Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own anything! The games and the characters in this story belong to their respective owners, not me.

Chapter 4

A small groan left Taran as he felt his eyes slowly open from unconsciousness. His vision blurred for a moment before clearing to reveal the gray colors of walls. Moving his head, Taran realized he was in a room of some kind with dim red lamps as the only source of illumination. There was a door on the far side, only some meters from him.

Taran budged his right arm, but nothing, halted by something. He tried to move the left only to meet with the same result. Then, he looked down to find himself lying on a table with hands and feet bound to it by cuffs of red energy.

Then the voices came. "The prisoner has been secured as ordered."

First, there was confusion, but it went away when Taran recalled what happened. He fought had been fighting that one Sith–the Wrath, he recalled–and he lost. Now, Taran realized what happened: he had been captured by the Sith.

A small chime rang and Taran looked up to see two figures, a Pureblooded Sith and a human woman, entering the chamber. Both of them wore black robes and carried lightsabers on their belts, letting Taran identify them as Sith. No doubt, they were to be either his interrogators or his executioners.

Both approached the captured Jedi, stopping short of the table. "Welcome Jedi," the Pureblood spoke in a deep voice. "I believe everything has been suited to your needs."

Taran raised his gaze at the Pureblood's bald head. "Where am I? Who are you?" he demanded, but the hoarseness of his voice barely made the words audible.

The human woman's pale face snarled and she backhanded Taran across his mouth. "Be silent, Jedi scum!"

The Pureblood grabbed the woman's hand. "Now, now, there is no need. The emperor does not wish him to be damaged."

As Taran blinked his vision back into clarity, he glared at the two Sith. "You won't get anything out of me!" Taran defiantly shouted before coughing.

The woman laughed at that. "We don't need information. Just you."

Again, the Jedi blinked, but out of confusion this time. His Pureblooded Sith interrogator answered, "The Emperor has taken a keen interest in you. You could be a powerful asset… if you join us."

"Never!" Taran shouted. "I'll never join you!"

The Pureblood raised his hands, which were now cracking with electricity. "We were not asking."

With that, the Pureblood Sith unleashed the Dark Side. And all Taran could do was scream.

The black boots stepped on the wet ground as Darth Tormen's men fanned out Dxun's jungles. There were over a dozen of them, clad in black armor and equipped with blaster rifles. They pushed away the lush vegetation and shot at any passing critters that came in their way.

One trooper's hand almost twitched irritably as he glanced at his comrade. "How much longer do we have to stay on this rock?"

"That depends on those Sith," was the other's calm response, not even glancing back. "Our orders were to escort them back."

The first trooper snorted, "You don't need to tell me that. But that does that mean we have to stay here in the middle of nowhere."

"Darth Tormen wanted to make sure this mission succeed," said the other, nudging his head to the side. "Besides, I don't think we'd have him around if it wasn't important."

The trooper turned and saw the edge of a small cliff not too far away from them. At the cliff was what his comrade had been talking about: a hulking figure in dull gray Mandalorian armor that covered him from head to toe.

"Bounty hunters, we don't need their scum," the trooper scowled, returning to the search.

The words did not go unnoticed by the bounty hunter, but he did not care. He just knelt down on the cliff's edge and stared down at Dxun's vast jungles. The bounty hunter could see plenty, thanks to his helmet's tracking system to locate any movement. Fortunately, he did find something, rather someone.

Down in the jungle were were two Jedi, both of them walking side by side. One, a Miraluka female, was donned in full Jedi robes while the other, a human woman, wore a simple tunic that had an orange color that clashed with the lush jungle.

Then, the bounty hunter's visor zoomed in on the Jedi's companion, who was a Trandoshan surprisingly. He looked like the typical kind: large, wearing bulky armor, and looked like he was ready for battle. But this one was not chasing the Jedi, rather he was walking with them like a companion.

"Hey Riktor, hid you find something?" asked a voice next to him.

The hunter turned to his companion, a kid just barely twenty in Mandalorian armor. His blond hair was wet from the rain and on his face were scars that marked him the son of the Mandalorian traitor, Jicoln Cadera.

"Yeah, I did, Torian," Riktor said, his voice distorted by his helmet. "We've got two Jedi and a Trandoshan with them."

Surprised, Torian raised his electrobinoculars to his eyes. "A Trandoshan? This, I've got to see." A moment later and he said, "You're right. But what's a Trandoshan doing with them? We didn't hear anything about that."

Riktor smirked under his helmet. "Afraid of a little challenge?"

The young Mandalorian grinned back. "No, I'm excited actually."

Both of the hunters heard footsteps and turned to see a woman coming their way. It was not an imperial, since she wore a skin-tight suit and not the typical black trooper armor. Her brown hair was slicked back and wore cybernetics on her left temple.

"Hey guys," the woman greeted them. "I brought you something."

The woman tossed them an object, which Riktor caught with a free hand. He looked down to see it was a canteen with plenty of liquid inside, from the sound of it. "Corellian spiced ale. Just what the doctor ordered," he said, quickly taking off his helmet.

Riktor's helmet no longer on, both his compatriots saw his black hair a mess. He also had the typical blue skin and red eyes for a Chiss, who were rarely seen outside of the Unknown Regions.

Riktor took a swift drink from the canteen and sighed with delight. "Mako, you're a life saver," he smiled at the woman.

"Just doing what I can," Mako smiled back. "So what do we got?"

"So far, two Jedi and a Trandoshan," Torian answered as Riktor handed him the canteen.

Mako raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's something you don't see every day." She paused in thought. "Do you think those Jedi are…"

"I don't think so," Riktor cut her off, handing the drink to Torian. "They're probably here because of Tormen's new Sith allies."

The young Mandalorian cut in, "Even if they are for us, we shouldn't have any trouble. Besides, we've got the Champion of the Great Hunt with us."

Riktor's lips almost turned into a thin line. Champion of the Great Hunt. It was the title that made him among the greatest bounty hunters in the galaxy. Riktor almost forgotten about that title… He wished he forgot about it completely.

"We'll see Torian." Wanting to change the subject, Riktor asked, "So where's Blizz?"

"Back on the ship with Gaunt, helping to get some contacts" Mako said. "Gaunt managed to grab some contacts."

"Hopefully, we can find something after we're done with this," Torian spoke, handing the canteen back to Riktor.

She snorted. "I doubt it. You've forgotten our benevolent employer has his ship over our heads. It might be a little hard to come out of this one."

There was that, Riktor thought to himself as he gulped down the canteen. Darth Tormen, Riktor's "generous" employer, had sent him and his crew on this mission. He also knew that Tormen would not let them out of his sight.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Riktor put on his helmet. "Right, back to work."

AN: That's it for chapter 4. I'm sorry for making the chapter so short, but I haven't had much time to myself to write this.

Also, I'm having trouble with writing the rest of the story because I feel what I have planned doesn't flow that well. I may have to end up rewriting what I have so far for it to work. The worst-case scenarios I can think of are a complete rewrite or discontinuing the story.

Hopefully, I figure out what to do, but in case if I discontinue the story, then I apologize to those who have read it. Thank you for those who reviewed my story. I really, really appreciate it, and again, I'm sorry to you who have enjoyed my story so far for making you wait (and for possibly discontinuing my story).

That's it for now. Again, thanks everyone.

Raika out.