Star Wars: Omnium: Clan Of One, A Splinter Universe Story

Episode 1 - The Ithorian

4 ABY

In a small cantina, on the 1313th level of Coruscant, Var Omnium relaxes in the corner booth. He slowly sips a glass of Spotchka as drug deals, robbery plans, and murder plots take place all around him. Var is in his element. He can feel his target getting closer, sensing the wanted Ithorian's life force drawing nearer, feeling his anxiety, and his stress. Little did the Ithorian know, his fears would soon come to an end, although it would be at the end of a blaster.

Close enough now. Var downs the rest of his drink, and leaves the cantina. He steps into a crowded street, and immediately spots his quarry. The Ithorian wears a hood that does nothing to conceal its distinctive curved neck, jutting eyes, and two mouths. His name is Rhond Boopha, and he has a 75,000 credit price on his head. Var is ready to cash in. Rhond looks around the crowded street, noticing the Mandalorian watching him from under the awning of the cantina, exactly as Var planned. Rhond walks quickly away, regularly looking over his shoulder. He's lost sight of Var now, and begins to panic. He races down an alley and comes to a dead end. Var steps into the ally, resting his hand comfortably on the familiar grip of his blaster pistol. "You're a long way from home, friend," he says, smiling under his helmet.

"You don't have to do this," Rhond pleads, speaking into a handheld translator device, "I'll pay you! 10,000 credits! Just let me go."

"You must be joking," Var replies. "Bounty on you is more than seven times that. It says dead or alive, but I'll leave that up to you."

"You can't do this to me!" Rhond screams, pulling a small pistol from a pocket. Before he even has a chance to aim, Var shoots him through the chest. Rhond falls heavily to the ground. Var grabs the Ithorian by the wrists and drags him to his 74-Z speeder bike parked outside the cantina. He tosses Rhond's body over the back of the speeder, grunting from the effort. For a fugitive on the run for weeks, he still weighs a ton, Var thinks. He kicks the speeder to life, nudges it through the street, and merges into the air lane heading to the landing platform.

Var reaches the landing landing platform without any trouble. He slowly guides his speeder bike through the ships to his Lancer-Class Pursuit Craft, the Insight. He breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of his ship. As he pushes the speeder up the ramp, a noise resembling a police siren starts from a dark corner of the hold, and an R9 astromech races into sight. With a mechanical hiss, two panels open on the sides of the droid's head. Two miniature arms unfurl, each one bearing a modified Blurrg-1120 blaster pistol on its end.

"IT'S ME, YOU IDIOT!" Var shouts before the droid knocks him to the ground and trains its blasters on him.

"Whooooop beep beep," the droid responds

"Good to see you too, Warhead," Var replies. Var had found R9-DF1019 in the basement of the Haxion Brood's arena. After gaining the favor of Sorc Tormo, Var took the droid to be his new copilot. He nicknamed the astromech "Warhead" when he discovered the droid's aggressive tendencies, and the blasters hidden within its head. Those blasters had come in quite handy during standoffs. No one expects a little astromech to be hiding deadly weapons in its chassis. Apart from the blasters, Warhead had a flamethrower, and an electrocution cable hidden behind panels on his cylindrical body.

"Beeooop?"

"Oh yeah, I got him." Var gestures to the body of Rhond on the speeder. "Time to deliver the popsicle to the Pykes."

Var heaves the Ithorian into an ice box, slams the lid, and walks to the cockpit. With a few flicked switches, the ship hums to life. Var collapses into his chair and enters the coordinates for Mon Gazza. Gently, the Insight lifts into the air. Var guides his ship into the rush of traffic. All around him, ships rise upwards to the surface of Coruscant. The lower levels are so dark, Var thinks. The surface dwellers don't understand the privilege of their lives. The Insight rises into the bright light of the planet's surface. A squadron of Imperial TIE Fighters scream past in tight formation. Theatrics. Var rolls his eyes under his helmet, as if the Empire needs to display its power on its own homeworld. He guides his ship into the outer atmosphere and jumps to hyperspace. "Warhead, wake me up when we're out of lightspeed."