So here we are, promoted to the dizzying heights of Dark Jedi Knight, with a totally awesome Master, and looking super fly in black, and what do we get to do? We get to right royally kick butt for the Brotherhood. I know what you are thinking. How come he got to be so awesomely brilliant, whilst I’m just a dweeb with a computer writing a story that may win me fictitious awards and medals? Simple answer, because I deserve to be awesome. Not everybody can be this good looking wearing yellow and black tattoos on their melons, and carry off the horned sex god look, but I make it look easy. But enough about me...... who am I kidding, there can never be enough about me, it’s my favourite subject.

OK, so here’s the gen. My Master, Tasha’Vel Versea, who by the way is hot, is in the hospital with blood clots. I mean that’s pretty serious poodoo right there, but not surprising considering that her heart has to contend with seeing me every day. It must be a tremendous strain on her ticker there, and blood can only move so fast before it starts colliding with itself. I’m not a doctor, but I guess that’s how it all works. Anyhoo, she’s laid up in bed, and not in a good way, so I have to go visit and try and lift her spirits somehow.

So I’m walking up to the hospital, minding my own business when her husband is there. “Hey, Quo, you going up to see her?” he shouts across the pathway.

“Yeah, can’t have her wasting away up there, thinking that world has stopped turning because she’s not in control”

I knew that had done the trick, Bentre even managed a half smile “Ain’t that the truth. C’mon, let’s show willing,” turning away towards the entrance, “I’ll let you tell her though. I wonder if there’s any food up there?” He shot a glance up the glass frontage of the building.

I followed his glance.... what the?..... You know when you see something but your brain won’t register it initially, but eventually it filters through.... a bit like when you first hear you Mum and Dad going at it like a pair of rabbits.... that initial disbelief, then the realisation, then flight into action, such as hiding your head under your pillow with your walkman on full.. well that happens right now to me. There was something crawling across the glass, so high up you could hardly see it, but it was there nonetheless. It was almost indistinguishable from the background, but it was there... and that’s definitely not something that has been said about me.

“What’s that up there?” I asked.

Ben looked up towards where I was indicating “No idea, but I’m sure as hell gonna find out” Drawing his blaster he knelt, steadying his aim, taking a breath in then releasing half of it before squeezing the trigger gently. I heard the ‘Fatoom’ as the crimson bolt arrowed its way upwards towards his target, impacting the torso of the figure above. We couldn’t hear it but the window exploded into thousands of pieces, and the figure began a slow fall from the front of the building. I watched the figure twisting and turning through the air, adopting the aerodynamic properties of a breeze block, as its speed approached terminal velocity, before it smashed, like a free fall washing machine into the pavement below.

“Did the Diplomatic Corps accept your application then?” I quipped, Ben shot me a withering look. We walked over to the mass of tangled wreckage. It looked like the Gods of all Droids had been having a clear out of the workshop, and all the parts left over had been shoved overboard to land outside the hospital. Whatever type of droid it was when it was up on high it was now nothing more than used parts. Do you get scrap value on slightly used droids? I’m sure we could make a few credits from it if we could find all the parts, or we could make the worlds most difficult construction puzzle.

“Assassin droid, and looking at the head this one was relatively new. Somebody went to a lot of trouble for this, but we don’t know who the target was. Maybe we can slice into the memory and find out who it was after, and who sent it.......” Yadda, yadda, yadda.... Ben really did love the sound of his own voice, I couldn’t help it, I just zoned out. A ‘thwack’ round the head meant that Ben had finished before I could regain consciousness, oh well.

“Let’s go see Tasha’Vel, and let the investigation team try and get to the bottom of this” Stahoes turned once more towards the entrance, I guess that I should follow. I don’t like hospitals, but needs must at times, and Tasha’Vel needed saving from Ben’s recounting of the events outside. Sometimes an Apprentice’s work is never done!