Link sat back in his chair and took a drink of water. "Artemis, would you like to go next?"
Artemis leaned back as he considered his story. His life story...
"Well I was born on Uba IV. My father was a Jedi Exile, my mother a prominent member of our colony. My mother is still with the colony, a leading member of their council, actually. My father was in a mysterious shuttle accident weeks after my birth. Or at least, word is that the shuttle crash was an 'accident'. Many members of Ubese society are xenophobic, so it wouldn't surprise me if the crash was pre-arranged. Many looked down upon my mother after learning that she loved a human. Besides my heritage, I faced little ridicule. Many respected me only due to my mother's position on our leading council."
He paused.
"Uba IV, as you may know, has been tainted. It is poisoned. Desolate. Years ago the Republic bombed it into an orb of radiation, but my clan managed to find 'safe-zones' where we could thrive. That is where i grew up. I was trained in the ways of our people, to become warriors for hire. I learned martial arts, various languages, etc. Also, my human characteristics have gave me an advantage. Many Ubese can barely speak: our vocal cords can only produce speech above a rasping whisper sound. My human genes, however, allow me to communicate with ease. So life in the colony was quiet... We communicated through sign language, and I never really spoke - never really used my vocal cords to communicate with another - until i went off planet."
"When I was eleven, I had to undergo a trial. I went with some of our finest mercenaries to Trandosha, where my task was to eliminate several trandoshans. Unfortunately, we were ambushed from behind. Trandoshan slavers. They killed off most of our group, but saved me. After all, they could probably sell me for a few good credits. I spent a week on board a cargo vessel, crowded with other slaves. Then, we arrived at Korriban...."
"We exited our vessel and surveyed the barren landscape. We were to help build additions onto the accademy there. But I wasn't going to be a slave. During the voyage I had discovered that the cuffs that were meant to restrain my wrists were too big, and I managed to slip them off of my wrists as we were lined up in front of a group of Imperial Officials. I took a deep breath and sprinted past one of the slavers, managing to grab one of the pistols holstered at their hip. I continued running, shooting rapidly behind me at the slavers. i took out two slavers, but a third was catching up to me. Luckily, my act of courage had inspired the other slaves, as they too were struggling against the slavers for freedom. I sprinted into an open doorway and suddenly I ran into something."
"The breath was knocked out of me as I fell to the ground. I glanced up to see a man covered in dark armor and cloth. His eyes were red, and his expression chilled my blood. I started to get up, but with a gesture he pushed me back down. His eyes pierced me, like he was searching me for something. Then, everything went dark. I realize now that this man was a Sith Lord, who had discovered that I was force-sensitive. Rather than killing me, he sent me into a comatose-state. I awoke in a stone cell, and hours later I was told that I was a 'potential'."
"From there my story is not that magnificent. I was trained in the ways of the darkside, I quickly rose in the ranks, and chose to learn the ways of sorcery and assassination. Eventually I visited my family again, and my mother refused to let me leave her sight. I had to sneak out of the colony, much to her displeasure. She worries constantly if I don't contact her of my safety regularly, and wishes that I would return to the colony. But I am a Sith now. Here I am. Although, my story would not be complete if I didn't mention Aura." He glanced over at her.
Aura sighed. She wasn't much one for sharing life stories. Hers was one of sorrow and glee, tears and joy. She slowly nodded.
"Alright. I'll go."
"I was born on Tatooine. My mother worked on machines and my father was a hunter. While dad was off hunting wraids, I often went with my mother to moisture farms where she would teach me how to repair machines. Life on Tatooine was simple. It was nice. My mother made enough to put food on the table while father was gone. Sometimes, my dad would catch something big, and he would get us gifts - even though money was hard to come by...."
She smiled, then continued.
"Life was great. We lived a humble life, but a happy one. But then..."
Aura closed her eyes, and then continued.
"I went with mother to a moisture farm on the outskirts of Anchorhead. I was eight then. We were supposed to repair a moisture vaporator, but slavers had set the job up. As soon as we arrived we were held at gunpoint, tied up, and seperated. My mother died days later, trying to escape. My father had returned home to find it ransacked, and immediately came looking for us. I learned soon after that he had confronted the slavers demanding that we be returned to him, and was killed."
"I was eventually sent to Nal Hutta, where I was forced to serve drinks in a cantina. Soon after though, one of the men in the cantina learned of my skill with machinery. They told the Hutt I was enslaved to of my proficiency, and I managed to get out of that terrible place. I began repairing and reprogramming scrapped droids brought to me to serve the Hutt. I still hated the conditions, the cruel people i was forced to work with, but I managed to stay safe and sane. Years passed, and each year I felt more and more hopeless..."
"Then, I was thirteen. I recall that a man dressed in a dark cloak approached one of my bosses, and asked if he had anyone who could hack into a Republic datasystem to retreive the control codes of sentry droids guarding a politician. They sent him to me. I remember when we first met..."
She glanced at Artemis.
"Your eyes are what I first noticed. Those crimson eyes. They gazed coldly at the men around me, but when you first saw me, I saw a change. Your eyes softened. You paused before you sat down in front of me. Your speaking tone changed from demanding and crisp to calm and kind. You asked me who I was. You asked me how old I was. You asked me if I could perform the hack for you. When I said yes, I remember you glanced at the guards around us. Then... Artemis said, 'Would you like to be free?'"
"I hesitated, not sure of what I just heard. Your voice reminded me of how my father used to speak to me. I felt safe. I felt loved, for the first time in years. Then, I nodded."
"I remember then that the slavers around us fell dead, their heart's crushed by an unseen force. At first I was frightened, but to see the men -who sneered at me, who hit me, who hated me - dead, I felt as if I was truly free."
"It was then Artemis told me to follow him, and I did. He brought me to a store and purchased some new clothes to replace the old ones I was wearing, and then bought me a meal at a cafe. He told me i was free now. Free to forge my own life. He told me that I had three options: 1. was that he would give me some credits and I could stay here on Hutta. 2. was that he could find me a home - that he knew several individuals who would take care of me. 3. was that I stay with him. He told me he was in need of a co-pilot. He said he could be a mentor - he could teach me how to pilot a ship, how to defend myself."
"I wasn't quite sure. Artemis had been kind to me, but I still didn't know if I could trust him. But I had no desire to remain on Hutta a moment longer, and Artemis had promised that I could leave if I ever had the desire to do so. And so, I chose to remain with Artemis. After I hacked into the datasystem for him, he provided me with a room on his ship, The Expeditioner, along with any technology I needed to write programs, hack, etc. He taught me how to defend myself - how to fly a starship. He taught me a great deal of other things as well, and vice versa."
"And so, six years have passed. Here we are now. I managed to join the Imperial Agent Program, and I can fight just as good as Arty. We're like siblings now. We watch each others' back. Artemis freed me. And for that, I am forever grateful."
Aura ended her story.
Artemis spoke, "In a way, Aura, you helped free myself. I have always been cautionary of the darkside, and have tried to prevent myself from becoming the cold-blooded killers that are my peers. However, being around you, an adolescent, who I knew I had to care for and teach - It changed me. I became less harsh and gained more patience. I became more aware of my actions and attitude, and knew that I had to set an example for you. And for that, I am forever grateful to you."
Aura nodded. The team sat in silence for a moment as they waited for another to begin speaking.
Nikka was twirling a fork in her hand when Marco glanced at her. His eyes held a question. She sat up in her seat, hugged her knees, and took a deep breath.
“I’ll go,” she said.
“Nal Hutta, eighteen years ago it was. I was seven years old, so young, yet… fate isn’t merciful, even to the young. My father was a notorious Bounty Hunter: Silas Dawn, ‘The Dawn of Death’ they called him. But to me he was a kind, gentle, loving father.
“He would leave for days at a time, sometimes for over a week. But those few days he would be home, he taught me everything he knew about everything.
“He taught me to track, hunt, and shoot both beast and bounty. Mother never liked him hunting, and especially didn’t like him teaching me to. But… it made him happy, so she allowed it. She always stayed at home, did the housework and took care of me.”
Nikka sighed, and took a moment to gather her thoughts, “Then, one day, father didn’t return from his mission.”
There were tears in her eyes now, but she didn’t bother to wipe them away.
“I was devastated. Sixteen when it happened, but still in denial. For two months I sat at the window, looking for him. Hoping for something that would never happen. To see my father coming down the road, smiling his warm smile. It was all I wanted.
“I didn’t know what to do. I had never drank or smoked before, but one day I found myself at the local cantina. The bartender told me I looked like I needed a drink, and gave me something called a Nal Hutta Firebomb. He said it’d fix me right up, so I drank it.”
She cringed when she remembered the taste, “It burned on the way down, and was the worst thing I’d ever tasted. But giving it the benefit of the doubt, I took another gulp. It tasted much better the second time, and by the fourth gulp it was the best thing I’d ever had. By the bottom of the glass the burning had stopped, and another was in my hand.
“I woke up the next morning in an alley, lying in a pile of deathsticks. My head was splitting, I was dizzy, and a ringing split my ears, but the thoughts of my father were gone. I was completely numb, and I just wanted to stay that way.
“So the next night I went drinking again. I drowned all my worries in the bottom of a Nal Hutta Firebomb. Every night for months this went on. In my drunken dazes I started hunting bounties, and learned I was pretty good at it. When I was drunk I would tackle low credit scum, but on the days I was sober… I would take on higher and higher credits. Sometimes I would go days without a drink, tracking my marks; but I would always go back to it. It was the only thing that kept the tears away.”
She sighed to take a drink of water, cleared her throat, “I finally sobered one day, and for the first time in months, went home to my mother.”
Nikka looked down at the table, watched as her tears dripped onto the cool surface. With a sigh, she managed to get the next sentence out: “But she was dead. Had been for a month, after she’d come down with a horrible sickness. I felt responsible. I had been acting so horrible, so I sobered. Stopped drinking, gave up deathsticks, and took up bounty hunting.
“The memories came and went, brought on mostly by me being stuck on Hutta. I knew I had to get off. My father had taught me to fly, but I had no ship, and few credits to my name. That’s when Marco found me.”
She smiled now for the first time in her story, “We met in the cantina where I had my first drink. I stuck with non-alcoholic drinks though. The place just felt like home to me, so I would hang out there between missions.
“He came up to me and just started talking to me. We spoke of bounty hunting and shared stories for many hours. He said he wanted to see me again, so we began going on missions together. Soon we were working together full time. I learned that he had a starship given to him by his mentor. I told him I could fly it, and… we decided to leave Nal Hutta, and work together as a team. We’ve been working together ever since."
Everyone started to look at Lisa because she was the only one who hasn't said anything since they started to talk about their life, and the truth is, no one really knew about her life before they we're in the arena.
"Fine" she sighed.
"Well I was born on Csilla, my family was very wealthy. I had everything money could buy, cloths, jewelry, anything. Everything but love. My parents wasn't really there for me, we had maids cleaning all the time, doing everything. One of the maids was very nice to me, she always helped me with my home work, problems, and everything."
"The week before I turned 16 after school I decided to walk home when I walked down a alley cause I thought it was a short cut. This really big five guys surrounded me with blasters in their hands. I lifted my hands into the air, they took all my jewels. One of the guys I remembered he used to work for my dad, he was the guy who got us rich. My dad was a minor until he found gold and hid it and kept it to himself, the guy was the owner of the mine's."
She stopped to catch her breath.
"They kept me in shack for a week. On my birthday one of the guy's walked in and whispered to the miner owner, but I could still hear him. 'He didn't even care when I told him we had his daughter'. Tears came to my eyes. 'Happy Birthday' I thought in my head.
"But one day it happened. I heard blaster shots out of the shack, when three imperials came and shoot all of the men. One saw me and untied me, they took me to a training center and trained me to become a imperial scout. Then one day my ship was attacked and I was in the arena, and I met you guys."
"I'll continue." said Link
After what seemed like an eternity those three years past and Link was ready for his first mission. After Link was finished packing he went to his Masters Dorm room. He was about to knock when he heard two people talking inside the room. He could tell it was Master Dak and Master Arix talking, "But why?" Arix said. "I told you a million times already" replied Dak "After this mission he is to be ex-spelled from the Jedi order! You know that he doesn't have the force!" Link could remember years ago that if you don't learn the force by the time your 13 you are to be ex-spelled. "Just give him a few more years." Arix protested. "We've already given him a few more months. What's done is done." Dak replied. Arix was about to protest again but he sighed "Yes Master Dak." Link heard footsteps coming out of the room, he ran as far as he could down the hall and started to walk back up. He met Dak at the door and bowed. Dak done the same and walked away, "Is everything okay?" Link asked Arix. "Yeah I guess." Arix replied.
A ship holding Arix and Link flew off into space, as they were leaving Link noticed an old gunship flying too Coruscant. "Master" said Link "Doesn't that gunship look suspicious?" Arix sat back into the pilot sit "I doubt it. We don't have anything to worry about." But little did Arix or Link know they should have shot down the gunship. Arix put the ship into hyper-space and it zoomed off into space.
The ship came out of hyper space, and flew down to the planet below. Tatooine, a dessert planet that has two suns and two moons. Arix guided the ship to a landing area, and paid the fee to land. "Now snice this is your first mission it's just a training mission." Arix told Link. They checked their water and food suppliey. They started walking into the hot two sunned dessert.
The first two hours was quiet. They didn't talk much. Then all of a sudden a blaster shot hit the ground next to Link. "Take cover!" ordered Arix. Link looked everywhere for cover but all there was, was sand. He pulled out his Lightsaber as soon as he saw Arix pull his out. "This isn't part of the training exercise!" Arix screamed. Link looked towered the place where the blaster shot came from, he could see about twenty angry people running to them. "Master!" said Link "Sandpeople!"
"Anyone want to go?" asked Link.
“I woke up the next morning, and was surrounded by men in cloaks and armor. The one I supposed to be the leader, whom I could only identify as a gammorean, ordered his men to grab me. A bulking Trandoshan led me toward a speeder, with cages lining its sides. They led me to the firs cage, opened the door—then stopped.”
“’Well, well, well, what have we here?’ I heard a voice say, “’Maylar’n To’ochk. Figures a scumbag like you would be out here trading slaves in the open air, even on the run. It isn’t any wonder it took me no more that two days to hunt you down. You do know slave trading is illegal in the Republic, right?’
“I turned to see the source of the voice. A tall mandalorian in dark purple armor stood a little ways down the street.
“Maylar’n grunted and said, ‘If you haven’t noticed, the ‘Pub don’t reach out this far.’
“’No, but I do,” the mandalorian said, ‘you’ve been selling slaves in ‘pub’ space. If you were looking for trouble, then I must congratulate you. You’ve just found it’
“The gammorean, Maylar’n, tried to run, but was stopped short by two blaster blots. And the leather armor didn’t save him.”
Marco paused, then softened his voice, “The bounty walked up to me, stooped down, and grabbed me lightly by the shoulders just like my father used to. In a soft, soothing voice he asked: ‘Son, are you alright?’
“I had been holding back tears for a while, but I just let go then. He said to me, ‘holding back tears is the easy part, kid. It takes a real man to not be afraid to cry when it really hurts.’”
A waitor droid cut him off, “Need a refill, sir?”
“Yes,” Marco said, “more non-alcoholic Ardees.”
The droid nodded and rolled away.
“Where was I, ahh yes. He told me his name was Zenith Ordo, of the Ordo clan of Mandalor. He took me under his wing, and trained me in the art of bounty hunting. He trained me long and hard. Taught me that each bounty hunter is different, and that standing out from the sea of faces is what gets you far. He once dropped me off on a dangerous planet with nothing but the clothes I was wearing and a knife. He knew I could handle it. He was like a father to me.
“Then one day, on my first Bounty Hunting mission with his when I was fourteen, we were ambushed by Republic soldiers and Jedi. My master was killed in the fight.”
Marco stopped. He took a drink, trying to get the knot out of his throat.
“I killed the Jedi in rage. It devastated me. First my parents, then my mentor- basically my father. I didn’t know what to do, where to go. I wasn’t ready to go take on bounties on my own, I had no armor, and only my father’s old pistol, and not a credit to my name. So I got a job at the local armor and weapon’s shop. I learned to make armor, and build any blaster imaginable. I started taking small bounties, and pretty soon I’d saved enough to craft my own armor.
“When I was Seventeen, I met Nikka, and we quickly became friends. We went on numerous hunts together, and became an unstoppable team. I had access to the ship owned by my mentor, The Flatlevel IV, and she had flight experience, so we teamed up, and set off to face the galaxy together.” Artemis spoke up.
"Remember when we first met, Marco?"
- Flashback Discussion -
Artemis, 17 year old Sith Assassin was summoned by the dark council and directed to eliminate the republic general Derek Jorn. The man's whereabouts, however, were unknown. Therefore, it was also his job to locate the man.
Artemis crept through the large air shaft. He was on Coruscant inside of an outpost where Derek had been seen days earlier. He approached the large rotating blades of a fan and quickly halted their movement with the force. He slipped by the gleaming blade and approached the grate leading into the next room. He ignited one end of his saber. The blade produced a low hum as he cut a hole in the grate and kicked it out. It clattered to the floor. Moments later Artemis landed as well, his saber off.
To his surprise there were two men in the room. One of them wore heavy armor and a half-mask. The man was a bounty-hunter by the looks of it, and had another man, Lt. Vaal at gunpoint. Artemis had came to question Vaal on the location of Derek Jorn, but it looked as if the hunter had beat him to it.
Artemis straightened his posture and flashed a wolfish smile. His crimson eyes bore into the hunter. He moved his fingers slightly, the sharp spines on his digits producing a metallic-scraping sound. "Put the gun down...." Artemis said in a crisp accent, letting lightning dance across the metal claws. "...Please...."
Marco dug his blaster into the chest of Lieutenant Vaal. The pathetic man whimpered.
"Tell me where General Jorn is," Marco demanded is a level voice, despite his fear.
It was his first time off of Hutta alone. He'd never been to Coruscant before- his parents had favored more vacant planets. He must have had the best poker face of all time, because he was scared to death, and the other guy was whimpering.
"I swear to you, I don't know! Let me go!" Vaal cried.

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--"

"No, were a team Marco. Start acting like it!"
"I'm sorry," Marco said with a sigh, "It won't happen again."
Nikka rolled her eyes and turned to the controls.
Marco walked out of the cockpit and met Artemis.
"Fair warning, you don't want to go in there," Marco said.
He leaned against the wall and sighed.
"Excellent work, June. You can have full credit for the assassination; I don't want the credits anyway. I got what I wanted," Marco paused, "I hope to have the chance to work with you again soon Artemis."
Artemis nodded. "It was a pleasuring meeting you as well. And, I'm afraid I have to ask a small favor of you... Would you mind dropping me off on one of the flagships in the Sith Blockade? That would be the easiest way for me to get back to Korriban."
Crap. Marco thought. He hated the thought of going back into the cockpit. He'd sooner dive headfirst into a nest of Gundarks.
"Yeah no problem."
Huge problem.
"I'll go tell Nikka."
She'll eat me alive.
"I'll be right back."
I'm going to die.
Marco walked into the cockpit and spoke as fast as he could, "Hey Nikka we need to drop Artemis off on one of the flagships in the Sith Blockade okay? Thanks bye." Marco turned in an ark as he said it and walked out of the cockpit as fast as he could. But even without looking at her, he could feel Nikka's glare bore into the back of his skull. Artemis smiled as the Leveler docked within the flagship Crimson Dread. "I'll keep in touch. Thank you for your help, and try not to make her mad again." Artemis said gesturing towards the cockpit.
"She might put a bounty on your head."
With that he grinned and entered the flagship, preparing to report to his superiors. "Yeah," Marco said as the sith left, "but a bounty's the least of my worries."
With a deep breath, he walked back through the ship to the cockpit. Nikka didn't turn to look at him when he sat down next to her. Only punched in the controls without a word.
"Look, I'm sorry Nikka. I just forget to think sometimes."
She sighed.
Marco continued, "I guess I've been used to going it alone since Zenith died. And with Artemis, and the mission, and my past constantly creeping up on me... I just... wasn't thinking."
Nikka finally spoke: "Well maybe you should start. We're a team Marco, and nothing should get in the way of that. You can't go into a fight with clouded judgement. That'll get you killed fast."
She gave him a minute to take that in then said: "But I forgive you. If we're gonna be a team we're gonna have to forgive each other. Don't sweat the small stuff as they say."
She smiled, finally.
"Thanks, Nikka," Marco said with a smile.
--
Marco stared down the scope at his target. Silas Dicem, he called himself. An odd name Marco thought, but smugglers were odd in their own way. But as far as oddities went, Marco hadn’t seen any smuggler like this one. Black pants, black jacket, dark-gray armor-vest, and never took off his round, orange goggles. His hair was black-turning-gray, combed back but still standing up a couple inches above his head, as if by some invisible force.
His face was small and rat like, and his nose pointed straight down. Thin hairs clung to his chin, Marco guessed he hadn’t shaven in days. He held a thin blaster in one hand, a rifle across his back, and a pair of binoculars dangled from his neck.
The man had his back turned to Marco -who stood atop a building a score yards away- and was nervously glancing over a overturned barrel. Silas shook slightly, like a small, frightened dog.
It would have been so easy to take the shot… to kill the man off. But he was wanted alive, and frankly, Marco didn’t see much sport in killing him through a scope. So he drew closer to the smuggler, walking across the rooftops of the run-down part of Ord Mantell. It was the perfect hiding place for a smuggler. The local gangs practically ran the place, and here law was scarce. Bounty hunters, smugglers and pirates ran freely throughout the planet, doing what they pleased. What little law Ord Mantell had was off fighting separatist forces, and impatiently awaiting Republic aid. The war for Ord Mantell was just beginning, giving Marco the perfect chance to slip in, grab his bounty, and slip out. But things didn’t always go as planned.
Marco was right above the man now, crouching down, ready to make the drop on him. He loaded his pistol, took a deep breath, and jumped over the ledge.
Link followed his prey, just waiting for the right moment to attack him. Link had been doing Bounty Hunting for a few months, after he found out who he was. Then ran from the truth. He sold a Republic ship and used the money for food, when the money ran out he couldn't find anyone who would hire him. So he tried Bounty Hunting and he found out he was pretty good at it(well just small bounty's).
Link stayed behind the man he was stalking, his name was Gage Lacer. He got a bounty on his head for trying to kill a Hutt( he done such a sloppy job at it, he got caught before he even really tried). He walked into a Cantina, so Link followed putting his small blaster pistol back into his holster. Gage sat at down at the counter and ordered a drink. Link sat at a both in the back of the Cantina keeping an eye on him. A waiter came to Link's table and Link got a glass of water, and some bread. Before the waiter came back with his order, Gage turned to Link with a small smile, like he knew Link had been following him. The waiter came back to the table and blocked the view of Gage while giving Link his order, Link gave him some credits and the waiter walked away. When he left Link didn't see Gage anymore. He got away.
Silas spun around, blaster in hand as Marco landed on his hands and rolled to his feet. Marco ducked under several bolts and ran to cover behind some pipes. He took a deep breath and turned to fire around his cover. When he did, he couldn't see the smuggler. Then a blaster popped up over a barrel and Marco jumped back to cover.
He grabbed a thermal detonator from the pouch at the top of his backpack, and tossed it over his shoulder. He was rewarded with an explosion three seconds later.
Marco stepped cautiously out of cover, and felt something hard and round press into his back.
"Do anything stupid and you'll die quick, bounty hunter," Silas said.
Marco loosened his muscles, steadied his breathing, and jerked to the left, swinging his elbow to try to knock the rifle out of the smugglers grip.
Link gulped down the last drop of the water, he hadn't had any for a day. He stuffed the bread into a bag he was caring and ran out of the Cantina. He scanned the area looking everywhere for Gage, then he felt a fist being thrown into his stomach and fell on the ground. Gage ran into an ally, when Link got to it, he was gone. Link looked down and saw a small man hole that lead into the sewers.
Link tried not to throw up while he was climbing down into the sewer. The stench was bad, very bad. There was only two more feet down to the ground so he jumped. Link walked for minutes hoping he would find Gage, he turned to a left and there pointing right at him was a blaster rifle.
The rifle clattered across the concrete, but Silas had his pistol out, and Marco trained his own gun on the smuggler. They stood there, staring each other down, at a stalemate. Then a click sounded behind the smuggler, who turned to see Nikka, blasters aimed.
The smuggler stood there motionless, like a deer in the headlights.
"What would you do without me, Marco?" she said sarcastically.
Marco smiled behind his mask.
"Alright smuggler, drop the gun," Marco said.
But the smuggler fired.
Marco shot into the smugglers back as Nikka stumbled backward and fell to the ground. Marco jumped over the smuggler's falling body, and reached Nikka. He spun around when he got to her, but the smuggler had disappeared.
Marco took Nikka's helmet off, and she cringed.
"I'm alright," she assured him, "It didn't go through my armor. Go get your mark."
Marco reluctantly left her, and ran down the alley after Silas. He spotted him around the bend, and began closing in on the smuggler.
Link eyes got big when he saw the rifle being pointed right at him. He thought about reaching his only grenade but Gage knew what he was thinking. "Don't try it Bounty Hunter," he growled "I don't miss at close range. Now if would just come with me I think we could make this a whole lot easier." Link dropped his gun and his grenades on thee ground, and Gage kicked them into the slimy water of the sewers.
Gage led him out of the sewers and into a little abandoned warehouse. "Where is he?" Gage asked himself. Link got a good first look at him, he was about 5'8, and around his late twenty’s and he had a sword. Link looked at the sword close; it reminded him of holding a Lightsaber when he was a Jedi. Link shook the bad memory out of his head and waited for his death by Gage.
The alleyway ended abruptly at the backdoor of an abandoned warehouse. Marco went inside and found his mark coming to a stop beside another smuggler. The second smuggler held a young bounty hunter at gunpoint.
Marco engulfed himself in an energy shield and drew both his pistols, aiming one at each smuggler.
He smiled and said: "Drop the weapons, gentlemen. Before things get messy."
Link didn't know what to do. He had only been a bounty hunter for a few months, and here he was two smugglers and a guy that looked more like a bounty hunter. Link looked over over at Gage he was been looking at this other bounty hunter and sighed "I guess we both we're being followed." Link saw some doubt in his eyes so he leaped onto Gage and stole his own sword.
Link knew how to use it, he was trained in the Republic, he wanted to forget everything about it, but he thought back into his memory trying to remember how to use a lightsaber. Well in his case, a sword. Gage fired at him, Link tried to block the blaster shot's with the sword but that didn't work to well. It knocked it out of his hands so Link at to jump and grab it while a rain of bullets fell around him.
Marco charged Silas, flamethrowers blazing, pushing the smuggler back toward the wall of the small warehouse. The smuggler threw something that Marco didn't identify until it was too late.
Everything went white. All sound vanished. Then a ringing filled his ears and his vision began to blur back. It took Marco a minute to focus on his surroundings, dazed by a flashbang grenade. By the time he could see again, the smuggler's fist was in his face. Marco stumbled back and crescent kicked Silas' face before the man could strike again. The smuggler spat blood and raised his fists to fight again. Marco shook the stars out of his head and stepped closer to the man.
Link raised the sword, and charged at Gage. He swung the sword at him but he kept dogging it. A thought came to Link's mind, when he was kidnapped by the Sand People he had used the force. He forgot about that, so he pushed his hand out at Gage. But nothing happened. What had happened to Links force powers?
Marco looked over at the bounty hunter, who stood there with his hand held out toward the smuggler. Was this kid serious? Whatever force he thought he had obviously wasn't working for him.
"Snap out of it kid!" Marco yelled.
He didn't want to be stuck fighting both of these smugglers alone. He focused on his mark and rolled to the side to avoid a trail of blaster bolts, firing as he landed on his shoulder, rolled across his back, and using his elbow to push himself up, flipped up onto his feet in a crouch. Link was stunned by the thought about his father using the force when they we're kidnapped. This mad him mad, he closed his eyes and opened them again but tears came when they opened. He saw Gage about to throw a grenade at the other bounty hunter when Link charged. Gage didn't even see Link coming at him, he was focused on throwing the grenade. When all of a sudden he felt something sharp in him, he looked down to see his own sword in him, and Link holding the handle. Then he fell. Marco charged his gun up, preparing to fire off a powerful blast. He ran toward the smuggler and fired into his chest armor. Silas stumbled backward, and Marco shot a stun dart into the man's neck before Silas could recover. Marco was on top of him in an instant, knee on his chest, arm on his neck, and gun to his head.
Marco flipped the man over and pulled his up to his feet by his wrists.
Silas groaned, and received a knee to the back.
"Suck it up, Silas. Just be glad I didn't make you bite the bullet. Next time perhaps."
Marco, leading Silas, walked over to the young bounty hunter.
"Nice kill," Marco said, "you have skill with both the blaster and the blade. Very impressive." Link looked up at the bounty hunter "Thanks, I learned that I could use a blaster pretty good just a few months ago. The skill's with the blade, I was trained all my life with one. I was almost a Jedi once." Link hoped this bounty hunter had nothing against the Republic, even though Link already did, he just didn't want anyone to kill him because he was in the Republic. Marco saw the bounty hunter cringe as said the word Jedi. Marco knew this kid was probably afraid how he would react.
"Hey your past isnt mine to judge, its all yours. what you do with it is up to you. forget it, live it down, or learn from it, it doesn't matter to me. Don't live in the past kid, you'll regret it. I would know."
Marco took off his helmet and extended his hand toward the bounty hunter.
"Name's Marco Chain, of Hutta." Link saw kindness in Marco's eyes, so he took his hand and shook it "The name's Link Ki---I mean, Link Mantis. From Coruscant." Link let go of his hand and bent down to the ground, he picked up the sword. He could use it in the future, so he kept it.
Marco felt empathy for the kid. He couldn't be much over 13 years old. He'd left the life of a Jedi to become a bounty hunter. Marco wondered if the kid had parents alive, or a place to live. He was probably in the same boat Marco had been in when he was fourteen. Marco remembered well the day Zenith had taken him under his wing. Zenith had taken a hopeless kid, and turned him into a hopeful, fearless bounty hunter. Marco knew what he wanted to do, what he had to do.
"You got a way off this rock, Link?" Marco asked. He needed to know Link's situation before he would take a leap of faith and take him in as a protégé.
"Eh, if I have some credits and give it to someone to get me off. Or I stall away on one." replied Link. "Tell you what, I'll fly you home. Where do you live?" Marco asked. If Link said nowhere, he knew what he would do. It was the final weight to tip the scales. "I live just about anywhere. Nowhere really." he replied. Marco sighed. Here goes nothing.
"How about you stay on my ship for a while, until you make enough credits to but your own. We could be a team, kid, and I could train you in the way of the hunt, if you're up for it."
Marco didn't trust Link, not yet. For all he knew Link could've been lying about everything. But Marco could take care of the kid if he tried anything, and he had Nikka for backup. He would be careful, keep a close eye on him. And not turn his back on Link Mantis until he knew he could be trusted.
But he did feel sorry for the Link, and he would train him. Just like Zenith had trained him. Link was surprised at Marco's offer, he didn't really have a place to stay so he agreed. Marco turned on his comlink and contacted Nikka.
"Nikka, how are you doing?"
"Just fine," she replied brightly, "But I had to quit after my armor got damaged. I'm in The Leveler."
"Can you come pick us up? We'll meet you outside."
"We as in you and the bounty?" she asked. Something in Marco's tone must've given it away.
"Yeah, something like that," Marco said. But he could lie to anyone but Nikka. She was his weakness.
"Marco, is there something you need to tell me?"
"I have great news. I got us another team member. He's a young bounty hunter named Link."
She was silent for a while, which Marco took as a bad sign.
"Well talk about this later, Marco," she said in a voice that told him she was stressed, "I'm bringing the ship around."
Marco sighed. Nikka would be a hard one to convince. She hadn't shared the experiences he and Zenith had. But she would come around eventually. She always did.
He turned to Link, "First rule of bounty hunting though, trust no-one. No one but your closest friends. My trust is a hard thing to gain, and so should yours. You'll stay alive longer that way in this business."
Marco pulled Silas to his feet, and walked outside the warehouse where The Leveler was waiting. He and Link boarded, and entered the cockpit.
Nikka looked at Link, then grabbed Marco by the arm and led him into the hallway, out of earshot.
"You didn't tell me he was that young!" she said in a low voice.
Marco leaned against the wall, "I'm going to train him," he said slowly, "I'll take it slow at first. I need to know that I can trust him."
"He could be taking advantage of you."
"I... don't think so," Marco said cautiously, "he didn't ask, I offered. He was leery about giving me any details about his situation. He's a great fighter for one so young though. He's reserved and cautious just as a good hunter should be. I think he'll make a good ally."
Nikka smiled, "Alright, if you're sure, Marco. But don't turn your back on him just yet."
"Trust me, I won't."
--
Tatooine.
Hot, dry, sandy Tatooine. A distant town grew closer, filling the windshield of The Leveler. Imported palm trees and dying shrubs were the only thing visible not made of sand. And the occasional moisture vaporator jutting out of the ground, sucking the few precious drops of moisture out of the air. Nikka landed the ship behind a sand dune, hiding it from sight.
After exiting the ship, Nikka scouted ahead to find their target, a middle aged Devaronian mercenary chest deep in death sentences from fifteen different systems. The man was to be assumed armed and dangerous.
But Marco had done his homework. The truth was, the guy was running scared. He had wasted ever last credit he owned, and was holed up this dustball.
But the man had friends in low places. He wouldn’t be alone. He wouldn’t be easy.
Marco and Link stayed low at the top of the sand dune, waiting for the signal from Nikka to move in.
“Are you ready, Link?” Marco asked.
Link nodded, although he didn't like the idea of coming back to this planet. He checked his blaster pistol to see if it had full ammo, and he checked his sword to see if it was strapped in good on his back. "Ready." "Alright," Marco said.
Marco saw a flash on top of a building, coming from a lone figure crouching on a roof.
"There's the signal," Marco said. He brought up a holo-projection of their target on his gauntlet, next to a map of the city.
"Here's out target. Devaronian male, around 35-ish. Brown Jacket to his knees, baggy tan pants, brown camo combat boots, and two hidden blaster pistols. But the red skin and two horns growing out of the front of his head should give him away."
Marco pointed at an area in the bottom right corner of the holo-map, "Nikka is in this region of the town so he must be there. It's a big town, so try not to get lost. If you do, head for the desert, I'll find you there. Contact me if you see him, and follow him from a distance until I find you. We'll all three triangulate on him and surround him. That's when we strike. Remember, he's wanted dead or alive. Got all that?" "Got it." Link said as he jumped over the sand dune and into the city. "Enthusiasm," Marco whispered to himself, "that's good. Just hope he doesn't get cocky."
Marco wrapped his coat tighter around him and threw his hood up over his helmet, hiding his armor as best he could.
He strolled into the city, blending in with the crowd. He found the city's pace, a slow stride, and moved with it.
The city unfolded like a map, appearing twice as big on the inside as it had from the out. Low sand huts and shops were dwarfed by tall spires and hotels. Palm trees lined the streets, and a neat line of moisture vaparators cut straight through the middle of the road. Arches from taller building stretched across the road, as did ropes presenting tarp signs and advertisements.
A hot wind blew in from the west, carrying more dust into the dustball town.
Marco moved into position, watching the square for where Nikka had signaled him to intercept the mark.
"He still there?" Marco asked over the comlink.
"Affirmative. He's just waiting in the middle of the street," Nikka said.
"I see him," Marco said, "I'll wait here until Link find's him."
Marco leaned back against a building, watching his mark, wondering what he was waiting for. Link walked around the city looking for his target, he was about to give up when he saw him. Link sat down at an outside table from a restraint. He pushed the button on his com link that he had gotten from Marco. "Marco" Link said, "I see him. What should I do?" "Once Nikka gets here, move in on my signal. We'll intercept the mark together. But watch you back. He could have backup. They could be anywhere, or anyo--"
Marco's throat was closed by a wire around his neck. He stabbed behind his head, killing the attacker. It was the old woman he'd seen earlier. He looked around for Link, found him about twenty feet away. There was a man walking toward Link, a knife barely sticking out of his sleeve.
Marco activated his comlink but heard only static. Someone was jamming their transmissions. How could he warn Link?
A crowd of people moved between him and the young bounty hunter. He ran toward him, hoping he could get there in time. Link saw Marco running his way pulling his blasters out and pointing them near him. Link didn't know what he was doing until Link turned around and saw a man with a knife about to stab him. Link pulled his sword out and swung it at him, the man ducked tried to jab Link his thigh. But Link saw it and swung his sword at it and cut his hand off and screamed at the top his lungs. The crowd thickened even more, making the task of getting through impossible.
"Alright," Marco said under his breath, "I'll make you move."
He ignited his flamethrowers and shot them toward the mob. They scattered in panic, giving Marco a clear shot to Link. Link was finishing one enemy off, but three more were approaching, and their mark was no-where to be found.
Marco spotted Nikka coming their way and contacted her via comlink.
"Nikka, track our mark. We'll meet you when we finish off these guys."
Marco drew both of his pistols, and took a fighting stance. Link put his sword back and got his pistol out. He looked around for Marco, when he found him he ran up to him ready for battle. He fired at one guy about to shoot Marco in the head; the guy ducked the blast and started to fire

even more. Marco unloaded a round of bolts into one man's chest. A twilek man ran from fleeing crowd right toward Marco. Marco ducked under the hammer the man weilded, and stabbed him in the gut. The man staggered round, swinging at Marco again.
Ducking the blow, Marco activated his flamethrower and roasted the man.
Link fired his blaster pistol at one of the two last guy's that was still standing. When he stopped firing, the guy fell, dead. "Come on, we cant lose him," Marco said, running off toward their target.
"Nikka, where is he?" Marco asked in his comlink.
"He headed west," was her static lined reply, "toward the desert. I'll meet you outside the city."
They made it across the city and found Nikka waiting with a pair of 'U' shaped swoop bikes.
Marco climbed onto the curved seat and yelled for Link to get on. They took off into the desert, toward a black dot in the midst of a cloud of smoke. Within ten minutes they were on him. Marco shot his mark's bike in the rear flank, and the man jumped off the swoop before it disintegrated in a sand dune.
Marco turned the bike sideways and slid to a stop, jumping off with his blasters in hands.
Their mark fired off, and Marco rolled for cover behind his swoop. Link jumped off the swoop bike and fired at their target. He got next to Marco how was also firing and dodging the enemy's fire. Link took one of his grenades off his belt and threw it over the swoop bike hoping to get their man. The grenade went off, blasting their mark into the air. He landed on his hands and flipped to his feet, spinning around and raising his blaster.
Marco jumped over the swoop and charged the man. He activated his flamethrowers and shot a 'V' of flames toward the man. He forced the mark to back away from the flames toward link... and a trap. The mark back up from the flames and into Link. Link pointed his gun at him and shot him.
Marco stood over the dead mark, and nodded approval.
"Well done. Let's contact our employers and then ditch the body."
Marco activated his datapad and contacted their employer by video. The man on screen had slicked-back jet black hair, an angular chin and nose, and thin, ovular black sunglasses under pencil thin eyebrows. He spoke in a thick accent that Marco strained to make out.
"Myarcho Chin, Lin Mintus, gud to he frum yuu. Hauw ghos te mizzn?" It took him a second, but Marco was able to mentally translate is as something like: "Marco Chain, Link Mantis, good to hear from you. How goes the mission?"
"Excellent," Marco replied, "we've killed the target, Herus Vi'jing," he turned the screen so that their employer, (his name was something like Gorge) could see the dead mark.
"Oh esselent, aw credees uvben trasfer eveny to yuur an Lin accoun." (Oh excellent, all credits have been transferred evenly to your and Link's account.)
"Very good, Gorge. Marco Chain and Link Mantis out."
The screen went black and Marco stuffed the pad in his backpack. Marco looked around for their swoop biked, and found them ten feet apart, burning and smoldering, filled with blast holes.
"Blast," Marco said.
He looked up at the sky. The sun was retreating, sucking the light with it like a leech.
"It's getting dark," Nikka said, "We'll never make it back before it gets completely dark."
She looked back at the twinkling lights of the city, far in the distance.
"We should make camp, and travel at daylight."
"Agreed," Marco said.
They used the few supplies on their speeders: A few bottles of water, some sand colored robes, and a box of rations, to make camp. They found some dry wood to make a fire.
They sat around the fire, waiting for the food to finish cooking on a spit. The stars had just come out, lighting up the sky with a million tiny lights.
"So Link," he said, hoping to break the ice that seemed to hang in the air, "tell me a little about yourself."
Link swallowed in regret and sighed. "I really don't wont to say, but I guess I must. For starters all I can remember when I was young is that I was always trained in the Jedi ways. I could never use the force, it was strange. Every Jedi master could feel the force inside of me but I guess I could just never use it. I always looked forwarded to having a master but no one would take me. Then a man named Arix Ma---" Link felt like he should save that part until the end. His voice trailed off telling them the rest of his story everything, until he got to the part when he met Marco Chain. Link took a bite into his dinner and waited if anyone had anything to say.
Nikka bit he lip, not sure whether or not to trust Link yet. The kid had basically opened up to both of them, without even knowing them. She wasn't so ready to do the same. She wouldn't turn her back on Link yet. He would have to prove himself to her first.
She laid back on the soft sand, drifting quickly to sleep, but keeping one hand on the grip of her blaster.
The sandstorm woke her with a start. Then she saw the sandpeople surrounding their camp. She jumped up and had her blaster up in a second, focusing on two targets. One tusken raider charged her, swinging his Gaderffii. She leaned back away from the weapon, kicking as she did, knocking the beast back. She took two steps back to regain her balance, then fired into the raiders chest. The beast fell back and dissapeared into the storm. She couldn't see Marco or Link, but the sound of blasterfire over the roaring wind told her they were close.
Link hated the Sand People. After what happened to him last time he hated them. Link shot one in the chest, and shot another five times in the head and threw a grenade in a group of them. He drew his sword and charged at one. Marco spun in a circle, torching sandpeople all around with his flamethrowers. They fled screeching horrible screams, losing themselves in the storm.
Marco gripped his pistols, jerking them up and spinning them by the trigger guards and rotating the grips into his palms. He aimed and fired off green plasma bolts into the chest of a Raider. He spun and fired at another Tusken, killing him before he could raise his stave. He found Link and Nikka in the storm, and led them to shelter behind a massive stone.
"The city is about fifteen miles north of here!" He yelled over the wind, "we're losing daylight, though. And running low on supplies. Do you think we should wait out the storm, or try to go through it? We'll have the wind at our backs if we do." "We should try to get back! We don't know if more Sand People will come." replied Link. "I agree, we should go for it!" Nikka yelled.
"Alright, let's go!" Marco said, leading them away from safety.... into the maw of the storm.
Marco trudged for hours, maybe days, maybo only minutes, through the ever deepening sand. The storm roared mercilessly, whipping Marco coat that he pulled tighter around himself. The strength of it urged him on, gave him no choice but to keep moving forward.
Forward into the mouth of a Sarlaac.
Marco lost his footing and slid down the sand, then spread his legs wide and stopped himself of two teeth. He fired at a tendril that swooped toward him. It retreated momentarily, but regained its composure, and came back for another assault.
It was hard to see the Sarlaac, the sand flying into Link's eyes was very painful. He tried his best not to shoot Marco or Nikka and just shoot at the arms flying at them. He was shooting at one when all of a sudden a arm got him and started to pull him in, but Link jerked his sword out and sliced it in half. He fell on the ground inches in the Sarlaac, and then an idea came to Link. He took of his belt with grenade turned them all on and threw them into the pit. Marco ran in a wide arc around the pit, jumping over and ducking under tendrils that swiped at him, bent on dragging him into the gaping maw. He blasted a tentacle to bits with a rocket. The creature screeched as Link filled it with grenades. An plume of flames shot from the pit. The sarlaac thrashed, but grew angrier still.
Something grabbed his ankle. He fired at it but lost his blasters as in pulled his feet out from beneath him. He clawed at the ground, and dug his knife into the creature. The blade was ripped out of his hand by a tendril. He struggled as the creature pulled him under. Into the mouth of the beast. He fell out of the light and into darkness.
He sat up. It was dark, save for a light far above that gave the flesh-cavern an orange glow. Marco stood up, but the ground shifted below him, and he fell again. Gaining his balance, he stood up and lit up his flamethrowers, blasting the sarlaac's flesh with violent flames. The whole room flared orange. Link was stunned. Marco was gone, first his mother and now his mentor. But all of a sudden the sarlaac cried out in pain, it cried out in pain like he was on fire from the inside. BOOM! It hit Link, Marco turned on his flames inside the pit.
Marco launched his whipcord and pressed a button on his gauntlet, causing the cord to retract and pull him up. Flames chased hi all the way, licking at his ankles. The momentum shot him over the ledge, and he landed in a roll and came up to his feet.
The sandstorm was dying down. The town was now in plain sight, just a few miles away.
Marco patted Link on the back.
"Well, that was fun," he said sarcastically. He felt for all of his weapons- stopping at his fathers pistol then continuing- to make sure they were all there. Once he was sure they were, he said: "We don't have far to go. About eight miles looks like. How about you lead us the rest of the way, Link?" "Sure." Link replied. He didn't really know why Marco wanted him to lead the rest of the way. Was it because he didn't trust him and wanted to make sure Link wouldn't try anything? Link kept thinking about it while they walked.
Marco watched Link as they walked. The young hunter seemed reluctant... suspicious.
"Stay calm, focused Link," Marco said, "you must learn to keep one eye on the mission and the other on your surroundings. Once that is learned, the rest will fall into place. You must learn to accept those around you without having to trust them. Don't show suspicion, reluctance, or fear. Confidence, focus and determination will cover these well. They are your allies, use them always. Even under a mask your enemy can sense your negative emotions. If you can cover it with something positive, then you'll gain an advantage. Don't trust me, but don't act like you don't... or do. Trust is something that must be earned." Link took a deep breath and exhaled. He used Marco's method and Master Dak's of keeping a clear head and stay on the mission. They continued to walk in the dessert for miles, the storm had stopped a little but he still had to close his eyes for sand would fly in them some. After another mile the storm had completely stopped and he could see the city in the distance. His mouth was dry so he took a sip of water from his canteen, his legs we're killing him from this much walking but he didn't complain. His stomach growled from hunger, he couldn't wait to eat again. After they reached the city Link stopped in his tracks and awaited Marco's next order.
Marco took over leading once they reached the city. Within minutes they reached his ship, The Flatlevel, or as he liked to call it, The Leveler.
Marco stepped on board and worked his way through the ship to the cockpit. As he flipped on the lights, something caught his eye.
It was tiny- he barely noticed it- but there it was, in the middle of the floor.
It was a small datadisc. Flat, square, black. He picked it up and stuck it into the ship's console.
Then something strange happened. The console began to play a voice recording. The voice was male... deep and rough. And it spoke three words: "Don't do this."
Marco recognized the voice. It was older, but unmistakable. And the words it spoke only concreted his fears.
"Marco..." Nikka said, looking nervous, "is that..."
"Yeah," Marco said grimly. He glanced down the hall to make sure Link wasn't around. "He's found the ship. But maybe not us. Not yet anyway. Change the ship’s tracking title from Flatlevel IV to Leveler, and scan the ship for any tracing beacons. If he’s tracking us they won’t be for long.”
Nikka nodded and got to work. “Are you going to tell Link?”
“No. He can’t know. Not yet.”
Nikka paused in thought, then: “fair enough.”
"Oh and Nikka... you might want to scan for any extra lifeforms aboard."
Nikka hesitated, then nodded.
Marco walked out of the cockpit to find Link. When he had found him, he said: “Well, what do you say Link? Will you continue to train with me?”
Link had to think about this for a while. After what had happened with his old jedi master he still wasn't sure if he could trust anyone, and Marco even said not to trust anyone. Link did start to trust him until he overheard Nikka and Marco talk about something they didn't want him to know, at lest not yet. Link wondered if he should just walk away without saying anything. But he couldn't, he saw something in Marco, he wanted to know why he had taken him in like this. It took all his nerves to ask what he was about to ask but he done it. "Marco, why did you want to take me in? You had no reason to, and I want to know why." Marco scratched his chin, "Well, when I found you... young, courageous- But finding yourself facing the galaxy alone- it reminded me of myself. I was in the same situation once... huh, probably worse.
"I was surrounded, outnumbered. Then, out of the blue, this man walked up to me.
"He was tall, strong, and armored from head to foot. With a flash of his pistol he killed my attackers. Then he did something I never expected.
He stooped down, took off his helmet, and said in a soft voice: ‘Son, are you alright?’"
Marco smiled and laughed a little, "He told me his name was Zenith Ordo, of the Ordo clan of Mandalor. He took me under his wing, and trained me in the art of bounty hunting.
"I don't know why he did it. But he saved my life, and he brought me to where I am today. I guess I felt like I owed it to him... to follow in his example. That's why I did it. That's why I took you in, Link."
Link let that sink in, he nodded and walked past him and went to the Leveler then to his bunk. He thought about what Marco had told him for a while and drifted to sleep. "He almost trusts me Nikka. But I'm not sure if I want him to," Marco said from the copilot chair. They were drifting in space now, nowhere to go.
"Don't say that. You're a good hunter, and a good person," Nikka said.
"I'm running from my past. Running like a coward."
"Is that such a bad thing? If you live in the past you'll never see the future."
"But what do I do when my past finally catches up with me?"
"Face it Marco. Face it."
Artemis surveyed the hologram emitted from the desk he stood at. A radical trooper gone rogue, known now as 'The Liberator', had led a small militia into a Sith Dreadnought and had succeeded in taking the ship over. 'The Liberator' had been using terrorism attacks against the Empire for a little over a month now, using small bombings and attacks. He hadn't been much of a threat - until now. Using the Dreadnought, Imperial analysts predicted he was planning on taking out part of the Sith Fleet. And Now Artemis was directed to infiltrate the vessel leading a small strike team. He glanced over those under his command; two snipers, three special operations troopers and Aura, his companion and ally.
Suddenly the comlink on his wrist bleeped. He glanced down at it and felt his lip twitch in satisfaction. His comlink had just come into range with his ally Marco Chain, meaning he was in the system.
"I think we could use the help of a trained soldier for hire, don't you all agree?"
His team said nothing. Their opinion of Mercenaries and Hunters were low, but Artemis knew Marco could change that.
He quickly sent a breif of the situation and a request for help to Marco's datapad, along with a five thousand credit transfer to Marco's account.
"Hopefully that's enough to convince him to come quick... Otherwise, I'll have to find a way to get those credits back..." Artemis whispered under his breath. He awaited a response.
Heavy firepower shook The Leveler violently. Nikka yelled of the roar of explosions from the republic fighters: "Just received a message from Artemis!"
Marco spun the turret and opened fire, "We'll can you get up out of this blasted firefight first?"
"On it," she responded harshly, "Give me a minute."
Marco relaxed when they made the jump to lightspeed.
Nikka sighed, "He wants us to help infiltrate a ship hijacked by a rogue Republic trooper. He's payed us five-thousand in advance."
"Looks like we dont have much choice. Tell him we'll be there within the hour."
--
Marco and Nikka stepped onto the bridge of the star-cruiser where Artemis June stood, followed by Link Mantis.
Artemis turned on his heel to face his friends. Aura stood by his side, fingers resting on the hilts of her pistols. Artemis nodded towards his friends.
"I knew you would come. Please, I would like you to meet my new apprentice, Aura. Or... I suppose apprentice isn't the correct term. She's more of a companion. A mutual partner. And who is this?"
Artemis's crimson eyes fell still on Link Mantis. Without blinking he smiled, "Hello there."
When Link saw the face of the sith, anger grew in him from the death of his mother. His hand crept to his blaster and pulled it out "I'm your killer." He fired his blaster at high speed and threw a grenade.

Artemis sensed a sudden increase in emotion within the teen, when suddenly he reached for his blaster. Artemis automatically dropped backwards, his back parallel to the steel floor. Three red bolts pierced the air overhead, inches from his torso and face.
Suddenly a round object caught his attention. It spun wildly through the air towards him - a grenade. Frowning, Artemis flipped forwards, the grenade narrowly missing his body as it whizzed by. It exploded as it hit a nearby bulkhead, but caused no damage to the vessel.
Still dodging blaster bolts, Artemis sprinted towards Link. When the space between them closed to two feet Artemis kicked out, knocking the blaster from Link's grasp. As it clattered across the floor, Artemis sent another powerful kick into Link's chest-plate, knocking him onto the cold floor.
"If that's true, then you'll have to do much better than that." Artemis said coldly. Suddenly a shadow fell over Link, and two clicks were heard.
"If you move one muscle, then I'll shoot. I don't care who your friends are. Your life means nothing to me."
Aura stood over Link, pistols drawn. "Shall I kill him Artemis, or give him a chance to attempt a good explanation?"
Artemis glanced over at Marco, uncertain. Normally he would give Aura the green light to take out a crazed murderer, but he needed Marco's help.... And this teen came with Marco. Killing him would be in very poor taste.
"Any suggestions, my friend?"
Marco stood too stunned to speak. It wasn't until Aura was standing over Link that he snapped to his senses.
"No, let him up," He flashed Link a warning glare, "He won't attack you again. I'm really sorry about that, my friend."
As he pulled Link to his feet, he said: "Link, what were you thinking?"
Link wanted to kill the Sith right now, but he controlled himself. "My mother was also a Jedi, and she died from the Sith attack on Coruscant. All that's left from her is a necklace, and my father has it. I'm never going to work for the Sith or the Jedi Marco." "Well then, that's your problem, not Marco's. But let me remind you that not all of the Sith were at the Battle of Coruscant - I wasn't there. This ship wasn't built yet. If you want someone to kill for revenge, kill Malgus. Or the emperor. They're the ones who took Coruscant only to hand it back over to the Republic. Killing me won't do you any good in getting revenge. Sorry."
"Also, this is a time of war. Both the Empire and the Republic are paying out big credits to get soldiers-for-hire. If you want to make a decent living in the hunting industry, working for crime lords alone won't cut it - unless you're extremely skilled. And that's about all I have to say."
Artemis glanced over at Aura, who still hadn't holstered her weapons. She gazed warily at Marco, still not trusting of strangers. Artemis followed her gaze, looking at Marco, waiting for him to speak.
"I'll admit there are many corrupt Sith out there Link, but Artemis June is not one of them. I haven't known him long, but I know he's a great and trustworthy ally. I suggest you give him a chance, at the very least." Link didn't care about Artemis not being at the battle, he still wanted revenge on a Sith. He doesn't care who, just one. "Very well." Smirking, Aura spoke, "Well then - I guess you'd better watch your back."
She turned to face Artemis.
"We all need to. You're all aware of the situation that awaits us, correct? If so, I hope you're ready to board. We enter the stealth shuttle in ten minutes. Any questions?"
Marco drew his pistols, and held them up parallel to his head, "None worth wasting time on." Artemis nodded. "Alright then, let's go. This way."
The group entered a small, heavily armored dropship. The inside was too small for ten people, but they managed. The ship silently slid out of the docking bay and began speeding towards the hijacked Dreadnought. The cloaking device on the dropship kept it from being noticed by radar at first, but suddenly a stream of lasers and concussion missiles bombarded the ship as it came into sight.
The vessel rocked as it was hit once, twice, three times. Artemis steadied himself against the wall as it jolted yet again. "We won't survive this much longer - we don't have time to disable the shields. Ram into the Docking bay."
The pilot gave Artemis a crazed look, "That would blow us to pieces! We have to shut down that magnetic field before we go in!"
"Go in - I can hold this thing together long enough to break through the plasma window. Do it now!"
The man refused yet again. "I'm not risking my life on your 'powers' boy."
"Then you won't have to." Aura said. Suddenly the man slumped over, his head steaming. Aura holstered her pistol and pushed the man's body out of the seat. Directing the vessel forwards, they began to rapidly approach the shimmering entrance of the Docking Bay.
Artemis surrounded the vessel in a near-impenetrable bubble of force energy - and then it collided with the shield.
The whole ship violently lurched and began to buckle under the pressure, but Artemis's shield kept it from crumpling or igniting the engines. And then within seconds it was through the plasma window, crashing onto the deck. It skidded slowly to a stop, surrounded by Sith Fighters.
Artemis wiped his brow. "Let's move! I'll provide what healing I can spare, as well as some crowd control. It's up to you guys to do the rest!"
The buckled blast doors of the dropship slowly began to open...
Marco patted Artemis on the back, "Unorthodox but effective. I like it."
He slipped out of the crumpled doors and down the leading ramp. It seemed mostly intact, with a few lights sparking here and there. As the smoke cleared, dozens of republic troopers rushed toward them.
Nikka tossed Marco two spheres, about the size of a softballs, and Marco threw them onto the ground in front of him. The spheres opened up and flipped around, forming two hourglass shaped objects. The top halves of the hourglasses floated up, forming a square of circle halves. Then the bottom two spheres shot blue beams at the top two, and the beams widened into a square ray-shield.
Within seconds the spheres had transformed into a portable cover, and Marco and Nikka took cover behind it.
Grabbing a sticky grenade, Marco threw it at a guard. It bounced and stuck to the man's thigh. The guard struggled without prevail, and in an instant he became a ball of flame, and disintegrated. Two more men were struck by the impact of the explosion, and fell burning.
Now stepping out of his cover, Marco drew his twin blasters and took aim. Link pulled out his blaster pistol and fired at the enemy's. Link had some grenades left but he thought it wouldn't be a good idea to throw them on a ship.
He grabbed his sword and dulewielded the blaster and the sword charging and firing at them. Artemis and Aura quickly made their way behind a starship, taking cover. Aura took shots with her twin ion-pulse modified disruptors, instantly stunning and killing several troopers.
Artemis sensed shrapnel from a nearby explosion graze one of the strike team's arm. Within seconds he healed it, siphoning health from a trooper to heal his allies.
He gathered his strength, and then released it as a dark storm of energy onto a group of ten troopers, effectively cooking them in their armor.
Marco shot a man down as he ran, and jumping, forced the body the rest of the way down onto the ground. As the dead soldier slid across the floor, Marco rode him like a skimboard and ignited a guard on either side of him with his flamethrowers before coming to a stop. He stepped onto the polished metal floor and walked toward the door from which the soldiers had entered.
As he went he surveyed the bodies. Most wore republic armor but had random pieces of metal and cloth patching missing or damaged places in the armor. He waited for Artemis at the exit of the hangar bay, before stepping through the threshold. Artemis led the way out of the hanger, towards the bridge. They met little resistance until about halfway there, when Artemis sensed a ripple in the force.
"I think we may have a problem." said Artemis softly.
As if on cue, two jedi knights stepped out of a doorway, sabers ignited. Link hate grew in him even more when he met Artemis. He couldn't see the Jedi's faces but he didn't care, he hated them. He put his gun back and stepped into a fighting stand with his sword. One Jedi saw his and force pushed him out of the way like he didn't want him to get hurt, Link stood back up angrier. He charged the Jedi dodging ever force push, when he got close to him he saw his face. It was master Dak. He threw the sword at him only for it to be dodged by Dak's lightsaber. He pulled his blaster back out and fired so many times he dropped it from the heat of it overloading, as for Dak he didn't get hit at all. Dak didn't want to hurt Link but he had to, he turned his saber on stun and hit Link his it knocking him across the room and unconscious. Artemis tilted his head, perplexed. Link had tried to single-handedly take on a jedi himself, and the Jedi only stunned him, rather than killing him.
"Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events?" Artemis said, drawing the Jedi's attention towards him.
"Are you under orders not to kill us - or are you just not up to murdering us?"
Artemis reached to his side and seized his lightsaber, igniting it. The blood-orange glow cast an eerie shadow over him.
Reaching out with the force, Artemis sent a surge of electricity towards the two jedi. Meanwhile, Aura crouched by Link, feeling for a pulse.
"He's alive..." thought Aura. After failing to wake him, she injected him with a stimulant. "This will get you up and running in no time... I hope." Aura said quietly. And then she drew her blasters and began to fire towards the Jedi.
Marco ran at one Jedi, a blonde headed girl in muted-blue armor under her brown hood-and-cape. He fired a stream of bolts at the girl, who deflected them while flipping backward to gain distance. She blasted him back with the force, into a bulkhead. He shook the stars out of his head and charged again.
This time leading with his flamethrowers, the Jedi had nowhere to go but back.
But then she formed a force bubble around herself and charged through the flames and leaped over Marco.
Spinning around Marco faced the Jedi again.