The sun had risen over Coruscant, but there was no warmth to Petro, Katooni, Ganodi, Zatt, and Gungi. The five padawans were running through the allies of the city trying to avoid the 105st Clone battalion that was searching for them. To make matters worse there they needed food and rest, but first they needed to find a place to hide from the clones that were searching for them.
Ganodi was just so dead tired. "There has to be a place to get some rest!" she complained stopping to rub her feet. The young Rodain rested against a wall and looked at her friends.
Petro sat on a trash container and buried head in his hands in frustration. "What hell do we do now?!" he grumbled. The young Corellian was joined on the container by Katooni who wrapped her arm around him in comfort. "Thank you, Katooni!" he said giving her a warm smile.
The Tholothian returned Petro's smile. Katooni then looked at the rest of her friends trying to lift their spirits. However they still all felt the same and that feeling was a mixture of sorrow and confusion. There was one thing they all knew was true and that was that they were Jedis and the force was with them.
"We still need to find a place to hide,"
Zatt walked a few feet from his companions and looked around a corner to see about twenty clone troopers marching toward their resting spot. He ran back to his friends and they all tried to get as far away from the troopers, but as they turned another corner they came to a dead end. They were trapped and knew that more troops would come even if they killed the ones that were searching for them in the ally.
"Prepare for battle," said the Nautolan drawing his lightsaber. "If we die, we die with honor!" Zatt said with pride in his voice as he ignited the laser blade.
Zatt's friends did the same except Ganodi as she had lost her lightsaber in her duel against Darth Vader at the Jedi temple. However, Petro reached into his shirt and pulled out her lightsaber. The Rodian took her weapon and ignited it. She smiled at the Corellian who returned her smile.
"I retrieved it when Katooni and I fled from Skywalker!"
They could hear the squad of clones getting closer, but then there was a sound of creaking and scraping metal. They all turned and saw that Gungi had open an old storage room he found for them. The Wookiee had given his friends a chance to survive. The padawans all ducked inside the storage room and locked the door just as the clone troopers turned the corner.
"It's a dead end!" said a clone trooper in disappointment. His commander was not so sure and pointed to two other troopers. "You check it out because I was sure I heard something!" he insisted with anger in his voice.
The two troopers checked everywhere in the dead end, but found nothing. They even found that door to the storage room the Jedis were hiding in but could not open it.
"There's nobody here!" they reported returning to their squad.
With that the squad moved on and continued the search. Inside the storage room the five padawans found some canned food and an old cot to rest on. Ganodi just feel asleep as soon as she laid on the cot. Zatt dug through some boxes and found an old radio and began to work on it. Petro and Katooni eat a can of food that was a few years out of date, but they didn't care because they were happy to have something to eat. Gungi just on a box and rested.
The young Tholothian looked at the sleeping Rodain and then put an old blanket over her friend as she slept. "Do you think Master Obi-Wan Kenobi or Master Yoda, or any of the other masters survived?" Katooni asked as she rejoined Petro.
The young Corellian could not answer because he had no idea, but he did know one thing and that was the food he had just eaten was not going to stay down. He threw up the food into a bucket and grabbed a round container marked "Water" and used it to wash his mouth of the foul taste that the food left. Katooni did the same a shortly after eating the food also.
For about an hour of hiding and resting Zatt let out a happy yell. "I got the radio working!" he laughed switching it on.
The others joined the Nautolan at the radio. A voice of a Coruscant news woman could be hear and the padawans learned what was going on. "Supreme Chancellor Palpatine has declared himself Emperor of the newly formed Galactic Empire. He has also revealed that Jedi was planing to take control of the republic, but their plan has been prevented," she stated proudly.
Petro's blood boiled with fury. How could anyone believe those lies about the Jedi. He and his friends knew that for over a thousand generation the Jedis were guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, but now people saw them as enemies. It made him want to go out there and prove them wrong who believe Palpatine's lies.
"I don't believe this!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "We just can't let them speak those lies about…" Ganodi put her hand over his mouth and silenced the Corellian.
"There's more to hear!"
The news woman went on with her report. "Emperor Palpatine has issued a proclamation that all citizens must report any surviving Jedi to Imperial forces immediately." that was not good to hear, but there was one more bit of bad news to hear. "If anyone aids a Jedi they will be punished as traitors against the Empire!"
"Well, I guess we're doomed as well as anyone who aids us!" grumbled Katooni turning off the radio.
Gungi roared in anger and threw a box against a wall. Tears began to run down Ganodi's face, but Zatt remained strong. "All we need to do is find a way to get off of Coruscant and find a planet or system that does not support the Empire!" he explained as he placed his lightsaber on the table. "But it will not be easy!" he added crossing his arms in frustration.
The others were in agreement with their Nautolan friend. They began going out to get information, food and supplies for their hideout, but they never aloud anyone to know that they were Jedis. It was dangerous because the Empire was still hunting them, but they used tricks and the force to avoid conflict with Imperial troops. Two months had passed since they had become outlaws and they were doing great at surviving.
Petro was walking the streets looking for some food for him and his friends, but he came upon an old woman and her grandson. "Do you have anything to give?" begged the old woman holding out her hand. The Corellian took pity on them because they were homeless and poor.
He reached into his knapsack and handed the old woman some bread, but his lightsaber fell to the ground. The young boy picked up Petro's lightsaber and handed it to him, but a man standing nearby saw the whole thing.
"A JEDI!" he shouted pointing at the young Corellian.
A squad of Imperial soldiers who were marching down the street heard the man shouting and came after Petro. The Jedi ran through the streets and pushed past civilians of all kinds trying to escape the soldiers. The chase had turned into a game of cat and mouse. The young Corellian knocked over some boxes that trip three of the troopers, but the rest still remained hot on his heels. Petro then saw a club called "Hot Stars Club" and ran into the club.
A Togruta bouncer tried to stop the young Corellian as he entered the club. "Hey, you're not allowed in here!" he shouted, but Petro did not stop running. The Imperial soldiers ran up to the bouncer. "Did a young boy come through here?!" asked the Imperial commander. The bouncer nodded his head yes and troopers ran into the club.
Petro made his way past gamblers, waitresses, drinkers, and dancers until he came to the back of the club that would lead to the back allies. He reached the back door, but it was locked, and the troopers were coming his way.
What am I going to do now? Thought Petro feeling beyond scared.
He then noticed a slightly open door and ran into the room. He then locked the door and looked for a place to hide. The young Jedi could tell that he was in a dressing room, but he didn't know who it belonged to.
Just then a door slid open, and steam blew out of the other room. A red female Twi'lek emerged from the steam room, and she was completely necked. She didn't see Petro because of the steam, but he was instantly smitten with her beauty, to the extent that he fell to his knees. The female Twi'lek was tall, she had a slender and curvy hourglass figure with a narrow waist and large broad hips, and voluptuous breasts. What also was intriguing about her was she had several tattoos on her breasts, legs and one just above her vagina. Her body sweat shined in the light making her beauty even more hypnotizing.
The Twe'lek caught sight of the young Jedi when she looked into a mirror and looked at him in anger, disgust, and surprise. "These are private quarters!" she snapped not even bothering to cover her body.
"I'm really sorry, but I didn't know this was your room." he said trying to explain.
The Twe'lek smiled an unfriendly, yet seductive smile. "Really?!" she said placing her hands on her hips. "Well, I'll show you the way out!" she said as she grabbed the young Corellian by the back of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. Petro could tell she was really strong for a woman as she dragged him to the door.
Just as she reached the door there was a knock. The Twe'lek hit the intercom switch. "What is it?!" she asked in an irritated tone.
It was her manager, the owner of the club. "Sinya, I'm really sorry, but there are some Imperial troopers wanting to search your dressing room." he explained with a shudder. "Can they come in?" he added with a cringe.
"Tell them to piss off because I'm the only one in here!" she shouted switching off the intercom in huff.
Petro smiled at Sinya, but she didn't return the smile. She just handed him a black hooded poncho. "It's from one of my paying customers!" she hissed as she shoved the young Jedi out of her room after he put the poncho on.
The young Corellian finally realized that she was a prostitute as well as a dancer at the club. He made his way through the club but stopped when he saw five Imperial soldiers asking the guests if they had seen him. Thinking fast, the young Corellian sat at the bar, grabbed an empty cup, and acted if he was dead drunk. The plan worked and after a few minutes the Imperial soldiers left the club. Petro let out a sigh of relief, but he suddenly felt someone grab him by the arm.
Petro came face to face with an anger Zabrak. "You shouldn't be here!" hissed the Zabrak.
Not knowing what to do, Petro tried turning away to avoid the Zabrak and ignore him. He then felt someone tap him on the shoulder and he turned to see a man with a terrible scar on the left side of his face. The man gave him an unfriendly smile.
"He doesn't like kids!" he said in a scratchy and stuffy voice.
"I'm sorry," Petro admitted trying to leave.
The scared man stopped him by blocking the young Corellian's path. "I don't like you, either," he chuckled evilly. Other guests turned their attention to the argument between the two men and Petro.
"I said I was sorry! I just want to leave!"
The man with the scar and the Zabrak looked at each other as if they were insulted. Petro could tell things were going to get bad. He tried to move past the man, but his friend pushed him against the bar knocking over several drinks. The man with the scar pointed a threatening finger at him.
"Are you insulting us, boy? You just watch yourself because we're wanted men!" he stated with pride. "I have the death sentence on ten systems." he added with an evil smile.
"I'll be careful," Petro muttered.
That was the last straw to the scared man and he grabbed the boy by his neck and brought up to his face. They were almost nose to nose. "You'll be dead!" he growled.
The young Corellian tried to pull away, but the man would not let go. The Zabrak laughed as his friend tried to choke Petro, but the Jedi was a fighter. The fight would have really gotten nasty if not for a for a good Samaritan.
"This little one is not worth the effort," explained Sinya who was wearing only a black leather hip skirt, high heel boots, and elbow gloves. "Now let me get you both something." she said giving the two thugs a seductive smile.
The Zabrak pulled a blaster from his holster and aimed right at the Twe'lek. Sinya backed away with her hands up, but something happened that she did not suspect. Petro drew his lightsaber and struck the Zabrak in the arm and then slashed the scared man across his chest. Sinya looked at the two thugs lying on the ground, one was dead and the other badly hurt.
Just then Imperial troops entered the club because all the commotion got their attention. Without a second thought Sinya grabbed Petro by the arm and dragged him back to the rear of the club. She then used a keycard to open the back door and there in the ally was a speeder that could hold two passengers.
"Get it and hold on tight!"
With that the Twe'lek and the young Corellian was flying off and away from the Imperial troopers. Still Sinya was not happy with how things turned out. "I guess I'm out of a job and it's your fault!" she snapped not even giving the young Jedi eye contact.
Petro looked at her with a frown on his face. "I just need to get off of Coruscant with my friends and find a planet or a system that is not loyal to the Empire!" he explained with huff. "Then you can go back to your life of prostitution and dancing." he added.
The Twe'lek looked at the Corellian with both anger and sympathy. "You helped me back at the club and I'll help you in return," Sinya said under her breath. "But after that you're out of my life forever!" she added with a small smile as she handed Petro her apartment's address.
Meanwhile back at the club Imperial troops had closed it off to the public and was questing the guests when an Imperial officer told the troops to stand at attention. Standing two meters tall. Bipedal. Flowing black robes and a face forever masked by a functional if bizarre black metal breath mask stood Darth Vader.
The Dark Lord looked at the officer for an answer of what happened at the club. "My Lord, it was a Jedi." he explained with a look of unease on his face. "This Zabrak was attack by the outlaw Jedi!" he added as he had two soldiers bring the Zabrak before Darth Vader.
Darth Vader asked questions and he received answers. He then turned to the Imperial officer. "I want a list of names of the best bounty hunters who can track down the missing Jedis and anyone who are aiding them!" he ordered in cold tone of voice.
"Yes, My Lord!" said the officer bowing in obedience.
The hunt for Petro, Kattoni, Ganodi, Zatt, and Gungi was really heating up. Their only hope was Sinya the Twe'lek.
Will Darth Vader and the Empire find the young Jedis. Can Sinya be trusted. How many bounty hunter will be on the hunt for the young Jedis. The future is unknown.