Chapter Eight
"Well my dears, you're most impressive!"
It was the Kusolan slaver Mehar. He stood at the doorway with a modified heavy blaster pistol pointed at the women in one hand and a remote control in the other. With him stood six more Gamorreans armed with force pikes and Dun'ii, slightly hunched forward in pain holding her bleeding wound.
"You're full of surprises, indeed! I've never had any girls give me so much trouble before. First you kill some of my employees and try to take one of my slaves from me. Then you damage my prized Twi'lek here!"
Dun'ii lowered her head in shame in response to the slaver's comment.
Mehar and his Gamorrean entourage stepped forward and he motioned with his blaster. "Now be good girls and kindly step away from my property."
Frightened, Soraa and Ja'Ina slowly stood up and stepped away from Tira.
"And also drop your weapons, if you please."
The women hesitated.
The slaver gave an impatient snort. "Do it! Now!"
The Gamorreans stepped closer to Soraa and Ja'Ina, leveling the charged tips of their pikes in the young women's direction. The hum of the weapons was an ominous reminder of their potency. Soraa dropped her blaster and Ja'Ina her scimitar.
Mehar glared at the women. "Given the trouble you've caused me, I'd say you owe me big time! It's only fair."
Soraa and Ja'Ina stood firm, tensed up and ready for a fight.
His expression relaxed and he gave them a smile. "However… You'd make excellent additions to my operation. With your prowess you could be captains of my guards, allowing me to expand my business even further. I'd pay you most handsomely."
Soraa got a sick feeling in her stomach, remembering her thought of wanting to provide security for Mehar's 'business.' This was not what she had in mind by even a parsec.
Ja'Ina voiced their shared disgust. "You're crazy to think we'd ever want to join you!"
"Well, you can join me either as my partners or my property, your choice!" Mehar punctuated his ultimatum with a snort.
Soraa angrily answered, "You're pile of steaming bantha dung!"
"You've decided then," Mehar replied in a casual manner. He motioned his guards forward. "You're quite pretty girls, you know. You should command some good money on the market, though your feistiness may make you harder to sell. We'll have to train you to respect your masters so you'll be more marketable." To the guards, he barked, "take them!"
Soraa and Ja'Ina stood their ground, allowing the guards to approach them. The women flashed each other a quick nodding glance. The two closest Gamorreans stood their force pikes up in order to grab their would-be prisoners, opening their guard. In a flash, Soraa drew her hold-out blaster from her boot and Ja'Ina pulled her dagger out from the hidden sheath on her thigh.
Soraa fired at her guard, hitting him in the belly. He fell back, wounded. Unfortunately, the small blaster wasn't powerful enough to be lethal, especially for the Gamorrean's hefty physique. Ja'Ina had a bit more success. She rushed her guard and flung her dagger, which found its way into his forehead. As he fell over dead, she jumped forward and grabbed his pike.
Mehar stepped back from the melee and snorted in frustration. "Take them, you idiots!"
The wounded guard stood up and came after Soraa again. She frantically opened fire on him, this time aiming for his head. It took three shots to finally connect. He fell over for the last time.
Ja'Ina assumed a wide stance with the pike behind her back then swung it around toward the nearest Gamorrean. The tip connected with his torso, which stunned him to unconsciousness. While she was relieved the pikes were not set to kill, Ja'Ina did not relax her defenses.
While Soraa was busy dodging pike jabs from another pig guard, she fired a shot which hit him in the shoulder. He dropped his weapon and squealed in pain. She opened up three more blasts into him, which finally felled him. Soraa needed to retrieve her heavy blaster pistol. She unloaded the last two shots of her miniature blaster into a new guard and tossed it aside. He stumbled back, wounded but not down.
Ja'Ina dueled with another Gamorrean. Unfortunately, all she could do was dodge his wild onslaught. The guard's strength would be too much for her if she connected her pike with his.
Soraa retrieved her blaster pistol. "Ina! We need to get out of here!"
"I hear you!" Ja'Ina yelled back.
In Ja'Ina's moment of distraction, her opponent swung at her. She reflexively raised her pike to block his attack. Unfortunately, his swing was so strong that the impact knocked her pike from her grasp and threw her aside to the deck. She slid to a stop and struggled to stand up. The young woman quickly scanned around her for her sword and found it not far. As she made a break for it, Ja'Ina knew the Gamorrean was right behind her trying to thrust the tip of his force pike into her back. She juked and jumped, keeping a half-step ahead of his strikes.
Ja'Ina dived for her sword, but slid just past it. However, it still managed to get into her hand. She was sure that she wouldn't able to grab it, but didn't question the outcome. She sprang up onto her feet with her back to the still-charging guard. Without looking behind her, Ja'Ina side-stepped the weapon and slashed at his shoulder as he ran past, severing his weapon arm well above the elbow. The hulking Gamorrean fell to his knees, squealing and holding his abbreviated arm. With that guard no longer a threat, Ja'Ina ran to meet Soraa and escape down the ramp.
The women reached the rear of the hold, where they found Mehar waiting for them with the ramp slowly closing behind him. He fired several blasts at them, which they managed to dodge as they charged toward him. Ja'Ina shot ahead of Soraa and bore down on the Kusolan faster than he could fire again or get out of the way. She easily hacked his blaster hand off at the wrist as she ran by. He let out a series of howls punctuated by loud snorts.
Soraa and Ja'Ina made it to the edge of the rising ramp. They took one last glance at Tira, who was still laying motionless on the deck, then jumped off the edge to the landing bay's surface below.
Soraa and Ja'Ina landed unceremoniously on their rears, scrambled to their feet and ran back out of the bay. They locked the door of the locker area behind them and hid inside to catch their breath and gather their wits. Still, they kept ready in case they were still being pursued. A few moments later, the young friends could hear Mehar's ship taking off from the bay. They embraced each other, grateful to have escaped.
Soraa and Ja'Ina stayed in the locker area for a few more minutes. There was nothing they could say at the moment. Ja'Ina sat cross-legged on the floor and meditated while Soraa sat on the bench tending to the wound on her arm. Both of them were battered and thoroughly exhausted. A short time later, Ja'Ina took in a big breath and let out a long, steady exhale. Then she sheathed her sword and stood up.
"Okay Soraa. Let's get out of here."
Soraa looked over at her friend, distraught. "What are we going to do, huh? We left all our stuff on the ship back there! All our clothes and everything!"
Ja'Ina gave her a reassuring smile and gestured to herself. "Well, not all of our clothes."
"You know what I mean. I'm serious, Ina! We've got nothing!"
"Well, how much money did you keep on you?"
"Very little. Most of it was in my sack."
"Same here. But we'll be okay for a little while."
"It won't last more than a day or two. And that's if we don't try to stay anywhere for the night!" Soraa punched the bench. "We screwed up big time! We shoulda stayed put 'till Raelin and the others got back! What're we gonna do?!"
Ja'Ina took her friend's hands with a smile. "Look Soraa, things will work out okay. Think about it. We managed to escape from that sleemo Mehar, we're still alive and in relatively good condition. I think it could have gone much worse."
Soraa's thoughts turned to Tira. "You're right, Ina…"
Ja'Ina picked up on Soraa's thoughts. "There was nothing more we could have done for her. Just remember that."
Soraa sighed and nodded affirmative, holstering her blaster. She felt anxious about not having her hold-out blaster anymore. It had saved her on several occasions. But at least she still had her DL-44, the most powerful of her weapons.
The two friends straightened themselves up as much as they could and returned to the spaceport terminal.
