A/N: First off, many thanks to Sabretooth who is the most awesomesauce beta ever <3 I can't possibly tell you how helpful it is to give him a katana and let him loose
Besides that, thanks to Emperor Devon and Rogue Nine for their encouragement ^.^
Zomgbbq it took FOREVER to choose the title so I hope you like it. Sabre and I are going nuts anyway :P Enjoy!
Prologue
The security officer hailed the large speeder and it pulled over. The driver deactivated the force shields and asked, “Any problem, sir?”
He flung his lekku over his shoulders and sighed irritably. “Just a routine check on a routine night. Open up the back as well. I need to have a look.” He scrawled the licence plate number on his datapad and strolled to the back of the speeder. His eyes widened when he saw who the occupant was. “Pardon me, sir. I wasn’t aware that this was your vehicle.”
The human in the sombre suit nodded. “It doesn’t matter. Carry on, officer.”
He scribbled a note and discreetly eyed the girl next to the politician. His lip curled with distaste—she was young enough to be his daughter. A second glance revealed that she was, in fact, his daughter.
That couldn’t change things.
He pulled out the blaster pistol and shot the politician in the head. The girl’s screams didn’t distract him from dispatching the bodyguard with another well-aimed shot. The assassin turned to the girl who was weeping over her father’s body.
“You should run,” he said quietly.
She turned on him instead, attacking him with all the passion of a Sith. “You
schutta! I’ll kill you!”
He didn’t pull the trigger, but he did club her with the pistol’s butt. She fell clumsily on the gravel, vision wavering and ears ringing. Pushing herself off the ground, she rose unsteadily but slumped back down. The assassin crouched down and grasped her chin roughly between gloved fingers, bringing her face close to his.
“You will remember nothing of tonight.”
“L-like hell I won’t” she spat, voice slurred and rasping painfully. “I’ll get you. He’s a good man. Shouldn’t die like this.”
The assassin sounded almost amused. “Your father was going to lead your planet to war. Now he will not.” His next words rang with command, sending ripples across her mind. “You will forget everything that happened tonight.”
She struggled to remember why she was here, why this stranger was holding her; it was almost intimate, she thought drowsily. But he let go and she was sinking, sinking deeper and deeper into the dark murk.
He shot her in the shoulder, taking care to make the wound a non-debilitating one. Efficiently, he stripped them of valuables. Ducking behind the patrol speeder, he removed the uniform and changed into nondescript clothes. He decided not to frame the unconscious officers—no point in getting them executed. He drove the patrol speeder away from the site and left the two officers dozing in natural positions.
Before dawn, he was in his apartment. Pulling the mask off, he sighed as it came free. Splashing his face with water, he scrubbed vigorously to get the smell of latex out of his skin. Despite all the technology in the galaxy, no one had ever tried to make scentless latex and it vexed him greatly. However, it was a moot point as he had acquired the mask in Nar Shaddaa, and the sane did not choose to think too much about
that. He rolled the lekku up neatly and turned the mask inside out over the lekku. The mask and the valuables were packed into a small and extremely heavy crate. It was lined with lead and emblazoned with warnings about explosives to discourage the unhealthily curious. Lugging it downstairs, he was relieved to see that his contact was already there. Soon, he was on a ship leaving the system, ignoring his fellow passengers who were discussing the murder.
Headphones blocked out the chatter, and he drifted off to the soulful music.
How much longer could he keep this up?