The blue glow of Obi-Wan's lightsabre illuminated the small, dark tunnel.
It was no more than a meter square, surrounded by metal walls and ceilings.
The Jedi cautiously crouched down and began to inch his way slowly forward,
followed by Indy. After a few meters, the passageway slanted downward. The
two stopped there. "Well. there doesn't appear to be any sort of protected
door or code box here, so I guess it's safe to proceed, as long as we're
careful."
Indy frowned. "I don't know. It seems like they'd have some sort of security measures installed, doesn't it?"
"You're right," Obi-Wan said. "It does seem odd." He scanned the dark walls carefully, unable to see clearly in the dark. Closing his eyes, he reached out with the Force.
"What are you doing?" Indy asked. The young man said nothing in reply, keeping his eyes closed, seemingly in meditation. Indy thought it was an odd time for such a ritual, but had seen enough of strange cultures and practices to keep his mouth shut and see what happened.
Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. He carefully brought his lightsabre up near the ceiling. "There," he pointed with his free right hand to a barely visible panel. "Here," he said, carefully pointing his lightsabre, handle first, towards Indy. "Hold this for me. Carefully."
Swords Indy could do, but he was a little hesitant to take hold of this strange weapon. It seemed he had no choice, though. He put his blaster back in the holster, then used both hands to hold the lightsabre steadily out in front of Obi-Wan, careful to hold it close enough where the young man could see what he was doing without getting the top of his head sliced off.
Obi-Wan pressed one side of the panel, and it slid open to reveal a number pad. "Ah ha," he said, giving Indy a smile, "Good call."
Indy smirked. "Yeah, but a lot of good it does us. We don't know the code."
Obi-Wan turned to the panel and closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. "It's one-one-three-eight," he said simply, moving to press the buttons.
"Um." Indy was about to comment, but Obi-Wan had already entered the code. Indy tensed, ready for some trap to be set off. To his shock, the red light on the panel turned green.
A slight smirk tugged at the corners of the Jedi's mouth. "You haven't spent much time around your Jedi friends, have you?" he asked.
"No, we barely know each other really," Indy said, trying not to sound dumbfounded. He was going to ask what had just happened, but instead shook his head slightly. "Whatever works." He handed the lightsabre back to Obi- Wan, who slowly began descending down the sloped part of the corridor.
Luke and Han paused before the slanted section of their own passageway.
"What's the hold up?" Han asked impatiently.
"Something doesn't seem right," Luke said slowly.
"Ah, enough with the hocus pocus kid, we've got a building to infiltrate!" Han said with a confident smirk.
"Han wait!" Luke shouted, but the spacer had already started ambitiously down the tunnel. Luke hurried after him. Suddenly, transparasteel panels shot up on both ends of the slanted section, locking them both inside.
"Ah Sith," Han grumbled. "It's ok, no need to panic!" Han insisted with a smirk. A loud alarm began to ring. "But uh, you might wanna work on getting us out of here," he added. Suddenly, spouts from the walls opened up, spewing water into the newly formed tank, filling it quickly. His confident look fell. "Now!" he shouted urgently.
"Scoot back!" Luke shouted as he began to burn through the tough, clear wall at the far end of the tank with his lightsabre. Han did as he was told without argument for once. The lightsabre was burning its way through, but at an agonizingly slow pace.
Outside, Leia remained alert, crouching in the grass at the edge of the clearing. She couldn't hear the alarm, but she felt uneasy. Her senses weren't fine tuned enough to be sure it was something in the Force, but she ignited her lightsabre anyway, just to be safe.
Indy and Obi-Wan crouched at the exit of their tunnel, the entrance to the hideout's main room. Obi-Wan had closed his lightsabre so as not to draw attention to themselves. There were five men sitting around a table in the center, discussing something. Supplies were stacked in crates around the room; a few weapons, hacking devices, palace guard disguises, and some explosives. "There, that's the leader," Obi-Wan whispered, pointing to a tall, strong man with light features.
"So what, we just go in weapons blazing?" Indy asked. Before Obi-Wan could reply, a shrill alarm sounded. "Oh, great," Indy said dryly, readying his blaster and about to jump out into the main room.
"Hold on," Obi-Wan said, putting a hand on Indy's arm to stop him. "It's not us. Look." He pointed as two of the men hurried up a ladder to the outside. "So there was another entrance," he mused, then turned his attention back to the three men remaining in the fortress, now with their blasters drawn.
"Now what?" Indy asked.
"Now we go in with weapons blazing," Obi-Wan said, a hint of a grin on his lips. He rushed out, igniting his lightsabre, Indy following close behind him. The men immediately all began firing, and Indy was sure they were done for. To his amazement, the young Jedi easily deflected the shots with his sword. One of them hit one of the men directly in the chest, killing him instantly. The other men hurried behind some crates. Indy and Obi-Wan did the same, barely escaping a few shots which sizzled into the wall.
"Nice moves," Indy commented.
"Thanks," Obi-Wan replied, bemused. "But it seems we're in an unfortunate position." He surveyed the situation briefly. "I'm going to go out there, and you stay back here and cover me. Then once it's clear, you come over and help."
Indy nodded, then began firing over the tops of the crates at the other group. He succeeded in drawing their attention long enough for Obi-Wan to ignite his lightsabre and sprint towards their hiding place.
The two men who had hurried up the ladder reached the top and quickly bolted out. The first was stopped by a lightsabre blade straight through his chest. He gasped and collapsed, and the second man barely leaped back in time to avoid the blade cutting into his own midsection.
Leia was glad she had been ready to attack. Now she turned her attention to the second man, only a few feet away, aiming his blaster at her. In a desperate lunging movement, she leapt forward and cut off his arm at the elbow. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground. The cut hadn't been graceful, but it had been effective. Leia took a deep breath as she let herself relax a little.
The water was almost to the top of the tank now. Luke had been cutting a wide circle through the transparasteel, but it was coming along agonizingly slow. Only a few centimeters remained, but it seemed like it was taking forever to cut through at all. And since the side he was cutting through was completely under water, he had to keep stopping to return to the other end for a breath. At least he had remembered the setting to keep his lightsabre functional underwater, otherwise it would have shorted out long ago. "Kid!" Han shouted as Luke returned for another breath from the rapidly- closing pocket of air remaining. "If that Force of yours has any tricks it could pull out right now, they'd be much appreciated!"
Without a word, Luke dove back under and used all his strength to push his lightsabre into the remaining few solid centimeters of transparisteel.
Obi-Wan had killed the man on the left before the other man and the group's leader even knew he was there. He quickly locked eyes with the leader, who blanched and scrambled backwards. A close shot reminded the leader that he had another attacker on the other side of the room, and he quickly took aim and shot the blaster out of Indy's hand. Obi-Wan was still concentrating on him, readying his lightsabre for a disabling blow since he knew he'd need to bring the man into custody.
In his determination, he forgot the other man. Suddenly, his lightsabre was kicked from his hand, skittering across the room. Before he knew it, the man had kicked him in the head, sending him falling over backwards onto the floor. The man towered over him with a smirk on his face, aiming his blaster at Obi-Wan's head. The Jedi called his lightsabre to himself, but knew it wouldn't be there in time.
Suddenly, a fist connected with the radical's jaw, sending him reeling into the wall, dropping his blaster. He turned to see Indy readying for another punch, and swung out at his head. Indy swiftly ducked the punch, and kneed the other man in the stomach. The man gasped as the air went out of his lungs and he collapsed to the floor. Indy grabbed his blaster and pointed it at him. "Don't move," he commanded.
Obi-Wan picked himself up off the floor, now holding his lightsabre hilt in his right hand. "Good job," he said with a smile of approval to Indy. "Where did the leader go?"
"He went up the ladder like a coward," Indy grunted.
Obi-Wan was about to go after the escaped leader when suddenly there was a loud sound to his left. He wheeled around to see Luke and Han, both soaking wet, tumble out of the other entrance. "Well," he said with a reproving look towards Han, "I wonder who set the alarm off."
Han scowled, but Luke spoke up first. "Obi-Wan, where's the group's leader?"
"He went up there," Obi-Wan said, forgetting his anger towards Han.
"Outside?" Han asked urgently. "Leia!" he exclaimed as he remembered that she was out there alone. He scrambled up the ladder, followed Luke and Obi- Wan. Indy stayed behind, guarding his captive.
Leia had not been expecting anyone else to come up from the hideout. The tall blonde man escaping the hatch hadn't been expecting anyone either, but immediately reacted by shooting Leia in the hand. She cried out as she dropped her lightsabre, and before she could do anything, the large man hand grabbed her by both wrists.
"Another Jedi?!" he growled. "You're coming with me!" he hit a button on his belt, and a small ship rose up out of the ground in the large clearing. He dashed towards his ship, dragging a struggling Leia with him.
Han burst out of the underground hatch to see the leader disappearing into his ship with Leia. Han let out a shout of anger as he fired at the man. But the back hatch had already closed, and the ship was taking off. He kept firing angrily.
"Han, no!" Luke said, grabbing his brother-in-law's arm. "Leia's in there!"
"We have to get her!" Han yelled hysterically.
Obi-Wan calmly pulled out a small device and threw it onto the departing ship. He looked evenly at Han. "Tracking device," he said coolly. "We'll be able to find out where he is and follow him rationally." He motioned to the man lying on the ground missing a hand. "We can get more information from this man and the one Indy captured." He looked Han calmly in the eyes; Han glared back at him angrily.
Indy frowned. "I don't know. It seems like they'd have some sort of security measures installed, doesn't it?"
"You're right," Obi-Wan said. "It does seem odd." He scanned the dark walls carefully, unable to see clearly in the dark. Closing his eyes, he reached out with the Force.
"What are you doing?" Indy asked. The young man said nothing in reply, keeping his eyes closed, seemingly in meditation. Indy thought it was an odd time for such a ritual, but had seen enough of strange cultures and practices to keep his mouth shut and see what happened.
Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. He carefully brought his lightsabre up near the ceiling. "There," he pointed with his free right hand to a barely visible panel. "Here," he said, carefully pointing his lightsabre, handle first, towards Indy. "Hold this for me. Carefully."
Swords Indy could do, but he was a little hesitant to take hold of this strange weapon. It seemed he had no choice, though. He put his blaster back in the holster, then used both hands to hold the lightsabre steadily out in front of Obi-Wan, careful to hold it close enough where the young man could see what he was doing without getting the top of his head sliced off.
Obi-Wan pressed one side of the panel, and it slid open to reveal a number pad. "Ah ha," he said, giving Indy a smile, "Good call."
Indy smirked. "Yeah, but a lot of good it does us. We don't know the code."
Obi-Wan turned to the panel and closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. "It's one-one-three-eight," he said simply, moving to press the buttons.
"Um." Indy was about to comment, but Obi-Wan had already entered the code. Indy tensed, ready for some trap to be set off. To his shock, the red light on the panel turned green.
A slight smirk tugged at the corners of the Jedi's mouth. "You haven't spent much time around your Jedi friends, have you?" he asked.
"No, we barely know each other really," Indy said, trying not to sound dumbfounded. He was going to ask what had just happened, but instead shook his head slightly. "Whatever works." He handed the lightsabre back to Obi- Wan, who slowly began descending down the sloped part of the corridor.
Luke and Han paused before the slanted section of their own passageway.
"What's the hold up?" Han asked impatiently.
"Something doesn't seem right," Luke said slowly.
"Ah, enough with the hocus pocus kid, we've got a building to infiltrate!" Han said with a confident smirk.
"Han wait!" Luke shouted, but the spacer had already started ambitiously down the tunnel. Luke hurried after him. Suddenly, transparasteel panels shot up on both ends of the slanted section, locking them both inside.
"Ah Sith," Han grumbled. "It's ok, no need to panic!" Han insisted with a smirk. A loud alarm began to ring. "But uh, you might wanna work on getting us out of here," he added. Suddenly, spouts from the walls opened up, spewing water into the newly formed tank, filling it quickly. His confident look fell. "Now!" he shouted urgently.
"Scoot back!" Luke shouted as he began to burn through the tough, clear wall at the far end of the tank with his lightsabre. Han did as he was told without argument for once. The lightsabre was burning its way through, but at an agonizingly slow pace.
Outside, Leia remained alert, crouching in the grass at the edge of the clearing. She couldn't hear the alarm, but she felt uneasy. Her senses weren't fine tuned enough to be sure it was something in the Force, but she ignited her lightsabre anyway, just to be safe.
Indy and Obi-Wan crouched at the exit of their tunnel, the entrance to the hideout's main room. Obi-Wan had closed his lightsabre so as not to draw attention to themselves. There were five men sitting around a table in the center, discussing something. Supplies were stacked in crates around the room; a few weapons, hacking devices, palace guard disguises, and some explosives. "There, that's the leader," Obi-Wan whispered, pointing to a tall, strong man with light features.
"So what, we just go in weapons blazing?" Indy asked. Before Obi-Wan could reply, a shrill alarm sounded. "Oh, great," Indy said dryly, readying his blaster and about to jump out into the main room.
"Hold on," Obi-Wan said, putting a hand on Indy's arm to stop him. "It's not us. Look." He pointed as two of the men hurried up a ladder to the outside. "So there was another entrance," he mused, then turned his attention back to the three men remaining in the fortress, now with their blasters drawn.
"Now what?" Indy asked.
"Now we go in with weapons blazing," Obi-Wan said, a hint of a grin on his lips. He rushed out, igniting his lightsabre, Indy following close behind him. The men immediately all began firing, and Indy was sure they were done for. To his amazement, the young Jedi easily deflected the shots with his sword. One of them hit one of the men directly in the chest, killing him instantly. The other men hurried behind some crates. Indy and Obi-Wan did the same, barely escaping a few shots which sizzled into the wall.
"Nice moves," Indy commented.
"Thanks," Obi-Wan replied, bemused. "But it seems we're in an unfortunate position." He surveyed the situation briefly. "I'm going to go out there, and you stay back here and cover me. Then once it's clear, you come over and help."
Indy nodded, then began firing over the tops of the crates at the other group. He succeeded in drawing their attention long enough for Obi-Wan to ignite his lightsabre and sprint towards their hiding place.
The two men who had hurried up the ladder reached the top and quickly bolted out. The first was stopped by a lightsabre blade straight through his chest. He gasped and collapsed, and the second man barely leaped back in time to avoid the blade cutting into his own midsection.
Leia was glad she had been ready to attack. Now she turned her attention to the second man, only a few feet away, aiming his blaster at her. In a desperate lunging movement, she leapt forward and cut off his arm at the elbow. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground. The cut hadn't been graceful, but it had been effective. Leia took a deep breath as she let herself relax a little.
The water was almost to the top of the tank now. Luke had been cutting a wide circle through the transparasteel, but it was coming along agonizingly slow. Only a few centimeters remained, but it seemed like it was taking forever to cut through at all. And since the side he was cutting through was completely under water, he had to keep stopping to return to the other end for a breath. At least he had remembered the setting to keep his lightsabre functional underwater, otherwise it would have shorted out long ago. "Kid!" Han shouted as Luke returned for another breath from the rapidly- closing pocket of air remaining. "If that Force of yours has any tricks it could pull out right now, they'd be much appreciated!"
Without a word, Luke dove back under and used all his strength to push his lightsabre into the remaining few solid centimeters of transparisteel.
Obi-Wan had killed the man on the left before the other man and the group's leader even knew he was there. He quickly locked eyes with the leader, who blanched and scrambled backwards. A close shot reminded the leader that he had another attacker on the other side of the room, and he quickly took aim and shot the blaster out of Indy's hand. Obi-Wan was still concentrating on him, readying his lightsabre for a disabling blow since he knew he'd need to bring the man into custody.
In his determination, he forgot the other man. Suddenly, his lightsabre was kicked from his hand, skittering across the room. Before he knew it, the man had kicked him in the head, sending him falling over backwards onto the floor. The man towered over him with a smirk on his face, aiming his blaster at Obi-Wan's head. The Jedi called his lightsabre to himself, but knew it wouldn't be there in time.
Suddenly, a fist connected with the radical's jaw, sending him reeling into the wall, dropping his blaster. He turned to see Indy readying for another punch, and swung out at his head. Indy swiftly ducked the punch, and kneed the other man in the stomach. The man gasped as the air went out of his lungs and he collapsed to the floor. Indy grabbed his blaster and pointed it at him. "Don't move," he commanded.
Obi-Wan picked himself up off the floor, now holding his lightsabre hilt in his right hand. "Good job," he said with a smile of approval to Indy. "Where did the leader go?"
"He went up the ladder like a coward," Indy grunted.
Obi-Wan was about to go after the escaped leader when suddenly there was a loud sound to his left. He wheeled around to see Luke and Han, both soaking wet, tumble out of the other entrance. "Well," he said with a reproving look towards Han, "I wonder who set the alarm off."
Han scowled, but Luke spoke up first. "Obi-Wan, where's the group's leader?"
"He went up there," Obi-Wan said, forgetting his anger towards Han.
"Outside?" Han asked urgently. "Leia!" he exclaimed as he remembered that she was out there alone. He scrambled up the ladder, followed Luke and Obi- Wan. Indy stayed behind, guarding his captive.
Leia had not been expecting anyone else to come up from the hideout. The tall blonde man escaping the hatch hadn't been expecting anyone either, but immediately reacted by shooting Leia in the hand. She cried out as she dropped her lightsabre, and before she could do anything, the large man hand grabbed her by both wrists.
"Another Jedi?!" he growled. "You're coming with me!" he hit a button on his belt, and a small ship rose up out of the ground in the large clearing. He dashed towards his ship, dragging a struggling Leia with him.
Han burst out of the underground hatch to see the leader disappearing into his ship with Leia. Han let out a shout of anger as he fired at the man. But the back hatch had already closed, and the ship was taking off. He kept firing angrily.
"Han, no!" Luke said, grabbing his brother-in-law's arm. "Leia's in there!"
"We have to get her!" Han yelled hysterically.
Obi-Wan calmly pulled out a small device and threw it onto the departing ship. He looked evenly at Han. "Tracking device," he said coolly. "We'll be able to find out where he is and follow him rationally." He motioned to the man lying on the ground missing a hand. "We can get more information from this man and the one Indy captured." He looked Han calmly in the eyes; Han glared back at him angrily.