Chapter 38

Pantora

The grove was down to half it's trees. Bultar watched in horror as the humongous two-metre-long claws scratched them aside like toothpicks. Splinters flew in all directions, and she covered her face with her arms the defend herself. She supposed that when you were as big the gigantic Paanrakk, the trees may as well have been soft butter. The massive creature was thankfully still struggling to claw its way through the density of the grove. But it was determined to get to them though, and continued to claw and scrabble to reach for them. The Republic troopers were all seated on the far side of the grove, precariously balanced on the edge of the cliff. The sheer drop loomed below them, and Bultar gently worked the controls of her commlink, cycling through the frequencies. There was only one person able to hear them now.

A bright blinking light filled the cockpit, illuminating the face of Solimon. The old pilot sat at the console of the shuttle, dozing lightly. It had been three days since the team had left on their mission. Since then, Solimon had taken to maintaining the ship. He and that annoying rustbucket of a droid they had left him with had kept the ship hidden and set up their long range communications and radar equipment. The droid, R3-somethin'-or-other, had been monitoring those stations ever since, taking an hour or so a day to recharge with one of the GNK droids.

Solimon had mostly been left to his thoughts. He patrolled the sensor array and set up traps along the paths that would attack any predators that strayed too close. He ate and slept frequently, trying to retain his energy for as long as he could. The team would need him to be ready for anything. The light continued to flash, and it stirred him from his nap. He groggily stared down at the console and flicked the switch.

Immediately, the Jedi's voice loudly exclaimed from the speaker. "Pilot! Are you there?"

Solimon winced as the speaker squealed loudly with feedback. He rubbed his ears in irritation, then rubbed his hand over his red and aching eyes. "I'm here, Jedi. What do you need?"

"Can you track my location on your equipment?"

He rolled his eyes. With the equipment the Republic supplied, he could track any signal that contacted him, even ones as patchy as this one, "Of course."

"Good. We are between a cliff and an incredibly large alpha predator. We need an evac NOW, pilot!"

He sighed a big sigh, but obeyed the commands of his commanding officer. The engine rumbled to life, and he raised the shuttle from the ground. The camouflage tarps went flying away into the wind, and he pushed the control yoke forward. It was time for his moment.

Mace and Fay watched as the two small Delta-7 starfighters, one marked in maroon and green, the other in a dusty grey, lifted off the landing pad to the south of the Helios. The two ships, flown by Kit Fisto and Ord Enisense, were heading up to join the remainder of the fleet. Without the Resurrection to defend Pantora, Chairman Cho had ordered the orbital blockade be put back in place. The three Republic Consular-class frigates that had accompanied the Resurrection and thefrigates were facing the hyperspace lane, their crews ready and waiting to capture for anyone coming into the system. Kit and Ord were piloting around the city to grab the rest of the fighter squadrons from the Papano airfields before they headed into orbit to join the blockade. The Helios, now empty of the medical supplies from Alderaan, was preparing itself to head up and reinforce the blockade. The Pelta-class frigate was not a military craft, but it had three heavy turbolasers, a few smaller anti-starfighter turrets, and heavy shields used to defend their cargo from pirates. That, plus a six fighter hanger on the underbelly, would be sufficient as a flagship. It would do until the Resurrection returned from the medical centre on Mel Hullt.

A large shuttle; a boxy, aging model that was used for secure biological transportation, touched down in another area around the Republic camp. Fay's face twisted into disgust at it. The shuttle was the first of three that would be arriving today. The shuttle's were practically gutted, boasting huge cargo holds and heavily secured transport doors. The shuttles had been retrofitted for prisoner transport. They would be responsible for the transport of the prisoners from Fortress to the Black Cliff prison complex near Gronas.

The Silverine Jedi hated that shuttle. It represented everything that she disliked about prisons. Everyone in the Pantoran Security Force had been arresting any and all criminals, and it was getting on her nerves. There had already been a surplus of prisoners at Black Cliff. How they were supposed to accommodate for these additional inmates was beyond her.

The lines of grubby people in cuffs rocked back and forth as they marched towards the transport, buffered along by the guards. They were not only unkempt, but also dishevelled. The soldiers that lined around the shuffling prisoners all held their blasters tightly. Most of the prisoners were harmless, but a couple were honestly threats. These few were top priority, and were transported immediately on conveyex transports across country, under SG guard.

"Who is on the next convoy?", Mace asked the Republic captain who stood nearby.

The officer was a thin man with two tall stalks on the top of his head, a Balosar. His slick black hair was greased back and parted to let the stalks stand high. He had a thick, bushy moustache crawling across his top lip, and when he spoke it was with a thick gravitas. He looked uncomfortable with his current duty, which Fay found slightly refreshing.

"We have a majority who are just simple pickpockets and small time crime, but there was one who caught my attention."

He handed over the datapad, and the Jedi Master stared at it. "This is the man?"

"Indeed."

He scanned the words, then handed it to Fay. She took her time reading the words carefully. Pantora held a lot of the local Pantorans, but there were also immigrant species. Humans, the green skinned Ishi Tib, Trandoshans, Volpai, Aleena, even the four-armed Besalisk civilians called this moon home. This man was not one of those species. He was a short Drabatan. The leathery skin was a darker grey than normal, and a large wide mouth. The species weren't used to the cold marshes of Pantora, and there was a visible rash around the man's neck under his shirt.

Fay looked through the writing next to the photo. The man had been captured during a robbery of a chemical plant. He had been stealing a shipment of highly secure chemicals used in the construction of high yield explosives. The intelligence officers had no clue as to why he had been robbing the shipment, but one of the younger officers was leading a team to uncover any links with the terrorists or with any of the local crime gangs. The Drabatan was currently on one of the conveyex convoys, along with another two criminals.

"What is the story here?", Fay rubbed the palm of her hand over her chin. "There has to be something more than random bombings."

Mace shrugged, "I've placed Master Kenobi in charge of following leads. He and Padawan Skywalker already have made some promising headway."

The wind suddenly picked up, and the Helios gradually lifted off. It banked to the left and the engines flared brightly as it rose towards the sky. Fay watched it go. That ship was their best asset and it was going to be at the forefront of any orbital assault that found them.

Mace's head followed it as well, and his eyes narrowed. "Godspeed, Helios. May the Force protect them."

The Paanrakk's call was ear-shatteringly loud. Only three of the trees were still standing, and those were being brushed aside by the huge speeder-sized claws of the predator. Bultar covered her ears and waited for one of the huge razors to slice her in half. Perhaps this wasn't the worst way to go. At least she would be remembered in the Force.

But her death never came. Instead, three huge floodlights blanketed the area. The paanraak, temporarily blinded, reared back and wriggled about as it tried to slash through the illuminous beams of light. The dozen eyes on the side of its head blinked rapidly as it tried to adjust to the glare. More lights flared as a stream of slow laser fire blasted across the reptile's back. It screamed loudly at them, more in anger than in pain. Suddenly, the lights dimmed a little, and they started to spin around the beast, leading it away from the grove. The beast followed, somewhat hypnotised.

Engines rumbled as another set of lights flickered on. Bultar turned and stared into the lights fixed into the three wings of the Eta-class shuttle they had arrived in. Quinlan and Donovin were yelling something over the noise, and she could read the soldier's mouth as he exclaimed excitement and relief over the shuttle's arrival. One at a time, with practiced urgency, the soldiers leapt onto the lowered ramp. Next went Altinrose, who grumbled loudly in his sleep as they tried to settle him on the floor comfortably.

A loud crash came from behind as the paanrakk slashed through the floodlight droids. It focussed back on the shuttle, and came charging towards them. Solimon, seeing it, pulled the ship skyward. Bultar grimaced, calling on the Force as she and Quinlan leapt for the open ramp. Her body cried out in pain as she slammed into the lip of the opening and started to slide back out!

Then another Force-grip clung to her, and she found herself levitating towards Quinlan's outstretched arms. The Kiffar Jedi was yelling for the pilot to 'get them out for there'. Bultar could still hear the charging Paanrakk below, ululating at them.

"Where is everyone?", the pilot yelled back.

Bultar sank to a sitting position, her head resting against the bulkhead. The thrum of the engine rocked her back and forth, and she slowly eyed the three survivors who were clambering around the shuttle. Her eyes rested on Altinrose, still resting in a semi-conscious state. She closed them and enveloped herself in darkness. As she did, she heard Quinlan answer the pilot's question. "We are everyone."