Following a hunch

[Cynna Jade Sunrider]

Several months had passed since both Jade and Tugoro had encountered a Sith who went by the name of Thetan on Nar Shaddaa. Originally the two Jedi had gone to the Sith controlled moon to investigate a lead. Jade and Tugoro had been ambushed earlier on at a space port in New Alderaan. The mob had claimed to have known Jade, referring to her as Sunrider scum. After some initial investigation, they were lead to Sansa the Hutt and to his place of residence. Yet things as usual didn't end up being as simple as they should have been. They had encountered the Sith in question, dueled with him, only for Jade to kill the Hutt and for the Sith to escape. Yet he had said that his work had been done before running. A most unusual scenario as the Sith had no problem fighting the Jedi, yet he was more interested in having Sansa eliminated, which in the end he accomplished by Jade's own hand, and then had left both Jedi baffled.

Jade was flying solo. In her favourite ship. The Soul of Wildcat, her personal TIE Defender. Jade had had this ship since the days of her being a fighter pilot for the New Republic. She was part of an elite squadron who used Imperial ships to fight against the very Imperials themselves, and Wildcat had been her callsign. Jade was always a reckless one. Yet her skills as a pilot were rivaled only by the best. Thus her callsign. Over the years not much had changed with her. Sure she was older, however she was no less reckless and cocky than she was when she was 15 years younger. Even her younger Jedi friend and also ace pilot Tugoro Taidarious, claimed to be more mature than her. Of course he would never say this to her face, yet Jade had the gift of mind reading, and not only knew he thought this, but knew herself just how true it was.

Jade now en-route to Hok, where a lead Tugoro and herself had discovered existed a hideout that was owned by a notorious Hutt called Kelan. Apparently the Sith that she had dueled with, Thetan could be here. And possibly his leader, whoever he was. Jade had made an effort to brush up on her lightsabre skills over the last few months. Before she had met Tugoro, it had been years since she had dueled, or even trained. Over the months that passed, Jade had practiced for hours getting her Soresu and Ataru forms back to her peak levels. She would need all the practice she could get, as now she faced not just the possibility of facing one Sith, but perhaps two. The apprentice Thetan and his unknown master.

Jade's TIE Defender's sensors picked up a settlement on the surface as she entered the planet's atmosphere. She would fly her ship into the local spaceport. A Jedi flying an Imperial fighter wasn't a common thing, so she decided to land at the space port instead of over the outskirts of the settlement, as she would assume that the presence of an Imperial ship wouldn't arouse any suspicions. Well at least that was what she thought. Jade landed and hopped out of her ship. Wearing her usual pilot's clothes, she kept both her lightsabre and blaster concealed, and then made her way over to the local cantina not too far from the space port itself.

[member="Ballen-Ist"]

 

[Ballen-Ist]

Months earlier...

The personal shuttle that Thetan was onboard could now be seen on the horizon, as Ballen-Ist watched from the inside of the palaces small hangar bay. After an unfortunate accident on Nar Shaddaa, the red skinned Sith had been brought to the Hok System by Kelan the Hutt, who had managed to save him from life threatening injuries. All of their plotting had finally paid off, for Sansa the Hutt now lay dead upon her throne, killed by the foolish Jedi who had stumbled into the hideout. Things were going well, it seemed. The shuttle came to a hovering stop, slowly lowering to the ground before gently touching down with the landing gears. The entrance to the ship slid upon, as the loading ramp was extended unto the hangar floor. After hours of meditating upon the dark side, Thetan possessed no sign of exhaustion, despite the taxing duel he had taken part in.

"Everything has gone as you foresaw, master," the old man began, his cape flowing behind him as he approached the Pureblood. "The woman indeed killed Sansa. How did y-" Thetan started once more, before being cut off. "Do not worry about that, my apprentice. I know my enemies," Ballen-Ist replied, a toothy grin baring at the old man. Thetan disliked being brushed aside by the Knight, but he respected him solely because of his knowledge of the dark side. Thetan was by all means far more experienced than Ballen-Ist, but he lacked the brutal training that any true Sith was familiar with. "You cannot stay here. In one of the wasteland cities, there is a warehouse Kelan has bought. You'll find sufficient resources to operate with there."

This angered the old man even more, for it was the same style in which they had worked on Nar Shaddaa. Lifting an arm before holding it his chest, Thetan would bow humbly before the Pureblood, only to have him turn away in haste. Concealing his thoughts of malice, Thetan would only close his eyes, standing up straight before walking back to his shuttle. Once on board, the apprentice took a seat, firing up the engines all the while gazing at what was in his palm. A devilish grin spread across Thetan's face, as he examined the holocron he had swiped from his master. The ancient holocron of Tulak Hord.

Present

From that point on, gang warfare raged across choice cities and towns in Hok, each side trying to expand the influence of their respective leader. One, being Thetan, who had managed to remain illusive after stealing the holocron. Using the new found resources and knowledge, the old man had taken over a sect of Kelan's cartel, managing to make them fall in-line with his goals. This was beyond anything Ballen-Ist had ever imagined, and it enraged him to no end. He spent countless days meditating, isolating himself and gathering his own power. He did not to speak to anyone, much less see them at this point. However, he was forced to, as he employed his own agents and resources in the turf war that was currently taking place.

Ballen and his old apprentice were on equal ground at this point, but something told the Sith Knight that everything would work itself out. He could always trust in [member="Cynna Jade Sunrider"] to get the job done for him. After all, she had killed Sansa for him. The Pureblood's golden eyes would slowly open, as the familiar energy signature of the Jedi arrived on the planet. His eyes would then close, as he returned to his silent meditation. The streets were rowdier than usual, even an off worlder would be able to tell by the troubled expressions of those who did not want to get involved. Gang members had stepped up their game recently, desperate to pedal their drugs, recruit more members, and take out enemies.

The cantina was by far the worst place to be at a time like this, but a trained Jedi would be capable of handling themselves, for the most part. The hustle and bustle within the establishment barely hesitated for the woman's entrance, a few giving a glance, if any at all. She was just another spacer, bound to get chewed up and spat out sooner or later. The bartender even hesitated to acknowledge her, not sure if it was even worth his time. Of course, she was noticed, even if a majority of the cantina wasn't paying attention.

A particularly wild group of individuals within a booth had begun making cat calls at the Jedi, beckoning her over followed by explicit gestures and remarks. By their attire, it was clear they were apart of a gang, probably intent on selling some deathsticks to the woman in order to get a consistent customer. In another corner, was a young man dressed in a black slick looking uniform. He had watched the woman for a brief moment, nothing too suspicious, but just enough.

 

[Cynna Jade Sunrider]

As Jade made her way to the bar, she looked like just another spacer. However she undoubtedly stood out a little. Not because she was a Jedi, no, that was already taken care of as Jade was dressed in her red pilot's uniform with all weapons concealed. What made her stand out was the fact that she was a tall and very attractive woman. In a place such as where she had entered, attractive people entering it in general was a rarity. Yet Jade pretended to just ignore everyone. For her there was no try to, there was just do and getting on with her business.

The bartender hardly could be bothered to acknowledge her. This somewhat did annoy Jade at first. More to the fact that she was attractive and usually men couldn't take their eyes off of her. That's a novelty she thought to herself, although eventually he asked her what she wanted. His tone was flat, and rude. It was like he simply didn't care about what his customers thought of him. Probably a fair analysis too. In a place like they were in, no one really cared or gave a damn about anything nor anyone.

"I'll have a Corellian Whisky thanks". Jade still made an effort to be polite to the bartender despite his rudeness and abruptness towards her.

He placed her drink on the bar's ledge and then went about his own business serving other patrons. As Jade slowly sipped on her drink, she looked around her. The group of individuals in a booth who appeared drunk, continued with their cat calls to the Jedi, some even wolf whistling at her. Jade simply ignored them and paid little or no attention to them. She did however take notice of a good looking young man dressed in an elegant looking black uniform, momentarily turn his head her way. Jade looked his way, even after he had turned away. Somehow she knew he was still looking. She decide to quickly down her whisky and walk straight over to the corner to where he was sitting.

"Hi there, how ya doin? You look like you can do with some company, mind if I care to join you? Jade would speak slowly, but in a high pitched and posh accented voice, looking straight down at the man who was seated, as she stood next to him waiting for his response.

[member="Ballen-Ist"]

 

[Ballen-Ist]

The bartender was always grouchy, never paying anyone much attention unless they were a customer. Even then, his customers never lasted long, given the radical violence that was rampant in the area. The small gang in one of the cantina booths grew disgruntled as well, as they watched [member="Cynna Jade Sunrider"] ignore them completely. Their anger began to boil over, some of them even getting up in an attempt to follow the woman. However, once they saw where she had taken her drink, they stopped themselves hastily.

The young blond haired man would look up, revealing his attention had also been on a sleek looking datapad that was placed upon the tabletop. Swiping a finger along its surface, he would lock the screen and slide it closer to his end of the table. Lifting arm, he would gesture to a free seat before speaking, "Be my guest," his bright blue eyes checking Jade out for a brief moment. Even though he was clearly not here to socialize, it seemed like this was a welcomed surprise.

The booth was empty excluding the two, and not even a single drink had been placed on the table before Jade's arrival. "You're the pilot of that TIE Defender, you know your way around Imperial crafts," the young man spoke with a knowing smile, before continuing, "So, why would such a smart, beautiful woman like yourself come to a place like this?" he questioned vaguely. It could've been in regards to the cantina, but obviously he spoke of the planet Hok itself.

 

[Cynna Jade Sunrider]

Jade just starred at the good looking man briefly before breaking into a timid smile and chucking a little.

"Hey how did you know that is my ship?" Then Jade would shrug a little continuing. "Well I guess an elegant ship like that is subject to catch people's eye, and of course when a lovely looking woman like me hops out of one, then there is no way anyone could forget." Jade would flick her hair with a swift movement of her neck and speak to the man in a high pitched posh accent. She of course was being the usual Cynna Jade when it came down to showing off and flirting.

"Of course you're wondering what brings such an attractive, elegant and intelligent woman like me to such a low life cantina and planet such as Hok, but I could ask the same of you. I mean your the only descent and I must say, not bad looking person in this cantina, of course with lovely me included too." Jade shrugged again smiling cockingly.

Jade was obviously looking for the Hutt, Kelan. She needed a simple and easy way into his palace, and a way that would not attract any unwanted attention. Clearly last time when she had entered Sansa's place, she had gone about it all wrong, attracting much the opposite to herself and her partner Tugoro, almost getting them both killed. This time she sort to be careful, which meant being careful with whom she spoke too. This man had already noticed that she was the owner of a TIE Defender. This possibly could mean that he could have been watching her in general and from the very beginning. So now she thought the better and to tread carefully.

"I'm just stopping by. It gets tiring travelling in such a small cramped ship such as my TIE Defender on long journeys. I'm here to refresh myself so to speak. But tell me, sorry I should have asked your name earlier, oh and I'm Jade by the way, but tell me, what brings you here to such a run down cantina full of thugs from all corners of the Galaxy?"

[member="Ballen-Ist"]

 

[Ballen-Ist]

The blond haired man would laugh in response to [member="Cynna Jade Sunrider"], his smile widening after he spoke, "Why wonder when I already know?" Of course this was suspicious, but he quickly followed up to put the woman at ease.

"Knight Taidarious had me rerouted to the Hok system, I hear you have a tendency for getting in trouble," he would say, before continuing, "I'm agent Zandar, Galactic Republic Intelligence. We've been surveying the area for a few weeks now, but there isn't much we can do. Have you heard of the gang war? We're hesitant to get directly involved given Hok's neutrality, but otherwise we can't do a thing," an exasperated exhale would escape the young man's lips, as he leaned back in his seat in a defeated manner.

His eyes drifted across the room, keeping tabs on the gang that was also looking their way. The bartender had moved on, rinsing glasses and filling them alike. "You're a Jedi, why don't you help me?" Agent Zandar questioned hopefully, leaning forward slightly as he awaited the woman's response.

 

[Cynna Jade Sunrider]

"Oh Knight Taidarious told you about me. Oh!" Jade would go all red in the face as she felt like an imbecile after just having lied to the young man.

"Well yeah, trouble tends to find me more often than never. I'm afraid that Knight Taidarious' description of me regarding that is quite accurate indeed." Suddenly the cockiness, the deepness in her posh accented voice had vanished and had been replied by that of a shy timid girl.

I'm pleased to meet you Zandar. I'm Jade but you already know that." Jade once again would recompose herself, the sudden shyness due to embarrassment disappearing fully, as Jade returned to her usual self.

"I've come here following lead. A lead given to me by Knight Taidarious." Jade would pause a moment almost hesitant to continue, realising that the agent could be lying and in fact a spy, but then shrugged if off by rationalising that the man had known Tugoro and all about her own immature traits, that in fact he had to be the real deal. "A few months ago, the Knigjht Taidarious and my humble self had the unfortunate run into a Sith. A Sith by the name of Thetan. We believe he to be an apprentice to another unknown Sith Lord. He was at the time collaborating with a Hutt by the name of Sansa, who's dead now. Apparently a setup. He baited us Jedi into killing her. The reason also unknown. Now our leads point out that he may be here on Hok, and working with another hutt called Kelan"

Jade would pause a moment as she scanned Zandar's mind with her unique mind reading abilities for any signs of deception, but would find none thus continuing.

"I know Kelen is here. The gangs you speak of I reckon are related to Kelan. So personally I think your problem and my problem are related. Like a symbiont sentient. Those gangs need Kelen, Kelen needs them. The Sith Thetan and his Master needs the gangsters, and in turn they need the Sith. For now at least. It's one vicious circle and I intend to find out what the heck is going on. So yes Zandar, I will help you as helping you inadvertently will help my own cause, and that of Knight Taidarious"

[member="Ballen-Ist"]

 

[Ballen-Ist]

Agent Zandar would nod along as [member="Cynna Jade Sunrider"] spoke, the information he had been given lining up with hers almost perfectly. "Right, I read the reports," the young man responded, having glanced over the mission logs that had been submitted. This woman was a skilled Jedi Knight, and she would be very useful during this mission. It didn't seem like Jade realized it yet, but their orders were indeed directly tied to one another, and so working together was the perfect idea. "Correct again. Kelan's forces have been facing off against Thetan's for some time now, we believe. We believed that they were also working together at first, but we can't be sure," Zandar continued to explain, wanting to give the woman as much insight as he was authorized to.

"What we do know is that this Thetan has been growing his forces rapidly. His recruits might not be the brightest, but there is power in numbers," the Agent remarked with a slight smirk, taking a glance towards the gangsters in their booth across the room. "It's a good thing that you're here. There is only so much special agents like I can do against a Sith," the young man paused, looking back at Jade. By now she'd have noticed his training in the mental aspects of Teras Kasi, for his mind was completely shut off to any force abilities. Non-force users had to take every precaution they could in these times of wars, where Jedi and Sith ran rampant alike.

The cantina door would slide open, a tall figure suddenly marching in and stopping at the table of gangsters with an annoyed look. The men all began to jump up, knocking their drinks over as they rushed to leave the establishment. The tall figure was heavily armoured, though the quality of his equipment did not appear the best. Either way, it was evident that he was some sort of gang leader, taking his group out for a stroll. Agent Zandar watched them until they left, turning his attention back to Jade. "Shall we follow them?"

 

[Cynna Jade Sunrider]

Jade would listen attentively as Zandar spoke and explain the situation.

"If Kelan and Thetan's men are battling each other, there must be a reason. They must want something. Something precious or rare. Something potentially and likely powerful and dangerous. We need to find out what it is."

Just then, a rough looking heavily armed man would enter the cantina. The gangsters who were already there would suddenly fall into line and then leave with him. Undoubtably he was the leader of at least that group of thugs.

"Yeah. You damn bet we should follow. Let's wait a minute and then go. We need to be subtle and not be noticed if you get my drift. Otherwise it means a likely confrontation and I'm sure Knight Taidarious has already told you about the not so delightful way I handle those kinda situations." Jade would say with a smirk on her face, as the two would then make their way for the exit.

[member="Ballen-Ist"]

 

[Ballen-Ist]

After explaining some snippets of the situation that [member="Cynna Jade Sunrider"] had been unaware of, Agent Zandar would slowly rise to his feet, packing away the datapad he had held in his hand. The gangsters nearby had already left, appearing to be in some sort of hurry. Zandar's eyes were locked on the door, watching it intently before turning back to the woman before him. "You're obviously more experienced with Sith than I am, so I'll take your word for it," the agent replied, still unsure as to what this whole feud was about. No doubt there was something at stake here, but the two would need to find out what first. A thin smirk would line Zandar's face as he began to walk, keeping beside Jade as she spoke of her methods.

"On the contrary, I think your way of handling things will be extremely useful in this situation. Knight Taidarious and I don't see eye to eye on some things," the agent concluded for the time being, pausing briefly as the cantina door slid away into the wall, allowing the duo to step out into the harsh wasteland surroundings of Hok. The gang was just rounding a bend which led to a small parking area, where they had all stowed their swoop bikes away in. One by one they climbed onto their vehicles, kicking up sand in their wake as they blasted off into the distance. Zandar quickly delved into his black jacket, pulling a handgun from a holster and taking aim at one of the vehicles. Ducking behind cover, the young man would wait for a moment or two, before popping up from it.

A click was heard as he pulled the trigger, firing a small metallic device out of the weapons barrel and towards an escaping swoop bike. The homing beacon attached to the metallic surface with its magnetic properties, ensuring the two clear insight as to where the gang might have been heading. "We could either split up now and take separate approaches, or continue working together. What do you think?" the agent questioned Jade, wondering how she wanted to do this. Separating and launching a surprise attack was a smart plan, but there were a few other options available.

 

[Cynna Jade Sunrider]

As both Zandar and Jade stepped outside from the cantina, it was now clearer than ever that the world they were on was a desolate wasteland. Jade had somewhat gotten herself cosy inside with the attractive young agent, despite the cantina not exactly being anything spectacular. Nonetheless it was better than outside.

Jade watched the young agent as he lined up a shot with a small handgun he had retrieved from his jacket. For a moment it left her wondering what in the name he was thinking. Shooting one of them off their bikes would have the rest of them turn back and fight, which as much as she didn't mind a fight was pure foolishness. Then as he fired the shot, she immediately realised what he had done.

"Ah good thinking Zandar, you had me worried there for a moment." Jade burst out into her typical almost childish like giggle.

"I like the way you think. Very smart. With that we can see where one goes, it will lead us to where all the rest go, more importantly their boss. And from there we can hopefully see to whom their boss reports too." Jade concluded softly patting the younger man on the shoulder. Jade had a habit of doing that to people when she was satisfied with something they had just did.

"I think it's best we stick together for now. After all only you can track where they are going. As we get closer and hopefully see exactly where they are going or gone to, then perhaps we then split up."

Jade then paused a moment, flirting with the young agent.

"Besides I don't have a speeder, so you can't really just leave a, you know, a woman like me here in this wasteland all alone on her own." Jade would say with a high pitched voice and flicking her hair around her shoulders so it waved in the wind grinning at the agent.

[member="Ballen-Ist"]

 

[Ballen-Ist]

The swoop gang zoomed off into the distant, barreling across the dunes of Hok as they increased their speed. Agent Zandar would relax against the cover Jade and he had taken, his head turning to look upon the woman as she spoke. "Of course, a direction confrontation would be useless. At the moment, at least," the young man replied, looking a bit confused as [member="Cynna Jade Sunrider"] patted his back in a congratulatory fashion. It was a strange habit, but Zandar allowed it as his faced became a bit red. It was also embarrassing. Standing up from his cover as the gangsters had left, the agent would holster his weapon, taking a look back into the small town where they had came from, before giving his attention to Jade once more. She was beautiful, there was no denying it, and the young man couldn't help but admire as her hair waved about in the wind.

Despite her words, he knew that she was far from helpless, causing him to smirk slightly as he pivoted on his heel. "Very well, we'll travel together. You may be easy on the eyes, but a woman like you would have little trouble on her own," the agent replied, having been given extensive information on the Jedi Knight. There was no doubt about her beauty, even less doubt of the danger she posed to others. "We'll take my landspeeder and follow them," Zandar spoke, walking alongside Jade through the city, until they reached one of the parking garages available to the public. Hopping into the two seated vehicle, the agent would fire up the engines, waiting for Jade to get comfortable before blasting out onto the almost empty streets. Racing along the sandy surface, the speeder would eventually carry the duo out of the town, and into the barren wastelands of Hok. The signal they were tracking was displayed on the radar, and not too far off from their current location.

"These gangsters should be quick work. I'm only concerned about the Sith getting directly involved," Zandar commented, his vision narrowing as he looked down at the radar, before increasing it's range. His eyes then widened in surprise, as he gave Jade a concerned look. "There's a smaller village up ahead. It could be a raid, or some sort of meeting. How should we approach this?" Zandar questioned, knowing that the two of them could handle it. The village was small, as was the biker gang. So, their only concern would be the safety of innocents.

 

[Cynna Jade Sunrider]

As both Jade and Zandar chatted on their way to Zandar's landspeeder, Jade an adapt mind reader did subtly take note of a few minor things. Things she would note only to herself and had absolutely no relevance to their task at hand. Zandar had felt somewhat strange and embarrassed when she had patted him on the shoulder. Okay then, she thought to herself. I'll try not to do that too much then. Just a habit of mine, although he does seem to perv at me a little. Great, I like that sort of attention anyway. Jade mentally said to her self as her hair waived gracefully in the wind. Soon after they got to the landspeeder and Jade comfortably sat in the back. Zandar as expected would make sure of that, although he knew all too well she was fine. Oh how cute of him to make sure that pretty me is all comfortable at the back here. Jade thought to herself amused and tying hard not to giggle. They blasted out of the garage that the landspeeder had been parked in, and into the barren landscape of Hok. It didn't take them long to catch up with the rogue gang they had been following. A small remote village, definitely thinly populated.

Jade stepped off the landspeeder and took out her own microbinoculars to take a closer look.

"By the way, the SIth are involved." Was the delayed response to Zandar's earlier question on approach to the village.

"Don't ask me how as I don't know, I simply know they just are somehow. Of course that my good friend is what we will soon find out." Jade continued speaking as she scanned the area with her microbinoculars.

"Sorry can't tell if its a raid or not. And the damn Force ain't telling me anything either. My guess is that they've just stopped there for perhaps, um a meeting? After all they all scrammed as soon as their boss showed up back at the spaceport cantina. As dumb looking as this gang may seem, i don't believe they would be wasting time on petty little raids. Especially if they are somehow connected to the Sith. Pointless raids would bring the Sith into the spotlight a little more than they would like." Jade then lowered her microbinoculars and re-attached them to her belt.

"Only way to find out is to walk right on in and listen to what they are saying. Assuming of course this is no actual raid. Park your speeder somewhere over there and out of sight. We shall walk into the village to not arouse too much unwanted attention to ourselves. Then from there depending on the actual situation will determine our next move."

Jade smile at the young man and then gestured with her hands towards the village. "After you sir."

[member="Ballen-Ist"]

 

[Ballen-Ist]

Agent Zandar's brow would furrow in curiosity, his expression one of interest as he glanced towards [member="Cynna Jade Sunrider"]. He wondered exactly how much she knew about the current situation, though brushed the thought from his mind as he brought the landspeeder to a full stop behind a tall dune. The two would hoist themselves from the vehicle, stepping onto the sandy surface. They were on the outskirts of the village, far enough to scout out the area quickly for any suspicious activity. With Jade's micro-binoculars, she would be able to spot the swoop gang from earlier dismounting their vehicles, greetings a hooded individual that would lead them within one of the large tents set up outside the village.

"What can you see?" Zandar questioned, hoping that the Jedi had been right. There were a few armed men still stationed outside of the village, on look out for anything that they would deem suspicious as well. Thankfully, the angle that they had approached at allowed them to stay out of sight for the time being, along with the landspeeder that was still concealed by the sandy dunes. A firm nod would be the only response for the time being, as Zandar stepped out from behind his cover, beginning to walk calmly towards the village. He assumed that as long as they played it cool for now, there would be no unnecessary violence.

Glancing behind his shoulder, the man would lift and arm and wave towards Jade, ushering her to follow him. The two would traverse the sands for a brief time, before two armed guards left their outpost, meeting them halfway to the village. Zandar had seemed nervous at the start, but now that the Jedi was with him, he had calmed down. "Who are you two off-worlders? What business do you have here?" one of the Weequay guards barked, wanting an answer.

 

[Cynna Jade Sunrider]

Jade followed Zandar as they made their way towards the village. Only to be confronted by two of the armed guards who saw them coming. They were very demanding from the word go, and as expected behaved very hostile towards both the Jedi and the agent.

"Gee you're not very welcoming guys." Jade would swing her hair around delibrately flirting.

"We're just tourists who seem to be lost. He over there is my umm boyfriend. We didn't mean to intrude on you, really we didn't. We can just turn back to where we came from if you want?" Jade would speak playing all innocent.

Yet the guards didn't seem to fall for Jade's looks. "No, you two are coming with us. Search them for weapons!"

But what happened next would be quick and swift. Jade grabbed the top of the first guard's rifle and after pushing it down, while holding on to the gun, spun around, took the weapon off him, and then smacked him across the head with it knocking him out cold. Quickly she then pointed it at the other who for a sec had been bamboozled at Jade's sudden speed.

"I don't think so!" Jade exclaimed pointed the blaster rifle at the other guard.

"Now take me to the others, or else!"

"Or else what? You'll shoot me? You don't have the guts woman!"

"You know what, you're right." Jade retorted as she quickly walked up to him and also smacked him in the head with the butt of the rifle, knocking him out cold in the process.

"Well Zandar, that sorts them out for now. Let's move along quickly to the village before they wake up and more of them show up. Oh and I'll keep this blaster rifle for now." Jade gave Zandar a warm but at the same time a cocky smile, as the two then got moving along towards the village.

[member="Ballen-Ist"]

 

[Ballen-Ist]

A smirk was all that Zandar could manage as he looked down upon the two unconscious guards, that had been taken out in a rather comedic manner. Kneeling down next to one of them, the agent would scoop up the other blaster rifle that had been dropped, slinging the armstrap over his shoulder. "Alright, to the village," Zandar repeated, breaking into a light sprint with the blaster at his side. The opening in the village suddenly began to close, a thick durasteel gate swinging shut from the inside. The main entrance to the village was now blocked off, the duo would have to find another way inside.

The guards hadn't even had enough time to report back to the village, so why had they sealed the entrance off? Zandar thought all of this to be peculiar, unless it was simple routine. For what, though? Whipping his entire body to face the opposite direction, a grim expression would spread across the man's face as he looked to the distance. Adjusting a small audio device in his ear, the agent would speak, "More swoop bikes approaching. Four, I think. We should make our way around the village." Zandar declared, pivoting on his heel before sprinting quickly.

 

[Cynna Jade Sunrider]

That was indeed bizarre, Jade observed seeing the large durasteel door entrance to the village close itself shut. And to make matters worse more swoops were headed their way.

"This is not good Zandar, definitely not good at all," Jade said speaking back in her comm unit to the agent.

Running and making their way around the village, Jade couldn't help but think as she began to tire and evidently it showed as she appeared to be out of breath as she spoke frantically. "They couldn't have commed in fast enough those men I neutrilised. Frak, someone knew we were there thus why the other swoops who were following us." Yet things were destined not to get better from this point moving forward it would seem. More biker swoops approached the fleeing Jedi and agent but this time from the other direction.

"Our situation has not improved," Jade said gravely said referring to the obvious fact that the two would soon be surrounded and waylaid by enemies.

[member="Ballen-Ist"]

 

[Ballen-Ist]

Having sprinted quite the distance, the duo had made their way closer to the gated village, lucky to not have been spotted thus far. There were no lookout towers or anything of the sort, and it didn't appear as if anyone was on guard. Quite strange, especially given the gang war situation in the region. Despite the sun barring down on his black jumpsuit, Agent Zandar hardly seemed tired, skidding to a halt as he looked over his shoulder at [member="Cynna Jade Sunrider"]. After listening to her assessment of their predicament, the young man could not help but smile, turning fully to face the woman who appeared to be out of breath.

The four swoop bikes in the distance finally broke the horizon, mere specs of black that kicked up clouds of dust in their wake as they approached. This Jedi was quite intelligent, her skills of deduction having proved as much over the course of their time together. "Indeed, our situation has not improved," Zandar began, before pausing. "More accurately; your situation," the Agent concluded with a look of utmost certainty on his face, as his arm lifted, raising the blaster rifle with it as it fell into his grip. The long barrel pointed directly at Jade, who was prone to run right into it. Zandar's finger rested comfortably upon the trigger of the rifle, as he locked his sights on the Jedi before him.

"You're right, someone must have known that we were coming, and someone must have given the signal for those insufferable bikers to begin their approach," Zandar spoke, his mocking tone now including a distinct Imperial accent to it. "Sorry love, but Thetan sends his regards." With that, Zandar prepared to pull down on the trigger, in hopes of ending the Jedi right then and there. He had planned on striking while she was vulnerable from the very moment they had met, now that she was exhausted and confused, what better time? It had all been a trap from the very start, the only thing that remained uncertain was the Jedi's fate. Zandar seemed extremely confident, and for good reason. The four swoop bikes in the distance continued to approach, most definitely reaching their destination soon enough.

 

[Cynna Jade Sunrider]

The Force ran strong with Jade, within her blood, in her very essence. To many, such as the young man she found herself with, she looked the part of a young woman, naive and looking for adventure. Yet Jade was none of those things. In fact she was quite the opposite, a veteran now and almost middle aged, an experienced combatant, pilot and even an ex-Imperial herself, her youthful looks were certainly deceiving. The woman born as Cynna Jade, spouse of the late Qi-Xian Sunrider and now Jade Sunrider by marriage right was not gonna fall for the deception and treachery of the charming man in who she was following. She had sensed something not quite right from the moment the two had met. It all seemed too easy, too much of a coincidence from back at the bar, with the gang members simply leaving and then suddenly showing up again.

Then it all happened so quickly, the call of the Force, the blaster rifle, in Zandar's hand, pointed at her, finger on the trigger and ready to fire, Jade's green lightsabre hummed to life as she was already swinging it at the young man's rifle and severing the weapon in two. Spinning around in an almost dance like move, she then stretched her lightsabre out in a defensive kamae pointing the tip of its blade at Zandar's chest.

Sensing the 4 biker swoops closing in fast, Jade wasted little time cutting to the chase. "I'm a bit of a rogue Jedi these days so I won't hesitate to strike you down if you give me an excuse and frankly you already have. Start talking and you had better do it before those thugs get here. Who are you, who are you working for and who paid you to kill me?"

[member="Ballen-Ist"]

 

[Ballen-Ist]

Zandar had been extremely confident in his deception, almost one hundred percent sure that he would be able to catch the Jedi off guard this way. Everything that had occurred had been put into motion by the Agent's superiors, and all had gone according to plan thus far. Unfortunately, he had made the mistake of underestimating [member="Cynna Jade Sunrider"]. Before he was even able to fire off a single shot into her torso, the woman's shimmering blade sprang into life and sliced clean through the levelled blaster rifle. Perhaps Zandar had not been as subtle as he believed, the scene in the cantina earlier having been one of his only slip ups.

The biker gang had known exactly who Zandar was, seeing as they had been employed by the Agent himself. They had been instructed not to interfere until given the signal, and now they were on their way. The roar of their swoop bike engines grew louder as they raced across the sand dunes, drawing ever closer to the duo. Though Zandar did not possess the force, his reflexive capabilities were astounding, his body immediately lurching backwards as Jade spun, creating a solid two meters of distance between them as he skidded to a halt along the ground.

Beginning to pace in a circle around the Jedi, Zandar reached into an opening within his jumpsuit, pulling out what appeared to be a collapsible vibroblade. Flicking the weapon out to its full length, the powerful field of energy would surround the metallic blade as it lifted into the air, ready to clash with the violet saber of his opponent. Though, it remained to be seen whether or not the Agent was truly ready. "Strike me down if you want, false Jedi... Either way, you'll be meeting my employer soon enough." He concluded before suddenly unleashing a savage battle cry, lunging across the short distance with his weapon raised, swinging down in an overhead strike. The man's speed and power was formidable, its true source being a plethora of cybernetic implants obtained over his years as an Imperial Agent.