Chapter 1

Taungsday 8, 3rd month, 1313 ABY

Sara was sent on a mission by the Jedi council, get to the border of the empire and federation and confirm the conflicting reports that had been heard. The tension in the region was high, there were multiple reports of imperial star destroyers being deployed around various systems to control the traffic around the different outposts. Sara and two other Jedi knights volunteered to infiltrate imperial and federation space to investigate the reports of attacks against cities on federation worlds. Some civilians claimed that troops armed with light sabers attacked cities, slaughtering civilians to keep the other ones in check.

The first part of their mission wasn’t easy, they had to go deep in the federation territory. They could not simply jump there using a republic ship, it would attract to much attention on them, possibly compromising the mission. They opted for the longest approach, but it was also the safest to maintain their cover. They hopped on a civilian transport ship leaving Tython, and from there they hopped from one ship to another until they reached their destination. They were travelling with almost no gear at all, they way they were much less likely to get caught at security checkpoints. Sara made sure to use her mind tricks on the security guards at checkpoints scanning them, they were still carrying blasters and their lightsabers. It worked rather well, they managed to reach federal space in under a week, it took them another week to reach their destination, Manda.

When they got there, they arrived in one of the larger settlements, there were lots of security patrols all over the city, there was no change that this place was attacked. They learned that the city was in lockdown, no one could go out or in the city at this time. Odd considering the stature of the city on this planet, it was the main star port on the planet, no other settlements had installations required to resupply the larger vessels, the city was the only way in or out of the planet.

“What should we do,” asked Kuna, “it’s not like they are just going to tell us what happened.”

“Right, but what about if we ask nicely,” replied Shan.

“So … what, we ask the nice federal patrols about lightsaber users attacking their lovely settlements,” replied Kuna on a sarcastic tone.

“Oh, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind spilling all their secrets,” added Sara.

“Ok ok ok, I get it, anybody has a better plan,” said Shan as he realized the other two were now making fun of him.

“Look around, the city is huge, someone has to have seen something, we should ask around,” explained Kuna.

“Ok, you guys split out, try to find info about what happened somewhere on this world, I’ll try to find us a way out of the city, we meet back tomorrow here,” said Sara.

“Sounds good,” said Shan. “On it,” said Kuna right after Shan.

All three of them finished their drinks at the cantina. Shan left first, he headed out to the nearest place where he could find some bounty hunters, hoping any of them had information. Sara left after, she was heading to the market to find a smuggler that could perhaps smuggle them out of the city. Kuna was the last one to leave, he headed to the slums to talk to the residents there, maybe they heard something.

Shan knew that there was certainly a place where bounty hunters gathered in the city, it’s a way of living. Most of them do simple jobs, catch criminals evading justice. However, the more notorious opinion comes from the bounty hunters who take contracts to kill targets. They act more like assassins than bounty hunters. Shan knew that if some of them wanted to talk to him it was certainly not the later, so he tried to find the nearest office where he could find some contracts.

After getting directions from some of the locals he found the hideout of some of the local bounty hunters. He got inside the establishment and found little to no one there. The Duro at the reception greeted him, “looking for someone?” he asked Shan. It was the middle of the day, there were not many bounty hunters there, most of them were out working. “No, I was actually looking for some work,” he replied. “Ah, some fresh meat, we got some jobs to get you started, come have a look.” The clerk handed over a datapad to Shan with information about some bounties. “It’s not much but it will get you started,” the clerk informed him. “And if I want better jobs?” he asked. “Ah, you have to make a name for yourself, then we’ll see if the higher paying clients want to do business with you,” replied the Duro. “Fair enough, I’ll see if I can’t collect any of these bounties,” he waved the datapad at the clerk, downloaded the information about the bounties and left the establishment.

The bounties were nothing interesting, some locals wanted by the federation for various small crimes, some bounties posted by corporations. Nothing to really help the jedis on their mission. If he was to collect any information, Shan would have to come back and talk to the bounty hunters after dark, maybe one of them will spill some information.

The datapad contained around 20 different bounties with general information about the person, nothing to help him find them. Shan took his comlink and contacted the rest of the team, “All I have so far is a list of 20 bounties, what should I do?” he asked. “I know, collect them, we didn’t really come here for work, but it seems that you found one,” replied Sara. “Hey, I bet you can’t collect them all before nightfall,” added Kuna. “Oh, you are on,” answered Shan, taking Kuna’s offer.

Shan went to work, he tricked some of the police officers into using their computer to access information about some of the wanted targets and managed to locate some of them. Using his force power in subtle ways he managed to get the information he wanted to bring his targets to justice. In a matter of hours, he had a dozen criminals arrested. “Hey Kuna, that’s a dozen in three hours, guess who is going to owe me?” taunted Shan. “Bite me, I know you can’t finish them all, dream on,” replied Kuna, seemingly angry at the progress Shan has been making.

It was around midday on Manda, and the sun was hitting hard outside. Many of the locals were staying in the shade, avoiding direct sunlight. Those that were braver were still not hanging around, walking quickly from point to point. There were significantly less civilians around at this time, many went home or to work, the streets were almost empty. Shan asked one of the locals, he explained to him that it’s their habit, during the summer season the sun is so warm that I can melt some materials in direct exposure, citizens are afraid of the sun around this time of the day since it’s the time of day where it’s the warmest. Shan decided to take a break and went looking for the closest cantina, where he found more people that he expected at that time of day. The place was packed, almost all tables were full, all of them fleeing the warm sun outside he presumed. Shan found a spot where he could sit at the bar and ordered a drink.

Shan had some interesting conversations with the locals at the cantina, most of them were getting drunk in the middle of the day. He still managed to get information about some of his more elusive bounties. He stayed in the cantina for a few hours, giving the sun time to go down and went back outside, looking for his bounties.

Meanwhile, Kuna had left the group heading for the slums of the city. He was not prepared for what he saw. There were a lot of people living in the dirt, with almost no shelter. Slaves had better living conditions than most of them around here. As soon as he started walking in the alleys he started attracting a lot of attention. Beggars were following him, asking for anything, money, food, any goods he might have. Kuna was looking around, searching for someone who might know something about the recent events. He found an old man, sitting around a corner of the street, he looked like he was staying there often, he had his belongings next to him and seem unaffected by Kuna’s presence. Kuna scared away the beggars following him and walked up to the man.

“Hello there,” the man said as Kuna approached him.

“Hi, were you expecting someone ?” asked Kuna, surprised that the old man initiated a conversation with him.

“Sometimes,” he answered, “but today it is you who is looking for someone.”

“How did you know ?” asked Kuna, surprised by the old man’s response.

“I can feel when someone has questions for me,” the man said, waving at Kuna to come sit next to him, “and I might have the answers you are looking for young man.”

Kuna sat down next to the old man, he took a good look at the man, trying to figure out who he might be. The old man didn’t move, he was staring ahead, unfazed by Kuna’s presence. The man look old, he was at least 80 years old if Kuna had to guess, he had multiple scars on his face and arms, one of them ran almost across his face. The man clearly had witness a lot of events during his life.

“So, you want to talk to me ?” asked Kuna.

“I sensed you presence here young one, you are looking for something,” the man replied.

“You sensed my presence, are you a jedi ?” asked Kuna, surprised by what he was saying.

“Me a jedi, no no no. Jedi, sith, those have been gone for quite some time now, but the force, the force is still there, inside all of us,” said the old man. “Me, I’m just someone who listens, listening for what the force has to say to me,” he explained.

“How did you manage to do that, without any training?” asked Kuna.

“It’s simple, by simply meditating and opening yourself to the force, the force can show you things,” explained the old man, “here, close your eyes, try to empty your mind. I will show you the answers you seek.”

Both Kuna and the old man closed their eyes, trying to meditate and feel the things going on around them. They took a couple of minutes to feel what was around them. Then the old man asked a question to Kuna “What do you see?” Kuna took a few seconds and started describing what he was seeing in his vision. “I see, us, sitting on the corner, lots of people moving past, no wait, moving backwards.” “And?” added the man. “Wait, there is no one there anymore.” “Look closer,” added the old man. “I still see nothing,” replied Kuna. “Closer!” he said again. “I see something in the distance, someone with a lightsaber, he’s … he’s cutting up people!” said Kuna as he lost focus and his vison ended. Kuna was surprised by what he saw and jumped up on his feet.

“What was that, why, why, why show me this?” said Kuna as he calmed himself down.

“Ah, that was the will of the force, I did nothing but help you young one,” said the old man, explaining to Kuna what just happened.