Chapter Eighteen. No one can run forever...

8 HOURS BEFORE THE CHANCELLOR'S ASSASSINATION…..

The moment that Vesha had walked through the door of the room, she knew something was off. "Don't touch anything." Master Windu said firmly, he took a step inside. If the tavern owner was correct- and not lying to them, then this was Zekk Stilco's room. But the man was nowhere in sight, he didn't even leave behind anything. The Jedi girl followed Windu inside, looking around. "Can you still sense him in the Force?" The Jedi Master asked. He stopped next to the bed and lightly touched the covers. She breathed in deeply, stretching out with the Force, trying to find him. After a moment she shook her head. "No… I can't." If it hadn't been for her stubbornness she wouldn't be here. After she had told Master Yoda where the bounty hunter was, he had immediately called Master Windu, telling him where the Mandalorian should be. When she had asked if she could join him, he shook his head, saying that the man was dangerous and that she needed to stay at the Temple. She quickly interjected, suggesting that if he lose the trail, then she might be able to pick it up again. That had ended the way she wanted. Master Yoda was still skeptic but he agreed. Windu sighed, running a hand over his bald, clean-shaven head. "How did he know we were coming? Does he have an inside contact?" "He might have a hacker. They are pretty good at getting through video feeds and channels." Vesha suggested, she tapped into the Force again, trying to see if she could maybe catch the Mando again. No such luck. She grimaced. They only had eight more hours before the bounty hunter was going to attempt to kill the leader of the Republic. She feared that he might succeeded, he was highly skilled and very quick with any weapon that he used. "We will just have to tighten security and keep a very close eye on the Chancellor. We don't have time running around looking for clues to find this bounty hunter." Mace Windu seemed to be upset and frustrated. Without saying another word, he walked out of the room.

"That was a close dodge." Bandit leaned back in Zekk Stilco's co-pilot chair, tapping away on his data pad. He closed the security feed that he had hacked into, watching as the Jedi Master walked out of the room, well, it had been Zekk's room. "I told you someone was tracking us." The Mandalorian said. He turned around, eyeing Kerren. "What?" she asked, her hands were on the weapons locker, fingers covering the automated alarm devices that beeped when the locker was forcibly opened. "That Jedi that fought you in the star fighter is the same one that tried to kill me. I let her live, which is most unfortunate for us since she is the one who keeps tracking us down." The bounty hunter started up his ship with a quick press of a button. It rose up on three ion drives, heat blasting from the repulsor lifts. "So you are telling me that she tried to kill you and you let her live?" Kerren shook her head, trying to keep the shocked look from her eyes. "Not with a tracking device, I've scanned this entire ship three times." Bandit added in, he glanced up from his data pad and laughed. "She must be using the Force." The bounty hunter didn't say anything more, instead he turned back to piloting his ship, gloved fingers moving over the console. Bandit's data pad pinged. He frowned, opening up the notification that covered his screen. "Uhh. You might want to see this." Kerren joined him, glancing over his shoulder to see the message. "Who sent that?" she asked nervously. If anyone could send a message to Bandit's data pad without him letting them or him knowing about it, then that meant the person was just as good a hacker if not more then him. "I don't know. Its just a message." Before the bounty hunter could say anything, the ship's alarm started blaring. Someone had a missile lock on them. "What the-" The ship rocked as a barge of proton torpedoes smashed into the underbelly of the star ship, sending it careening off course. "Look out!" Kerren pointed to the giant building looming ahead, getting closer as the ship roared toward it. The Mandalorian tried to pull up, but the stick was unresponsive. The torpedoes had blown away the stabilizer fin or the thrusters. Kerren jumped up, racing for the Mandalorian. She barely had her hands wrapped around the ship's controls before the entire craft hit the building and- and disappeared. One moment it was there and the next it was gone. The glass windows of the building exploded in a spray of shards, raining down below. Two Jedi star fighters flashed by, searching for the Hark three class ship. No sign of them. They had managed to dodge death again.

Chad Cerro slammed his fist against the inside of his star fighter's cockpit. Anger eating at him. The bounty hunter had managed to escape him again. That torpedo strike should have been enough to cripple any ship of that size. The other Jedi star fighter made a tight roll, coming back around, still scanning for any sign of them. Chad keyed his com. "I doubt that they are anywhere near here. Lets head back." The Mando seemed to have everything planned out, from attack plans to fast escapes. How were they supposed to capture or kill him? "Alright." Chad didn't even remember who the other Jedi was called. He didn't really care either. He tightened his fingers around the yoke of his star fighter, trying to keep the anger at bay. He couldn't. The anger ate at him, ripping past his Force barrier. All he wanted was to find the damn bounty hunter. Why couldn't he see him in the Force? Why was it so hard to track one man? Why couldn't he just see him? And then suddenly, he could. He could see the crashed Hark three class ship. Smoke leaking from the engines, flames slowly spreading across the cockpit's harden hull. He could see the armored bounty hunter drag his body from the wreckage. There was a young woman with long hair with him, black ooze dripping from her body. A man with a tattoo covering one side of his head, limped from the ship's landing ramp. Blood pouring from a wound in his side. They were hurt. They were dying. Chad smiled dangerously. If he knew what planet they were on, he could make sure they did indeed die. He couldn't see much detail in his Force vision, but he didn't have to. He breathed in deeply, concentrating on the Force. Trying to get an answer to his questions. Something kept tugging at the back of his mind. Something pulled and wavered the Force vision. Destroying the image of the Mandalorian and his crew and replacing it with darkness. Cold darkness. And a single name echoed in his head. Ghngecko. And then he was flying his star fighter. The Force vision had lasted literally less than a second. He pulled his star fighter around, going in a broad loop. He knew where to find them now. He wasn't going to let them get away from him this time. This time, he was going to kill the Mandalorian. He chuckled grimly.