Chapter 7
Obi-Wan looked down at Anakin as he spoke, his eyes closing slowly as he tried to keep from rolling them in annoyance. Turning to Plo Koon, he shrugged slightly and opened his mouth to speak when suddenly there was a commotion near the door. Looking that way, he watched the one with the braid from the meeting at the nose of the ship slam his spear into the side of one of the crates. Watching the crude spearhead drive through the four inch steel with no problem whatsoever, he stepped back slightly and reached down for his lightsaber out of instinct. Regretting it instantly as he saw Thire's eyes narrow, he wrapped his hand around it and chose to keep it inactivated until the situation went sour.
Grabbing the shaft of his spear with his offhand, Bacara pulled it back before turning towards Thire and the offworlders. Listening to the sounds of the others lifting the lid from the box, he glanced back towards two other males who had braids slightly shorter than his before speaking, "Di'ikut and Kom'rk, look through the box and see if there is anything we can eat, it is nearly nightfall and we need to be heading back towards the cave soon." Hearing affirming grunts from the brothers, Bacara strode slowly towards the others, passing Appo and Neyo to stop beside Faie and behind Thire. Looking over her shoulder at the shiny thing in the man's hand, he tightened his grip on the spear before pointing the spearhead towards the man. Seeing the three take a step back, he turned his face to look at the side of Thire's head before speaking, "Leader if we stay here for much longer, we won't be able to make it back to the cave before the animals come out."
Hearing Bacara speak, Thire nodded slowly before looking over her shoulder at Faie and speaking, "Get the others ready, we will be leaving in a few minutes." Seeing him nod before running outside with Neyo, she looked back to the offworlders and stepped forward slowly with her spear in her hand. Looking them over, she ignored the shiny object and decided to instead go to the smaller one that was nearly their size. Seeing him hide behind the blue shiny thing that had been whistling, she smirked before stepping forward and bringing her right foot around in a roundhouse kick towards the dome at the top. Her foot connected with more power than the Jedi had expected, sending R2D2 to the ground and skidding away a few feet before rolling to a stop.
Unlike the Jedi who stared in disbelief at the fact that an eight year old had just sent R2 to the ground, Thire rushed forward quickly and grabbed the boy by the collar of his tunic when suddenly Faie came back to the door. "Leader, we have to find shelter! There is a storm on the horizon, and if we do not hurry, we will not all make it through this alive," he shouted, his eyes moving over the scene playing out before him for a few seconds before he looked back outside. Hearing the news of the impending storm, Thire shoved the boy backwards and moved to Bacara and Appo. Pressing the spear against Appo, she gave them both a quick look to show them what to do before stepping up beside Faie. Looking out at the others, she shouted her orders quickly, "Put out the fire and get the wood inside this thing, it will be our shelter for the night. Make sure to close the door and cover your faces, it will be like before we had the cave." Stepping down as she saw them all go to work, she walked up to a male with a shaved head and one with a scar going across his right eye and nose before speaking to the brothers, "Rex and Cody, I need you to get inside where you can see the storm coming and then tell me how close it gets."
While Thire had been outside, Bacara and Appo had stepped closer to the offworlders and jabbed their spears at them like one would to herd cattle to move them away from the dashboard. Appo licked his lips and stepped closer to the small one, his eyes moving to the boy's arms before his eyes turned to the orange one who had stepped forward. Raising the point of his spear towards the man's stomach, he jabbed it forward to get him to step back. Stepping forward, Appo moved the point of his spear down to the ground and tapped it twice before waiting for the small one and the orange one to sit down. Moving to stand above them, Appo raised a lip in a snarl as he grabbed the orange one's wrist and raised it to his face. Breathing in through his nose, Appo stepped back quickly with a snort before speaking, "He smells bad, I don't think we could eat him." Waving his hand dismissively at the other man, he turned to find the blue thing that Thire had kicked.
Bacara chuckled softly at what Appo said before motioning his spear at the offworlder with the shiny object before speaking, "Sit." Seeing the other man cock his head, Bacara strode forward and pushed on the man's stomach, knocking him backwards slightly. Seeing the other man take a step forward again to steady his footing, Bacara shook his head before throwing the spear quicker than the blink of an eye. Watching the spear sail past the man and plant itself securely in the metal behind him, Bacara smirked as he saw a red line appear on the outside of the man's upper arm. Seeing blood begin to drip from the small cut, he walked up to the man and shoved him again with both hands. Seeing the man stumble backwards to the ground, he stepped forward and placed his left foot on the man's chest before grabbing the shaft of the spear and wrenching it from the wall, all the while glaring down at the man below him. Pulling the spear free from the wall, he pressed on the man's chest once again and glared at him before chuckling softly as he saw a glare glint across the man's eyes.
Obi-Wan glared up at the child above him, moving his lightsaber to his left hand as he pressed his right hand against the cut seeping blood into his tunic. Feeling his lip snarl slightly, he brought his right leg up and kicked the child's ankle to the side. Seeing the boy fall to the side, he pushed himself up and held the hilt of his lightsaber in both of his hands in time for the boy to scramble to his feet with his spear in his hand. Seeing Anakin's eyes widen, he extended his left hand towards him to tell him to stay still as he slowly began circling his back towards his friends. Watching the smile on the boy's face widen, he saw him lean forward to prepare for a charge and instantly ignited his lightsaber, holding it in his right hand with the blade down by his side.
Bacara stepped back half a step as he saw the bright blue beam spring forth from the man's hands and tilted his head to the side before bringing his spear down from a throwing hold. Wrapping his left hand further up the shaft, he sprinted towards the man, intent on forcing him into submission by any means necessary. Knowing that Appo, Di'ikut, Kom'rk, and others were behind him watching, he knew he had to beat this man or risk his position in the group. Bringing the spear butt around in a feint, he watched the man lower the beam down to intercept it and smiled as he spun in a low squat. Bringing the spear around, he flattened out the spear head at the last second, slapping the man in the back of the leg with it rather than slicing his hamstring. Seeing the man's leg give out, he swung the spear around to slam the flat of the spearhead against the man's face again when suddenly the man swung the beam around and hit the spear.
Seeing the spear in his hand split in half, he stopped for a second as he watched the beam follow through and hit his forearm. Seeing it bounce off his forearm with no pain at all, he looked up at the man, smirking at the look of disbelief on his face. Before the man could react, he dropped his spear and wrapped his right hand around the beam of the lightsaber and wrenched it out of the man's hand. Holding it by the blade for a few seconds, he looked down at the silver hilt and wrapped his hand around it before waving it around. Nodding slowly, he slid his thumb over it, hitting the emitter button on accident and turning the beam off. Looking at it for a few seconds, he glared at it before walking back over to the man and pointing it at him. Seeing him reach for it, he smirked and jerked it out of the man's reach, his thumb slipping over the button again. Seeing the beam spring to life again, he pressed the button twice more, affirming his suspicion before turning to the man again with the beam now pointed at his gut as he spoke, "Sit!"
Looking down at the child with his lightsaber pointed at his stomach, Obi-Wan nodded slowly as he realized what the boy was shrieking must have meant 'sit' in their language. Putting his hands out to the side, he ignored the throbbing pain in his arm and sat down slowly, mimicking Plo Koon and Anakin. Watching the boy turn the lightsaber off again before walking away, Obi-Wan laid his head back against the steel bulkhead, waiting for the comment he knew Anakin wished to say. Hearing no response about him losing his lightsaber and it being his life, he turned to the other two Jedi and spoke softly, "Master Plo, I think our situation just got much more complicated. Not only can we not use the Force on these children, but they are also immune to the effects of a lightsaber."
Watching Obi-Wan's head fall slightly, Plo Koon nodded slowly before speaking, "Do not fret, my friend. Although we cannot fight our way out of this, your combat skills are not the only reason I requested yours and your padawan's assistance with my mission." Leaning his head back against the wall, he placed a hand to his ribs before continuing, "On Nar Shaddaa, we were to meet a contact of mine and deal with some crimelords in the Industrial Sector. I knew that fighting would get us nowhere but dead, so I asked for your assistance due to your skills in diplomacy you learned under our late friend, Master Jinn." Looking over at the younger Jedi, he smiled slightly before turning to Anakin, "Call R2D2 over here and try not to draw too much attention. They have an interest in you, but if you stay as inconspicuous as you can, they should ignore you."
During Bacara and Obi-Wan's dispute, Rex and Cody had moved inside the ship, their eyes drifting around to find a vantage point. Finding the raised platform of the dashboard, Rex pointed at it before speaking in a soft voice, "Come brother, Thire told us to tell her how close the storm is, and we do not want to disappoint our leader." Moving carefully behind Bacara so as to not interrupt the fight, the boys ran over to the dashboard and stopped in front of it. Moving to a position to propel his brother up, Cody laced his fingers and held them as a stirrup for Rex before motioning for him to come over. Rex took a step back before sprinting forwards a few feet, pushing off the ground with his left foot before stepping into Cody's hands with his right foot. Straightening his leg as well as being pushed up by Cody's arms, he leapt onto the top of the dashboard and knelt down for a second. Watching the storm close in, he turned around to offer Cody his hand but his brother was not there to take it.
After Bacara had walked away with his trophy, Cody had turned away from Rex and went over to the man with the bleeding arm. Stopping a foot beyond the reach of the man's leg, Cody knelt down before speaking softly, "Are you okay?" Seeing the man look up with a flash of confusion and then anger across his face, he jumped to his feet and took a step back before placing a hand to his chest and speaking, "Cody." Seeing the man return the gesture and say his name, Cody smiled before waving slightly and speaking, "Hello Obi-Wan." Hearing the sounds of more of his group coming inside the ship, he nodded slightly and smiled again at the man before turning and heading back towards the dashboard. Reaching up, he took Rex's hand and pulled himself up in order to act like he had been up there the whole time.
Hearing his brother practicing the offworlder's name over and over again, Rex turned to Cody and smirked before speaking, "Don't get too excited, I heard Leader was going to kill them, she thinks they are here as a threat." Seeing the objection on his brother's face, he grabbed his shoulder and shook him before speaking in a forceful whisper, "Listen brother, you cannot argue with her about this. You saw what happened to the last guy, and I don't want to lose you." Seeing his brother shake his head, he held his shoulder in a vice grip and shook him again before speaking, "If you do this, I don't know if I can stand beside you." Feeling his brother jerk his shoulder out from under his hand with a mutter that he wouldn't, Rex shook his head slowly and looked outside to the storm coming closer.
