Star Wars - The Bodyguard

Chapter 5

Coruscant: Level 1313 - 6 Days after Attack

After a restless night, Jethro and the Senator left the room and made their way out of the building and through the streets.

While the Coruscant Underworld was always a dangerous place to be, Jethro couldn't shake the feeling of dread that hung over him. Was it the force trying to warn him? Was he just paranoid? 

He knew the odds of the bounty hunter tracking them to the apartments were slim, but then again, he had managed to strike at the Senator three separate times without getting caught. He was good.

Then there were the people. It seemed like everyone was staring at them.

Her hood was preventing anyone from seeing her true facial features, but anyone could see she was Pantoran, and Pantorans were rare away from their home-world.

His armor was another problem. The Republic and Jedi logos painted on them made him stand out like a sore thumb.

Jethro sensed the attack seconds before it happened.

Resisting the urge to pull his saber, he spun and grabbed the attacker's wrist, wrenching it sideways.

The wiry human howled in pain as he dropped the knife that had been headed straight for Jethro's ribs.

The Senator screamed, causing Jethro to turn back to see her in the grip of a male twi'lek. He held a blaster to her head.

Jethro froze. Time seemed to stand still.

The man swung the gun towards Jethro. The trigger pulled. A small nudge with the force, so small the twi'lek never felt it, and the bolt of burning gases passed harmlessly past his head.

He closed the gap between them in two strides and shoved the blaster into the air just as another shot rang out. Another second and the blaster was in Jethro's hands.

He slammed the twi'lek in the face with the butt of the gun, laying him out cold. The wiry man had regained his knife by now and was coming in for a second round. 

Without thinking, Jethro shot him, dropping him dead.

There was silence in the street. People just stared at the scene that had just played out.

Jethro was the first to react, grabbing the Senator by the shoulders and forcing her into a side alley. 

He kept moving. Around a corner, through another alley, and up a deserted street.

"You killed him," she finally broke her silence.

"I had to."

"You could have knocked him out, like the twi'lek."

"I was running on instinct."

Silence.

Jethro didn't know how long they wandered through the streets, zig-zagging back to the apartment they had come from. They had stuck to the back alleys as much as possible, trying to avoid being spotted by more bounty hunters.

After successfully making it past the sleeping desk clerk yet again, they collapsed in their room once more. 

"You killed him."

Jethro looked up from the chair he sat in.

"It was my job. I have to keep you safe."

"But you didn't have to kill him. You could have used the force."

"Whether it's on the battlefields of the mid rim or the underworld of Coruscant, this is war. War is ugly."

"Then why can't you understand why I want to end this war?"

"I want to end this war as much as you do Senator. You and I just don't agree how to do that."

The senator seemed to think about what he had just said.

There was silence in the room. 

Even in the crowded, noisy underworld, there were still corners that were quiet. Jethro appreciated that. He could easily hear any attackers that were gathering in the street below.

"What now?"

Jethro thought about it. What did they do now? They could barely leave the room without bounty hunters coming down on them. They had no way to signal for help either. They were trapped.

"I don't know."

Coruscant: Level 1313 - 6 Days after Attack

The bounty hunter sped through the streets behind the wheel of his speeder.

Nothing. The day had been a complete wash. No sign of the pair at the portal. Instead, he got wind they had been spotted down here.

A couple of hunters tried to make a move but wound up only getting one of them killed.

Now the pair would probably go even further into hiding, making his job ten times harder.

He slammed on the brakes, bringing the speeder to an abrupt stop. 

There, still lying in the street, was the body of the dead bounty hunter. No one had moved him, although he had been stripped of his valuables. A blaster mark could clearly be seen on his chest.

The hunter found it interesting that there wasn't a single lightsaber mark anywhere on him.

Looking up the street he saw something that piqued his interest. An apartment complex. He didn't think he could be that lucky, but anything was worth a shot at this point.

Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he made his way up the street.