DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
Note: Thoughts are in * and Italics.
The arrogance was stifling. It thoroughly sickened her.
Callisto leaned against the wall, glancing down the hallway towards two guards that stood in her way. So clam and collected they were. She vaguely wondered if either of them had fired a shot within the past five years. Probably not. The Black Sun expected that this deep inside their own sanctum there would be little internal violence. In all likelihood, these men were probably the equivalent of aging guards inside a bank; put there for show, not expected to act. Or perhaps they had been bumped down from a higher position, lost a bet, or something along those lines. Logically though, she came to realize that they WERE probably very good shots, put there specifically to protect the higher ups.
Still, they angered her, as did anyone working for Rapelen. They were too confident, taking comfort in the fact they were getting paid to stand there and look tough.
Today, they were about to get quite the workout, provided they survived to realize it.
She stuck her arm out and fired once, striking the taller one directly in the chest, killing him as he answered a call from his comlink. It wouldn't surprise her if perhaps that was the call of her escape. Too late now.
The second fired, nearly hitting her in the head. Sparks flew from where the bolt struck the wall.
"Damn," Callisto said. Apparently her third theory had been the correct one. She returned fire, taking him in the head. Another one down for her.
The hall was empty. The wise thing to do would be to escape. This was the perfect window of opportunity for it. She was alone, there were plenty of ways out from where she stood.
No. She was not going to escape. She had ALLOWED that bounty hunter to take her for a reason. From the moment he had snared her in his net, the new plan had formed. She had known without a doubt who she was being sent to, so she permitted it. Otherwise, the bounty hunter, too, would have died.
He would live. He had gotten what he had wanted from this encounter.
Now it was her turn.
Callisto moved down the hall.
"We're here," Erju said, walking in the main room of the ship.
Odd, the ramp was down, but two of the Jedi were just standing in his way, the other sitting calmly on the small couch, his hands folded before him. A shiver of nervousness passed through him. He didn't like the looks he was being given nor the poses each of them struck. The boy leaned against the wall and looked back and forth to his elders and then back to Erju. The younger knight was rocking back and forth on his feet, his body tensed, waiting to spring forth for some action. More disturbing was the actions, or rather, the inaction of the oldest of them. The bearded one simply sat on the small couch, his hands folded before him, his expression a very calm one, yet devoid of emotion. He looked very relaxed, the few motions he did make reminded Erju of a Malastrian panther.
Erju swallowed loudly. "Um, we are here now. Let's go."
Qui-Gon unfolded his hands. "I think not."
"And why?" Erju asked, nervously.
"That's a very good question. Why?" Obi-Wan said, his voice a steely cold.
"Okay," Erju said with an uneasy laugh. "What's going on here?"
"That's what I would like to know," Qui-Gon said, standing.
*Just like a panther,* Erju thought. He watched as the Jedi moved slowly and very purposely towards him. Again he noted how he did not like the looks he was getting.
"What are you talking about?" Erju asked.
"I find it very interesting how easy it had been for you to escape the forces of the Black Sun so easily. I am a somewhat follower of their actions, I do my research. for a mission of the sorts that was in action of Rodia, only the best would have been sent, and I doubt that the very best would have been able to take Callisto and yet, they let you slip through their fingers like sand.," Qui-Gon said, circling him once.
Beads of sweat were forming on Erju's forehead. "I got lucky."
"I would say so," Obi-Wan added, his voice a little bit more heated this time. "Lucky enough to have about 500,000 credits fall into your account."
"How did you," Erju started to say, but stopped himself. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.
"I watched you when you were checking on contacts. You clicked on an account in Corsucant for a minute. I saw the numbers change," Anakin said. "Then when you went away, I looked into the history."
"My apprentice is a very bright young man. Very advanced for his age. I found it quite incredible how he was able to sift through the codes with ease," Qui-Gon said.
"So how much more were going to end up in your account if we would have strode into the headquarters to where I suspect you would be leading us?"
Erju paused, looking back and forth between them all. He looked about to say something, but then quickly bolted through the Jedi before they realized what he was doing.
Obi-Wan didn't stay inert for long. He quickly ran after the hacker.
"What do you MEAN security has been compromised?" Rapelen practically howled.
"Five guards on the third level are dead, one on the seventh has a severe head trauma," the advisor trembled.
"Damn," Rapelen shouted, slamming both fist hard on his desk. This should not have happened. This should not have happened! How the hell had she managed to escape? He had her under tight security, there was just no way she could have made it out, not without help of any kind.
"My lord, she is but one?" the advisor offered. "What could she possibly do?"
Rapelen slid his hand behind him to where two very elegant sword crossed together and plucked one down. They had been gifts from as associate from Alderaan he had received some years ago. Very beautiful the swords were, long, sleek, and sharp enough to slice through titanium.
"This," Rapelen said smoothly. Then he promptly sliced his advisors head from his body.
Both parts of the man hit the ground with a thump. Xizor looked down, the back up at his boss.
Rapelen looked down and shook his head. "Twit," he muttered. "Xizor, take care of this. I want the bitch found. Alive if possible, kill her if you have to. She isn't worth the price if she runs the risk of doing substantial damage to us."
"As you wish," Xizor said with a nod. Then he vanished in a languid motion out the door.
Before he even heard the snap of the door shutting, he heard her speak.
"That was stupid. Now it's just one on one," Callisto sad, jumping down from the shadows of the upper deck of his office, landing perfectly on her feet. "You might have had a chance with at least one of them."
Rapelen smiled. "I guess we'll never know now, will we?"
"No," Callisto said, moving forward. "You'll never know."
He smirked once, then took a swing at her with that wonderful sword.
Callisto dodged, flipping forward, over the desk and to the wall, quickly swiping up the other weapon. She turned to face him, the two blades meeting with a loud clash.
Rapelen moved back, into the center of the room, Callisto following, her blade still touching his own.
"You know," he said, lowly, "I have been professionally trained."
"Good for you," Callisto said.
Rapelen lunged forward, but Callisto blocked the blow and was pushed to the left.
The two faced each other, sword drawn to the side, locked in a temporary stand still. Then they moved towards each other so fast and so loudly, the clangs of the swords sounded through the hall like to tolls of bells.
The man was fast, Obi-Wan would give him credit for that. He had the reflexes of a Jedi. it wouldn't have surprised him much of the man had once possessed the potential to become one if he had lived in a different place.
But no, this man was a coward, and a traitorous one at that.
The young Jedi picked up his pace some more, but he knew he couldn't move much faster. There were so many people walking about now, it was becoming difficult to track him.
Obi-Wan stopped in his tracks, listening for the Force to guide him. He wouldn't allow his anger towards Erju to distract him, make him forget his training. Yes, his training, that would be the thing he needed to find him.
He continued to run once more, this time, attuning himself to the Force so that he could follow the hacker as if he were a beacon of light. Nothing he could do would allow him to hide, not from Obi-Wan.
He reached out further, but then stopped suddenly in his tracks.
He had felt something pass through him. Something awful, no, terrible was happening.
He knew what it was, but there was nothing he could do.
"No," he whispered.