Guardians of Light

Watching From The Shadows

Janos squirmed uncomfortably in the high backed chair, squeezing his eyes shut in a moment of utter frustration as he witnessed the Jedi leaping from the highest window of the Sky Palace, leaving the Zabrak behind to burn in the explosion. 

His guests were understandably unimpressed with what they had seen. Not only had the Jedi escaped the ship, but she had gone on to save the two smugglers. It wasn't the grand viewing he had hoped for. 

The guests in question were the more powerful criminals beneath his status, and what he had intended to be a lesson in the consequences of betraying him, had turned into a complete disaster. 

Many times he had activated the earpiece to instruct the Weequay to cut the feed, but he soon saw why there had been no reply when the creature was shown being struck down by the Jedi's saber and sent crashing through the wide, glass window of the Zabrak's accommodation. It was no big loss to him. 

None of the guards were making contact so he was blind to what was happening on the planet's surface except for the hologram on the table in front of him. 

'You left Kranog in there to burn?' one of the criminals probed, his tone flat and unenthusiastic as he watched the debris crash down from the burning Sky Palace. This had not been a pleasant experience. 

Janos scowled and slammed his hand down on the control panel, diminishing the flickering blue projection until it faded from existence. 

'Yes! His betrayal had consequences, so let that be a lesson to you all!' he growled, his words not having much impact now that both smugglers and the Jedi had survived, diminishing the effect in the face of such humiliation. 

He rose in a sudden movement, the chair flying back as he did, aware that he would now have to plan another, far more painful demise for the three wretches. 

'Our men are dead, Kranog deceived into his own grave, and the Republic scum are still drawing breath,' a second criminal spoke up, an athletic male with shaved skull adorned with metal spikes and modern implantations. 'What part of this has been successful?'

'Don't question me! The scum will be dealt with swiftly, I can assure you of that.'

The gathering of criminals didn't look convinced and shared long glances with each other, much to the fury of Janos. He opened his mouth to spew threats and warnings to the questioning aliens, but the blinking of his holocron cut him short. 

'You have just signed your death warrant Jedi,' Janos snarled when he accepted the call and stomped to the corner of the room to speak in moderate privacy. 'To think I was going to show you mercy.'

The Jedi was clearly on the move, cloak drawn up to conceal her features but even then Janos could see the lack of concern on her expression. He was used to instilling fear into people, this was unprecedented and he didn't like it one bit. 

'The same mercy you showed to Kranog? I don't want your mercy Janos, but you will be needing it when the Republic guards turn up to arrest you. They were very eager to learn of your location, it would seem you managed to evade their search parties by retreating to the undercity some time ago.'

Janos wanted to call the Jedi's bluff but it was possible that she was telling the truth and, if that were the case, it was about time he made a quick exit. He had quite the list of illegal activities that would earn him at least a short stay in a prison cell and he had no intention of losing his standing to become a prisoner, rotting in a cell on some distant moon. 

'Regardless, just know that you and the smugglers will die for this, maybe not today or tomorrow, but very soon,' he promised, already formulating ideas of how to make their lives as difficult as possible.