Post
by RaithDuhal » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:36 am
PART III
The stars shone brightly in the night sky, softly throwing shadows across the trash-strewn street.
Somewhere a cat hissed as a spice-head stumbled past.
The miniature Womp Rats were a problem in this part of town, and only an excess of Correlian Swampbrow Cats could turn the tide.
One such cat found itself perched upon the ledge of an outlying apartment as its neon green eyes surveyed the scene below it.
Four humans walked along the barren sidewalk.
Heading the group was an armored man, a sleek black carbine in hand, his eyes scanning the streets.
To his right walked a tall man, his stature stiff and upright, and his eyes straight ahead.
An older man and woman were holding hands as they walked shortly behind the others.
The cat blinked as it watched the display and thought it interesting to see so many people out on the streets at once. It never saw more than one or two, and was quick to rub against their legs in the hope of food.
Something different was in the air tonight.
The cat scampered off the ledge; perhaps it could find a rat for its meal. Perhaps it would go hungry.
It was not the only being on Ord Mantell facing such a fate.
The group stopped as they approached a forlorn looking tenement building.
The durocrete walls were pitted where blaster bolts had torn chunks from them. Patches of graffiti were strewn across the walls alongside pictures and games from the poor children who inhabited the place.
Still, lights and sounds of habitation defied its run-down appearance.
Raith took a deep breath as he looked at the defiant building.
Twenty years.
It had been twenty years since Gurji’s slavers had dragged him from his home with his sister in tow.
He hadn’t wanted to come back.
He didn’t want his father’s blood on his hands.
One look back at his wounded companions reminded him of why he was here.
Gurji would have eyes watching the spaceport; there was no way they could leave the planet when they were in their current state. They needed a place to rest and restore their bodies and spirits before deciding on their next course of action.
That didn’t make this any easier.
Rukar watched as his mysterious companion stood scrutinizing the building.
The bounty hunter was particularly hard to read.
Any impressions he could glean through the Force were hazy at best; even though it practically swirled around the armored man.
However, he didn’t need the Force to sense the inner turmoil within the bounty hunter, and knew he could only wait until his conflicted companion was ready.
Raith finally took his first step onto the stairs leading up to the front door. The taller Jedi moved to join him, but the bounty hunter shook his head and waved him off.
He needed to do this part alone.
At the door, he swiftly typed in the password to enter the building. He smirked to himself as the light flashed green and the door slid open.
Of course it hadn’t been changed. It probably hadn’t been changed since this building was put up.
As he stepped into the place, it was just as he remembered it. The tattered walls covered in faded green paint. The large dent prominently displayed at the top of the stairwell from when his father had smashed their sonic cleaner during one of his withdrawal episodes. The dirty russet carpet smothered with remnants of more bodily fluids than any sentient being could count.
He was home.
All he had to do was walk up those stairs and knock on the door…but he wasn’t ready, and he knew it.
Convincing himself that he had to ensure his father still lived here first, Raith walked forward to knock on the door directly in front of the entrance.
His hand hesitated at the threshold of the door, as his whole body wanted nothing more than to be gone from this place.
He grimaced at his own cowardice.
He had never failed at getting his mark, and yet he couldn’t even face his own past. What kind of a man was he?
Thoughts for another time.
Hesitating no more, the bounty hunter firmly rapped on the door three times and waited patiently for an answer.
He sensed he was being looked at through the screen in the door and grinned. His hair on the back of his neck always went up when he was being watched.
The door slid open to reveal a young human woman. Her emerald eyes sparkled in stark contrast to her porcelain skin. She idly flicked a hand in her light auburn hair as she honed her gaze into the bounty hunter’s dark eyes.
When she examined his handsome features, her smile practically shone.
There was something different about this man.
“Can I help you, sir?”
Raith felt as if he had been punched in the stomach by an angry Wookiee.
His mouth went dry.
His body tingled with the warmth of a thousand suns from head to toe.
And for the life of him, his tongue refused to act as anything other than an impediment on the space lane of communication.
He opened his mouth but no sound came out.
His cheeks burned as if he had been stranded in the Dune Seas of Tatooine.
She blinked her eyes and smiled even brighter at him, amused at the trouble this stranger was having.
She didn’t leave the apartment much with her father ill; but as she considered this handsome visitor, she wondered if that had more downsides than she had previously thought.
Was she blushing?
She decided she would wait for him to respond, for it would not do to embarrass him further. The fact that this situation was also amusing was the Blumfruit berry on the top.
Rukar wondered what was taking the bounty hunter so long.
Surely it wasn’t so difficult to knock on a door?
He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses.
It didn’t take long for him to stumble upon the firestorm that was Raith’s thoughts.
The taller man recoiled and opened his eyes again. Clearly he had stumbled upon his friend in a more vulnerable state than usual. The Jedi smiled as he considered the pictures in his companion’s mind…
He would need to ask more about those later.
Meanwhile, Raith mentally screamed at himself.
TALK YOU BUMBLING BUFFOON!
He hadn’t felt so helpless since he had first watched his sister dancing before the fat slug.
What was coming over him?
Was this some poison the insidious Hutt had placed in him? Waiting for the bounty hunter to betray him before its vile contents spilled into his veins?
For some reason, the thought of death scared him more than it ever had before when he stared at this beautiful woman.
Finally, Raith loudly cleared his throat and coughed.
“Uh…sorry, I was just…wondering, if you knew… who lived right upstairs?”
His mind couldn’t keep a thought in its head for more than a nanosecond.
His heart raced faster than Gurji’s prize racing kaadus.
This had to be poison.
The young woman smiled gleefully in response.
“Yes, actually. He’s an older man…Mr. Duhal.”
Raith flinched at the name.
Noting the bounty hunter’s unease, the young woman instinctively extended her hand to his armored forearm to reassure him.
“Is something wrong?”
Raith averted his gaze as he blushed deeper than the night’s sunset.
“It’s just…”
Why was he so helpless before this stranger?
He felt as if his soul was laid bare.
He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and looked into those magnificent green orbs.
“He’s my father…I’ve been…away…for a long time.”
She beamed back at him with that smile that melted his heart and made his knees feel weak.
“That’s so wonderful!”
As she gauged his reaction, she realized it was anything but.
Still, she didn’t want to leave just yet…she had never felt this way before and was not going to let it be squandered away.
Nothing could be taken for granted; happiness was hard to find in the galaxy these days.
She looked eagerly into his deep brown eyes, flecked with fiery red.
“Are you planning on staying?”
“If he’ll let me…”
Raith turned and pointed back out the front door.
“Some friends of mine were in the area and need to rest for a few days. I figured that now was as good a time as ever to try and talk to the old man again…”
He broke off his sentence as he stared back into her eyes.
Those bottomless pools of emerald and cerulean drew him ever deeper into their depths.
Satisfied, the woman smiled.
“I’d be glad to bring you and your friends something to eat in the next few days?”
Raith returned the smile and felt his cheeks burn again.
It didn’t bother him as much this time.
“I’d like that.”
She nodded her head and the bounty hunter turned to leave before she called to him.
“Wait!”
She blushed deeply at her own boldness. Too late to be embarrassed now.
“What’s your name?”
He smiled at her and her insides went to mush.
What was coming over her?
“Raith.”
Their eyes embraced across the room as she hugged the name close to her heart.
“I’m Melyna…Good luck with your father; I better get back to mine.”
She flashed one last brilliant smile before closing the door and resting her head against it.
Today was a good day.
Raith smiled as she left his view; it didn’t leave his face as he slowly walked up the stairs to face his past.
He wasn’t so scared any more.
Three firm raps on the door sounded on the upper floor of the building.
The bounty hunter heard shuffling and grumbling as the lock was fiddled with on the other side.
An older man, his skin pale and nearly hanging from his face and his sunken eyes bleary in withdrawal, grabbed him and looked up at him.
Realizing it wasn’t who he was expecting, he let go and backed away into the room.
He raised one feeble arm in protest and pointed accusingly at his unexpected guest.
“W-w-who are you? W-w-why are you here?”
His lips trembled as spit bubbled on the end of them.
Raith surveyed his pathetic excuse for a father and took another deep breath. Images of his sister flashed through his mind and he clenched his hands in anger…before newer images of Melyna replaced them.
He released his hands and walked into the room, closing the door behind him.
The silence in the room grew heavy as the two men sized each other up.
Father and son had re-united.
But to the two men, the other was just another stranger.
“It’s been 20 years.”
Tears streamed down the older man’s face as he realized the implications.
Was the child he had abandoned back to claim vengeance? Would he finally get what he had deserved all these years?
Raith was no Jedi, but he didn’t need the Force to see the utter misery in his father’s eyes. He was as much a slave to his spice as Raith had ever been to Gurji.
“Jay…I need your help. I have some friends that are wounded, and they need a safe place to stay. We have nowhere else to go…please.”
His father had failed him and his sister once before…he would not do it again.
“Son…”
The older man, his face covered in tears, stumbled clumsily across the room and threw his arms around his son’s strong shoulders. He sobbed into Raith’s armor, mumbling apologies for a lifetime of wrongs.
Raith threw an arm around his father while the older man vented his emotions. After several moments, the he removed himself and looked his son in the eyes.
“Whatever you need, my boy. This is your home again.”
The bounty hunter didn’t miss a beat as he shot back his reply.
“It’ll be my home again when Isa’s freed.”
His father flinched at the hurtful comment, but took it in stride.
He deserved it. He deserved a lot worse.
Raith walked out from the room and down the stairs. He paused to wipe the touches of moisture at the corner of his eyes before approaching his companions.
Rukar was just finishing another story of his training on Coruscant when the bounty hunter appeared atop the entry stairs. He motioned for them to follow before ducking right back in.
The younger Jedi shook his head in minor frustration and put his arm around his mother to help her get up the stairs.
Raith was a man of few words when he wanted to be.
*************************************************************************************
The next four days passed swiftly as the tired companions rested from their ordeal. Though the place was not very homely, the yellow paint faded to practical non-existence, it was safe…for now.
Nirma and Julin slept on the floor in front of the couch where his father slept. Rukar’s large frame rested rather uncomfortably curled up in the bounty hunter’s old bedroom. Raith had taken his father’s room.
He didn’t want it, but his father had pressed it on him; he knew that the man needed to pay his son back however he could.
As Raith turned to his side on the lumpy bed, his tired eyes fell upon the well-worn nightstand.
A half-broken holoclock was there, no longer able to display the time on the ceiling. Next to it laid a partially cracked picture frame. On it was the beaming visage of his mother in happier times.
He felt a hollow emptiness in his stomach when he looked at that picture.
The woman he never got to know.
He shook his head and shrugged it off.
Thoughts for another time.
He closed his eyes as he slowly draped his feet over the bed; absorbing the sensation of cold spreading through him as he laid his bare soles on the chilly duracrete floor.
They were alive at least…who knew how long that would last.
A knock at the door shook him from his trance. The bounty hunter only grunted in acknowledgment as he slid his black infiltrator pants on.
Rukar walked into the room and nodded at his companion before settling at the edge of the bed.
He was no longer in his Jedi robes, but had switched into civilian clothes. His dark green vest meshing with his dark brown utilitarian pants and undershirt making him look as if he had walked straight out from the dark forests of Kaashyyyk.
Raith paused as he took a moment to inspect the younger man.
With his tall and well-muscled frame, it was clear the man was bred to be a fighter. His broad shoulders, handsome features, and determined gaze completed the picture; he certainly looked the part of the noble Jedi warrior.
But beneath the surface lurked the scars of a troubled soul.
Raith slipped his flex-form undershirt over his head and sat down next to the distracted Jedi.
The two men watched the paint on the walls fade away before their eyes as their thoughts took them across the universe.
Rukar’s mind wandered back to that day that had changed what had seemed to be a pre-determined life set out before him.
Raith found himself thinking of freeing his sister…and of Melyna.
Shaking himself from his brief reverie, the older man turned to his preoccupied companion. He narrowed his dark eyes as he watched the Jedi in contemplation.
Finally, he could wait no longer to ask the question that had bothered him since he had heard Culjo tell him his mission.
“What happened?”
Rukar only grunted in acknowledgement; he had been waiting for this question since that first night they spent in this place.
“You mean what led to you and your former ‘friends’ being sent after me?”
The bounty hunter said nothing, but his blank stare stood in clear opposition to the Jedi’s terminology.
The young Jedi sighed deeply and lay back on the bed to stare up at the ceiling.
As his eyes slowly followed the tiny nooks and crannies along a crack in the foundation, his mind took him back to that fateful day.
*************************************************************************************
It was as if the oceans of Manaan spilt forth from the heavens in one long, drawn-out deluge of tears.
The two Jedi looked up at the sky and murmured amongst themselves as they waited for their contact.
They had been tracking down the spice cartel responsible for the rampant crime in some of the lower districts of Coruscant for the last several months.
Too many people were dying. The Order itself had finally stepped in and ordered them to look into the matter.
Rukar had been so excited at his first real assignment, but his master seemed vexed that the Order had taken so long to act in the first place. The further their investigation took them, the more death and desperation they had seen.
This was not a matter that could wait any longer.
Master Or’dana had seen to it that many of the thugs that took advantage of the poor folks would never again do so. Rukar had contributed rather substantially himself, and it was his pride at these thoughts that brought a grim smile to the younger Jedi’s face now.
Even with the situation as dreary as it was, it seemed that they were slowly making progress. They had their foes scared, and it would not be long before they swept them all into the gutter where they belonged.
The older Jedi shot his apprentice a reassuring smile and nodded in the direction of their contact.
“Come, he’s this way.”
Rukar shook his head in disbelief as he quickened his pace to keep up with his experienced master.
“How do you do that, master?”
The older man grinned as his addressed his padawan.
“Focus. Concentration. You must expand your senses and feel the living world around you.”
Rukar looked away and sighed. He had heard the same mantra thousands of times, but it had not made it any easier for him to grasp.
“You spend all your time working on your lightsaber routines and discipline of the body, but stray from your studies on discipline of the mind.”
The younger Jedi furrowed his brow in frustration before continuing.
“But, master, how can we defeat the enemies of the Jedi Order if we are not strong enough to fight them? My thoughts alone won’t hold the blasters of these thugs at bay.”
“Again, your beliefs are misplaced. You underestimate the power of the Force, young one. In time, you will learn.”
Rukar sighed deeply once more.
In time.
Always in time.
He wanted to learn NOW.
He had spent his young life training to be the best he could be; and it was utterly frustrating to him that his mental acuity could not be as easily honed as could his skill with his blade.
As they rounded the corner around some old stacked cargo shipping crates, their contact finally came into view.
The younger Jedi jettisoned his negativity from his thoughts and cleared his mind. Meditative practices might not be his strong point, but he knew how to keep himself ready for battle.
Their target was a portly Sullustan, his comical jowls causing him to resemble a wide-mouthed caricature of a Kowakian monkey-lizard.
His large dark eyes searched frantically around him as he bled waves of anxiety through the Force. Even to Rukar’s lesser-trained perception, something was clearly amiss.
As they stood before their contact, the older Jedi knew without calm certainty that something was wrong.
The Sullustan was scared.
More scared than he should have been of two Jedi whom he knew meant him no harm.
The younger Jedi alertly monitored the enfolding situation while his experienced master spread his hands reassuringly and spoke to the squat alien.
“Ghaj, it’s good to see you again.”
The alien nervously danced his fingers across his prominent belly and looked plaintively at the elder Jedi.
“I’m…I’m sorry Morlen. But…my family…”
The human’s encouraging smile quickly faded from his face to be replaced by a serene yet stern stare.
“What have you done, Ghaj?”
The Jedi reached out with his senses to search for the anticipated ambush. He noticed the presences of several humanoids, but none hostile…not yet.
The Sullustan turned his eyes one last time upon the two men and shook his head sorrowfully.
Morlen Or’dana sensed the waves of palpable fear roiling off the small humanoid. Then, suddenly, the fear was replaced…
…by resolve.
The Jedi’s breath caught in his throat as he realized what was about to happen.
He reached out with the Force and thrust with all his might…just as the alien pressed his stubby fingers to the trigger.
And then, he knew only pain.
Rukar found himself hurtling back, thrown sharply by an unseen power as the ground rushed up to meet him.
Dazed, he shook his head as the world around him slowly started to reassert itself from one large wet blur. As he picked himself up from the rubble, the rain washed a grimy smear of blood from his cheek as he turned to where Ghaj had been only moments before.
In his place stood a 10 meter blast pit…all that remained of the little alien.
Rukar frantically scanned the area for his master before closing his eyes and letting his senses look for him.
*************************************************************************************
The elder Jedi slowly cracked open his eye to survey the carnage of the explosion.
Crates both whole and charred had been blasted in every direction.
Torn and ripped durasteel filled his distorted vision.
His right arm hung limply at his side where it had smashed heavily into the durasteel crate at his back.
Suddenly, he knew he was moving…he felt nothing, but sensed that something was removing him from the wreckage.
His head felt so heavy…as the Jedi’s neck slowly lolled to the side, he realized the full extent of the damage.
His left leg and arm were gone...the force of the explosion violently ripping them from his body.
He tried to remember what the pain had felt like, but found he couldn’t summon the energy. He knew without looking that the left side of his face had been similarly devastated, and understood why only his right eye had obeyed his command to open.
As his body slowly continued to fail him, he found himself laying flat on the ground, the dark Coruscanti sky slowly swaying above him. The rain beat down upon his fallen form, and he closed his eyes to try and find what little sensation he could from it.
When he opened them again, his apprentice knelt over him, frantically speaking to him, begging him to get up.
The older man looked at and reflected on his padawan for what seemed to be the last time.
He was so strong, both physically and in the Force. Morlen knew without jealousy that his pupil had the potential to be one of the best; remembered forever in the Jedi Archives…
In time, he would become the man he was meant to be.
Master Or’Dana happily accepted that he could take a small amount of credit for his apprentice’s future. This helped steel himself against the fact that it would not be his fate to watch over the young man any longer…he had done all he could for him.
In his last moments, the older Jedi was smiling.
*************************************************************************************
Rukar watched in terror as his mentor’s eyes lost their luster. He sensed his master’s life depart his mortal coil, and it left him feeling emptier than when he had been taken from his parents nearly 14 years ago.
He reverently closed his master’s frozen blue eye and placed his good arm over his heart. The knowledge that his master was now one with the Force brought him little comfort.
The patter of rain on his back mimicked the rage building within the young man.
Why had his master been taken from him?
Why must everything he loved be taken from him?
There was no justice in this.
The Jedi abruptly lifted his head and narrowed his eyes as he suddenly sensed near-tangible malice around him.
He muttered to himself as he swiftly drew his lightsaber from his belt.
“I have a bad feeling about this…”
His spine tingled with anticipation as he listened to the familiar snap-hiss of his sulfurous yellow blade engaging.
The front of the storage crate in front of him rapidly unhinged and crashed forward onto the water-kissed ground.
From it emerged five grimy looking Humans and a Weequay with its trademark rough skin. Wasting no time, they quickly drew their blaster pistols and opened fire on their surprised foe.
Blaster bolts scalded the air around him as Rukar found himself wildly ducking and weaving as he desperately batted them away.
One such deflection found its mark in the face of one unfortunate thug and he tumbled to the ground in death’s sweet embrace.
Realizing he could not hold his ground for long, the young Jedi urgently scanned the area for an escape.
He found it as the Weequay lifted his arm to throw a fragmentation grenade his way. Deftly motioning with his left hand, Rukar disarmed the thug and dropped the grenade at the feet of he and his grubby comrades.
Unfortunately for them, the grenade was anything but disarmed.
The ensuing explosion tore shrapnel through their unprotected bodies, and four meaty corpses plopped to the wet ground as thunder boomed hungrily overhead.
The Jedi roared triumphantly as he looked at his handiwork, exulting in the satisfaction of avenging his master.
However, victory was not so easily won.
Not far from their dead companions, seven more thugs swarmed atop one of the cargo crates for the higher ground.
They rained shots upon him, and only by summoning every last ounce of his focus and substantial physical ability was he able to deflect and dodge their blasts.
Rukar knew he lacked the skill and energy to keep a perfect defense up for long though.
He pivoted to the right and swiftly batted back three bolts in quick succession. He rapidly reversed his grip, taking the lightsaber’s hilt in both hands as he picked off another flurry of shots.
He grunted to himself as perspiration began to crawl down his strained face.
They just never stopped coming.
His senses tingled as he flipped to his left, intercepting another two bolts in mid-air, his arms never ceasing their graceful dance. He ducked beneath another particularly ferocious barrage and rolled along the ground near the corpse of the fallen Weequay.
Looking at the corpses of his victims, fear slowly crept into the Jedi.
He did not want to die as his master had…he had too much he wanted to do…and he would not allow his master to be un-avenged.
As hope began to sputter out painfully within him, he caught his salvation out of the corner of his eye.
Batting two more blasts from the air, the tiring young man rolled to the side into the decrepit cargo crate where his former ambushers had been.
He closed his eyes and focused with everything he had upon the fallen side of the crate, and it responded by slowly lifting up before him.
The vengeful warrior stood up and calmly walked shielded behind it as he slowly stalked towards his foes. Their fire was as unrelenting as the falling rain, and the durasteel began to glow orange with signs of melting as he steadily approached.
Finally, a voice called out amongst them and their fire ceased.
“Hold yer fire, boys!”
A small but wiry man stepped in front of the others before pointing a crooked finger at their foe.
“Lower yer shield, Jedi. We meant ye no harm.”
The younger man only snorted in response, the humming of his lightsaber the only other noise audible over the din of the watery deluge around them.
Seeming not to notice his opponent’s obstinate resistance to his words, the criminal continued.
“We just wanted yer boss…throw the shield away away, and ye can go…or better yet, join us! The pay’s good, and our client has particular… ‘affection’ for yer kind.”
Rukar’s grip tightened on his lightsaber in fury at the insolent man’s callous disregard for his master’s life…and yet he couldn’t help but grin grimly to himself at such childish charades.
They meant to kill him when he lowered his shield, and he knew it.
The thing was nearly slag already, and perhaps they meant to save themselves a few blaster packs.
He gritted his teeth and prepared to finish the contest when he was interrupted by the man’s voice again.
“Fine. Have it yer way. We only wanted to save ye from dyin’ like a piece of scum like yer friend. Seems like ye want it that way though!”
With that, the villainous fiend laughed wickedly. Behind him, his cronies snickered their approval.
Pure righteous rage boiled within the young Jedi as he dropped the shield to the wet ground so he could stare into the face of his foolish foe.
The smaller man trembled as he looked into those hate-filled eyes…eyes that promised death without mercy or restraint.
He wanted to tell his men to open fire but he couldn’t quite get over the lump forming in his throat.
Rukar gestured and the man lifted into the air, his face turning darker and darker shades of red as he struggled in futility to breathe against an unseen force.
The Jedi closed his hand together and the man’s spine collapsed in on itself as his feet pressed into his face…then he was falling and crumpling to the ground in an unceremonious pile.
His lackeys could only stare open mouthed at the raw display of power, and found themselves grabbing for handholds as the crate which they stood upon slowly bent in on itself. Within moments, the structure had practically formed a U. The two sides clanged together loudly with a quick whoosh of air…and a large crunch.
The rage filled young man lowered his hands and dropped the bloodied debris crashing to the ground. He breathed in deeply as the rain slowly washed away the slaughter…
But his rage was not nearly sated.
*************************************************************************************
On a rooftop not far away, a dark-robed man slowly lowered his electrobinoculars and bared his teeth in a feral smile.
This had turned out better than he could have expected.
He turned to his right and examined his two associates.
The first was Rannek Sarat, a human man, tall and sturdily built, with countless brutal scars marring his gritty unshaven face. Where once was his left arm, now stood a prosthetic cybernetic replacement.
To his right stood the deadly Sorn Talloe, lithe and beautiful but with a coldness about her that made Hoth seem a jungle paradise.
The robed man spoke coldly as he appraised the two Humans.
“Your men have not performed as expected.”
Rannek grimaced at the disapproval in his master’s voice.
“Your Jedi was stronger than we anticipated… There was little more we could do.”
The dark garbed man wasted no more time considering his failed associate and instead placed a gloved hand under his chin in thought.
“Indeed. He is powerful…”
His voice trailed off as he considered the possibilities. He turned to look coldly again at the scarred man.
The unshaven man’s face went ashen as he feared retribution from his powerful overlord, but instead he saw the glare turn to his female companion.
Sorn turned to the eight battle-ready men behind her and motioned for them to prepare for combat. Yet before they could load their blasters, the robed man raised a hand in protest.
“Enough. No more men. Send the droids.”
Grinning wickedly, she drew a datapad and punched in a sequence of commands.
Their eyes glowing ominously red, the three assassin droids grabbed their blaster rifles and headed towards their target; their single minded devotion to completing their objective driving them implacably forward.
*************************************************************************************
The Jedi heard the sound of mechanical movement and felt his powerful muscles instantly tense to their battle readiness.
His lightsaber artfully weaved lazy circles ahead of him as he prepared to meet his foes.
More nerfs for the slaughter as far as he was concerned.
He did not have to wait long, but it became clear that surprise was not his opponents’ foremost concern as he was greeted by their sarcastic sounding metallic voices.
“Statement: We have come for you Jedi.”
“Addendum: If you will simply turn yourself over, you can make this much easier for all parties involved.”
“Smug Query: Will you surrender?”
Ahead of the hunted Jedi appeared two ancient retrofitted HK-50 assassin droids, their rifles aimed straight at him.
He was dodging before their first shots even rang out, quickly batting away everything they could offer as he charged them head on.
Only his finely honed reflexes saved him, as he suddenly found himself dodging to the left as a barrage of laser fire blasted where he had been only moments before.
A third droid was bearing down not far behind him…they had tricked him into thinking there were only two.
Even with rage flooding his veins, a realization dawned on him.
He was outmatched.
A Jedi’s precognitive abilities were lost on mechanical beings he could not predict.
Rukar knew if he did not escape now, he would not live to see his master avenged.
His concentration was lost as he felt a stinging burn in his shoulder fling him to the ground.
As he heard the droids approach his downed form and level their rifles at his head, he shot into the air, impossibly high, over the heads of the two nearest droids and over the pile of crates behind them.
Turning back quickly, the Jedi felt the burn of two more bolts scorch his waist.
Luckily they were only glancing blows, but he could not depend on luck for long.
His rage offering him deep pools of power, he reached for some of the nearby durasteel debris and launched it at the following droids. As he heard the satisfying crunch of metal crushing metal, he turned and ran with all the energy he could muster.
*************************************************************************************
The dark-robed man put down the electrobinoculars again and turned to his associates.
He said nothing, but his silence was as threatening as any words he could have otherwise been.
He turned without a word and walked off the rooftop; his shuttle waiting ominously on the barren landing pad the floor below.
This had turned out better than he had expected.
*************************************************************************************
The Jedi ran as swiftly as he could, the Force pumping in his veins. It was only after hours of pursuit later that he finally lay on the ground of a seedy hotel floor.
He was safe, at least for now...but he could not remain here, not when he had so many enemies. Nor could he return to the Jedi Temple, or even the Order at all; he had lost his master and used the dark side in revenge.
No…there was only one place he could go…
*************************************************************************************
Rukar opened his eyes and stared again at the ceiling. He had droned on for what felt like hours, and the bounty hunter watched him still with those dark fiery eyes.
“…and that’s how I got here.”
Raith fingered his chin as he processed the new developments.
That explained why he was alienated from his Order. And why the younger man didn’t seem at all like what he had expected of a Jedi when he first was assigned the mission.
He didn’t quite know what to make of his mysterious new friend, and the thought unsettled him. He was dangerous…unstable even…but what other choice did the bounty hunter have.
He was the only ally he had left.
“You did what you had to do to survive. No one would hold that against you…”
He turned and placed a hand on the taller man’s well-muscled shoulder.
“Your master was killed; why should you wish to join him?”
The bereaved Jedi pondered the cold yet pragmatic wisdom of his puzzling friend’s words.
“Yes…but my master would disagree. I embraced my anger, my hatred, my fear, and I used them to kill.”
The younger man looked grimly down at his hands as if the blood on them was material.
“I stepped on a path they warned me never to take …”
The bounty hunter’s fiery dark eyes stared at the Jedi with sympathy before he clapped the younger man on the back and placed both hands on his shoulders.
“If they told you to jump out of your speeder while in the Coruscanti hover lanes, would you?”
Rukar blushed at the foolish suggestion. What sane sentient being would ever do that?
“Of course not!”
Raith smirked at the answer he had expected.
“Then why do you so blindly follow whatever the Order tells you?”
Rukar’s head snapped back as if he had been slapped by his companion’s harsh words.
Appreciating the predictable reaction, the younger man’s worldlier companion continued.
“Follow what you believe is right, what you believe is just. Don’t give your faith so ignorantly.”
The Jedi inwardly seethed at the bounty hunter’s cold logic.
How dare he insult the collective wisdom of thousands of years of Jedi masters!
Still…the younger man could not deny the reason behind his words.
“I…”
The Jedi sighed in distraught.
“It’s hard… You have masters and older Jedi telling you about everything your whole life. They make it all seem so…reasonable. Not that that makes it any easier…”
Now it was the bounty hunter’s turn to sigh.
“Listen…you do what you have to…you do the best you can in a given situation.”
His voice took on a more serious note as he continued.
“You can’t do any more than that. There’s no sense doing the ‘right’ thing if it just gets you killed.”
He turned to look the Jedi in the eyes as he spoke with cold serenity.
“Those men were brutes. Criminals. Killers. You gave them what they deserved.”
He paused as he took a moment to gauge the younger man’s reaction.
The Jedi only stared blankly ahead as he considered his companion’s words.
Taking the blank stare as permission to continue, Raith did so.
“Admittedly, your tactics might have been brutal…but you saw what they did to your master. They only got what they deserved.”
While it made sense, the cold rationale bothered the young Jedi.
“No…”
He shook his head in denial as he pounded a powerful fist into the bed for emphasis. His eyes locked again with his pragmatic companion’s before continuing.
“I couldn’t just do that. I mean how far could that logic take you? Are there no higher principles to be answerable to? I mean…would you kill your own mother if it let you live?”
The cold look in the older man’s eyes frightened Rukar. Yet those cold eyes didn’t completely conceal the betraying twitch that had briefly crossed his face.
“Yes…If there was no other solution to the situation. And when the opportunity presented itself, I would kill every being responsible for putting me in such a position.”
He took a moment to collect himself before continuing. However, his voice took on a more reverential tone as he muttered his next words.
“She wouldn’t want me to die for no reason…if I was in such a situation; she’d be dead regardless of what I did.”
The Jedi shook his head as he conflicted with his own inner demons. Finally, he grabbed the bounty hunter’s shoulder and practically yelled in frustration.
“And what about the dark side? It’s not some lie my masters use to scare me or keep me controlled...”
The younger man shivered in fear and placed a firm hand on his own knee to brace himself.
“I feel it…like an itch begging to be scratched…it wants to be embraced…for me to revel in its power.”
Raith grunted in acknowledgement. He had seen enough of the dark side in the nature of sentient beings alone to know the truth in the Jedi’s words.
He placed his hand comfortingly upon the younger man’s shoulder before speaking softly.
“The dark side…evil…it’s nothing but shadow.”
As he spoke, he swept a hand through the hair as if driving the darkness away.
His eyes caught the last remnants of Ord Mantell’s sun beginning to fade away as he completed the motion.
He watched it thoughtfully for a few moments before speaking again.
“Shadow can’t hide from the light. You do enough good…you burn as brilliantly as you can…you banish the shadow from all corners of the galaxy.”
The Jedi furrowed his brow in confusion.
“But…where there is light, is there not shadow?”
The bounty hunter’s firm resolve took the younger man aback as he looked into those smoldering eyes.
“Not if the light is bright enough.”
Hopefully you guys can give me lots of input! Opinions on every little thing are great, but obviously the characters/story/conversations, etc. would be wonderful to get more insight on ^_^ I plan on doing more of these, so everything you guys can add to it will help me be that much better next time! Thanks again guys =-)