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42BBY
Jango was not in a good mood, not that he had been considering he had been imprisoned on Oovo IV for the last 200 rotations. But he was in a worse mood than usual because the key card that he was planning to steal from the Chief of Security was not there. It had just disappeared. By his estimations, he had around 3 cycles until it was reported missing, then it would take another 10 cycles until another card was delivered and then another 30 rotations until the Guards' shifts aligned correctly, giving Jango the optimum window to steal the card again.
"Looking for this?" A female voice came from behind him. Jango cursed, hardly anyone would want to speak to him, let alone be able to sneak up on him. He turned around to face the other prisoner and was shocked to see them holding the exact keycard he had attempted to steal.
"What do you want?" He asked them, cutting straight to the chase, his patience was already running thin.
"To make a deal." The togruta told him, "I'll get your armour and the weapons taken from you, and in return you will take a parcel with you when you escape."
"And what's stopping me from just taking the card from you?" Jango asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Why don't you try and find out?" She challenged.
Jango took a quick survey of the surrounding area, they were on one of the communal decks of the facility on one of the sheltered sides. If they had brought back up, then they were hidden well.
~Well, it couldn't hurt to try right?~
Wrong.
Jango sprung forward, intended to catch the Togruta unwarares but they seemed to anticipate his move, twisting out of his grapple, spinning to dig her heel into his thigh. In response, he dropped into a crouch and kicked her legs from under her but she simply rolled backwards and flicked herself upright, tapping her pocket to show that she still had possession of the card. Jango sized up his opponent, she was around the same height as he was, an athletic build but not particularly bulky. They circled around one another until Jango moved forwards once more, grabbing them around the waist and knocking them over. Holding them down he moved to grab the key card when he was pushed off and a knee flew into the side of his face. The next thing he knew, he was on his front, his arm twisted behind his back.
Jango cursed under his breath as the togruta laughed.
"See why now?" She asked, teasingly.
"I yield." Jango said admitted defeat, he didn't want to dislocate his arm unnecessarily, "I guess we have a deal then."
He held his hand out to the togruta who took his hand and shook it.
"Pav-ti." They introduced themself.
"Fett." Jango replied in kind.
"Not that I don't want my armour back but why don't you just escape yourself, you're clearly capable of it." He asked.
"I have a biochip somewhere as a tracker." Pav-ti replied, "I- They knew I would have methods to escape and so they've put a tracker somewhere I won't be able to find without specialist equipment." Jango let out a low whistle.
"What are you in for then? Must be something serious to warrant that." He didn't even warrant the implementation of a tracker.
"High Treason, I was accused of attempting to murder the Chancellor of the Republic followed by being accused of allying myself with the darker powers of the force." She said.
"So you're a Jedi?" Jango said in a hostile tone.
"No, I'm force sensitive but I am not affiliated with the Jedi. Some of those who are a part of the Jedi belive that the Jedi should have the only say in who can and cannot use the force, but in reality, the force surrounds us." The togruta explained but she could see that Jango was not convinced.
Jango decided to ignore her philisophical points.
"So, murdering the Chancellor?" He asked.
"I did attempt to murder the head of the Banking Clan, but the Chancellor of the Republic had nothing to do with it. The Senator of Naboo was visiting them and since he is close with the Chancellor, it was simply coincidence that he was there. For the first time in my career as a Bounty Hunter, I missed my mark. It was like the bolt just swerved in the air and so the Chancellor was caught on the arm rather than a bolt through the Munn's head." She said. "I would have said there was another force sensitive present in the room but I hadn't heard it was possible to influence the direction of energy like that, not to that scale at least."
"So they caught you there and then?" Jango said, slightly suspicious, was this togruta a Jedi sent undercover to arrest him again.
"No, I'm not." Pav-ti said, reading his thoughts. "I escaped but underestimated my client, who sold the information to another bounty hunter, who sold my whereabouts to the Republic, who put me here."
Jango simply nodded.
"What is the parcel that you want me to take with me?" He asked.
"That's classified." She told him firmly, "But I need you to swear to me that you will take the parcel outside of this place no matter what and then keep it safe for as long as necessary." Jango's first instincts were to say no, but something about the way Pav-ti was saying it made him reconsider.
"You have my word." Jango said solemnly.
The togruta nodded throwing him a rolled up piece of flimsi.
"Decode this, it will contain the information you require in order to retrieve your equipment, the parcel will be in the same place as your kit." She told him.
"What happens if I decode this quicker than you can retrieve my kit?" Jango asked.
"You won't" Pav-ti replied, slipping out of the room.
"Blasted Jedi." He muttered to himself rolling his eyes.
...
The code on the flimsi took Jango 24 standard hours to decode. It seemed that the togruta was correct, the cipher was based around a key phrase so once Jango had identified the type of cipher and the way the key phrase had been rearranged, he could access the message.
It read:
Jango,
Your kit will be located in the fifth store cupboard from the stairs on the left wing, nearest to the landing pad. I've taken the liberty of debugging a ship for you. It is a Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft. I will cause a distraction at 0800 hours today, so be ready.
Pav-ti
Jango checked the chrono on the opposite wall of the mess hall where they were currently attending the daily roll call. He scanned the room for the togruta but they were nowhere in sight. Jango refrained from rolling his eyes, but decided to stick with the plan that they had layed out anyway. It was a strange concept of trusting a stranger but what was the worst that could happen, Jango would fight his way out of the prison with only the clothes on his back if that was what was necessary.
He had had worse odds.
By the time 0800 came round, Jango was crouched in the store cupboard, pulling his armour on over his prison uniform. He turned to pick up Pav-ti's pack and moved to pull it over his shoulder. He was surprised to see that there was noise coming from inside the pack. Jango came to a realisation and flicked the cloth away from the opening of the pack and confiming his suspisions there was a togruta infant inside the pack as well as a wooden box with a note ontop. He picked up the note which was not encoded this time.
This is Ahsoka, please take her away from this place.
Jango looked to the ceiling, before sighing, placing the cloth back over the opening and securing it while making sure there was an air gap. He pulled the pack over his shoulder once more. Apparently he had procured himself a foundling.
"You better stay quiet in there." He told the baby, whilst turning up his audio sensors. He heard a commotion coming from down the corridor followed by the footsteps of a patrol of guards running towards the stairs.
After waiting a brief moment, he opened the door to the storage room and started making his way towards the landing bay, blaster drawn and set to stun in order to draw as little attention as possible. It seems it wasn't too necessary as Pav-ti had caused an adequate distraction.
"The special security prisoner is causing trouble in the right wing." He heard coming from up ahead. He double checked the youngling was secured before steadying his blaster, quickly dispatching the squad of guards blocking the landing bay. Knocking out the guards on the landing pad itself, he checked for docking clamps but found them disabled on the model Pav-ti had described. Boarding the ship, he secured Ahsoka in the seat next to him while he fired up the engines and while the ship's design was unusual, it caused him no problems whilst escaping. Firing up the hyperdrive and setting the co-ordinates for one of the outer unknown moons in the Mandalore system he turned to inspect the package Pav-ti had given him.
Ahsoka was asleep in the pack, so Jango gently lifted her out and placed her onto the seat, picking up the pack instead. The wooden box contained two lightsabers, a scroll of flimsi addressed to Ahsoka and a bounty tab. He picked the tab up and switched it on. The hologram flicked to life, displaying, what Jango had to admit, was an impressive tally. There was another note attached.
"What is with her and flimsi notes." Jango said to no-one in particular.
This will allow you to access my hidden accounts, should you need the funds. The tab itself will let you add to the tallies, bounty hunting is a dangerous occupation, but one that I think you will find rewarding.
Jango shrugged to himself whilst reading the message and placed the tab in one of the pouches on his belt. He'd have to consider his options, his original plan had been taking on bounties, which was certainly enough to keep him afloat until he started to make a name for himself but with the kid... things were a bit more complicated. Despite these complications, Jango knew that Ahsoka was now his responsibility and he would raise her, just as Jaster had done for him.
...
34BBY
"'Soka, they're coming for the ship, stay down." Jango said into his helmet comm system. The information for the latest bounty he had taken on had been false and the singular target was actually a group of 4 targets all armed to the teeth. Jango had taken down the most dangerous three but the last one had ran off at the first sign of trouble and while Jango had all the information he needed from them, he didn't like to leave any messes.
"How many?" Ahsoka asked.
"What part of stay down did you not hear?" Jango sighed but knew it was already too late, and Ahsoka had likely already taken up her favourite sniping position on the ship. "Just the one."
"Okay." She replied.
Jango continued running towards the ships which were both parked just beyond the ridge. He could see both of the ships in the distance now, he quickly zoomed in on the Slave I and as expected, Ahsoka was tucked behind on of the side fins, an NT-242 resting on the metal. The target was still running towards their abandoned ship when a green bolt flew through the air, striking him in the thigh.
Seeing his chance, he activated his jetpack and flew towards the rodian, striking him over the head with the blunt end of his blaster as he landed and securing his arms with a set of cuffs. After dragging the body towards the Slave I, Jango put him in the hold, attaching the cuffs to the bars on the back wall.
"Hi buir!" An enthusiastic shout came from the cockpit.
"Nice shot." He complimented as he climbed up the ladder. Despite being only 8 years old, Ahsoka was proficient at the handling of many of the various weapons that he owned as well as her mother's lightsabres. Being ambidextrous, Ahsoka generally favoured her dual pistols and although Jango tried not to expose her to too much combat, trouble always seemed to find its way to her anyway.
Over the years, the pair of them had been taking on bounties, crafting a reputation for themselves. Jango was regarded as one of the most dangerous bounty hunters in the galaxy and there was still the Republic arrest warrant due to the events of Galidraan. They had found some files on lightsabre combat and so Ahsoka had been working through these alongside her other training, though meditation was not one of her strongpoints. Whether Ahsoka's stubbornness was from himself or genetic he wasn't sure, but when she made a decision on something, Ahsoka would follow it through even if it led her to a nest of Gundarks.
"Where are we taking him?" The togruta asked gesturing down the ladder.
"Back to Nevaro. The Guild will take care of the rest of the information extraction." Jango told her as she hummed in response. Ahsoka was currently sitting with her legs up on the desk throwing a small metal cube up and down.
"Alright, put your legs down it's time to go." Ahsoka did as she was told and immediately started her part of the take off routine.
Soon enough they were flying through hyperspace, the two of them against the galaxy.
...
33BBY
"So setting a course for Serenno?" Ahsoka asked Jango. He had received an invite to a competition set up by the leading family of Serenno, specifically from Count Dooku, the current head of the family, they supposed. The invite was fairly vague but it was clear that the invites were only being sent out to the best the Galaxy had to offer.
"For now." Jango said, "We have little to no information on this Count Dooku, for all we know this could be a trap. Definitely weapons, the 'sabres you'll have to hide but keep your DCs on display and within reach." He instructed. The invite was directed clearly to him and him alone, besides he had no idea what kind of competition this was. Ahsoka wouldn't want to stay with the ship so at least she would be armed. In the past year, Jango had gotten Ahsoka some armour including a face mask that clipped onto her headdress. Using the mask, she could access the internal comm unit in his helmet without being heard by potential eavesdroppers as well as hiding her identity.
"Keep the mask on?" Ahsoka asked.
"Definitely. And don't talk to anyone you don't know." He said.
"So... basically everyone?" Ahsoka asked.
Jango saw no need to respond and simply rolled his eyes.
...
Arriving on Serenno was an interesting experience. The courtyard contained around ten ships with another twenty spaces marked out onto the ground. They parked the ship and secured it before stepping out of the Slave I and making their way towards the castle. There were a few guards milling around but nothing over the top or indicating that they were hosting some of the most dangerous people in the Galaxy. There was a holodesk set up within the main gates, manned by a male humanoid.
"Name."
"Fett."
The receptionist tapped away at the display for a few moments before handing Jango a compact data pad.
"You are not authorised to bring anyone else with you." He said, gesturing to Ahsoka who was irritated but stayed silent. On missions, her buir always stayed silent and spoke as little as possible and so she tried to do the same.
"She's with me." Jango responded without hesitation.
"You are not auth-" They repeated.
"She's with me." Jango said, walking past the desk and ignoring the receptionist's objections. Ahsoka followed him, wondering why this competition was so secretive. Jango handed her the datapad which she quickly activated and navigated to find their quarters. They were assigned a twin room which was unexpected considering she supposedly was not authorised.
"Buir look, they've assigned us a two person room." She pointed out to Jango.
Jango glanced down at the datapad before looking up and switching to the internal comms.
"Someone knows more about us than they should." Jango said. "Keep an eye out when I'm in there okay. The idea of this competition gets worse the longer we're here."
Suddenly, Ahsoka snapped her head towards the door.
"I'm surprised you noticed me, young one." A deep voice announced.
"Togrutas have enhanced hearing." Jango said suspiciously, not revealing anything else.
"Where are my manners. I am Count Dooku of Serenno." The man said, bowing with a flourish of his arm.
"Jango Fett. This is my ad Ahsoka." Jango inclined his head, Ahsoka mirroring his mannerisms.
"Charming." Dooku said. "I tried to great all of my... guests at the front desk but it seems you two slipped past me. No matter, the competition will begin tomorrow at dawn." And with a swish of his cape, the strange human left their new quarters.
"He doesn't feel nice." Ahsoka told Jango.
"In what way?" He asked.
"I just have a bad feeling about him." Ahsoka said, making a gesture with her head.
~Ah, so a force thing then~
"Well this job pays well, keep a look out of anything suspicious to do with our host." Jango replied.
The challenges set over the next few days were brutal but nothing Jango hadn't seen before. The first day had been a set of health tests, they had taken a blood sample and then tested endurance, strength, agility and other core skills. On each element, they had been ranked and then the rankings combined. Jango was currently miles ahead because while there were some physically stronger candidates, no one could beat Jango in endurance, physical or mental. Many would put this down to pure stubbornness, but perhaps that was a skill in itself.
The competitors had been whittled down to the top 10 competitors and locked in their rooms. They hadn't been allowed any outside contact as to not give anyone an unfair advantage and so Jango had not seen Ahsoka since the start of the competition. Only one day left.
...
Jango ducked, a knife from the nearest competitor flying past his head.
~An all out fight, seriously~ He cursed as he picked up the knife, throwing back where it came from.
Jango had woken up that morning and kitted up, expecting another skill based ranking but instead they had been told to see who can last the longest before being incapacitated, or worse and had been forced to put all of his long range weapons to one side.
He turned towards the rodian who was now brandishing a knife at him, he caught the blow on his vambrace and followed it up with a punch to the stomach, grabbing the blade out of their hand. Tossing it to one side, he knocked the rodian out with the knife handle and sized up his next opponent. A few of the remaining competitors had forged temporary alliances but Jango had refused, he didn't need to be lulled into any false sense of security when the threat could come from anyone. He scanned the rest of the arena, there were only three others left, and he knew he would be the last one standing.
"You are rather young to be watching this." A deep voice asked Ahsoka who was watching as her buir took the rodian's knife and threw it towards the last competitor, who evaded it's blade just in time.
Ahsoka ignored them in favour of scanning the duros in the ring. He looked around the same age as Jango, Ahsoka thought she had heard of him before.
"Cad Bane." The stranger inputted for her.
Ah. The rocket boots one. Ahsoka mentally supplied herself. The duros in the strange hat had held up fairly well against Jango but not well enough. He tried to win the fight through speed but unfortunately, Jango had him beaten in that category and he soon began to tire. Taking advantage of his slow withdrawal of his left arm, Jango sprung forwards, grasping the trailing arm and pushing him into the ground, a knife to his throat as fast as you could blink.
Ahsoka turned fully to the stranger only to realise that it was their host himself.
"Count Dooku." Ahsoka said quietly, inclining her head.
"Miss Fett." The man said, "If you do not mind me asking, why are you carrying lightsabers on your person?"
Ahsoka froze. ~How did he know? Think of a reasonable answer...but wait... what if he can tell if I'm lying~
In the end, she settled on a half truth.
"They were my mother's." She told him.
"And who was your mother?" He asked, not kindly, but not unkindly.
"She's dead now." Ahsoka said, urging her buir to get here more quickly.
"I see." The Count replied, seemingly sensing her unease as he stood up. Both parties seemed to come to the same conclusion as Ahsoka felt a strange poke in her mind.
~He's a force user~
~She is strong in the force for one so young~
Dooku decided that now was the time to take his leave.
"If you would excuse me, it seems I have a winner to congratulate."
Ahsoka bowed her head, her eyes not leaving the Count as he walked away, something was strange about that man.
...
Jango collected the credits they were owed and had set the ship's course for the outer rim, Count Dooku had explained that the true nature of the competition was to find a worthy candidate for an associate of his.
"Dooku was suspicious." Ahsoka told Jango with all the seriousness her nine year old self could muster.
"I agree." Her buir replied.
"And he has the force."
"He does?" Jango asked.
"He poked me, with the force." Ahsoka tried her best to describe Dooku's force presence. Jango looked at her strangely, urging her to elaborate. "Like in our heads... and he knew about my 'sabres like he could feel them or something."
"I think you'll have to stay on the ship whilst I meet Dooku's associate." Jango read Ahsoka's pleading expression, "I'm serious, we have no idea who we're dealing with."
"Yes Buir."
...
There was something off about Dooku's associate Jango decided. The cloaked figure handed him over a holomap to some unknown planet called Kamino where the locals would give him his assignment. Why Dooku couldn't just tell him his assignment so he didn't have to take Ahsoka on this journey across the galaxy? Still the 20 million credits newly transferred into his account were hard to ignore so he nodded to the associate and returned to the ship, wondering what the next few years would bring.
...
"Buir?"
"Where are we going?"
"Our new home."
"And where's that?"
"Kamino."
...