BANE

The Job

Not a day goes by that he doesn't remember the fight over Devron. Out of the many times Bane had faced a Jedi, that had been his best performance. He couldn't get the memory out of his head. Looking Skywalker in his eye, was- it was something to be treasured. That Jedi was far more powerful than any other Bane had faced, and, he liked to think that besting Skywalker meant he could best, well, anybody.

Now, Bane wasn't the type of bounty hunter to sit on top of a tall building and hit his targets from far away. He liked to, as he called it, 'get right in their face' before he killed them. But, there had to be exceptions. Like today. He hadn't used a sniper in quite a while, and was having some trouble with it. It was a Valken 38, a weapon the Republic often used. Lots of power and precision, but hard to get used to.

This was a fast job, and there wasn't any time to get used to the blaster, as unfortunate as it was. The target was a long ways down the road, and he would need luck to get a kill shot.

You don't need luck when you have skill, he reminded himself.

"Todo, status?"

"All good here, sir!"

"Good, start up the engines. I'll be there soon."

"Got it."

There. The target, a senator from somewhere in the expansion region named Tuli, was making some sort of speech, or talk. Right up on a podium, where everybody could see her. Now, just make the shot, he told himself.

PTCHEWW

He loosed a bolt. The barrel smoked, obscuring his vison through the scope. He grabbed a pair of macro binoculars from his belt, and sure enough, the laser had hit the senator precisely where he meant it to.

"Beginners luck, I guess."

He quickly started packing up the blaster.

"Todo. Have they located me?"

"Not yet sir. Just looks like confusion."

"Good. Get the ship's systems on full power. I'm on my way."

Bane hopped to the next building and then climbed down a slippery ladder into a back alley. His speeder was waiting. He hopped on and got going.

"I think th-"

"Todo, repeat that."

"You have 2 police speeders on your tail, sir.!"

"Damn it. Todo, meet me halfway with the ship."

"On my way."

Bane swiveled his head around, and sure enough, two automated Coruscant police on speeder bikes were chasing him, and catching up. No use for a blaster yet. I'll keep running for now. Bane knew this part of Coruscant well, but the droids knew it better. He took every shortcut he knew but they were still right behind him, glued to his tail, unwavering. He knew they would have backup on the way, but maybe, just maybe, if he could destroy these two he could slip away.

I just have to slow down enough to get a good shot with my pistol. Hopefully they won't fire those laser cannons they have.

Bane cut his throttle, and in one swift motion, drew his blaster and shot both droids as they sped past him.

"Todo. I'm clear. Where are you?"

"I'm here."

Bane was confused for a moment before he looked up and saw the Sleight of Hand, his modified Telgorn dropship, hovering above him. Right on queue, a hatch opened on the bottom, and he used his rocket boots to fly up into the ship.