Meera walked through the giant hallway of the jedi temple on Coruscant. The Gathering had been a disaster. Sure, the younglings had all made their lightsabers successfully, but one of them had died on Ilum. Serran had somehow been on Ilum while they were there. Why was he even there? He already had a lightsaber.
Then Meera thought more carefully about his lightsaber. What if something happened to his lightsaber? He could have lost it or broken it.
She turned into another hallway and then another. She had been summoned by the council. She figured it was because Serran attacked them and killed a youngling. With another turn, she came face to face with the doors leading into the room with all of the jedi council members. She took a deep breath and entered.
Inside the room sat the twelve jedi council members. Three of them were holoprojections of the actual member. Kresonri sat in one of the chairs. She was one of the life-term members on the council.
Meera stood in the middle of the bright and elegant room. "May I ask why I was summoned here today?" She asked politely.
"Meera Tendulkar," A Human jedi master started. He had long brown hair that was pin straight and wore a navy blue robe. "You and master Kresonri were attacked on Ilum along with five younglings, is that correct?" He asked.
"That is correct." Meera answered. She felt uneasy about the situation but set her feelings aside.
"This attack resulted in the death of a youngling. Who was this person that attacked?" The jedi master asked. She felt that he already knew the answer.
"According to master Kresonri, the attacker was Serran Lahora. He and I battled against each other not long ago after the council ordered me to go after him." Meera explained.
The master looked at the two masters beside him. They muttered something that Meera couldn't hear. She glanced at Kresonri who remained calm. "You are forbidden to go after Lahora since the two of you have a history. This also goes for master Kresonri." The jedi master looked at the togruta a few seats away from him. Kresonri nodded in agreement and knew that it was for the best.
Meera clenched her jaw slightly but knew that if she kept going after Serran then she too could fall to the darkside.
"We will put out a bounty for Lahora and notify the republic officers. He has proven himself to be a danger to the public." The jedi master said.
Meera sighed. "I understand." She said. She felt betrayed. The council didn't trust her to capture or kill Serran due to their history of being friends. It was infuriating but she remained calm and composed. She understood their decision and agreed with it but something deep down in her was furious.
~
People walked through the streets of the lower levels of Coruscant. The area was dark and humid as it rained above and the only things illuminating the streets were brightly lit neon signs, holograms of fighters in Crassitt's Arena, and wanted posters.
An orange twi'lek and a chiss walked up to the wall of wanted posters. Many people's faces were projected on the blue screens. The chiss looked closely at the projections. "Hm... Caston Sahil wanted for debt. Zarfa Soltani wanted murder. Ryupio Bargros is wanted for kidnap. Serran Lahora wanted for..." He stared at the wanted holo. "Hey, Annan, take a look at this." He said.
The twi'lek read the holo. "Wanted for the murder of two jedi and a civilian, eh?" She responded. The chiss stepped back from the holo.
"As well as an attempted murder of a jedi." The chiss said with a smile.
"What's the reward money, Gale?" Annan asked. Her eyes looked unimpressed, but in truth, she was full of curiosity and excitement.
"100,000 credits." He said, smirking.
"100,000 credits? We could use that money to repair the ship and repair GA-3. Let's take it." Annan said, hiding her eagerness.
"Yeah." Gale agreed. With that, the two took the bounty and walked off.
~
The Nova Burst shook as it exited hyperspace. Serran was jolted awake from his much-needed slumber. He stared out of the window and at the light grey and blue planet in front of him. Many people would consider it beautiful. As he woke up more, he realized that he had arrived at Anaxes.
He checked the fuel of the ship. It was almost empty. He had gotten to the planet just in the nick of time. He then flew the ship into the atmosphere of the planet. It was cloudy but manageable to fly safely. As the visibility improved, he spotted a landing pad and flew towards it.
Once landed, Serran got up from the pilots chair and put on his cloak. Anaxes was a rocky temperate planet located in the Azure sector in the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories. A majority of its surface was covered with tall, red plant-like life. It was a vital world of the Galactic Republic for its role in protecting the Core Worlds from attacks along the Perlemian Trade Route as well as its shipyards. The jungles were filled with tall, red plant-like life that was likely also silicon-based. The planet also possessed hills and grasslands, where agriculture was practiced. For centuries, it primarily worked with local defense forces. It had a long history as one of the Galactic Republic's primary military strongholds.
Serran exited the ship and stood still, looking at the planet and searching for a place where he could get some more fuel for the old ship. He spotted a building a few hundred meters away from where he stood. There was a building near the landing pad but he could tell that they wouldn't be selling any fuel and would probably just make him pay for landing the ship. He didn't feel like wasting any time so he took off for the building a few hundred meters away.
Drawing on the force, he accelerated himself across the grasslands of the planet. He had landed in a more remote area than he would've liked. The cities and shipyards that he would've liked to land in were hundreds of kilometers away and he didn't have enough fuel to get there on his own so he took his chances with this remote area that only contained a few buildings and was mostly farmland.
Serran stopped at the front of the building. It had a sign above it that was in a different language. He entered the building. It was just the building he needed to find. It was a store that sold ship parts and fuel.
Serran walked down the isles of the store until he came across an isle containing fuel. The only problem was that he didn't know which fuel container to take. He spotted someone who looked like they worked there and went up to him. "Do you know which fuel would be best for a cargo ship?" He asked the man. The man was a green twi'lek. He looked at Serran confused and then spoke a language that he didn't understand.
"Just my luck. You don't speak Basic." Serran groaned. He headed for the door but the twi'lek grabbed his arm. In an instant, Serran slammed the man against the nearest stone wall at the end of the aisle with the force and choked the man.
The twi'lek scratched at his throat and kicked his legs up and down in an attempt to break free but it was useless. Serran glared at the dying twi'lek and then with the simple tightening of his hand, he killed the man.
The dead twi'lek dropped to the floor, eyes nearly bulging out of his skull. "Huh, guess I killed him," Serran said as he wiped off the arm that the twi'lek had grabbed.
He decided to run back to the ship that was back at the landing pad. Once back, he entered the small building close to where he landed. The building was smaller on the inside then outside with only two meters of space to walk by the large counter. Behind the counter was a human girl. She looked just a few years younger than Serran, maybe fifteen or so.
"Hi, welcome to-" the girl began.
"I need fuel for my ship. Where can I get some?" Serran asked, getting straight to the point.
"I can service your ship if you'd like. It may not look it but-"
"Sure. How much?" He asked, interrupting the girl yet again.
"One hundred credits for just fuel. Three hundred credits for small repairs." The girl answered.
Serran pulled out a small pouch containing hundreds of credits that he had gotten off of Gossec's ship when they were cleaning it. "Here." He said, handing the girl one hundred credits.
"What's the name of the ship and you?" The girl asked.
Serran paused for a second. "I'm Seth Bounderfels. The ship's name is the Nova Burst and it's a freighter." He said. He couldn't risk using his real name now that he had shown himself to Kresonri. Using his real name would only cause problems.
"Got it." The girl said, inputting the names into a data pad.
Serran leaned against the outside wall of the building as the girl was refueling the ship. It wouldn't take long for it to be refueled.
The girl walked over to a bored Serran who just wanted to leave the planet. "So what brings you to Anaxes?" She asked. Serran looked at her and didn't answer. "Privacy, I get it." She looked at the holster containing a blaster that was strapped to Serran's belt. "Are you a bounty hunter?" She asked.
"No." He answered simply.
"Oh, ok. There are tons of bounty hunters right now. I heard that there's a bounty that's worth 100,000 credits! Isn't that crazy!" The girl exclaimed.
"Who's the bounty? There aren't a lot of people worth that much." Serran asked.
"Hold on, let me pull it up." The girl said as she reached into a pant pocket and held a holo in her hand. She turned it on and Serran's heart nearly skipped a beat. The projection showed his face, name, and crimes.
"Serran Lahora. Wanted for the murder of two jedi, a civilian, and the attempted murder of a jedi." Serran muttered to himself. He slowly moved his hand to the blaster by his side.
"Huh, this guy kinda looks like you." The girl said, confused. She looked up at Serran who was glaring at her. "Wait a minute. Are you-" She said just before Serran fired the blaster into her head. The girl dropped to the floor.
He then heard many footsteps approaching from afar. He looked at the direction they were coming from. "Damn it." He cursed. He was surrounded by republic soldiers in navy uniforms and civilians. Behind the soldiers he spotted a blue twi'lek in jedi robes. He was trapped with nowhere to go.