as he evaded most of the well-planned assault. He couldn't avoid all of it though; one of his rear thrusters had been knocked out. "Boy those laser cannons sure do pack a punch" remarked Owen.
Even as his ship began to go critical he could still fly on the one thruster. "R4 see what you can do, another hit like that and we'll be a floating bullseye" he commented.
With his Starfighter in a precarious state he couldn't very well continue dogfighting the Assassins superior ship, he needed to think of a plan fast or he'd be space dust. Careening around one of Kashyyyk's moons another melee of plasma fire connected with his hull. "Augh, can't keep this up much more" he thought.
Running out of time and space Owen then thought of an idea, it was risky but he didn't have much choice. As the Assassins ship came around again he hit his Starfighters breaks completely surprising The Apparition letting it go by. With a clear line of fire Owen wasted no time opening up with all his twin-barrel laser cannons could muster, the sudden barrage was a success piercing his shields, the Assassins engines were a mess. The two seemed to switch places now as the desperate maneuver by Owen had worked, the Assassin couldn't continue the fight needing to land for repairs. Unexpectedly the ship cloaked, then in an instant rocketed to hyperspace, but before he departed the Assassin left a little surprise for the pesky Jedi. "Enjoy these Jedi" said the cold voice of the Assassins helmet voicebox.
It didn't take long for Owen to realize that the Assassin was gone, he had escaped…again. "For galaxy's sake he got away, please tell me you got his hyperspace coordinates R4" he wondered.
Relieved his R4 droid beeped that he had them. "Good, we'll have to follow him" replied Owen.
But just as Owen was about to lock back into his Starfighters hyperspace ring his R4 droid suddenly began whistling and beeping erratically. "What do you mean?" asked Owen confused.
Suddenly a large circular mine exploded next to the wing of his Starfighter! "What in space was that?" asked Owen in a panic.
In a long series of beeps, toots and whistles his R4 droid explained their precarious situation. The Assassin had left a field of seeker mines behind, if he made any attempt to jump to hyperspace or even power up his Starfighter the mines would track and destroy his ship. "Great, now what?" he wondered.
Not wanting to draw in any more mines Owen powered down his Starfighter. "I'll give that Assassin something he is crafty" he stated perplexed.
Almost an hour passed and Owen was still stuck floating aimlessly. "C'mon Sun, think, think what would Master Arca do?" he thought.
It wasn't just figuring a way out, his air was almost gone and with no life support he would soon freeze to death in the coldness of space. Owen had to think of something or he'd soon be a frozen corpse.
But then looking out his cockpit window Owen noticed one of the moons of Kashyyyk, he suddenly thought of a dangerous idea, the moon seemed in range enough for his intended plan. Normally Owen wouldn't risk the life of anything even an unimportant moon on a backwater planet but these were extenuating circumstances, he had to go after that Assassin. "Alright R4, get ready to power up the ship" he ordered.
The droid moaned for his safety. "Don't worry, I have a plan" assured Owen.
With a slight flicker the engines came back online, Owen didn't waste any time he immediately darted towards the Kashyyyk moon. Checking his scanners it was working, the whole field was right behind him but was fast gaining, to his fortune several of the mines exploded upon entering the moons small atmosphere. Still, more than a few were right on his tail and it would only take one of the large circular mines to destroy his ship.
The moon looked almost like a clone of Kashyyyk as Owen passed over a large mountain face, he didn't have much of a choice as the remaining mines were gaining. Turning back around he brought himself in lower nearly grazing the top of the wroshyr forest. "Hang on R4, this is gonna be close" warned Owen.
Plunging towards the mountain head-on Owen pulled up just inches from his own demise, but his plan worked what remained of the deadly minefield smashed into the mountain face turning it into a fireball. Owen careened past the decimated mountain as flames ripped across its surface from the powerful explosion. "So much for diplomatic immunity" said Owen sarcastically.
He promptly took his Jedi Starfighter back into space and locked into his hyperdrive ring punching in the correct coordinates. "Looks like we're home free R4"
With a sudden jerk they shot to hyperspace following the Assassins route, the Force only knew where they were headed as they soared through the endless stars of space…