Jaq of all trades...

. . . master of one.

     Jaq Rand wet his lips, tongue sliding slowly over the dry, cracked skin; felt the moisture fill the gaps. He was lying on his stomach at the top of a two-storied apartment building on a fairly warm, balmy night, the butt of his rifle pressed into his right armpit. The barrel was pointed carefully over the edge of the building, angled slightly downwards. The sights attatched to the top of the rifle had not yet found their target. They would, in time. He shifted his position on the duracreet roof with his hips– not a sound escaped him, his breathing quiet and controlled.

     Most of the planet’s moon was obscured by cloud, yet there was sufficient light from it for Jaq to accomplish what he came here for. He flexed the fingers of his right hand against the grip, his half-gloved trigger finger tapped the side of the trigger guard softly, itching to slide over the length of metal that was the trigger, itching to make the weapon deliver one of its laser bullets to his marks, which had still not shown yet.

     Soon enough, eagle eyes spotted the Jedi Master and Padawan walking down the lane below him. Half-gloved fingers tightened their grip on the weapon he was holding, but relaxed just as soon; being tense would cause his blasts to go astray. He watched as they made their way down the small lane, shrouded by their cloaks, and the darkness that was night. He could tell that their guard was down– they walked in a fairly casual way; their arms were by their sides, their lightsabres hung from their belts and weren’t being touched. Nevertheless, Jaq threw up barriers in his mind; with any of his scoundrel’s luck, they wouldn’t sense him. They never had before, when he’d wished it.

     They walked cooly and at a leisurely pace, exchanging words in hushed tones; none of their conversation could be heard by the Sith Assassin up on the rooftop. As they began to pass by the building he was on, Jaq pressed his eye to the scope, moving his head forwards and backwards very slightly, getting the Padawan into focus until he had the younger one’s head in the crosshairs. Bingo. The assassin’s trigger finger slipped silently over the cool metal of the trigger, feeling at home on the thin, smooth surface. He breathed in slowly through his nose, letting precious oxygen fill his lungs before manipulating his lips into a small oh shape, spilling half of the breath back into the night. He closed his lips, restricting the rest of the oxygen from escaping, then ever so gently began squeezing the trigger.

     The Padawan in his sights had stopped while the Master had kept walking. It turned its head and pushed the hood of its robes back. Long, blonde hair, pulled back into a ponytail, spilled out in a froth down her back. Blue eyes the colour of a Jedi Guardian’s ‘sabre looked back and upwards, framed by long, curled lashed the same hue as her hair. Jaq pulled in a surprised breath, and then almost groaned in frustration. He hated . . . disposing . . . of pretty female Jedi; it was such a waste. Mind you, the fact that they were Jedi was a waste. He lifted his head slightly, peering over the top of his scope at the female, seeing her breathtaking beauty and accidentally dropping all the barriers in his mind that he’d so carefully built up. For a fleeting second, their eyes had locked, sending a shot of lightning up his spine. Her lovely blue eyes widened slightly, before becoming hard and indifferent, and that cold stare affected Jaq more than anything he’d ever seen. It was like she’d accepted her fate and offered no resistance to her impending death.

     He almost felt regret as he pressed his eye back to the scope, breathed in and out carefully, like he had before, and squeezed off the first of two shots that would bring him his pay. The rifle, having being silenced beforehand, made the smallest of sounds as the laser bolt shot towards his mark. The Padawan made no sound as she crumpled, but the Master, obviously feeling the tug of the Force at her protégée’s death, spun around, looking first at her lifeless Padawan, and then around the area, searching for the source of her death. Quickly, a moment before the Knight discovered his presence, and therefore his mind, Jaq slammed up barriers in his head, cursing himself inwardly for dropping his own guard. Despite this, the Master quickly discovered his presence and, before she had time to react, Jaq loosed off another blast and the second Jedi crumpled, lifeless, to the ground.

     Force, he hated his job.