Snippet #1823133

Marco's half mask showed his eyes and mouth, and let his hair fall freely to his shoulders. He used that to his advantage, intimidating the man with his bared teeth and his glare.
Suddenly, a man dropped from the ceiling in the halway in front of Marco.
The man was thin, thinner than Marco thought possible. Dressed in black from head to toe, with plate armor over his dress.
The young man- whom Marco supposed to be a sith- twitched his clawed fingers.
"Put the gun down...." the sith demanded, then softened his tone, "...Please...."
Marco was taken aback. He'd never seen a sith before, much less met one. The sith's eyes glowed blood red, and the flash of lightning danced across their smooth surface. The sith moved closer, and Marco drew a second pistol, aimed it at the sith.
"You don't scare me, Sith," he said in the most stern voice he could muster, "I was here first. I just want information from this scum, then he's all yours."
Marco stared the sith down, let all fear vanish. rtemis felt his lips twitch in annoyance, but he kept the fake smile on his face.
"I'm afraid you don't understand, my friend. This man knows the whereabouts of a man the Empire wants dead. And I'm afraid that nothing will stop me from locating and killing this man. Not even you."
He took a step closer. Suddenly he felt a rush of adrenaline as he saw the bounty-hunter's finger flex. Artemis's smile turned into a sneer as he reached his hand out towards the hunter. With a claw like gesture the blaster was ripped from the man's grasp traveled through he air to Artemis's palm. He tossed it aside and took another step, his hand hovering above his lightsaber.
"Leave now or provide one satisfactory explanation as to why you deserve to interrogate this man and why I should stand aside. I have little time left to complete this mission. And you are consuming that precious time..."
Marco pressed a button on each gauntlet, revealing his wrist-mounted blades. If the sith wanted to play the intimidation card, Marco had a few tricks up his sleeve.
"Look, don't pretend you're the only man on the planet. I need this man for far more than your little 'mission'. This scum will tell me the location to a dangerous killer of Bounty Hunters called General Derek Jorn. He killed my parents and my mentor, and he's wanted dead by the empire as well." Artemis hesitated at the mention of Derek Jorn. "This general happens to be the same man I'm after. Perhaps combat would just be a waste of time - a waste of a valuable resource.... Tell me, bounty hunter, would you be interested in working with me - an assassin - a sith - in order for each of us to achieve a common goal?"
He let his hand stray away from his weapon's hilt, and instead crossed his arms behind his back. "If you have the desire to work together, I'm certain I could make this pathetic Lt. 'talk'."
Things were taking a turn in Marco's direction now.
"Alright sith. We're wasting time arguing, and working together we could achive our goal much faster. Sounds like that's our best option."
Marco turned to the Lieutenant, "I couldn't get anything out of this guy. He was too busy whimpering to talk. Maybe you can get something out of him." Artemis grinned. "With pleasure...."
He tilted his head as he approached Lt. Vaal. "Lieutenant.... I am most disappointed in your lack of speech. Tell me, why are you refusing to speak with us?"
The man said nothing.
Artemis raised his hand towards the man's face. "Tell us, Lieutenant, where is General Derek Jorn?"
When the man only whimpered, Artemis placed the tip of one of the claws onto the man's cheek. He slowly moved his hand, raking the steel across the skin. A thin red line appeared, and began to slowly drip crimson drops.
"Tell us now. Or the damage I cause next may be near-irreparable..."
The Sandpeople surronded Linnk and Arix, they had sniper rifles,and Gaffi sticks. "Master should we attack?" asked Link. "No" Arix replied "There are too many." Arix placed his hands on top of his head and nodded to Link to do the same thing.
Link and Arix was lead to the village where the Sandpeople lived. They put them into a cell and cuffed them to the ankle and put the end on a stick in the ground. Then they left them alone.
Arix was standing there doing nothing when all of a sudden like he had a heart attack he fell to the ground grieving. "Master?" Link tried to catch him, "What's wrong?" Arix closed his eyes, "I felt a great disturbance in the force. Greater than anything I have every felt." He opened his eye and looked at Link, "I fear the Sith has returned."
Vaal cried out in pain; a horrible, inhuman screech.
"FFFFFFFFFFFEEE, FFFFEEEEEEE, FFFEEE," he screamed.
"Hold on," Marco said, "he's trying to say something."
The sith let off, and Vall drooped to the floor panting.
"Felucia," he said in a strained voice, "he's hiding on Felucia."
"Where on Felucia?" Marco demanded.
"I don't know! I swear!" "That's good enough for me. But just in case he's lying, I think we should leave him alive. He may be valuable later. I think a coma should keep him docile while we're gone, don't you?"
With a gesture of his hand, Artemis used a dark spell to send Vaal into a long sleep. At first his subconscious resisted, but Artemis effectively breached the barrier and Vaal collapsed. Vaal was still except for an occasional twitch and the steady rise and fall of his back as he breathed.
"He shouldn't be a problem. If he does happen to wake up, nobody will believe that we were ever here - they will simply believe we were nightmare's created during his coma."
"I hope you have a vessel. I managed to stow away on a freighter ship to get here, but i doubt any are going to Felucia directly from Coruscant."
Artemis walked over to where he had tossed the gun and picked up the weapon. He held it out towards the hunter, eyes looking questioningly at the man.
Marco took the gun and nodded, "Yes, of course. I came here with another bounty hunter, Nikka Dawn who's piloting my ship. I'll contact her."
After Marco had done so, a knock sounded at the door.
"Blast it," Marco said under his breath.
"Republic Police, open up!" an angry voice said from behind the closed door. Marco checked the peephole, saw about ten policemen in armor on the other side.
He opened the door only halfway. "Yes, can I help you gentlemen?"
The officer eyed his suspiciously and said, "We've recieved a complaint about some sort of disturbance coming from this room. Know anything about that, son?"
Marco spoke in a low voice, "Um, I heard some loud sounds coming from the apartment above us. Sounded like screaming I think."
"Go check it out," the head officer said to his comrades, and five of them broke off from the group and headed down the hallway.
So," the officer continued, "then you wouldn't mind us having a look then?"
Marco gave a fake smile, "Of course not, officer. Come on in."
The officer touched his blaster hilt as he stepped inside. "What in the..." he exclaimed as he saw the limp body lying in a pool of blood, but before he could react, Marco had his wrist blade in the officer's neck, and a blaster in his hand. Link sat down on the ground and went into a deep thought. He knew about the Sith, them being the most evil beings in the galaxy.
He closed his eyes, "We need to get out of here." he thought. "The Republic needs us. The Sith will take over the universe." He cleared his mind, trying to concentrated.
Arix saw what Link was doing. He was trying to use the force, so Arix used it for him. He waved his hand over their ankles, where they we're chained too, they came off. Link opened his eyes with delight. "Master! I.... I used the force!" Arix smiled "Good job Link."
Arix and Link stood up, Arix check outside of the preson area and walked out, Link followed him. Arix walked next to a door, looked inside, and whisperd to Link to say here. Arix ran into the room force pushing every guard to the ground. He found their Lightsabers and walked out of the room, then the roof fell on the guards. He handed Link his Lightsaber and they activated them.
They sneaked out of the villige, but it was too easy. There was no Sandpeople around. They walked up a hill to see dozens of Sandpeople standing at the bottom of the hill. Arix charged into the small army of Sandpeople, "Link! Go get help!" he cried out. Link ran as far as his legs would carry him. He couldn't find anyone, when he almost gave up hope a group speeder bikes zoomed past him. He turned in the direction thy we're going he saw them turning around coming back to him. When the main looking speeder bike stopped next to him. "What's going on son?" Link took a deep breath "Quick my Master needs help. His that way." Link pointed in the distraction where his Master was fighting the Sandpeople. "Sandpeople?" the man asked. Link nodded.
Airx sliced a Tusken Raider in half, he had killed at least ten. He couldn't kill them all, and it didn't look like Link had found help yet. So he dropped his Lightsaber and lifted his hands in the air "You win." One Tusken Raider shot him in the leg so he wouldn't cause trouble any more. Arix fell to the ground in pain. "This is it." he thought to himself. "I just wish I could have told him." he started to cry "I just wish I had told him." Then all of a sudden one of the Tusken Raider's fell to the ground dead. A blaster shot. He turned his head and a group of hunters heading his way, Link was with them. Link jumped off a speeder bike and started to fight the Sandpeople.
He slammed his Lightsaber into one of the Tusken Raiders leg, and stabbed another in the chest. The group of hunters surrounded the dozens of Sandpeople and fired at them trying not to hit Link and Arix. Arix saw that they were losing, there are too many Tusken Raiders. He closed his eye and lifted all of the Sandpeople with the force, he made sure not to lift anyone else. He lifted them high into the air at least fifty feet, and dropped them.
Artemis sprinted towards the door, saber ignited. He twirled the twin blades with blinding speed as he severed the heads of two guards. He took out the remaining one with a flash of electricity.
"We need to hurry. Gather your things. We can exit through the vent; it leads to the roof. The hallway is no doubt crawling with guards."
Artemis pushed a table underneath the vent and leaped into the gap with ease. "This way." He said, as he began to softly walk through the ventilation shaft.
Marco jumped and grabbed the edge of the opening the sith had cut in the ventilation shaft, and pulled himself up. The circular vent was short, about four foot tall, and Marco had to crouch just to walk. He walked low until he found a shaft going upward. Every four feet up the shaft was a overhang where the pieces of round pipe were bolted together from the inside. He leaped and planted the edges of his feet on the overhang, and his hands on the next one up. He paused, jumped again and caught the next overhang. He worked his way upward, past another floor, climbing higher and higher. He ran into a fan, but easily stopped it's rotation with a blaster bolt. After three floors he'd reached the roof, and pushed the grate away. He pulled himself out of the pipe, and planted his feet firmly on the roof. When he turned his head, he saw that the sky around the rooftop was swarming with police ships, and policemen lined the edges of the roof.
"Take them alive!" was the order given by the police chief. A hailstorm of stun bolts came rushing at him from all directions. He looked around for cover, found a stairwell access jutting up, and ran for it. He reached it and leaped, grabbing the ledge and pulling himself on top of it. Taking advantage of the high ground, he started firing his two blasters at the attacking police. Artemis stepped out of the grate just as the stun blasts began to fire. One bolt slammed into his shoulder, knocking him back a step. The blast didn't harm him, but it hurt like crazy. Summoning his rage as a result of the pain, Artemis screamed loudly and began directing blasts of energy in all directions. Troopers screamed in pain as the current ripped through their bodies. All of the bolts hurtling towards Artemis were caught in the raging storm. He kept screaming, his anger seething. He wasn't sure how long he could keep it up, but he hoped it would give this bounty hunter enough time to call in a ride out of here. Marco saw his ship, The Leveler, peek around a building in the far distance. He leaped off of the six foot platform he stood on, and drove his wrist blades into one man's throat. He jumped up and drew his pistols. Four men rushed him, he spun and shot them down.
A man from behind grabbed him around the neck, and Marco planted two blades in his skull.
He was hit in the shoulder, and his arm fell numb, forcing him to fight with one hand. He shot down two more guards, looked toward where the Leveler was flying in.
"Come on Nikka," he said under his breath, "we're running out of time." Airx tried to get up but his leg filled with pain, he fell back on the ground. "Master!" Link walked up to him "Are you alright?" "Yeah" Arix replied "I'm fine." The leader of the Hunters stopped his speeder bike next to them, "You need a ride?" he asked. "Yes" replied Arix "Thank you."
After the ride back to their ship Arix went to the med-bay in the ship and the medical droid fixed his leg the best he could. Link sat on a chair waiting for his Masters return from the med-bay, what had he meant the Sith has returned? Link would just have to wait.
Arix walked into the cockpit with a limp, he sat down into the pilot sit. "Now to find out why I think the Sith has returned." said Arix. He turned the ship on and flew of into space, when they got in space he put into hyper drive and the ship flew into deeper space.
When they entered the Coruscant system "Something doesn't look right." said Arix. "What do you mean Master?" asked Link. "I mean the howl planet looks like smo... Wait a minute. No, it can't be." replied Arix. "Master?" asked Link "Whats wrong?" Arix looked over at Link and tears came into his eyes "Link. Coruscant was attacked."
Arix guided the ship closer and closer to the planet, when they got to where they could see it better Arix gasped. Smoke and fire was everywhere, buildings falling. He landed the ship next to the Jedi Temple, that looked like the main target in the attack. They left the ship to get a better look.
The temple looked like old burning ruins, but Arix could tell that the attackers had been gone for at least a few hours. He limped toward the temple, Link followed after him. Arix looked everywhere for something, or someone thought Link. Arix closed his eyes and concentrated, then he opened his eyes and looked at a bolder. He put his hands out using the force to bring it up, he grunted trying to move it away. He picked it up and threw it to the other side.
There laying on the ground where the bolder was, a woman. Her eyes where closed but Arix knew she was alive, he limped over to her and dropped to his knees. "Larena?" he spoke soft "Larena, it's time to wake up now." The woman opened her eyes slowly and spoke "Arix. I'm so sorry." "It wasn't your fault" he replied "What happened here?" She closed her eyes again "The Sith. They came in a gunship and crashed into the temple and we started fighting. But we lost." She looked over at Link and back at Arix. "Is it him?" she asked. Arix nodded. She was about to say something else but she laid still not moving. Arix put his head into his hands and cried.
After he stopped crying he looked over at Link who was just standing there stunned. Arix took Larena's necklace, and got up. He walked over to Link "Link there is something I need to tell you" said Arix "Something I should have told you long ago." Link took a step back. Arix got on his knee next to Link and put his hand on his shoulder "Larena is your mother, and I'm your father." Link just stud there, and Arix started talking again "Your name isn't Link Kilstar. It's Link Mantis." Link didn't know what to do should he give him a hug? Should he just keep standing there? No, he told him about hearing him and Master Dak talking. Arix sighed "Yes you are still to be ex-spelled from the order."
Link couldn't believe it, his own father ex-spelling him from he Jedi order. Link's stunned face turned to anger, he got out his Lightsaber and was about to attack him, but he couldn't just kill his own father, so he ran. He ran away from his father, the person that was just doing what he was supposed to do but Link didn't like it. He got into the republic ship and left Coruscant. He would never go back, he would learn how to live on his own, he would sell this republic ship and use the credits for food. He would never go back to the republic, or his father.
Artemis's vocal cords were on fire. His scream ended, as did the attack. He glanced at the bounty hunter nervously, and in a hoarse voice yelled, "You'd better tell her to hurry - a whole squadron is moving in from the south. They're closing off the area!" Marco ran and dropkicked one guard in the face, pushed off with his feet as the man fell, backflipped, and thrust his wrist-blades into the throat of the guard behind him. He whipped out his shortsword and brought it across the neck of an attacker, and shot a second down with his pistol.
Just then the police ships swarming the roof began to explode one by one, and The Leveler rose into sight, guns blaring. Marco ran to the ship, and up the lowered ramp.
Artemis sprinted toward the ramp and leaned forwards, his his arms outstretched. His body flipped forwards, landing on his hands at the base of the ramp. With a graceful movement he pushed off the floor and continued the flip, landing on the ramp as it began to rise. He stepped into the ship and brushed the dust off of his robes. He followed the bounty hunt up the elevator and into the cockpit, where he was confronted by a female pilot. She had a pistol aimed at Artemis's forehead.
"What a warm welcome.... But I think it would be best for us to introduce ourselves after we get out of this place."
When the girl had not moved, he glanced towards the Bounty Hunter
"It's alright, he's with me. We made a compromise," Marco explained.
Nikka dropped her arms, "you could've told me you had company."
"Sorry," Marco said, "can we discuss this once we're stop getting shot at?"
Nikka jumped into the controls and took flight.
"Where to?" she asked.
"Felucia," Marco said. She gave a questioning look but said nothing.
"So..." she said after they'd jumped to lightspeed.
"Right, Nikka this is... Uh..." he turned to the sith, "I never caught your name." Artemis bowed politely, saying, "I am Artemis June, Sith Assassin under the command of the Galactic Empire. Pleased to meet you."
He paused and then said, "And I'm afraid I never caught your names as well.... You are?"
"Marco Chain, bounty hunter, of Hutta. This is my partner, Nikka Dawn, also a bounty hunter of Hutta. Nice to meet you Artemis," Marco said. This Sith was very odd Marco thought. Harsh and intimidating one minute, polite and friendly the next. Marco didn't know what to think of the young man's schizophrenic personality, but he hoped it would stay this way when he was around.
"So," Marco said, "we've found ourselves tracking the same mark. I know this man has made quite a game of killing off bounty hunters, but more often than not hunters are neutral agents, not tied down to a certain allegiance. The empire has no reason to protect them, so there must be another reason. Any idea on why the empire wants this man dead so badly?"
Artemis tilted his head. "I wasn't given many details myself. Perhaps this man is one of the Republic's finest strategists. Or maybe he has been up to something that threatens the Empire. I'm certain things will become clearer once we encounter him." "Hmph. Well for whatever reason, it doesn't matter to me. I have my reason, and that's the only one that matters to me. Let's just kill the guy and ask questions later."
--
"Coming up on Felucia," Nikka said.
"Stealth the ship and bring us in slowly, use as little power as you can," Marco said.
The Leveler whined and groaned as it dropped into the thick clouds and gained speed. Its silver skin began to turn orange, and waves of heat flashed across the trasparasteel.
"Fasten your seatbelts," Marco said as then the power blinked out, and the stormclouds blackened the windshield.
Artemis leaned forwards to get a better view, pressing his palms against the side of the vessel's cockpit to steady himself. "So, after we land do you have any idea where this man might be? I really don't want to search an entire planet for one individual." "Well, as you most likely already know, the planet is currently being controlled by the Sith Empire. Felicia is a treasure trove of natural resources so it's apparent why The Empire wants it. However their efforts to conquer and all but ransack the planet for it's resources have been temporarily cut off by The Republic's persistent crusades against the Imperial aerial blockades.
"But The Republic never estimated it would take them so long to break through, and they've been fighting here for months on end. They're running low on resources, mainly food, but refuse to stop their war efforts.
"But being in the middle of the outer rim, sending ships all the way back to Coruscant- or any other Republic world for that matter- would be time and money consuming.
"So I did a bit of research on this, and about an hour ago I came across an old war strategy. Oftentimes the Republic, when in a situation such as this, would send a small group of ships to slip through weak-spots in the blockade to gather resources. My guess is that The Republic is using that same method, and that our target used one of these ships to get on-planet.
"If we could prove that they are using this method, and find out where they're gathering resources, then we could find our target. The question is: how?"
"Follow the firepower. Just scan the area for recent turret activity and that should lead you to the latest location of the republic forces. Nikka, transmit the security codes X-34Z-7 and the blockade shouldn't be a problem."
"I'll scan for firepower from the smallest turrets," Nikka said, beginning to type on the keyboard in front of her, "large batteries won't be used against smaller ships, and larger ships are nearly impervious to smaller batteries.
"And... bingo. 1500 miles north-west of our position."
"Good work Nikka," Marco said, "and you too Si-- um, Artemis."
It didn't take long to get through the blockade, and once through, Nikka brought the ship to a sudden stop.
"I've got the ships on our radar... we're just beyond their scanner range. Nice choice on this vessel Marco, we've got nearly twice the range as they have in open air. But if we get any closer they'll spot us."
"Their scanners will pick up the ship, but not likely will they pick up something as small as a man," Marco said, "Looks like this is where we get off."
He walked out of the cockpit and headed to the elevator at the center of the ship, not bothering to explain. Once on the bottom floor, he walked to the back of the ship, and opened the rear doors of The Leveler's small hangar bay.
He was retrieving a jetpack from a storage closet when Nikka walked into the hangar.
"You're kidding, right?" she asked, "Marco, we're 15,000 feet up!"
Marco said nothing, he simply strapped the pack on and tightened it.
"Marco?" Nikka asked.
"Yeah I heard you," Marco said. Then he jumped out of the ship. Artemis tilted his head. "Madness."
Then he sprinted towards the exit hatch. Using the tips of his feet, he propelled himself forwards and out of the ship. His rapid descent began, his robes billowing. The surface came rushing towards him. He began sending waves of Force energy below him, slowing his fall. Then, he hit the ground.
A small shockwave occurred, the ground severely dented below him. Artemis stood up from his crouch and brushed off his robes. He glanced around for the bountyhunter.
The wind whipped Marco's long hair as he yielded himself to gravity irresistible pull. A smile curved his lips as he breathed deep the sweet-smelling air above Felucia.
He activated the jump pack, and curved the wings to slow his descent. Clouds rolled and swirled around him. He broke through the moisture and into the open sky, the wind quickly drying his armor. He turned into a dive and watched the small specks on the ground slowly grow into a group of starships arranged in a circle. The ground rushed up to meet him, and he pulled up, and brought himself to a steady stop. He landed several hundred yards from the ring of ships, and walked up to Artemis.
"Well... That was quite a fall, wasn't it?” the sith said, “I'm surprised that heavy armor didn't drag you down faster... I've been waiting for you for at least 5 minutes..."
Marco scoffed, his words oozing with sarcasm, “Forgive me for not being so thin as you, my lord. My massive frame is less aerodynamic than your toothpick-like figure. And forgive me for requiring this bulky beast of a jetpack, if only I had a dress like yours to act as a parachute.”
Artemis scowled. Most of the beings he met knew better than to make remarks about him... Especially involving his weight...
Artemis reached out with The Force, preparing to tear the life-essence out of Marco's body, then use it to fuel himself. Then... He reconsidered. This man was likeable, he admitted that. From what he could sense from the man, he was trustworthy and would make a fine ally... And if Artemis failed to drain his life-essence fast enough, Marco could very well kill Artemis.
Artemis produced his best fake smile and gestured at his robes, saying, "You should see to getting one of these. They are quite perfect for concealing weapons and other items of interest."
As if to affirm his statement, Artemis reached into one of the openings in his robes and reached his hand into a pouch. He pulled his hand back out, a Thermal Detonator in his palm. He tossed it to Marco, saying, "Lightsabers aren't the only weapon useful for killing Jedi... Or any other creature for that matter. Now, let us find this Derek Jorn... I would very much like to kill him."
Marco smiled, pleased with himself. He'd insulted a sith, lived to tell the tale, and even gained favor with him. He was beginning to like this sith. He certainly lacked no self control, and thought arrogant, he was smart, cunning, resourceful and focused.
"Agreed," Marco said as he stowed the grenade in the top of his backpack, "let's move."
He drew his blaster and sneaked through the trees, to the edge of the clearing. The enemy base was about ten yards away. It didn't seem like much, but Marco knew from his short experience as a bounty hunter that appearances were deceitful. Just like Artemis June: the sith was thin as a stick, and appeared to not be able to lift a his own lightsaber, and yet possessed great power and skill beyond his years.
Marco peeked around the massive mushroom tree at the campsite. Felucia was a bit of a culture shock for him. Mosses of every color between purple and green covered the ground, and giant flowers and mushrooms shot toward the sky. Millions of colors danced on his retinas, giving him the feeling of being lost within a dream... or a dream within a dream... moving in slow motion.
He spotted movement in the camp, a republic soldier. Then another. The entire camp was no less than 200 feet across. It would be no easy task to take it. Marco pulled the pin from the grenade and threw it at the camp. He was answered with a loud boom, and a chorus of screams.
"Effective," Marco said to Artemis as he placed a missile into the rocket launcher on his gauntlet, "but you mustn't be afraid to think a little bigger, Arty."
He launched the missile off, sending it into the side of a starship, and knocking two men to the ground in a fiery blast. Artemis allowed himself to produce a grin. Stepping out from the treeline, he whistled loudly. Six troopers who were trying to find the source of the explosion glanced towards Artemis and began charging towards him in a rage. He outstretched his arms towards the troopers and closed his eyes...
Suddenly a storm of orange lightning rushed from his fingertips, violently licking the air with sparks. The orange bolts slammed into three of the troopers, causing them to gasp out in pain. Suddenly their skin turned gray and they appeared to wither, collapsing to the ground.
Artemis drank in the life-energy they possessed, stealing it from their bodies to fuel his own. He hadn't eaten in days, and although stealing energy from another was grim, at least it gave him the fuel he needed to continue forwards.
The remaining three guards hesitated, then began firing towards the Sith. Artemis responded by flicking his wrist at them. The troopers were sent flailing into a starship by an unseen force, crushing their bodies.
Marco leaped out of the trees, firing off rockets and sending blaster bolts to find a home in the chest of an approaching trooper. He reached the nearest starship and leaped up, grabbing the top of the wing and pulling himself up. He stood and began raining rockets down on the dazed soldiers in the midst of the ring. One soldier dressed in gray and blue armor, whom Marco guessed to be their mark, ran out of a starship and began barking orders.
The troopers responded by taking cover, and building a ring of blasterfire around their leader. Marco ducked down, and fired a rocket over his shoulder, invoking another dying scream. Artemis narrowed his eyes as he sent a storm of electricity into five of the soldiers. He began charging towards the remaining group of soldiers, tilting his body to avoid blaster bolts. The space between himself and the line of troops lessened down to ten feet, where he leaned forwards, arms outstretched. He pushed off with feet, temporarily in a handstand. Using to force to propel him upwards, he pushed off of the ground with his hands and flipped over the row of guards. He landed behind them, right in front of Derek Jorn.
Derek fired once. Artemis turned to face him, the blaster bolt inches from his shoulder. Scowling, Artemis rushed forwards towards Derek Jorn, Kicking the gun out of his hand. He ignited his double saber. "If you move, this death will be painful. If you don't move, I'll make it quick."
Derek looked down at the blade hovering inches from his throat. Marco watched from a distance, craving to deal the final blow. The hand holding his gun twitched, but he kept it steady.
Making a move now would be dumbly masochistic, and he couldn't risk the mission. Jorn would die for what he did to Marco. He would die slowly.
Marco Jumped down from the top of the starship and began firing on the remaining soldiers. He ran in close to one, thrust his wrist-blade into the man's neck before he could react. He spun and thrust his second blade into a man's arm, then his other into his throat. Raising his pistol, Marco trained it on a soldier and fired. A rocket finished off the final guard, leaving no more than a black crater. He ran up and joined Artemis, aiming his plaster at Jorn.
"Too easy," Marco gloated as the smoke cleared, "I expected a little more from my parents' murderer, Jorn."
"Fool," the man said, "I'm not Jorn."
Marco heard the click of a weapon behind him.
"I am," A voice from behind said.
Marco turned to see a tall soldier, accompanied by several more. Derek Jorn clutched his helmet in one hand, aimed a sub-machine gun at Marco with his other. The man smiled a cruel, toothy grin.
"Release the soldier Sith, or your friend dies." Artemis felt his lips twitch in annoyance. "Consider him released," Artemis said. He turned to face Derek, clicking his saber off. The man behind him gasped and then fell to the moist ground coughing. After a moment he collapsed, dead. Artemis tilted his head and smirked.
"I hope you're ready to be released as well."
Using the force, Artemis created an invisible wall of energy between the soldiers and Marco. Derek scowled and began firing, only for the red bolts of energy to dissipate inches away from Marco and himself. Derek's face showed a mixture of bewilderment and anger.
"Go ahead and make him suffer, Marco." Artemis said.
Marco charged at the wall of energy, which parted to let his pass. Jorn took a fighting stance, but marco was already firing both pistols at him as fast as the fingers would go. Jorn stumbled back, his chest quaking as his armour was filled with blaster holes. Marco spread his arms wide and shot down the nearest soldiers to his right and left. He grabbed Jorn around the stomach and forced him back into the bulkhead of the starship behind him. Marco pounded jorn in the face over and over again with his fists. The leather covering his knuckled cracked with strain.
Jorn kneed him in the stomach and marco stumbled backward, panting. This soldier put up a good fight, but Marco planned to end it fast.
Jorn charged Marco, but the bounty hunter took advantage of the sloppy move, and stabbed the soldier in the neck. Jorn fell to the ground and moved no more.
Artemis shook his head. "Good riddance. Let's get out of here." Marco nodded.
"Nikka, get us out of here," he said into his wrist communicator.
Marco walked over to Jorn and knelt down beside him. The man's back slowly rose and fell, but he would be dead in minutes. Marco was sure of it.
"It's not revenge Jorn. It's justice, my way. You killed both my parents, and my mentor. And who knows how many other bounty hunters. And you probably laughed about it, celebrated it. They didn't deserve what you gave them. You only got what was coming to you," Marco spat to the side, "just like Artemis said: good riddance, Derek Jorn."
A hum filled the air, then grew to a pulsing roar of engines as the Leveler zoomed into the clearing and landed in the midst of the ring of ships.
Marco climbed the boarding ramp, and the ship lifted off the ground. When he reached the cockpit, Nikka wasn't happy.
"You ditched me! I had to stay and keep the blasted ship in the air!"
Marco cringed, "Look I--"