"Thanto Rodin," Brodey confirmed grimly,
assessing the situation. "It's a pleasure meeting up with you again."
"The pleasure will all be mine, Narundi. I'm going to enjoy killing you," Thanto
said, sneering at Brodey over the top of his blaster. "Maybe the bounty on your
head will be enough for me to get a new prosthetic leg."
"Bounty?" Jaina questioned, her eyes suddenly going wide. "You weren't telling
the truth last night, were you?"
"Now is not the time to discuss this," Brodey whispered harshly as all four
stood back to back, weapons out and ready. "You're going to have to look
somewhere else for those credits, Rodin."
"We'll see about that," Thanto hissed back and then turned to the warriors.
"Take the jedi. He will make a fitting gift for Warmaster Tsavong Lah."
Brodey ignited his dual bladed saber, the aqua glow illuminating a smirk on his
face. He couldn't believe that Thanto, in his ignorance, had failed to notice
that Yun Harla herself was standing with them. Nevertheless, Brodey vowed to
defend her as best he could.
'Man, Kyp. You sure picked a horrible time to split,' He thought to
himself as the warriors closed in on them. He heard a snap-hiss behind him and
saw that the violet glow from Jaina's blade had joined his own. Brodey felt a
sharp pain in his arm and turned his head slightly to look at Anja. She was
trying to be brave, holding her blaster up and aiming it at the Vong, but the
fear in her eyes and her fingernails digging mercilessly into his arm said
otherwise. Fear turned into full-blown terror as the warriors attacked them all
at once.
Brodey's first thoughts were to take on as many of the warriors as he could on
his own. Killing a Vong was difficult, even for a jedi with a lightsaber, and
Brodey knew that he, as a fully-trained jedi warrior, would stand a much better
chance against them. Luckily for him they all seemed to want to kill him the
most.
He moved quickly, wading into the cluster of warriors with his lightsaber and
sweeping his dual blade around to keep them a good distance away. Moving with
animal instincts and the T'naa'lichi finesse, Brodey fought not with the force
but with his knowledge of dueling and battle, only using the force to recharge
himself and conserve his energy. He was relieved when warriors started to fall
around him, the whooping and hollering from Jag and Anja telling him that they
were succeeding in helping him out. It wasn't long before Jaina had worked her
way to his side, slicing the head off of one Yuuzhan Vong and getting sprayed by
the dark blood. She sputtered as some of it entered her mouth, gagging at the
vile taste. He gasped as a warrior lifted an amphistaff over the distracted
young woman's head, going in for the kill.
With only seconds to act, Brodey lunged at the warrior and deflected the blow
that would have cleaved Jaina right in half. The next thing, the only thing, he
knew was the unfathomable pain that pierced through his back and the horrified
cry that came from Jaina. The short disruption of his battle concentration had
cost him greatly. He cursed loudly in N'aanwar as he pulled a dripping red hand
away from clutching his back. The pain was unbearable, yet he continued
fighting, trying to ignore the fact that he might have been fatally wounded.
"Brodey!" Anja shrieked, tears running down her cheeks. Brodey could see her try
and run to him through his blurred vision, but Jag grabbed her by the shoulders
and held her back. "Let me help him! Let go!"
"You're not going to help him by running in there and getting yourself killed!"
Jag cried as he picked off another warrior with a blaster bolt. "Continue
firing!"
"How are you holding up over there, Brodey?" Jaina asked with concern as she saw
him spit blood onto the ground.
"Fine," He lied, straining to see his opponents through his growing tunnel
vision. Despite the use of the force he was growing incredibly dizzy, but he
fought back unconsciousness. He was determined to win this fight. He would live,
for Anja's sake.
Brodey brought down another opponent with a scissor kick to the legs, plunging
his lightsaber straight through the Vong's neck. With a final blaster shot the
last warrior fell, leaving only the four of them and Rodin.
"Now you've got yourself a little problem, Rodin," Brodey gasped, his blood
spilling freely onto the ground from the rapid beating of his heart. He was
coming dangerously close to blacking out but he wouldn't allow himself to fall
to scum like Thanto. "You don't stand a chance against two fully-trained jedi.
What are you going to do now?"
"I don't think you're capable of even walking the distance to kill me, Narundi,"
Thanto taunted, pointing his blaster right between Brodey's eyes.
With the last bit of energy he could muster, Brodey reached out with the force
to bend the barrel of the blaster, rendering it useless. He collapsed quickly
and silently, not hearing the cries of his friends or the sound of Jaina's
lightsaber tearing through Thanto's mid section. He simply fell, plunging deeper
into darkness.
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