Here is a new story I hope that readers will like. It is my first attempt at an action story and it will be about Zeb (my favorite "Rebels" character) and how he'll survive being hunted by four aliens on a jungle planet in wild space. Okay...here goes!

THE HUNTED

Chapter 1 Fulcrum Meeting

The three rebels readied the Clone Wars era shuttle for a journey to the "Smugglers Moon" as Nar Shaddaa was known for being. They would be meeting two of the newest Fulcrum agents that former Imperial agent Alexandr Kallus had been in recent contact with.

"Hey Alex," Zeb Orrelios the Lasat member of the GHOST crew said, "Do we really have to go to Nar Shaddaa? That place is..."

"Nastier than the hind end of a Hutt," former clone trooper Captain Rex finished for his friend.

"I know you guys don't like this, but these two have important info about the Empire's newest weapon," Kallus answered.

"What kind of weapon?" Zeb asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Kallus added.

"That helps us alot," Rex offered giving Zeb a playful punch to the shoulder. The Lasat grinned at him.

"Are you three ready to go?" came a voice near the Sheathipede shuttle that the rebels had dubbed the PHANTOM II. The original PHANTOM had been lost during an ill-fated mission a year ago.

"We sure are, Hera," Zeb answered seeing the Twi'lek pilot walking towards them.

"Okay, then. Be careful. This could be a bit dangerous. Just get the info from the contacts and get back here. Nar Shaddaa has gotten alot of attention from the Empire lately."

"Yes...Mom," both Rex and Zeb added seeing Hera smiling at them. Kallus just nodded his head in her direction.

Hera gave them each a quick hug and saw them off. She knew they could take care of themselves, but she still worried.

"Hey, who said you could fly this thing?" Zeb asked as he watched Rex sit at the pilot's seat.

"Since I'm a veteran of the Clone Wars, I've flown a few of these things and I'm the best qualified to fly her. Anyways...Hera put me in charge of the mission due to being the most familiar with Nar Shaddaa," Rex answered, "Oh, Zeb, don't be such a baby...I'll let you fly her home after we finish the mission."

"Sounds good to me," Kallus added, "I haven't the slightest idea how to fly a Sheathipede shuttle."

He looked over to see Zeb grinning nearly ear to ear.

The PHANTOM II lifted off with the trio of rebels and made her way to Nar Shaddaa. A few hours later, they were in orbit of the moon that looked worse from above.

"Sheesh!" Zeb muttered, "Can't even see the land masses!"

"You think this looks bad," Rex added, "What until you see where we're landing."

The former trooper landed the shuttle in an area where smugglers and other assorted characters kept their ships when visiting the various cantinas.

"Okay...fellas," Kallus began to say as he consulted a datapad, "We are to meet the two Fulcrum agents at a cantina called the Black Diamond."

"Black Diamond?" Zeb asked wrinkling his pug-like nose at the stench of the swamp world, "Sounds...lovely."

"Quit being such a wiseass," Rex scolded his big friend. Zeb gave him a scathing look.

"Knock it off," Kallus said consulting his datapad, "We are to meet the two agents named Leka and Ele Pauen inside the cantina. Their undercover work here is barroom bouncer and serving girl."

The former Imperial lead his two companions into the rather seedy establishment. Kallus and Rex didn't get a lot of attention, but Zeb did.

"Guess they don't see many Lasat around here," Rex said seeing Zeb look a bit uncomfortable at the close scutiny he was getting from the other patrons of the cantina.

"Hey!" came a voice from the bar. It was a tall rather hefty human male with scruffy beard and hair, "Well...do you guys want a drink or not?"

"No, thank you," Kallus said, "We're looking for a couple by the name of Leka and Ele Pauen. Do you know them?"

The bartender frowned and glanced over to where a tall curvy woman with gray skin and tattoos sat.

"I'm Eleandra Pauen," she said in a husky but pleasant voice. She looked right at Kallus and said:

"By the light of Lothol's moons."

Zeb, Kallus and Rex started at hearing the Fulcrum response spoken. She stood up and walked over to greet them. Rex couldn't help noticing how attractive she was. Kallus looked just as surprised. They knew she was Dathomirian from her appearance.

"If you gentlemen will put your eyes back in your heads, I'll introduce you to my bondmate Lekaryta Pauen."

The former trooper figured that her bondmate was another Dathomirian, one of the Night Brothers, but were they surprised! The exotic woman gestured to someone in the back part of the cantina and out walked not a Night Brother, but a...

...Lasat male, very young and smaller than Zeb. He was dressed in a simple tunic and matching pants that only went to his knees. His fur color was similiar to Zeb's with a different stripe pattern and he sported a short beard and sideburns with a mohawk cut of hair on his head.

"By the light of Lothol's moons," he said in a voice a little higher pitched than Zeb's and younger sounding, "I'm Lekaryta Pauen, bondmate to Eleandra Paueu."

"Well, I'll be," Rex muttered seeing the shocked looks on the other's faces.

"Leka," Zeb began to say and walked over to shake the younger Lasat's hand, "Your last name Pauen sounds familiar."

The young Lasat looked away for a moment and then spoke.

"My grandfather...Byretta Pauen was a general in the Lasan High Honor Guard. My father Ozek...served during the Clone Wars and up until...Lasan was attacked."

"Leka," Zeb said seeing the sadness in the youngster's eyes, "Are both of your parents still alive?"

"No...Father died during the attack and..." he answered shutting his eyes and swallowing hard, "When he saw that we were in danger...he put Mother and I on a ship and sent us away. I was only half a dust season old..."

"A kit," Zeb whispered, "What about your mother?"

Blinking his teary eyes, Leka explained the rest of his tragic childhood.

"Our ship was...attacked by an Imperial ship and...Mother put me in a life pod with several other Lasat. I never saw her again. We were rescued by a Naboo mercenary ship and taken back to Naboo where I was raised by a Gungan family until I became of age to leave home. I became a mercenary and helped my adopted family on many missions until my ship was damaged and I had to land on Nar Shaddaa where I met Ele and her father Burley."

"That happened three years ago," Ele added, "Leka and I instantly became friends and then fell in love. We were joined just last year."

"Now I remember where I saw your father," Zeb added, "He was there when my father, Ketuunka was promoted to General of the Lasan High Honor Guard. Not long after, I received my own promotion to Captain and held that position until...the attack."

Leka and Ele both gave the older Lasat looks of sympathy and patted his arm.

"You two don't look much older than teenagers," Rex said hoping to brighten the mood, "What are you about sixteen...seventeen years of age?"

"We're twenty," Ele said looking over at Leka, "We are capable of fulfilling our duties as Fulcrum agents."

A few minutes later, Burley the human bartender and owner of the cantina, lead the two agents and the three rebels to a room in the back where they could talk without interruptions.

"Thank you, Papa," Ele said as she gave Burley a kiss on his wrinkled face. He had adopted Ele when she first arrived on Nar Shaddaa four years ago. She had run away from Dathomir not wanting to become a Night Sister as her family clan wanted. Now he found himself with a Lasat son-in-law but didn't care. He loved Leka as much as he did Ele.

The two Fulcrum agents took out a hologram device and set it on a table in front of them.

"This is what Leka and I discovered when we traveled to Naboo last month and contacted a rebel cell out of Gungan City," Ele said activating the device.

An image of a round metallic sphere appeared within the hologram. The three rebels felt their stomachs lurch at what looked like a planet-sized weapon. Rex and Kallus frowned and Zeb growled deep in his throat.

"The project is called 'Stardust' and is being overseen by an Imperial by the name of Orsen Krennic. Alot of funding has been taken away from other projects, namely Grand Admiral Thrawn's TIE Defender program."

"No wonder ol' Blue Skin is hacked off," Rex said seeing the surprised looks on Kallus' and Zeb's faces.

"Leka," Zeb said looking over at the much younger Lasat male, "Do you or Ele know where this...thing is being built?"

"Sorry, Captain Orrelios. All we know is that it's being constructed somewhere out in Wild Space."

"That really helps," Rex added getting a look from Kallus and a clearing throat.

"Thank you for the information," the former Imperial said, "Keep us informed if you hear anything else."

He shook both agents' hands and gestured Zeb and Rex to do the same.

"How about a drink?" Ele suggested, "Papa makes a mighty potent Hutt Swamp Fizz, guaranteed to make your hair or fur stand on end."

Rex, Zeb and Kallus nodded.

While the three rebels readied to indulge in the cantina's strongest drink, four tall alien beings wandered the streets, everyone giving them a wide berth. They were not only tall, but very muscular with reptilian skin of different shades of mottled brown. They didn't wear much of anything other than shoulder armor with some kind of weapon on one shoulder, arm gauntlets and leg guards. Around their waists they wore something similar to a loincloth but it covered more than a loincloth normally would. On their large heads they wore helmets of various shapes and long dreadlocks that passed as hair hung down their backs.

The tallest one of the four, easily three meters tall, touched a button on it's right hand gauntlet. An image appeared similar to a hologram.

The image was of a Lasat; a Lasat named Garazeb Orrelios of a rebel cell out of Yavin IV. It uttered something to it's smaller companions. It was a language of clicks, trills and growls, then it gestured towards the Black Diamond cantina. It nodded to them and they pushed buttons on their gauntlets where they disappeared before any onlooker's eyes...

Zeb, Kallus and Rex sat at the bar drinking assorted drinks that made them either cough or their eyes water.

"Karabast!" Zeb choked out as he coughed. He had taken a big gulp of a Hutt Swamp Fizz, "Oh...that's strong!"

Rex and Kallus chuckled and went back to drinking the Corellian ales they were working on. Seeing Zeb's reaction at one of the Black Diamond's signature drinks made them glad they didn't try it. Leka nearly laughed himself off a bar stool at Zeb's reaction to the vile drink.

"I can't stand them either," he said seeing that Ele was laughing just as hard. The Dathomirian female leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. The two young beings nuzzled each other's faces.

Zeb recognized young love when he saw it. He felt a pang of envy for a moment hoping someday to win a female's heart, Lasat or otherwise. A few of the female rebels had been giving him looks over the past few months, especially a Barrelian female that was taller than he was. Her species were humanoid beings with dark brown skin, human-like features and golden eyes that seemed to glow from within. They were covered with golden markings and very strong for slim statured beings. She had engaged in arm-wrestling contests with men of different species and even took Zeb on. She actually won! The Lasat was drawn back to reality by one of Rex's stories that he was telling to anyone who wanted to hear, when the cantina went silent.

It was because four strange-looking beings walked in.

"Karabast!" both Zeb and Leka uttered. Rex and Kallus just gasped and Ele flashed her teeth and hissed out a warning to everyone in the cantina.

"D'bisyk," she whispered in her native Dathomirian tongue. It meant "hunter" or "stalker".

"Guys, back up slowly," she said to her bondmate and the three rebels, "These...aliens are a bad bunch to tangle with."

"Look at that thing on their shoulders," Rex whispered, "Some kind of weapon?"

He watched as a red laser light appeared from the shoulder device and shown on a Twi'lek male's chest. The largest being let out a loud roar and the device let loose with a plasma blast that blew a hole in the unfortunate Twi'lek's chest. He never let out a scream as he died so quickly. Rex now knew it was a cannon of some kind...a nasty one at that! The other aliens began to shoot their weapons killing many of the cantina's patrons. Ele pulled Leka and Burley behind the bar where she pulled out a holdout blaster from her boot top. Leka had grabbed a Lasan bo-rifle from behind a box of bottled ale. The young couple opened fire grazing one of the smaller aliens in the shoulder. It let out a roar and shot back with it's shoulder cannon. The shot nearly hit the top of Leka's mohawk-haired head.

"Karabast, Leka!" Ele called to her bondmate, "What are you doing? Trying to get yourself killed?!"

Rex and Kallus overturned a table and shot at the aliens. The shots seemed to bounce off them.

"What the kriff?" Rex yelled, "They must have some kind of protective field!"

Kallus swore both in Huttese and Basic throwing a blaster to Zeb who was protecting two of the cantina's serving girls; a Twi'lek and a Duros. The two women were hanging onto him for dear life!

"Last time I leave my bo-rifle on the ship!" he grumbled and shot the largest alien in the leg seeing a wound open up, neon-green blood spurting from the injury. The alien let out a roar of pain and reached over to it's other wrist gauntlet pushing a button. Two wicked looking blades appeared, the tips shining in the cantina's lamp light. It moved with the swiftness of a Loth-cat and drove the obvious weapons into the chest of the nearest patron, a human male of advanced years. Bright red blood spurted all over the alien's arm and over the bar and floor. It spotted Zeb hunkered down behind a large table and uttered a trill. Zeb moved back farther feeling that the two serving girls were hanging on to his arms hindering his ability to shoot. He gestured them to get in back of him and they obeyed now both sobbing in fear.

"Captain Orrelios!" Leka called out throwing his bo-rifle to the older Lasat. Zeb nearly caught it when he was enveloped in some kind of energy net that paralyzed him.

"ZEB!" Rex and Kallus screamed out. They tried to rescue their friend but were stopped by the severed head of Burley the bartender hurtling towards them with the spinal cord still attached. Kallus felt like he was about to puke! Rex wasn't much better.

"Papa!" Ele called out beginning to cry.

"R..Rex!" Zeb called between clenched teeth, "G...Get...them...out of here! Get...Get to...the...ship!"

"Not without you!"

"G...Go! I...I'll b...be...okay."

Dodging fire from the alien weapons, the elderly clone trooper managed to get not only Kallus and himself out of the now burning cantina, but also the young Fulcrum agents. They got onboard the PHANTOM II, Leka cradling a sobbing Ele in his arms.

"What the kriff are those things?" Rex said trying not to throw up, "Where the karking hell are they from?!"

The only answer he got from Kallus was a shrugging of trembling shoulders. Ele was still crying and Leka still held her close. It could now be seen that the young Lasat had tears on his furry cheeks. Rex knew they were both no more than children and would be easily scared, even a young Lasat male. Kallus got himself calmed down to activate the tranceiver for a distress call.

"To anyone who can hear my voice, we are under attack...I repeat, we are under attack by alien forces of an unknown species. They have killed many civilians and nearly destroyed the Black Diamond cantina. I repeat again...we are under attack by an unknown species of incredible strength and stamina. Captain Orrelios has been captured..."

A loud sound interrupted his message and Rex pointed to where a ship was taking off.

"That must be their ship!" Rex called out getting the others' attention.

A large almost spheroid vessel was taking off from the landing area and with a loud boom lifted off into the atmosphere. Soon it was gone...

"They took him," Leka said his voice shaking with emotion. The young Lasat male's eyes were welling with tears.

"How do you know?" Rex asked.

"I...uh...sensed it."

"Are you a...Force sensitive?"

Leka nodded his head looking over at Ele who had calmed down and was leaning against him. She nodded too.

"My parents knew I was a Force sensitive the day I was born and hid me from the Empire and the Jedi. They didn't want me to be taken away," Leka explained, "My use of the Force is a bit...untrained, and I'm not very good at using it."

"Leka," Rex said placing a hand on the Lasat's muscular arm, "Is Zeb on that ship?"

"Yes...he is, and he's still alive...for the time being."

"PHANTOM II, come in!" a voice called from the tranceiver, "Kallus! Zeb! Rex! Somebody answer!"

It was Hera Syndulla.

"Uh...Spectre 2...Hera..." Rex answered his voice a bit shaky, "We're okay now...but Zeb was captured by..."

"Alien hunters," Ele added.

"What was that?" Hera asked, "Who is this?"

"Captain Syndulla," the Dathomirian female said, "I'm Eleandra Ikka-Pauen, Fulcrum agent. My bondmate Leka and I watched as they attacked people inside the Black Diamond cantina where my...father worked. These aliens are very dangerous and my people have encountered them before. They collect trophies of endangered species and since Captain Orrelios is a Lasat..."

"You need not say anything else...Ele," Hera said her voice in a calming tone, "All you you get back here as soon as you can..."

On Yavin IV:

"We have to go after them!" Leka cried as he frowned at Kanan, and several other rebels who were standing near a holographic image of Nar Shaddaa.

"Calm down...young one," Kanan said hoping the young Lasat would quiet down. Leka's Force signature was a roiling cauldron of fear and anger, a perfect blend of someone skirting close to the dark side. He reached out with the Force to Leka and the Lasat's fear began to wane. Ele stood by and put an arm around her bondmate's waist feeling his trembling easing off.

"Kanan," Ezra Bridger said still not used to a Force-sensitive Lasat who wasn't much older than he was, "We have to rescue Zeb!"

"We will, but we must formulate a plan in order to rescue him."

"While we stand around planning a rescue," Sabine Wren added her face in a frown of annoyance, "Zeb could be getting tortured...or worse!"

Both young rebels considered Zeb not only as a fellow rebel, but like a big brother to them both. The Lasat was their best friend and they cared deeply for him. They knew that Kanan and Hera felt the same way.

"Listen," Hera said her voice in mother mode, "We are going to find him. Ezra...you and Leka can help Kanan locate him if possible. Sabine, you, Ele and I along with Rex and Kallus can get the GHOST ready for a rescue mission. Sound good?"

The four young beings nodded feeling a bit better listening to Hera's calming voice. She was like a mother to Ezra, Sabine and sometimes Zeb. Now she had two more kids to look after with Ele and Leka now with them.

"Leka," Kanan said gesturing the young Lasat to come closer, "Lets, you, I and Ezra use the Force to try and locate Zeb..."