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ladykfIt had been a year.
One long, painful year since his brother had called him with the news. Mako had hacked the feeds, and part of him died watching.
Thanaton….
He’d killed them. Saare for having been Zash’s apprentice. Blakk for trying to save her. He’d killed them and it hadn’t been quick or painless. They’d died in pain and fear. There weren’t even bodies to bury, just a grave he’d dug with his hands in the dirt on Iridonia, outside his parent’s place where he’d always wanted to take them. Show them what it was like to have a family.
He’d never get the chance now.
A gloved hand tightened around his comm, gold eyes hard as he grit his teeth.
It had been a year, and in that year he’d dropped off the bounty hunting scene to prepare for the biggest hit of his life - and likely his last; taking down a member of the Dark Council would be risky even for a Sith, and here he was, some alien hunter. Yeah, he was gonna die for this. But when he took Thanaton down, he’d have no regrets.
And Thanaton would die. He’d spent a year making sure of that. A year planning and planning and calling in every favor and resource he had to make sure he got this right. In the end, Thanaton had played into his hands, sick of chasing around the last of Saare’s ‘followers’ even though Seran would have been the first to point out that they were no threat. But if the Sith wanted to hire him… he was fine with that.
He saw the disdain plain as day on the Sith’s features when he came in, but the man was polite anyway. Might’ve been bearable, even, if he didn’t have such a burning desire to see him die. And maybe if he wasn’t wearing a casual green tunic and a long black coat that had once been likened to a bath robe he’d be taken a little more seriously.
Not that he cared.
Seran listened to the specifics of it all, of the bounty details and Thanaton’s suggested methods - not bad, and actually rather smart if he’d really been dealing with some slouch of a hunter.
Only he wasn’t.
Hands deep in his pockets, Seran pressed the button on his comm, silently sending out a message while he talked the ‘plan’ through with the Darth, tossing back and forth ideas, seeking information… and then there was that priceless moment where he saw the old man stiffen, orange eyes widening in dismay. Seran didn’t feel a thing, but Saare had always said he had the Force sensitivity of a brick. “Disturbance in the Force, old man?”
“Quiet, hunter,” the Sith commanded, looking around warily as if he could see what was causing said disturbance.
“Scarier people than you have been more convincing than that,” he noted mildly, pushing off the wall to walk around the room. “You got a problem I should know about?”
“Nothing you would understand -”
“Force abandoned ya?” He smiled with dark satisfaction at the sharp look, the sudden suspicion. “Bet that’s a weight like a hundred ysalamiri on your doorstep.”
Darth Thanaton narrowed his eyes at him. “What foolishness have you wrought, hunter? You can’t think there is any scenario where you can raise a hand against me and win.”
“All I have t’ do to win is make sure you lose, Thanaton.” He didn’t reach for his blaster, pressing the button on his comm again and watching the Sith calmly. “You’re already dead; you just haven’t dropped yet.”
“Don’t be foolish, you can’t possibly -”
“There’s a good handful of Jedi waiting for whatever’s left of you when I’m done,” he cut him off, voice calm and quiet. “I didn’t want t’ let 'em down by saying there won’t be much. You’re a big shot, I know - I did my research. But you’re also human, and you’re not going to live through what a dozen thermal detonators are going to do to this building. You’re sure as hell not going to live through the bunker buster that’ll be dropped on the rubble, but just in case I have someone who is going to put everything on lockdown in the next ten seconds.”
He arched a brow, hearing the locks to the very room engage and chuckling at the look of dawning understanding, the Sith realizing he was serious. “She’s good. I’ve got some real good people working on this, actually. Real good. An’ a Hutt or two in my debt that really won’t give a damn you’re gone - pity you didn’t stay in the capital, huh? Would’ve made it harder on me.”
“So, what? You’ll throw your life away to kill me?” Thanaton gave him a disgusted look. “Who paid you to do this? This is suicide, even if you win.”
“Paid me? Thanaton, I’m paying you back.” A final press of keys on his comm, sending out a last message to his friends and family. Gods, but he hated to leave Mako alone like this, but she was an adult now. And she understood. Lathi… Lathi would get it. And he had a feeling neither he nor the rest of Intelligence would look too hard into this.
He shook his head, smiling grimly. “A Jedi told me once 'there’s no death, there’s the Force’ - and I hope they’re right. Whatever comes next, I hope Saare’s waiting there to kick your ass.”
The Darth gave him an incredulous look. “You’re killing me over those children?”
“Their names were Saare and Blakk, and you should have left them alone.” Seran-vin snarled softly, shifting his stance to stay upright as the first explosion rocked the building. “They were worth a thousand of your Councils, and your death can never make up for their loss; but I’m not letting you live after that.”
Another explosion stumbled them both, and from the way the Sith stretched a hand, then fumbled for his lightsaber, the fuzzy little lizards were still interfering with his ability to use the Force. No lightning today.
Not that he expected the 'fight’ to last long, but Seran took grim satisfaction in shooting the flustered darth in the shoulder before he had his blade out and readied. Time was ticking away, and there were more explosions drawing nearer - the whole compound was going to come down, there was no stopping it now.
“Time t’ meet the Maker.”
