The Hard Bounty (closed for Painta)

[gagonthis]

His fingers gently traced the metal ridges on the hilt of the cylinder he held, questing out his senses to try and anticipate those around him. The force ran strongly in him, but his training was incomplete, his mastery of the power within him shaky. He prayed that he had enough self control to survive what would come next.

His eyes swept the room around him, a dingy warehouse storeroom, littered with cargo containers and reeking of plasma fuel. His gaze steeled as it fell upon the crumpled mass in the corner. His former master, Aarilya stared up, unmoving eyes filled with sadness. Littering the ground in front of her were the remains of squadron 78, trusted companions until but a moment ago.

Five of these troopers surrounded the boy, rifles held steady despite the losses they had suffered already. Turmoil swirled within the young man's heart, grief over the loss of the only person who had ever truly cared gripped his heart, threatening to unleash anger. 'There is no passion. There is serenity...' he mumbled to himself as his grip dropped into that of the Soresu form, preparing himself for the onslaught of blaster fire. 'The calm within the eye of the storm...' His eyes closed as the force guided his sight.

'Jedi, your light has fled from the galaxy you have betrayed!' Snarled the clone commander, the first bit of emotion the man had ever displayed. Time slowed as he pulled the trigger, the four remaining troopers following suit. Red bolts lancing out as the energy cells within the weapons expended their energy, converting stored power into deadly rays, arcing with trained precision towards the young man.

With a blur of movement the green blade swept in front of him, catching two of the bolts in a short sweep across his chest, deflecting one into the ceiling as the other reversed its short course, striking the trooper who fired it in the throat, a gurgling noise and burning smell announcing his death. Still the saber moved, wrists snapping upwards to catch the third and fourth as he spun, the fifth shot singing the simple robe he wore as his feet carried him forward.

The force lent strength to his legs and he bounded upwards, flipping past the next volley of shots and landing amongst the clones. A yell of surprise turned into a shout of pain as his saber lanced through the armor of one, swiftly impaling him as his foot shot out in the opposite direction, landing with the strength of a raging gundark, snapping ribs and collapsing the breastbone of a second trooper as the two standing tried to correct their aim, but the man was not giving them time.

His grip shifted slightly, moving from Soresu to Shien, his blade sweeping around to catch another blaster bolt and send it lancing back at the trooper, catching him in the chest, boring through the armor as the rifle slipped from his hands. With an open palm the young Corellian gathered the force into a wall and thrust it forward, catching the commander in a blast of energy, slamming him hard into a wall, where he collapsed roughly, his rifle skidding off into the darkness of the warehouse. 'You... you killed her!' The man roar as he charged forward, hatred flooding his heart as he brought the saber down in an overhead chop, wanting nothing more than to here his cries as he died. 'STOP!' A voice sounded in his head, causing him to draw up short. 'Ma..master?' He said with uncertainty as he glanced about.

'I have been slain, but you must escape, and remember, the dark side is all around you, do not give into your hate... you will be hunted, you will be tried, you must learn to be strong, trust in yourself, do not give in to the darkness, you must learn to be the light the galaxy needs. Now flee!' With one last glance at the dazed clone commander the youngling flicked off the lightsaber and clipped it back to his belt. He felt an immense sadness center in his heart as he realized the weight of everything that had happened.

His master was dead. The tide of darkness was sweeping away the republic. There would be no where to hide. It was time to run.

[PaintaPicture]

Another quiet moment in her ship, another moment looking for a new bounty. She was taking a few "days off" after turning in some scum bag for a nice price, but it hadn't been nearly enough. Her ship needed a handful of repairs and she needed a drink. She turned towards Nar Shaada knowing she'd be able to find both alcohol and work in hopefully the same location. After drifting in under the radar and heading into her favorite, shadiest parts of the city she already felt more relaxed. The hustle and bustle of people everywhere made things seem more calm, in an organized chaos kind of way.

The young Echani girl found a local spot that people seemed to be heading in and out of, her sort of people and she went in, looking around, and noticed she got a few looks herself. She ordered her drink and sat at the bar keeping her jacket zipped around her nicely curved form and the blaster on her side. It was a rather noisy establishment, as most were, but she was there to relax and listen to whatever gossip could be heard, and hopefully pick up some work.

After a second maybe third cocktail she overheard the magic words, "huge bounty.." and her ears perked up as the two men next to her began to discuss how there was this rogue Jedi, Jordain Klyn a padawan, was wanted by the empire alive. Apparently he was a Corellian with a big price on his head, as well as any other Jedi that one came across was wanted. The 2 rather rough looking men never said why, but she didn't need a reason just a price a name and sometimes a starting location helped. Apparently these men were going to be looking for him as well, since they were going to Togoria. Apparently that was where he has last been seen.

After finishing the last of her poorly made drink she tossed down some money and pulled her dark hood over her long white hair. She pushed her hands in her pockets and quickly made her way back to her ship after getting cat-called and hollered at a bit. She was used to that, and after getting settled once again into her seat she plugged in co-ordinates to Togoria and took off hopefully heading towards her next paycheck.

[gagonthis]

Dodging clone patrols was no challenging test for one with the force aiding him. They were disciplined military troops, but they still made noise, the creaking of their armor amplified by his heightened senses made it much easier for him to avoid detection as he made his way through the ruins of the city.

Togoria had made the mistake of siding with the Separatists, and as such the lush green grasslands of the planet had been scorched black by the might of the republic's army. The orbital bombardment had softened the planetary defenses enough to allow the Grand Army to stage a village by village conquest of the planet. The Togorians were a primitive people, living of the technology the rest of the galaxy had developed for them. Still they were large, fierce warriors, and fought tooth and nail for every inch of land. Fortunately the Separatists were still reeling from a number of earlier defeats, or Jordain would have found himself trying to avoid detection by droid hunter killers, much harder to sense through the force.

'What could have happened...' he wondered out loud. What could have turned the clone troopers, who had fought side by side as comrades in arms with the Jedi against them? He knew that his master had been troubled by what she had described as a 'murkiness' covering her ability to sense coming events, even going so far as to speculate that the dark side was on the rise once again. Jordain took a deep breath, trying to force the fear and anger down once more. They'd been betrayed, but by whom? It was much too big for him to consider, and as much as he wanted to avenge the death of his master he knew flight was the more prudent option.

'You there halt!' A clone voice said behind him and Jordain let out a small curse. He'd been too lost in thought to realize that he was being followed. 'Don't move a twitch Jedi or I swear you're dead.' Jordain knew he wouldn't be able to draw his saber in time to avoid being cut down, and he was afraid to unleash the force on the man, his anger would power the blow too much, so instead he focused his will, gazing into the black eyes of his helmet, a small flick of his hand and a silent prayer for succes.. 'You don't need to worry about me. I'm an ally, the jedi you're looking for made his way to the frontlines, to join the Seperatists.' The clone trooper stood there for a moment, one that last an eternity to the young padawan. 'You're right! I better report this in!' The trooper responded as his rifle dipped to the ground. 'Carry on your work trooper.' Jordain said simply with a salute as he quickly hurried away, breathing a sigh of relief.

Finally he found himself a battered unattended landspeeder. Glancing around briefly he climbed in the cockpit, leaning down to the control console, forcing open a panel and fiddling with some of the wiring he employed a skill he certainly hadn't learned in the Jedi academy. The repulsorlifts hummed to life and Jordain punched it up to full speed, sprinting away as quickly as possible from the charred graveyard of his former life.

His only option would be to make for the spaceport, halfway across the planet. Even in the landspeeder the journey took several days, as he could not move during the day, trooper patrols were too heavy. Finally though, weary and hungry, he abandoned the speeder on the outskirts of the only large city on the planet. He had to get in and steal something to get off planet, and he had to do it with the minimum amount of bloodshed possible. 'No one said being a jedi would be easy...' He said with a sigh as he packed the robe of the jedi order away, pulling out a dark hooded cloak he had retrieved from an abandoned store house on the way. Making sure his head was thoroughly hidden, he stashed his lightsaber in a way he hoped would be inconspicuous but still accessible as he moved into the city, feeling with his senses for any threat approaching him.

[PaintaPicture]

She turned around, hit her head hard and die instantly from internal bleeding. the end.

[gagonthis]

Then her face got raped. And once she got up as a ghost, she was ghost raped.