Shadow of the Jedi
Chapter 8: The Hunt for a Hutt and meeting a sociopathic droid
It had been four days after the attack on the Senate and everything had gone back to normal, well, almost everything, apart from the fact that Nico has been researching about the Bounty Hunter, Cad Bane, ever since he got back to the Jedi Temple, from going into the Temple archives to asking around different Jedi on their experience with the Bounty Hunter.
Ahsoka told Nico her experience with the Bounty Hunter, apparently Bane had once snuck into the Temple and stole a Jedi holocron, but this certain holocron could crack a Jedi information crystal known as the Kyber crystal, which contains information, listing all Force-sensitive children in the galaxy; the future of the Jedi Order.
Anakin and Ahsoka tracked down, Jedi knight, Ropal, the keeper of the Kyber crystal, to the Devaron system. Unfortunately Bane was there first, with an entire fleet of Separatist frigates under his command, Nico was confused about that part, Dooku had never informed Nico about lending an entire fleet to a Bounty Hunter, which really irritated him, Nico was supposed to be the Commander of the entire Separatist army, yet Dooku didn't inform him of this? Anyway, Bane had killed Ropal and eventually kidnapped Ahsoka forcing Skywalker to open the holocron in order to save her. Nico was pissed when he heard about Bane hurting Ahsoka, but what put the cherry on top was when she told him that Bane kidnapped little kids, that were almost experimented on to be turned into what he used to be, a disciple of the Sith.
Nico knew that if he wanted to take Bane down he had to respect him, meaning he will not treat Bane like a minor annoyance, but as a real threat.
When Nico heard that the Jedi were sending Obi-Wan on the mission to find Ziro the Hutt, he wanted in immediately, wherever Ziro was, the Bounty Hunter wouldn't be too far behind. Kenobi agreed to bring Nico with him as long as he remembers that the mission isn't about revenge against the Bounty Hunter. Kenobi had told Nico that another Jedi was going to come with them, by the name of Quinlan Vos.
Master Kenobi and Nico arrived on the landing pad outside of the Temple where Commander Cody was waiting for them, "Commander, has Vos arrived yet?" Nico asks.
"Not yet sir, but I have been told he will arrive shortly." Cody replied.
Nico just sighed and glanced at Obi-Wan, who was rubbing his beard warily, something was troubling him. Apparently Cody picked up on it as well.
"Sir, you seem troubled." The Commander stated.
Kenobi just sighed, "Quinlan Vos has that affect."
"Ah yes, that Jedi has quite a reputation." Cody stated, slight amusement in his voice.
"You may be overstating it Cody, let's just say that he's a bit, um, well, crazy." Obi-Wan said, a grimace finding its way on his face.
"Crazy?" Nico questioned, he had heard a few things about Quinlan Vos, he's even met him once when he 'defected' and joined the Separatist's, if only to spy on them. Nico had told Dooku to not trust him but he wouldn't listen, if it wasn't for Nico, Dooku would have died by Quinlan's blade.
"Let's just say the things he does or his methods of working aren't exactly, well, normal." Kenobi stated, Nico rolled his eyes at that. Whatever you find strange, I find amusing.
"Ship entry from the west sir." Cody reported as he pointed to the horizon, a gunship heading their way.
Nico looked up and saw a gunship hovering just above them, it was so close that the dust from the landing pad was going all over the place, including on the two Jedi and Clone. Nico saw a man on the edge of the ship who pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked down upon the three, Nico couldn't get a good look at the man because it was just his silhouette, "Hey Kenobi." The man said in a voice that sounded somewhat like a hippie and a skater put together. The man jumped off of the ship, doing a little flip, before landing, giving Nico a good look at him.
His outfit was indeed different from any of the other Jedi Knights Nico had met, he didn't really have any sleeves on his robes, his armour colour was black while his robes were a sort of dark creamy colour. Vos had long black dreadlocked hair and a band of pale yellow paint across his upper face, signifying his race as Kiffar who are gifted with psychometric powers which allow him to 'Read memories' from inanimate objects through physical contact.
Vos smirked at Cody, "Hey Commander looking good." Vos said as he walked toward the three. He then turned his head toward Obi-Wan, "Kenobi you look worse for ware. How's temple life?" He asked slapping the negotiator on the shoulder good naturedly, but Kenobi just seemed annoyed by the action and shoved the hand off, "Good to see you too."
"Yes, well, if you could tell time half as well as you can stick a landing we wouldn't be behind schedule, now would we?" Obi-Wan asked rhetorically, irritated by Vos' laid back attitude.
"Well that's your opinion man…" The Jedi trailed off with a smirk, his eyes then landed on Nico, "Who's the kid?"
Nico raised an eyebrow, while Kenobi sighed, "Do you ever listen to the debriefings the council sends you?" Vos just gave Kenobi a blank look, as if to say 'is that a serious question?' "He's R-" He didn't get to finish as Nico interrupted him.
"Nico Di Angelo, it is a pleasure to meet you Master Vos." Nico said while bowing his head in respect, he didn't want Vos to know who he used to be, they used to be rivals and fought against each other to try and become the High Commander of the Separatist army, plus he's getting really irritated about the fact that whenever someone doesn't recognise him, the Jedi always introduce him as Reaper.
Kenobi looked slightly miffed at being interrupted while Vos just looked amused, "The pleasures all mine kid, but are you sure you can handle this mission? It's going to be a little dangerous."
Nico's left eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "I can handle myself, besides it can't be as hard as you showing off you're, oh so great, acrobatics." Nico said sarcastically, this time it was Vos' turn to looked miffed and Kenobi's turn to look amused.
He then laughed and slapped Nico on the shoulder, "Nice one kid, I guess I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, you do have spunk after all." Vos states, who didn't seem to care about the insult thrown at him.
"All right then, if you two are done bonding, we need to get down to business." Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes, "Ziro the Hutt was broken out during a hostage takeover."
"Yeah, I heard the briefing about that mess." Vos states proudly, as if it was a great accomplishment.
Nico snorted, "Yeah, I kind of noticed that as well when I was knocked out by a bunch of Bounty Hunters." Nico said, Kenobi glared at him but said nothing. The three Jedi started walking toward the transport ship that was on the landing pad, leaving the Clone Commander behind.
"Well," Vos continues when Obi-Wan stopped talking, "my information indicates that Ziro has damaging evidence against the Hutt council. My guess is they've taken him to the Hutt home planet of Nal Hutta."
"I suspect Jabba the Hutt is behind this. He still has it out for Ziro after the kidnapping of his son." Obi-Wan said. Nico remembered that one, he had outright refused when Dooku ordered him to kidnap Rotta the Hutt, Nico may be a lot of things, but he never hurts children, even if it was a Hutt.
"So the Hutts break Ziro out of jail so that he can give them this evidence against the Hutt council, huh?" Nico asks with a raised eyebrow, not entirely surprised about the Hutts selfish reasoning.
"That's right kid, with the info Ziro has, the Hutts will do whatever it takes to make sure it doesn't fall into the hands of the Republic." Quinlan said.
"Even hiring Bounty Hunters like Cad Bane, who would hold a Senate building and a bunch of Senators hostage, just too free Ziro." Nico stated with a roll of his eyes, his dislike for the Hutts ever increasing, never the less, Nico would be foolish if he underestimated the slug like creatures.
"Speaking of Bane, we must capture and return he, and his quarry Ziro to the courts. I trust you and I can keep eyes forward in this common goal?" Obi-Wan asks Vos, who just smirked.
"No problem, I owe Bane one anyway." Vos said, in a slightly dark tone, then his cheerful attitude came back, "I'll fly, Kenobi, you can be my co-pilot and you kid can keep an eye on the scanners if we run into trouble." Vos said as he ran up the ramp of the ship.
"I was afraid he'd say that." Kenobi sighed as he walked up the ramp, Nico hot on his heels.
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As the three Jedi closed in on the planet of Nal Hutta, they started to prepare themselves for a very strange encounter with the Hutt council.
"I hate Hutts," Nico muttered dejectedly, he's only ever met one Hutt in his life and that one time was enough for him.
"Don't worry about it kid," Vos reassures, "This mission won't take long. Just leave everything to us."
Kenobi raises an eyebrow, "Let's try things my way first," He says warily, "Then if things don't go well, we'll try it your way."
Vos just sighs in disappointment, "Fine, if you want to do things the boring way." Nico smirked, I guess there were a few things about Vos that I missed. Vos then turned to Nico, "If you want to hang around me, instead of this old coot," Vos says gesturing toward Kenobi, who looked completely affronted by the 'old coot' remark. "I won't mind."
Nico just chuckles, "Tempting, but I think in the Jedi Order, when it comes to a Master and a Padawan doing a mission together, there can only be one mature Jedi and one immature one. And sorry to say this, Master Vos, but I don't think it would be good if I'm the mature one." Nico says, receiving a look of surprise from Quinlan and a smirk from Kenobi.
Quinlan turned back to the ships controls, the surprise of Nico's comment wearing off, "You're good with words kid, I'll give you that."
Nico smirked slightly, "Thanks."
When the ship landed, Nico walked behind Kenobi and Vos as they entered the Hutt council chambers. Nico looked around and saw some dancing Twi'leks wearing some sort of strange headwear that looked suspiciously like a Hutt's head. As soon as the three Jedi entered, the music stopped and everyone, including the droids, were looking right at them. Nico looked at the Hutt council, and nearly gagged. They were indeed ugly, so ugly Nico couldn't tell their gender apart, they also didn't look happy to see them. Nico kept his mouth shut, he wasn't much of a negotiator, he would leave that part of the mission with Kenobi.
One of the Hutts spoke in their native tongue, which none of the Jedi could understand, luckily there was a translator droid to help. "How goes the war gentleman?" it asks in an emotionless voice, to which Nico rolled his eyes at, take a wild guess.
"Great Gardulla," Kenobi started, "We bring unfortunate news, Ziro the Hutt has escaped Republic custody, with the aid of the Bounty Hunter Cad Bane." Nico looked around, he could sense something eerily familiar, but he was also distracted by the fact that half of the Twi'lek dancers were eyeing him up, as if he was a piece of meat, Gods, I can take on an entire army with my mind, but when a girl starts looking at me in a funny way my senses become all nutty. Nico thinks to himself as he quietly groans gaining the attention of Vos, who noticed the eyeing girl's, and chuckles slightly, earning a glare from Nico.
Kenobi ignores the two Jedi's interaction and listens to what the droid translates, "The great Gardulla already knows this Jedi Knights." The droid translated.
"I'm beginning to think you're the ones who broke him out." Quinlan said casually, gaining several glares from the Hutts and Kenobi, but Gardulla seemed completely at ease.
"And why would the great Hutt family do such a thing?" The droid translated for Gardulla.
"That's what I would like to know," Quinlan snapped, Kenobi put a hand on Vos' shoulder to calm him down.
"Quinlan," Kenobi whispers warningly, "The Hutts are our allies."
As Gardulla began to speak again, Quinlan looked over towards where Nico was standing and saw something behind one of the staring Twi'lek dancers. It was a cup. Vos walked over to it and picked it up. Nico looked over at Vos to see what he was doing, until the droid started translating. "Mighty Gardulla says, you are lucky to be with a Jedi as wise as Kenobi, or you might not leave here alive." As the droid said this Vos continued to examine the cup, Nico didn't know what he was doing, but it was apparently important.
"Maybe next time I'll come alone." Vos says as he gives the cup to one of the stewardess droids.
Kenobi decided to intervene before a full out fight takes place, "We only came to deliver the message, we shall be leaving now." Obi-Wan said as the three Jedi began to walk out of the room. The music began to play as the three began to leave.
"Ziro was here, he was holding one of those cups." Quinlan states, making Nico blink, Oh yeah, I forgot, his race can read memories from inanimate objects, ha, no need to use the Force there.
"Nice work." Kenobi said.
"Best guess," Nico started, "they probably put Ziro in one of their holding cells, the most likely place would be the lower levels." He states as the three of them left the room. Unbeknownst to them, an in particular Bounty Hunter wearing a wide brimmed hat came out of the shadows in the corner, taking a cup from one of the servant droids and started drinking, while watching the three Jedi leave.
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The three Jedi went down into the lower levels of the Hutt council's palace as they came across the holding cells, two Gammorean guards lay dead on the floor with the doors to the cells open. Obi-Wan ran into the room seeing one of the cell doors open and empty. Ziro was gone.
"Vos, Nico, it looks like Ziro escaped." Obi-Wan said, stating the obvious.
"I think he had help." Vos stated, as he tried to remember bits and pieces of the memories of the, um, cup.
"Then we better hurry and catch up to him before he tries to get off world." Nico said as all three Jedi ran out of the room to get out of the palace, but Nico couldn't help but notice the wounds on the Gammorean guards as they ran out, those are sword wounds, who uses swords nowadays?
A few minutes later, three of the Hutt council members came down to find Ziro was gone, leaving them to believe the Jedi did this. Until a familiar Duros Bounty Hunter showed up. "I disagree, the Jedi aren't the ones that broke Ziro out of jail. He was gone way before they arrived. It looks like we're right back to where we started." Bane said with his droid assistant, Todo, floating next to him.
Todo was a small droid, probably smaller than an astromech, it was a techno-service droid. It had small rockets strapped to its feet so it could float for a period of time.
Gardulla spoke to Bane in his native tongue, fortunately for Bane, he understood it (Unfortunately for you, I didn't). "I'm getting tired of being paid for this job too, but not that tired. If you Hutts ain't interested in knowing who is behind this and making it go away I can take a hint." Bane said as he turned to leave, until Gardulla stopped him telling him something in her native tongue, "So we doing business or not?" Bane questioned, a malicious smirk finding it way upon his features.
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In the swamp of Nal Hutta, Nico and Obi-Wan were following Vos, who was using his inherited tracking abilities from his people to hunt down Ziro, jumping from branch to branch, while listening to Kenobi's constant ranting.
"I can understand you're tracking talent." Kenobi concedes, as he continues to argue with Vos. "But why wouldn't Ziro leave the planet? Why not just fly away?" Obi-Wan questions as the three Jedi stop to catch their breath.
Nico rolled his eyes, they never stop arguing. Once he tried to put in his point that they could off asked one of the nice Gammorean guards if they could use a speeder, and when Nico means ask, he means scare the guard until he pisses his pants. But that idea was quickly taken away when Vos suddenly started jumping away in a seemingly random direction.
"My senses," Vos starts, "tell me that he is still here." Care to expand on your, oh so descriptive, answer?
"Yes, but why would he stay here, I've gotta agree with Kenobi on this one, Ziro knows he's being looked for here, so why stay here?" Nico questioned.
"Something is keeping him here." Vos says as he feels the soil beneath him.
Nico groans in frustration, "I may be a Jedi, but that doesn't mean that I understand your cryptic answers."
Kenobi sighed in frustration, "If we brought a droid this would go faster." Nico's eyes suddenly widened, and he used the Force to push Obi-Wan forward, just as a giant serpent tried to attack him, unfortunately for Nico he was caught by the serpent in a coil, preventing him from reaching his lightsaber, he couldn't use lightning or fire because Vos would notice the uniqueness of the colour and power, so he had to sit tight for now.
Obi-Wan activated his lightsaber and cut the serpents tail, causing it to loosen its grip on Nico, the Ghost King broke free as it tried to bite him, just as it nearly ate him whole Nico grabbed its mouth and pushed it away, he then punched it in the face, with the aide of the Force, so hard it fell unconscious.
Kenobi walked up to Nico, "Thank you."
The Ghost King merely shrugged, "Don't mention it."
"Hey!" the two Jedi turned to the voice that just shouted, the voice belonging to a slightly irritated Quinlan Vos, "Are you two done messing around? We're trying to catch Ziro remember?"
This made Nico's eyebrow twitch, he still has his charm. "Which way have they gone?" Kenobi asked.
Vos raised an eyebrow, "Well, since you're suddenly so interested in my tracking abilities," Vos said as he pointed to the west, "he went this way."
"Oh," Kenobi says lamely, "I never doubted you." He said, as the three Jedi headed in the direction Vos pointed out.
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Meanwhile Bane was on a swamp speeder, with Todo driving, headed toward the lead that Gardulla had given him.
"Todo!" Bane shouted over the hum of the swamp speeders engine, "How far ahead are the Jedi?" The Bounty Hunter asks.
The droid turned its head toward Bane slightly, "I don't know" It said.
Bane sighed in frustration, "This is the last time I take one of these jobs."
What Bane didn't know was that the Jedi had spotted him, and were following him.
Nico's eyes narrowed at the retreating swamp speeder, "Bane."
Kenobi rubs his beard thoughtfully, "It looks like we aren't the only ones after Ziro."
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It took the Jedi longer than anticipated to reach their destination, but once they did, the only thing that greeted them was a big, dome like, house in the middle of the swamp. The three Jedi jumped over the murky swamp water and on to the houses porch.
"We must be cautious." Obi-Wan warned, as he glances around for any traps, but apparently Vos doesn't know the first thing about manners.
Quinlan approached the circular door and activated his green lightsaber, he cut the door and kicked it down. "Vos, somebody lives here." Kenobi said, disapprovingly, while Nico just looks amused. The three Jedi entered the house, and Nico was quick to cover his nose, what's that smell! As Vos turned a corner something was thrown at him, and he ducked before it hit him, much to the annoyance of Nico, damn it, hit him next time.
"Smells like somebody died in here." Vos states, as he too covered his nose from the horrible stench.
"Break in my house, will you?" An angry deep voice came from the other end of the room that they were in. Nico looked over to where the voice came from and literally gagged at what he saw. It was a Hutt, but way bigger, Nico doubted that he would be able to fit the Hutt in the back of the Twilight. The Hutt had several large parasites crawling all over its body.
Nico tried to go for the more respectful approach, because they did after all knock his door down, "Thousand pardons sir, my friend here hasn't yet mastered the concept of knocking. For that I apologise." But that just seemed to piss it off even more.
"I'm a woman!" The Hutt exclaims, making Nico's eyes go wide and slowly turn toward Vos.
"That's a woman?" Nico whispered, but Vos seemed to be just as miffed as Nico.
"And you." The Hutt said, while pointing at Kenobi, "I've got trouble with you as well Mr. Fancy pants."
Kenobi just shakes his head, "No need, we're not here to harm you."
This seemed to amuse the giant Hutt, "That'll be a first of the night."
Nico raised an eyebrow, "Meaning?" he asked.
"Meaning, first my deadbeat son and his creepy friend sponge me off of my starship. Then some slime sap and his droid come in and threaten me to give up the skinny on where Ziro was heading!" The Hutt exclaimed, Nico raised an eyebrow at the 'Slime sap' part.
"Big Hat?" Nico questions.
"Yeah, Chad something or other, he's out for blood." The Hutt then frowns, "You want to kill my little boy to?!" The Hutt questions angrily.
Kenobi was quick to interject before either Vos or Nico, where both would have just said 'Depends', "No, ma'am, but if we don't find him before Bane does, your son will not be so lucky."
After a moments silence the giant Hutt spoke, "Teth. Ziro's heading for Teth."
Vos turned to Kenobi and Nico, "We need to get to that jungle planet and we need to get there fast." He said, the two Jedi nodded and started running out of the house ignoring the Hutts complaints of 'Who was going to fix her door?'
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The three Jedi soon found themselves upon Teth, and headed toward one of the many giant mountains, but this one was different, because surrounding the small mountain was thousands of little pillars, a homing beacon was being projected from that mountain. Once they landed and the Jedi were headed down the ramp, Nico decided to voice his thoughts.
"Don't you think that it is slightly suspicious that a homing beacon is here? I mean come on, it's obviously a trap?" Nico said incredulously, Vos turned his head in Nico's direction, and smirked.
"Yeah, that's why we're here to spring the trap." Nico just rolls his eyes as they make there way to a cliff edge and jump down, only to find two dead Hutt bodies.
One was a mummification of a Hutt, while the other was quite obviously Ziro, it had the same wound that the dead Gammoreans had back at the prison cells on Nal Hutta.
Nico frowns, "Who could have done this?" He questioned, but as he asked that he sensed something off, he quickly turned around only to be face to face with the infamous Bounty Hunter, Cad Bane, and his little droid. The three Jedi quickly grabbed there lightsabers, but didn't ignite them, Nico was scowling. "Bane." He spat out.
"It looks like we are both too late for the party." Bane said, gesturing toward the body of Ziro, making Nico's eyes narrow.
"So this ain't you're handy work?" Nico questioned.
Bane looked at him incredulously, "Do you see a sword hanging from my hip?" He then calmly looks at Kenobi, "Doesn't seem much sense hanging around here. I'm not making any trouble between us." It was the Jedi's turn to have incredulous looks.
"Are you forgetting how you held the Senate hostage?" Nico questioned, "Ha ha, I may not be capturing Ziro, but you are going to prison." Nico says with utmost certainty.
Bane seemed to mull this over, "Well, now that you mention it, the Separatists are paying a million credits a head for a Jedi, and ten million for Reapers." Bane says as he reaches for his two blasters, the Jedi doing the same with their lightsabers.
Bane made the first shot, as he ran in the opposite direction of the Jedi shooting at them. All three Jedi blocked the shots and went after him. Nico shook his head, you're an idiot Bane, you are clearly outnumbered and outmatched.
Bane jumped on some boulders and began to climb, the Jedi right behind him, as the Jedi jumped to the next boulder Bane through something at Vos, tying his legs up and making him fall. Obi-Wan and Nico ran towards Bane as he jumped over the edge falling to another pillar while shooting at them, Nico jumped over Bane to the next pillar, trying to cut him off, and swung his lightsaber, but, much to Nico's utter confusion, Bane retreated back, making him miss, damn his reflexes are good.
As Nico tried recompose himself on the small pillar, Bane used the distraction to his advantage and kicked Nico off of the pillar, with him falling even further down. Nico quickly grabbed the ledge off the cliff and looked up, only to see Kenobi hanging on to the cliff edge as well, and Vos fighting Bane.
Bane tried to shoot Quinlan but he blocked his blaster shots, but Vos didn't notice Banes droid, Todo, coming up behind him, and grabbing his hair. Bane slid underneath Vos, tripped him and, while Vos was still falling from the trip, kicked him towards the next pillar, dropping his lightsaber a few metres from Bane.
Soon enough, both, Nico and Kenobi got back up to the top of the cliff, Kenobi jumped over to Bane and kicked one of his blasters out of his hand and kicked him over the edge of the cliff.
As he did this Todo tried to grab Vos's lightsaber, but didn't get too far as Nico jumped from the pillar he was on, and used the Force to push the droid away. Nico gave the saber to Kenobi just as Bane came out of where he fell with the aid of his jet boots. He flew up and continued to shoot at Obi-Wan, one of the blaster shots Kenobi deflected went right back to Bane, and knocked his other blaster out of his hand, his primary weapons were gone.
Bane quickly shot two darts from his wrist rocket, both of which were deflected by Kenobi. Bane tried to escape, but Nico jumped over and cut him off. The two Jedi and Bounty Hunter were all on a large column, both Jedi were cutting Bane off from an escape route.
Bane deactivated his jet boots, and ran for Kenobi, the Jedi swung one of the lightsabers he had in his hand, but unfortunately, Bane merely ducked and grabbed the ankle of Obi-Wan, he then pressed a button on the device on his wrist, electrocuting Kenobi into unconsciousness. Once Kenobi was knocked out Bane reached down and grabbed Vos's lightsaber, activating it, and looked at Nico with a smirk, while Nico just narrowed his eyes. Those idiots! He thought to himself, they underestimated him, hopefully I won't make the same mistake.
"Guess it's just you and me Bane." Nico said, as he got in his usual reverse grip stance.
"You're not going to be much of a challenge Padawan," Bane said, a massive smirk on his face, "I just defeated two knights, I think I can take you on." Nico just chuckles at that, irritating the Bounty Hunter, "What's so funny?"
Nico just shakes his head, "I think you're forgetting one very important detail," Bane just raise's an eyebrow as Nico smirked darkly, "There's a reason on how I've lived so long with a price that big on my head."
At that, Bane seemed to lose some of his confidence, so he reached into his trench coat and pulled out a thermal detonator and threw it at The Ghost King, making Nico roll his eyes as he ran forward, toward the Bounty Hunter.
As the two lightsabers clashed the sound of the thermal detonator going off woke up the unconscious Quinlan Vos.
Bane thrusted the lightsaber at Nico's abdomen, but the Ghost King quickly side stepped, and used the Force to push Bane toward the end of the pillar, dropping Vos's lightsaber.
Bane quickly got up and dodged the swipe that Nico made, he then quickly kicked Nico's lightsaber out of his hand and kicked the son of Hades in the gut, sending him flying.
As Nico got back up, Bane charged and tried to punch him in the face, but Nico quickly grabbed the fist and lit his entire hand on fire, making Bane scream in pain.
What Nico didn't notice was that Todo was coming up behind him and landed on his head, covering the Ghost Kings eyes.
"What the Hades!" Nico exclaimed, as he let go of Bane and tried to peel the droid off of his face.
Bane reeled back, holding his now burnt fist in pain, he then looked back at the Jedi in front of him and grabbed Nico's wrist, the Ghost King froze from his struggling, and Bane smirked as he pressed the button on his wrist device and started electrocuting Nico once Todo got off of him.
Nico closed his eyes tightly, groaned in pain, he didn't want to scream and give Bane the satisfaction, and got on one knee.
Bane was smiling at his own work, I new buying this thing was a good idea. But then something happened, Nico's eyes opened and when Bane looked into them, he couldn't help the shiver of sheer terror that went through his spine.
The whites of Nico's eyes were no longer there, instead they were completely black, the son of Hades's hands were clenched into fists, and the shadows around the two began to darken and thicken, which did not go unnoticed by the Bounty Hunter.
Nico slowly began to get up and used his free hand to grab the Bounty Hunters free arm. Bane had a look of sheer terror, never had he run across something like this. Once Nico was fully standing, with Bane still trying to shock Nico into submission, he used the last of his strength and head butted Bane right in the nose, and knee him in the groin. Both of them fell to the floor, Nico because of the fight he put up, and Bane because of the pain that no man should ever endure was coursing through him.
The whites of Nico's eyes came back and he saw both Kenobi and Vos running up to them, and before he blacked out, Nico had one thought on his mind.
I almost feel sorry for Bane.
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The three Jedi were back on Coruscant, Bane was in Republic custody, and Nico was prepared to fall asleep straight away, but something still bothered him.
Apparently it was kind of obvious, cause Kenobi asked, "Nico, are you alright?"
The Ghost King nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just that this mission didn't exactly turn out as well as I thought it would."
"What do you mean?" Vos questioned, "Thanks to you, Bane is now in Republic custody."
"I know, I know," Nico concedes, "It's just, Ziro is dead and we don't even know who killed him and whomever killed him has incredibly valuable info." Nico said with a scowl, as he remembers the sword wounds on the Gammoreans and the purple Hutt.
Vos sighs, "Okay, so maybe we failed our major mission objective, so what? You can't win them all kid." He tries to reassure, but it didn't really help matters.
"At least we got Bane," Kenobi said, "that has got to mean something."
Nico smirked slightly, "Yeah, I guess it does." Only then does he notice an angry Windu walking up to them.
"What did you do?" The Jedi Master questioned.
"What are you talking about?" Vos asked confused.
Windu held up a recording chip, "Why did the Jedi Temple just get a fine of one thousand credits over a single door from the mother of the Hutts?" Windu questioned.
Nico smirks slightly, "Well, I'll leave this in the capable hands of Master Vos, are you coming Master Kenobi?" Nico questioned as he walked past Windu.
"Yes, I think I will." Kenobi answered, amusement ringing in his voice. But just as the two Jedi were about to enter the Temple another ship started to land, Nico turned around, and noticed it to be the Twilight, AKA Skywalker's piece of junk he calls a ship.
Once the ship landed, the doors opened to reveal three figures, the first two figures Nico made out were Anakin and Ahsoka, the third figure was, much to Nico's dismay, a droid.
Nico didn't notice that Vos, Windu and Kenobi had walked into the Temple by now and watched as the two Jedi and droid walked up to him.
"Where have you guys been?" Nico asks with a raised eyebrow.
Skywalker shrugged, "We were searching for a lead on Mustafar on where this Darth Tyranus guy is, but we came up empty handed."
Nico blinked once in surprise and twice as he thought of Skywalker's stupidity, "You know you could've asked me, right? I was once a Sith too you know?"
"That's what I said?!" Ahsoka exclaimed, "But no, apparently, you wouldn't know anything." She said the last part in a pretty bad imitation of Skywalker's voice.
Anakin glared at her, he then turned his head back to Nico, an eager glint in his eye, "Alright, could you tell us?"
Nico raised an eyebrow, "You seriously don't know?" The two both shook their heads, "Its Count Dooku." Nico says like it was obvious, "I would think it's kind of obvious, what with the fact that he has a red lightsaber, spouts lightning from his hand and is leading a damn war against the Republic."
Anakin sighed, "I knew it," at the look he was getting from Nico he explained, "Most of the Council didn't believe that Dooku would fully turn his back on the Jedi Order, but now, with you as evidence, it must be believed that Dooku is in fact Tyranus."
Nico shakes his head, Why are the Jedi so stubborn? He then looks at the droid, "I didn't think you would try and replace me so soon." The Ghost King said dryly.
Ahsoka snorted, "Not yet, we found this thing on Mustafar, Skyguy here wanted to bring it back with him, so here we are."
Nico looks at Anakin with a blank face, who in return was smiling sheepishly. He then got a good look at the droid.
The droid was armoured in rust coloured plating and stood much taller than Nico, it was roughly around 1.8 metres tall. Red photoreceptors emitted from the droids head, adding an element of deadliness to the being. To the common person, it looked like the personification of death, an instrument of Chaos. It was ironic, for that was what the droid loved to do the most. The droids appearance was closely identical to a protocol droid, but that didn't fool Nico.
Nico feels slightly cautious about this droid as he recognises the make. An assassin droid, Hmmm, looks like a HK unit, old but very effective, I heard that they stopped producing this droid after the Jedi civil war. Nico nearly smirks at his thoughts, sometimes it's a good thing to know so much about droids.
"Designation?" Nico asked the droid.
"Designation: I am HK-47 meatbag." Nico's eyebrows rose into his hair in surprise as Anakin and Ahsoka try not to laugh, the droid then turned its head toward Anakin, "Query: Master can I kill this meatbag so I can cheer everyone up? Explanation: His presence is rather depressing."
Charming.
I know what your all thinking, why did I bring HK in? Reason? Because I like him and the fact that I can do whatever I want with this story helps as well. To all of you people who don't know who HK-47 is, here is a short explanation:
He was basically an assassin droid created by Darth Revan in the Old Republic, this droid is well known mostly because of its love to kill 'Meatbags', if you ever read a comic or novel about the old Republic or play on the game 'Knights of the old Republic' he'll probably be the funniest character. His primary function is to kill and that's it. The only person he would respect is his master (which for now is Anakin) and anyone he asks it to respect. So he'll probably call Nico 'Meatbag' or something like that all the way through my stories.
Anyway, yes I know that I said that I will not be updating on the next chapter for a while, but I couldn't help myself, I mean, I wanted to get this stuff with Ziro out of the way so I don't have anything clogging my mind.
This is not the last you'll hear of Cad Bane though, I assure you of that.
I'm thinking of changing the name of this story, cause season two itself was more about Bounty Hunters then it was about Jedi, so be prepared for that.
Next up, Nico, HK-47 and Ahsoka go to Mandalore where they have to teach cadets about pacifism-
Nico: WHAT?! DID YOU JUST SAY PACIFISM?
HK-47: Commentary: It is our lot in life to do the bidding of our Masters, Meatbag. Query: Shall we find something to kill to cheer ourselves up?
Sure, whatever you want, just don't vaporise my readers, I need reviews, now don't interrupt me again or I'll replace you both with Percy and Leo. Now where was I? Oh yes, teaching cadets about pacifism, stop a corrupt government with the aid of children and watch as our two favourite characters in this story go on, what most would call, a date, but our two teenage Jedi call it a 'friendly outing'.
Also, the review's have just gone over my other story, 'The Exiled Ghost King' and I'm not even half way through this story, thank you everyone.
Now, onto the reviews...
HiddenHero220 chapter 9 . Feb 17
Me: Nice going Nico, the senator is an "angel from Elysium," but aren't you supposed to have a crush on Ashoka?
Nico: SHUSH! Do you want Ashoka to hear?
Ashoka: Who's an angel? And Nico has a crush on who?
Nico: *sweats nervously* Uhm, it's nothing, Ashoka. (Hiddenhero just you wait until I get my lightsaber back)
Me: EEEP! Good chapter and I'll comment next time if Nico hasn't run me through with his lightsaber by then! Gotta run and find a good hiding place!
*Smirks* Brilliant. Thanks for the compliments, I'm not entirely sure I should have done that 'Angel of Elysium' thing cause now most people think I've changed the pairings, when, in all honesty, I haven't.
king of nightmares and dragons chapter 9 . Feb 18
bane knows of Nico I can't wait to see the fight between them if it happens and that was funny when Nico called the senator that had his head in her lap if she an angel
Thank you for the compliments, hope you found the fight with Bane good enough, sorry it wasn't as long as usual fights are, but hey, the other fights are usually with Jedi or Sith.
alex chapter 9 . Feb 18
Slenderman is a popular internet horror character he has no face features and wears a black suit and can have tentacles grow out of his back to attack people. he mainly kidnaps kids or teens and either eats them kills them or lets them go it depends on weather a person likes him or not im not sure what he does. and he became famous because of the popular game called slender it is supposed to be scary look it up!
So he ain't part of PJO or Star Wars? Sorry but I wont be able to get him on then. (Also, I just played the game, I nearly pissed my pants, I've never played on a horror game.)
feelthewrathofHades chapter 1 . Feb 19
This is an amazing story, one of the best I've read. Nico calls Ahsoka 'Princess' so my nickname suggestion would be something related to that. I don't really have any constructive criticism. From what I know of Star Wars characters (very little) they're all in character.
Thank you for the compliments. A nickname related to princess? Hmmm, you mean like 'King' or 'Prince' Stuff like that?
minoke chapter 9 . 16h ago
Nick name should be monarch cause ya know, ghost king, I was playing a monarch deck in yugioh right before reading xD
Hmmm, I'm not sure, what about when they're trying to do something cute and she uses the nickname 'Monarch'? It would kind of dampen the mood wouldn't it?
Lightningscar chapter 9 . 4h ago
Finally have a little time, mood and energy to read and review.
So even Sidious is nervuos now that Nico has joined the Jedi... he should... while I still think Sidious is more powerful than Nico, Nico has potential enough to rival him... especially if a certain little goblin taught him and if Ahsoka life's was threatened.
Heh, what an interesting game... sound a little like a combination of Blackjack, Poker and Rummy... especially when you add in the strip element. Aw, jealous Nico XD Nice seeing him act a bit like a normal teenager XD Heh, and here one thouht the younglings and padawans were little saints XD
But dang, Anakin sure has bad timing... they will never get their kiss this way. And now I have the image of an very frustrated Nico and Ahsoka chasing Anakin with their lightsabres.
That Cad Bane sure was an interesting fellow, the same for his 'thugs' and that sniper and fishface. I wonder if the Separatist use those Commando droids as well?
Ah, forgetting his weapon... Nico had better not let Anakin hear of that... he would never let him live it down.
Holy Hades that Hutt was annoying. It's a wonder he hasn't gotten shut yet simply for being a nuissance.
Man, that was a nasty parting gift Cad Bane left. Not terrible original, but nasty none the less. Can't wait to see his surprise if Nico ever finds him again.
Great chapter and hope to see more soon.
Yours sincerely,
Lightningscar
Sidious is nervous, correct, but if you read carefully, you'll find out that he is even more nervous about something else, a threat to his power. I like writing that game scene with Anakin's interruption, it was amusing to write. Bane is probably the toughest to write about, Ican't tell if he feels threatened or not in any of the 'Clone Wars' episodes. Thankfully, the annoying Hutt is dead, notice the fact that Nico didn't say anything like, 'May your soul rest in Elysium'.
Well that's that, I'm also thinking of making Boba Fett a good guy, I mean if Nico can be redeemed then so can Boba, what do you guys think?
If you have any questions just ask me in the reviewers box or PM me, and I'll try my best to answer them. Please review.