257 ABY, Kuat
The door slid open noiselessly, allowing a dark shape to step through. The door closed, and the figure walked on silent feet.
Outside lay the remains of a number of security measures. Guard droids, hidden laser emplacements, scanners; all had been quietly and swiftly disabled.
Now the figure drew a metal knife, which was archaic to be sure, but had a significant advantage over a blaster or even a vibroblade: it was absolutely silent.
It stealthily walked over to the sleeping form that lay on the bed. That form was Darrick Shen, a dark-haired human that was in charge of Kuat's orbital shipyards. He slept deeply, enjoying his vacation at the luxury resort. He almost never was away from the Shipyards, so when he was, he always attended a resort known for the quality of its sleeping arrangements.
Now, however, his sleep was about to be terminated permanently. The dark shape walked to the side of the bed, and it readied its knife, then slashed at Darrick Shen's throat.
However, that deadly thrust was suddenly terminated by a purple lightsaber blade, which sliced the hand right off. The figure whirled around, and was confronted with a young human woman, dressed in a black cloak. Her violet eyes were focused on the failed assassin.
"Surrender."
The figure suddenly threw back its cloak, revealing a black, metallic body, which looked like a cross between the ancient HK-series assassin droids and the commando droids that the Seperatists had used nearly two hundred and eighty years prior. Its photoreceptors glowed a menacing shade of red, and the droid spoke.
"Negative, Jedi. Failure to accomplish my mission is not acceptable." A hidden compartment on its right thigh opened, and the droid drew the hidden vibroblade with its left hand, slashing at the Jedi as soon as the blade's tip cleared its hidden sheath.
The purple blade blocked, and a second lightsaber, concealed from view in the folds of the robe, leaped into her other hand, which ignited and cut off the droid's remaining hand, which clattered to the floor, the vibroblade still held in its grasp.
"You're wrong, droid. Surrender. Now." Her gaze never wavered from the droid for a moment.
"Denied." The droid suddenly leapt out through the apartment's window. Darrick Shen, startled awake by the noise, looked on with astonishment at the young woman standing next to the head of his bed, lightsabers drawn. "What-"
"I just saved your life from an assassination attempt. Awaken everyone else in the resort and leave as fast as you can. There's probably a backup team with orders to destroy the entire building."
"Who are you?"
"I am Twilight Sparkle, padawan to Jedi Grandmaster Celestia. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an assassin to catch." Before Darrick could say anything more, she turned and leaped out the shattered window, her cloak billowing behind her.
Two Hours Later
Applejack was sitting at the cantina bar, drinking a glass of juma juice. Her trusty blasters sat on her hips, their presence familiar and reassuring. She was infamous among custom officials of both the Empire and the Alliance, who cursed her ability to make a clean getaway, and to be present where she shouldn't be able to get into.
Like now, for example. Her presence on Kuat was a testimonial to her ability to just walk in right under the law's nose, without seeming to do a thing. Her straightforwardness was considered to be quite odd for one who had to lie on a routine basis, but her piloting skills were deemed to be legendary. Add to that her quick draw and unerring aim, and it was no wonder that the galactic underworld in hushed tones compared her to Han Solo before age had dulled his senses - and even then, he was faster to react and improvise than almost all his opponents.
However, while Han's history and achievements were still known close to two hundred years after his death, no one knew of her past, for her first emergence upon the galactic scene had been when she hijacked the Hutt freighter Boonta's Eve, which had a full load of glitterstem from the spice mines of Kessel, at the young age of thirteen.
That hijacking was still spoken of, some with anger, some with shock, but all spoke of it in tones of amazement.
For she had suddenly appeared, having somehow hidden aboard ship, and had strode onto the bridge, declaring that its crew and cargo were now hers. When she had been attacked in response, she drew her now famous pistols and mowed down the enforcers and the captain, and took control of the ship.
She went to Tatooine, and landed in Mos Eisley. She somehow managed to get an audience with Zora the Hutt, and sold the freighter and its valuable cargo. When she returned, she distributed the profits from the sale of the freighter and its cargo among the downtrodden crew before setting them loose from her control to do with their lives as they wished, earning her their grateful praises. She then vanished with the remainder of the profits, and when she next appeared, she was piloting her legendary light freighter Darkness's Bane.
That ship she had heavily upgraded over the years, and it bore a striking resemblance to Han Solo's Millennium Falcon, a fact invariably noted by those who compared her to him. However, the coloration was different, for while the Falcon in its time was various shades of grey, Darkness's Bane was a dark black.
But there was another side to her, one that was hidden from most. Her beautiful green eyes were often unsettling to look at, for they spoke of a hidden pain.
Now, however, Applejack's attention was attracted to a figure cloaked in black. The being's face was hidden by a hood, but nevertheless Applejack felt that it was watching her.
She sauntered out onto the adjoining dark alleyway with deliberate casualness, and her suspicions were confirmed when she heard light footsteps following her. She whirled around, her blasters drawn with lightning quickness.
Only to be faced with a drawn lightsaber, its purple blade casting a purple glow onto the alley's walls.
"Who are you?"
"I am Twilight Sparkle." The figure threw back its hood, exposing a barely tanned face, framed by shoulder-length violet hair, which had two streaks of pink and purple running through its center.
Applejack quickly processed her name, vaguely recognizing it. "Aren't you-"
"The padawan of Jedi Grandmaster Celestia herself, I know." Twilight's violet eyes narrowed as she added, "And I know who you are, Applejack."
"What do you want with me?" Applejack demanded.
"I need a fast ship and its captain, one that isn't associated with the Jedi Order or the other members of the Triumvirate. The word is that you're surprisingly honest, considering your chosen occupation, and that you keep your word when you give it."
"What's the job?"
"Tracking an assassin droid's flight. You'll be paid, of course."
Applejack's eyes narrowed. "And if I don't accept?"
Twilight shrugged. "Then I turn you over to the Galactic Alliance authorities, who I'm sure would love to have the most famous smuggler in the galaxy go into early retirement inside of a maximum security jail cell."
Applejack looked at her, but there wasn't exactly a choice to be made. "Deal. When do we leave?"
"Now."