Din awoke to the soft sound of the hyperdrive finally shutting down. Most people wouldn't notice such a subtle change in the ship but, Din had been trained to. He wasn't always going to have Commander Ordo watching his back, so he needed to pay attention to everything going on in his ship. One wrong sound could mean a target had escaped their restraints to sabotage vital ship systems. He quietly put on his beskar'gam not wanting to wake Luthen before anything else. Din barely said two words to the man since departing Qiilura which wasn't uncommon. The two of them weren't together to make friends, he was there to fulfill a contract to murder someone and nothing more. Still, it was a surreal experience to spend over three days traveling to Coruscant with the Watch's primary patron and have nothing to talk about with them.

When he exited his cabin Din thought he could hear some mumbling in the distance from another cabin, "Fives, Echo, Waxer, Boil, Cody, Jesse, Rex, Sev, Niner..."

Din coughed loudly making sure the other man knew he wasn't alone, "It sounds to me like we've made it to Coruscant."

"I know, I'll be out in a minute." Luthen's muffled voice responded from the fresher.

He wasn't lying either, around a minute later Luthen emerged from the fresher looking like a completely different person. His short hair was now under a gray whig that went down to his shoulders. Instead of the tactical jacket he was wearing a long purple expensive looking robe that must've come from Alderaan. Din could also confirm that the cane was just for show since it was hanging on the fresher's back wall and he was standing up just fine on his own. This looked like a man who could actually afford being the patron of a Mandalorian hunting party. However, the way Luthen was messing with the robes collar told Din this appearance was just a mask to hide his true identity.

"How do I look?" Luthen asked standing up straighter with an unnatural smile on his face considering his usual attitude.

Din shrugged deciding to tell him the truth, "I'm not a fashion expert."

Luthen nodded while starting to walk towards the cockpit of his ship, "Fair enough, I need to go over a few things with you before we land. Number one, I do not know you nor do I pay the Watch. We met in a cantina, and I was desperate for your services. Second, only speak when spoken to, Imperials aren't fans of being spoken over. Lastly, you will accept the puck no matter how insignificant the reward may seem. This job is just to get a Senator to owe us something. Am I clear?"

Din bowed his head in acknowledgement, "This isn't the first time I've been out on the job. I've watched how Commander Ordo deals with employers."

Luthen let out a short breath in a sign of relief, "Good. Now when you find out what the puck is, come find me at these coordinates. I'll have the supplies you'll need to perform a successful hit."

The caves and grasslands of Qiilura could never prepare him for the sheer scope of the city planet and Imperial Capital. His HUD couldn't even keep up with the number of ships zipping all over Coruscant's orbit. The Armorer might have been right after all, he wasn't ready for this. How was he supposed to track down a singular target in the sea of people all around them? His misgivings only increased as their ship broke the cloud layer highlighting the buildings all around them. Each apartment complex could probably hold the entire population of Qiilura easily. Din took a deep breath reminding himself he had no idea who the target was yet. Any information he was about to learn could narrow down the search considerably.

"You get used to it." Luthen declared as though he was reading his mind, "Just don't look down, you might throw up."

Din noticed the ship was landing next to a large dome structure he could only assume was the Imperial Senate. Stormtroopers patrolled the grounds of the building in ways that didn't make sense if you actually wanted to secure the area. Instead of making sure sewer vents were untouched and no one was hiding behind statues, the Stormtroopers merely marched up and down the main foot path to the Empire. This force was for show and had no proper purpose. He couldn't help but feel frustrated that the populace on Coruscant wasn't rising up to take back the planet from this tyranny. Did no one care that the Empire had destroyed Mandalore bringing his people to the brink of extinction? Apathy it seemed was just as powerful as a Star Destroyer when it came to controlling citizens.

"Is every world just like this? So lifeless?" Din asked quietly feeling despair creep up on him from out of nowhere.

Luthen shut down the ship systems looking up at him, "For now. Soon we'll be waking the people up." He swung out of his seat looking down at Din, "Remember don't give anything away that you don't have to. We have no friends here."

Even though he said that an alien was smiling at them near the bottom of the entrance ramp, "Ah, Lentos I have to thank you again for coming on such short notice."

Luthen surprised him with how his tone changed to be far more flamboyant than he was used to, "Oh but of course Senator Sejan. I still owe you for the Nubian artifacts you gave me as a start up to my collection."

Senator Sejan waved a dismissive hand chuckling, "It was nothing my friend, my wife loves antiques and now she won't have to leave the planet to go shopping." He glanced up towards Din, "Speaking of antiques, is this the Mandalorian that can save me from my misfortune?"

Deciding it would be suspicious to be too eager Din shrugged, "Depends, what's the puck?"

Sejan tapped his fingers together glancing uncomfortably between the two of them, "I'm afraid I do not have the authority to negotiate the target directly. Lord Vader is expecting us in the Imperial Palace twenty minutes from now."

Although Din had no idea who this Lord Vader was, he could tell from Luthen's reaction it wasn't a good thing. For just a moment the absurdly fake smile he had been giving the Senator flickered with fear. Most might not even recognize the shift since it was so fast before returning to normal, but Commander Ordo had taught him how to pay attention to acute facial expressions. When on the hunt he needed to know if someone was afraid because they were caught or because they were preparing to strike. If Luthen was legitimately afraid of something it stood to reason that Din should feel the same. However, all Din felt was determination to finish the job for the sake of the Watch. This Lord Vader needed him for a job, they weren't going to hurt him before it was completed.

"Well then we best get going." Din stated quickly before Luthen could somehow talk Din out of the job.

Sejan beamed with excitement at his words, "Splendid! Thank you again Lentos, his eagerness is wonderful news."

Luthen put a hand on his shoulder before he could totally pull away from him, "Senator I didn't want to have to admit this but I hired this Mandalorian on the cheapest rates this side of Ord Mantell. He might not meet the qualifications Lord Vader would require of a bounty hunter."

"And you thought those Nubian relics were authentic?" Sejan asked with a suspicious tilt of his head, "People buy things because of how they look Lentos, and right now I need to sell a solution to a problem Vader is in the middle of. Do we have a deal or not?"

Din pushed his way out of Luthen's protective grip, "I'm at least willing to hear the job."

He refused to look back as Luthen called out, "I look forward to your wife's business when I open the store."

"We'll be in touch soon I assure you." The Senator declared ushering Din inside his personal shuttle.

The trip to the Imperial Palace was a silent one leaving Din to reflect on what he just did. The Watches' patron had brought him all the way out here because it was so important only to try and pull back at the last minute. Should he have listened and refused the job like Luthen wanted? He was torn between representing his personal Clan as well as the Watch as a whole. He didn't think Luthen would do anything negative to the Watch yet, it was his right as Patron. What if Paz was going to be sitting in the rain on some foreign world because he was too arrogant about his ability? Unfortunately, it was too late to look back now, the shuttle was about to land on the side of the Palace itself.

Din found himself conflicted walking the halls of Mandalore's greatest enemies being turned into a scrap yard. Lightsabers were strewn across the floor while droids were taking them apart one by one for their kyber crystals. Statues of old Jedi Masters were left broken in the middle of hallways ever since the Imperials rose to power a decade ago. On the one hand, Din was satisfied that the last hints of the Order that nearly destroyed his people over Malachor IV were destroyed. However, he could only imagine Keldabe was being treated with the same lack of respect as these sacred halls. The Empire didn't care if you were Jetti or Mando'a, both were tools to be exploited by the powerful.

Sejan gave Din a nervous glance as the two of them entered a turbolift, "Lord Vader is certainly an acquired taste but try not to be alarmed. He wants what's best for the Empire just like the rest of us."

Din wanted to tell him not everyone wanted what was best for the tyrannical Imperials though he ultimately held his tongue. How could any Mandalorian believe in the Empire? Star Destroyers bombed their homeworld to the point it became a toxic waste, without any reason or justification. Din was old enough to remember the terror of running through the streets as bombs fell all around him. The cruelty of it went against the very nature of the way and yet this Senator genuinely thought he left all his feelings behind. Ordo would've told him it didn't matter what the Senator thought, he was here to do a job, not make judgement calls. Paz on the other hand would probably encourage him to give Sejan a lesson in Mandalorian hospitality. Despite coming here in the first place, he was going to listen to Luthen and just say nothing.

The first thing Din noticed when the turbolift was how cold he suddenly felt. Even though his HUD readings were telling him that the temperature in the room was average, a chill still ran down his spine. The figure standing at the back of the room had to be this Lord Vader that the Senator spoke of. He was taller than Paz probably by half a foot with a black cape that swept across the floor. The rhythmic robotic constant breathing sound coming from his helmet implied he was flesh and blood though nothing else did. The red plated eye slots on the helmet made Vader look like a demon pictured in comics from his youth. That said, Din already identified a weakness if things got messy, the metal panel strapped to his chest controlling his oxygen supply. A single well placed ion blast would probably be enough to kill him.

Sejan bowed as though Vader was royalty, "Lord Vader, I thank you for giving me this opportunity to correct my mistake. May I present to-"

Vader's deep mechanical tones gave a single command, "Leave us."

Din watched the Senator slink away leaving him alone with Vader, "What's the puck?"

Vader regarded him for a long moment, "A Mandalorian who gets straight to the point I see. Is that true beskar?"

He was honestly surprised that Vader even knew the name of the precious metal, "You know the answer to that, the Empire has full control over all beskar. This is plain old durasteel." It was a lie to avoid being thrown in prison.

Vader stared at him a moment longer, "You are lucky that your talents of deception are exactly what I require." He finally placed a puck on the floor between them without bending down, "An inquisitor that goes by the title Sister One has defied her orders and has gone rogue. I expect you to eliminate her."

Din inspected the face closely trying to see what he could learn from it. She was younger than him, probably a late teenager and a fellow human. Her silky crimson red hair framed her pale face down to her shoulders. Her green eyes had very little life or joy to them highlighting the fact that her existence must have been a difficult one. This felt like it was too easy if he was being honest. Surely the other inquisitors could track down a teen not following commands. Hell, even Purge Troopers could probably get the job done with a few lucky shots. Why did Vader have such an urgency to eliminate her? And why was he going outside normal channels to deal with something that felt like an internal incident? He doubted he was going to get a lot of information as Vader did not appear to be the talkative type.

"Where do I start looking?" Din asked needing to know a direction before he did anything.

Vader flicked his wrist somehow causing a map of the known galaxy to appear on the puck, "Sister One has been foolish enough to be captured by independent miners on the Outer Rim world of Telos IV. I want you to go to the planet and offer your services as security to the owner of the mine. Discover their interest in the planet and then eliminate your target discretely."

"Multi step mission like that is going to cost you extra. Might just be worth sending your Imperial Commandos in to clean everything out." Din was going to play hardball as to not be suspiciously eager.

Vader replied almost instantly, "This job is not to be on any Imperial records, you are an independent contractor working for the Hutts. Your reward is any riches you find from the mine owners' family."

Din wondered how long he needed to play the game before Vader just cut him loose, "Is the family wealthy? Mandalorians aren't exactly a charity service."

Although Vader's voice still had a mechanical edge to it, Din could hear barely disguised rage, "The Kenobi's are a moderately wealthy family by Outer Rim standards. They obtained unnecessary fame and fortune because they are connected to a terrorist who defied the Empire. He is still wanted for treason among other things."

"Do you want me to eliminate this terrorist as well if I see them?" Din was beginning to think this was the real ask wrapped up in a story about Sister One.

"No!" Vader demanded placing his hands behind his back, "If Obi-Wan Kenobi is brave enough to show his face among his family you will contact me via your puck immediately. The priority is discovering the Kenobi family's plans and eliminating Sister One."

Din scanned his HUD identifying Obi-Wan Kenobi as a Jedi Master, the bounty was worth millions of credits, "Asking me to ignore such a valuable bounty in official Imperial channels for nothing in return is as-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Din's feet were being lifted a few inches off the ground by an invisible force. It was quickly followed up by Din feeling like his throat was being squeezed on all sides. Despite being a few feet away, Vader was choaking him by lifting a single hand nowhere near him. Rather than struggle with the nothing around his throat, Din reached for the DL 44 strapped on his hip. Vader flicked his free hand to the right causing his holster to clatter into the far wall. He was running out of air fast kicking at the ground to get some purchase. As he was starting to lift his flamethrower arm Vader twisted two fingers casually on his free hand to trap the flamethrower arm against his body. No wonder Luthen had tried to prevent him from coming here, Vader was about to kill him without even breaking a sweat. His vision was getting hazy while his HUD displayed multiple warnings to find oxygen.

Vader suddenly released him acting as though nothing happened, "Consider your reward the fact that I am ignoring the use of beskar. Now leave me, I have much work to do."

Din collapsed to the ground gasping for breath as he crawled to the turbolift, "Yes... Lord Vader..."

His first job was shaping up to be quite the dangerous one.