Dark Tide I: Revelations

Chapter One Cont'd

Qui-Gon Jinn hurried down the corridor and up a flight of stairs in search of a way out of the factory. He had passed several closed doors that hid offices and storage rooms but thus far had yet to find anything that resembled an exit on the factory floor. So he opted to try the next floor above, his eyes searching for any sign, both figuratively and literally, for an exit.

A warning in the Force sent him sliding to a halt at a t-junction hallway and the teenage Padawan glanced down the left corridor in time to see sinister shadows emerge from around the corner. He grabbed the hilt of his lightsaber, ready to face the obvious threat that was coming. The light that cast the shadows of the armored men was natural, and he knew that he found a way out or at least it was a way in for the mercenaries that were after Drunga.

Two Weequays and a Gand rounded the corner and spotted him. One of them shouted in a language that Qui-Gon couldn't understand and as they raised their weapons to deal with him, the Padawan closed the distance in less than a second, his green blade singing to life to slice through the blasters. He had the advantage of surprise and made good use of it. With the Force and before any of them could react to his presence being so close, he flung one Weequay into the wall and brought his weapon around toward the Gand.

The second Weequay drew a vibrosword from his back and effectively blocked the young human and bringing the fight into a melee. But the alien was no match for a trained Jedi, much less a Padawan. A few strikes and Qui-Gon had the alien literally disarmed. Had he expected the screaming alien to cause the two others to retreat, he had been sorely mistaken. No sooner had he felled the second Weequay, more of the mercenaries entered through the broken window down the hallway.

Blaster fire sang down the corridor and Qui-Gon was forced to retreat back the way he had come. /Master! They have found a way in!/ he warned over the training bond. He felt his Master's frustration at the news as Qui-Gon ran back down the corridor with the aliens hot on his heels. The sudden sense of alarm from the man just before an explosion rocked the place sent the padawan running harder in concern. Dust motes rained down from the ceiling from the disturbance as Qui-Gon reached out to his master, probing his Master's health.

/I'm fine,/ he felt from Dooku rather than actually hearing the words. Relieved, Qui returned his attention back to threat chasing him. Instead of going down the flight of stairs to return to the others, he took a different direction to lead them away from the factory floor, pausing long enough to send some broken equipment in their direction and angering them into following for certain.

The Padawan rounded the corner and skidded to a halt as a dead end he hadn't expected to be there blocked his flight. The corridor had ended with a balcony overlooking the factory floor rather than actually dead ending but it still meant he was trapped. Qui-Gon cursed his luck as he leaned over the half wall that posed as a railing and stared down at the chaos below.

His master was standing in the middle of the floor before the large doors they had ran through earlier to escape the ambush. Drunga had slid to hide behind machinery while his Niktos bodyguards had taken up positions wherever they could find cover, firing at the doorway while his master deflected blue and crimson death back at the attackers.

Qui-Gon could see that the mercs had pushed their way in with a well placed detonator, the blackened scorch marking where it had landed and twisted the metal doors that had been caught in the blast. He could also see that his master had been caught in it as well, the edges of the hem of his robe still smoking from the ordinance.

/Master?/ he inquired for direction. They were trapped in the building with threats coming in from two directions now and Qui-Gon knew it would not be long before his master and their charge were flanked from the catwalks and killed.

/Keep them from taking the high ground!/ Dooku instructed distractedly.

Qui gave a mental nod and whirled around at the sound of shouts and running footsteps behind him, his focus brought back to the here and now. He raised the green blade of his weapon to deflect fire back at his attackers and managed to pull one of the human mercenaries toward and over the balcony when he made the mistake of stepping around the corner first. There was a surprised shout as he went over and a muffled thud when he greeted the duricrete ground two floors below.

He jumped onto the balcony wall and stole a brief glance over his shoulder. There was a catwalk several feet away. If he could leap to it and cut the support struts, he could send it crashing down and deny at least one advantage point for the enemy. But to do so would risk injuring the Niktos and his master below. A stray bolt of blue zipped too close to his head and the Padawan scowled at the alien that had nearly ended his illustrious career as a Jedi.

Too close, Qui thought and shoved at the alien, sending him sprawling into another and making both their shots to go wild and causing a mild domino effect of chaos. One blast hit an overhead light above the factory floor, raining glass shards down on the defenders below. The other hit a comrade in the back that sent him collapsing on a fourth alien that was trying to prime a grenade. The round explosive fell at his feet and rolled toward the others and everyone scrambled for cover or to get away.

He took advantage of the chaos his shove and the exploding grenade had caused and leapt off the balcony for the catwalk below. Qui landed gracefully on the metal structure and stood in time to see that he was not alone. Some of the mercenaries had chosen not to chase him through the corridors after all and instead tried to take up positions on the catwalks over looking the factory floor.

They also, apparently were not expecting the young Jedi to suddenly show up either. Qui-Gon rushed forward, his lightsaber swinging to block the shots of one of the mercs. The Weequay tried to change weapons to a vibrosword but was too slow, his weapons clattered to the floor along with his head. His friend fared no better and for a few moments the catwalk Qui was on was clear of threats.

Qui-Gon used those moments to take stock of their situation and noted that his master had retreated further back with the Niktos as attackers slowly trickled into the factory from the large door. Bodies had piled up around the entry where they had fallen from blaster fire or a lightsaber slash. The whole area smelled of blood and death and ozone. Drunga was still hiding behind machinery and shouting at one of the Nikto bodyguards angrily before be hit the alien with a stubby back hand.

Qui-Gon frowned at the mistreatment. That was no way to treat beings that were laying down their lives for you. Sometimes he wondered why the races enslaved by the Hutts did not revolt against the worms. Qui knew their power was only an illusion, only as good as the species continued servitude.

The Padawan sighed before sensing through the Living Force two mercs emerging onto one of the farther catwalks. He looked up at the urging of the Force to see that they were sporting heavier arsenal. There was little he could do to stop them, the catwalk was too far for him to jump, even with the Force.

So he did the only thing be could do and reached out with a hand and imagined grabbing the device with the Force all the while sending a warning to his master. /Grenade!/

The rocket propelled grenade fired at the same time he pulled.


Master Dooku's arms were growing tired. He was already breathing heavy from his exertions in blocking the blaster fire and killing the mercenaries that were brave enough to try and engage him in melee. The Force sustained him and gave him the strength and energy to allow him to last longer than any normal person but even it could provide for so long before the body could not take any more.

It also did not help that he had missed a shot and took it in the side. He winced at the stab of pain when he deflected another, cursing at the seemingly endless wave of attackers. Nearly a dozen lie dead or wounded at the entry, a few more where they managed to get inside and take cover. His injury and the detonator had forced him to fall back from his defensive position at the door to further into the factory.

They were losing this fight and Dooku hated to lose.

/Grenade!/ he heard from his Padawan just as the Force warned him of the threat. There was no time to warn the others nor see where the ordinance was going. He simply listened to the Force to take cover.

Intense heat washed over him as he dove too late, the blast sending him sprawling across the factory floor and dazing him. He faintly heard and felt Qui-Gon's panicked cry and a surge of intense anger and grief from the young boy. Lives winked out around him from those that had been caught in the blast radius and from those above him.

Shakily, the Jedi Knight got to his hands and knees and stretched out into the Living Force. Many of the bodyguards were dead or injured from the rocket attack but Drunga was still alive and trying to get away in a panic. The mercs were taking advantage of the explosion and pouring into the factory, in moments he and the others would be overwhelmed. But his greatest concern was Qui-Gon. His Padawan was above him striking down the attackers above in anger, around him a darkness was swirling and mixing with the light.

/Qui-Gon,/ he called to his angry Padawan. Never before had he felt such intense emotions in the boy. The sound of blasters priming around him went unnoticed as he straightened up, his eyes closed. The Padawan had not answered him and focusing more he felt the boys mental shields had risen, blocking him out. Why was he blocking him?

He pushed past those shields, he had to get to the boy before he went too far. /Qui-Gon!/ The startled feeling he sensed in the boy was the only sign that he had gotten through this time.

/Master?/ Qui-Gon sounded relieved to hear him, the anger subsiding. Dooku then felt a pang of fear and dread directed toward him and he opened his eyes to stare into a barrel just inches from his face. The Jedi Knight looked up at the owner of said barrel, a stocky human with ginger hair and beard and decked out in light weight armor-weave, a tattoo of a black sun barely peeking out from under the collar of his armored tunic.

"Hmm..." he gave the mercenary a cold smile. "It appears you have me at a disadvantage."

"Surrender and you and your friend can walk out of here alive, Jedi," the human replied. "We only want the Hutt."

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to have him."

"You'd die for that sleemo?" The thought seemed to confuse the mercenary and Dooku seized on to the opening to stall.

"Yes," he answered. Alright perhaps he wouldn't be willing to die for the slug, but it was an occupational hazard that he risked every time he took a mission anyway. "It's a job requirement."

/Qui-Gon,/ he called. /I could use your help./

/Love to give it but, my hands are tied at the moment./ Confused, he stole a glance at the walkway above him. The mercenaries Qui had been fighting had managed to subdue his Padawan. How they managed that, he wasn't certain but he had a feeling it was because of his current predicament.

Dooku scowled.

He hated losing.

"Fortunately for you, mate," the mercenary said after a moment of trying to figure out if the Jedi was just trying to be stupidly brave or really did mean what he said. "Our employer wants a message sent to the Jedi."

He dreaded to ask, "And what would that be?"

"You are the message." Ginger Hair grinned wickedly and before Dooku could react, he received a face full of a blaster hilt. "That's for making this job harder than it should have been."

The Knight fell back, clutching his face with one hand and trying to stem the flow of blood from his now broken nose. Anger quickly boiled to the surface at the indignity to his pride and face and he would have lashed out with the Force if the men around him hadn't opened fire first.

"Nighty night, Jedi."

"Master!" was the last thing he heard before blacking out.