"According to the sensor, the sweep should be beginning in a few minutes," Obi-Wan said.
"The ship will be along soon. We'll have to be ready. He won't dare land for long."
"Kenobi, I am in your debt." Governor Tredze glanced at Sabeeth. "Yours and your ... friend's."
"Don't thank us yet," she said. "We're not off this moon."
Tredze nodded. He was able to walk, albeit with a severe limp, and Obi- Wan hoped the man would be able to move quickly enough. He turned to Sabeeth, but before he could speak, the Force was on him with a premonition. He saw her golden eyes go wide and she reached for her light saber even as he drew his. Both flared alight in time to deflect the barrage of blaster shots that streaked through the dim air.
"Down!" Obi-Wan commanded the governor.
"Kadav!" Sabeeth spat as a groundskimmer lurched over a rise. Then came another, and a third ... followed by a large armored vehicle with a familiar figure standing in the back compartment.
"Bethra!" Obi-Wan and Sabeeth said in unison.
"I want them alive!" the Warden ordered.
"Never!" Sabeeth leaped in a somersault to the top of a broken pillar, and from there onto the hood of a groundskimmer. Her first strike impaled the driver, passed completely through him in a shaft of amethyst light, pierced his seat, and came out the other side in a puff of smoldering padding. Her second blow cut through the instrument panel.
The groundskimmer began to veer out of control. She dove off, rolled, and came gracefully to her feet. Obi-Wan used the Force to push a hard bolt at the second skimmer, bucking the front end. A half dozen Kadav warriors tumbled out. A blaster shot sizzled over his head, he parried a second and sent it into the engine of the already-ailing skimmer that Sabeeth had crippled.
"We're outnumbered," she said in a low voice, getting back-to-back with him as they stood protectively over the governor. "If you had let me kill -- "
He checked the sensor. "No, we're not."
The ship soared over the horizon exactly on cue and dipped briefly as Jefin spotted and assessed the trouble. The lasers began loosing pulses of emerald green. The Kadav opened fire on the ship, but their blaster beams rippled and diffused on the shields. "Time to go," Obi-Wan said. He helped Tredze to his feet. The governor tripped on a rock and went to one knee, ankle badly twisted, his limp now a hobble. Obi-Wan slung one of the man's arms over his shoulders and all but dragged him along over the rough terrain. The armored craft bore down on them, its shields proving more than adequate against the ship's lasers.
Bethra stood tall in the open back compartment. "Surrender now, Noctani!"
She halted and wheeled.
"Sabeeth, no!" Obi-Wan shouted. Tredze was leaning heavily on him, the ship was coming down with the hatch opening. "Forget him!"
"You're a dead man already, Bethra!" She hissed, a menacing smile on her lips.
"That toy of yours may defeat a single blaster, but it's no good against a ten-spread!" Bethra hefted a gleaming silver cylinder to his shoulder. The seared swath in his hair and the burnt scar on his brow were very visible. "Give up now and I'll let Tredze and the Jedi live!" She began walking steadily toward him.
"Sabeeth --!"
"Get to the ship."
"You promised."
"I don't intend to die."
His instincts told him something altogether different. She continued on, unwavering as the barrel of the ten-spread centered on her.
"No!" Obi-Wan made a sharp seizing gesture but it was too far, too far away, all his effort did was slap the weapon a few inches to the side. The moment he did it, Sabeeth went into a blur of motion. Bethra fired, but she was no longer there, no longer even close to where the ten projectiles struck and detonated. She jumped to the top of the vehicle and then down into it, tackling the silver- haired Warden.
They vanished from Obi-Wan's sight, inside the compartment. Jefin appeared at the top of the extended ramp. Obi-Wan bundled the governor at the young pilot. "Take to the air. Quickly."
"What about you?"
"I'm going back for her."
"Why? Who is that madwoman?"
He didn't take the time to answer, he didn't have words for what the emerald-eyed woman had come to mean to him. But somehow Jefin could read the feelings in the Jedi's blue gaze. The pilot's eyebrows shot up and his jaw fell open.
Obi-Wan paid it no mind and ran back to the vehicle. It shook from within from blaster fire, the hum of a light saber, a Kadav war-cry, Bethra's frantic orders, and the snap-crack of whip-knives. He leaped up and over, dropping neatly inside, almost landing on a dead Kadav.
"Kill her! Curse you all, what does it take to --" Bethra's voice rose in a shriek and he reeled backward into Obi-Wan, then went sprawling on his back with his left arm severed at the elbow and his left leg scorched from hip to knee.
Ignoring the Warden, Obi-Wan ducked through the door and another premonition slid like melting ice down his spine. Deflected blaster fire had gone into the power core. Already, smoke was belching from it and sparks rained down, casting the interior into strobic flashes.
"Sabeeth!"
Then he saw her, cornered by three Kadav, cloak missing, right sleeve torn and the skin beneath bleeding, a blaster singe along her side, disarmed. He started toward her and his foot came down on something cylindrical, her light saber, he brought it instantly to his hand with the Force and activated it; wielding both, he struck down two Kadav from behind and Sabeeth crouched and drove a kick into the belly of the third. That one drew his stun baton as he fell, but the baton only plunged into the damaged power core and burst in a gout of phosphorescent fragments. "Come on!" Obi-Wan sheathed both sabers and steered her toward the door. A shadow fell over them as they emerged, and both looked up in alarm. But it was the ship, hovering over the rumbling-shaking-smoking vehicle. The hatch was open, and through the viewscreen, Obi-Wan could see Jefin mouthing urgencies and beckoning.
"Jump," he said to Sabeeth, and, drawing her close to his side, sprang straight up. He landed with neat precision inside the opening.
Snap-crack! The bladed whip snaked around Sabeeth's leg and Bethra yanked. The sudden tug made Obi-Wan lose his footing just as he landed. He was spun in a circle and fell, ending up on his stomach, half in and half out of the hatchway.
"The ship will be along soon. We'll have to be ready. He won't dare land for long."
"Kenobi, I am in your debt." Governor Tredze glanced at Sabeeth. "Yours and your ... friend's."
"Don't thank us yet," she said. "We're not off this moon."
Tredze nodded. He was able to walk, albeit with a severe limp, and Obi- Wan hoped the man would be able to move quickly enough. He turned to Sabeeth, but before he could speak, the Force was on him with a premonition. He saw her golden eyes go wide and she reached for her light saber even as he drew his. Both flared alight in time to deflect the barrage of blaster shots that streaked through the dim air.
"Down!" Obi-Wan commanded the governor.
"Kadav!" Sabeeth spat as a groundskimmer lurched over a rise. Then came another, and a third ... followed by a large armored vehicle with a familiar figure standing in the back compartment.
"Bethra!" Obi-Wan and Sabeeth said in unison.
"I want them alive!" the Warden ordered.
"Never!" Sabeeth leaped in a somersault to the top of a broken pillar, and from there onto the hood of a groundskimmer. Her first strike impaled the driver, passed completely through him in a shaft of amethyst light, pierced his seat, and came out the other side in a puff of smoldering padding. Her second blow cut through the instrument panel.
The groundskimmer began to veer out of control. She dove off, rolled, and came gracefully to her feet. Obi-Wan used the Force to push a hard bolt at the second skimmer, bucking the front end. A half dozen Kadav warriors tumbled out. A blaster shot sizzled over his head, he parried a second and sent it into the engine of the already-ailing skimmer that Sabeeth had crippled.
"We're outnumbered," she said in a low voice, getting back-to-back with him as they stood protectively over the governor. "If you had let me kill -- "
He checked the sensor. "No, we're not."
The ship soared over the horizon exactly on cue and dipped briefly as Jefin spotted and assessed the trouble. The lasers began loosing pulses of emerald green. The Kadav opened fire on the ship, but their blaster beams rippled and diffused on the shields. "Time to go," Obi-Wan said. He helped Tredze to his feet. The governor tripped on a rock and went to one knee, ankle badly twisted, his limp now a hobble. Obi-Wan slung one of the man's arms over his shoulders and all but dragged him along over the rough terrain. The armored craft bore down on them, its shields proving more than adequate against the ship's lasers.
Bethra stood tall in the open back compartment. "Surrender now, Noctani!"
She halted and wheeled.
"Sabeeth, no!" Obi-Wan shouted. Tredze was leaning heavily on him, the ship was coming down with the hatch opening. "Forget him!"
"You're a dead man already, Bethra!" She hissed, a menacing smile on her lips.
"That toy of yours may defeat a single blaster, but it's no good against a ten-spread!" Bethra hefted a gleaming silver cylinder to his shoulder. The seared swath in his hair and the burnt scar on his brow were very visible. "Give up now and I'll let Tredze and the Jedi live!" She began walking steadily toward him.
"Sabeeth --!"
"Get to the ship."
"You promised."
"I don't intend to die."
His instincts told him something altogether different. She continued on, unwavering as the barrel of the ten-spread centered on her.
"No!" Obi-Wan made a sharp seizing gesture but it was too far, too far away, all his effort did was slap the weapon a few inches to the side. The moment he did it, Sabeeth went into a blur of motion. Bethra fired, but she was no longer there, no longer even close to where the ten projectiles struck and detonated. She jumped to the top of the vehicle and then down into it, tackling the silver- haired Warden.
They vanished from Obi-Wan's sight, inside the compartment. Jefin appeared at the top of the extended ramp. Obi-Wan bundled the governor at the young pilot. "Take to the air. Quickly."
"What about you?"
"I'm going back for her."
"Why? Who is that madwoman?"
He didn't take the time to answer, he didn't have words for what the emerald-eyed woman had come to mean to him. But somehow Jefin could read the feelings in the Jedi's blue gaze. The pilot's eyebrows shot up and his jaw fell open.
Obi-Wan paid it no mind and ran back to the vehicle. It shook from within from blaster fire, the hum of a light saber, a Kadav war-cry, Bethra's frantic orders, and the snap-crack of whip-knives. He leaped up and over, dropping neatly inside, almost landing on a dead Kadav.
"Kill her! Curse you all, what does it take to --" Bethra's voice rose in a shriek and he reeled backward into Obi-Wan, then went sprawling on his back with his left arm severed at the elbow and his left leg scorched from hip to knee.
Ignoring the Warden, Obi-Wan ducked through the door and another premonition slid like melting ice down his spine. Deflected blaster fire had gone into the power core. Already, smoke was belching from it and sparks rained down, casting the interior into strobic flashes.
"Sabeeth!"
Then he saw her, cornered by three Kadav, cloak missing, right sleeve torn and the skin beneath bleeding, a blaster singe along her side, disarmed. He started toward her and his foot came down on something cylindrical, her light saber, he brought it instantly to his hand with the Force and activated it; wielding both, he struck down two Kadav from behind and Sabeeth crouched and drove a kick into the belly of the third. That one drew his stun baton as he fell, but the baton only plunged into the damaged power core and burst in a gout of phosphorescent fragments. "Come on!" Obi-Wan sheathed both sabers and steered her toward the door. A shadow fell over them as they emerged, and both looked up in alarm. But it was the ship, hovering over the rumbling-shaking-smoking vehicle. The hatch was open, and through the viewscreen, Obi-Wan could see Jefin mouthing urgencies and beckoning.
"Jump," he said to Sabeeth, and, drawing her close to his side, sprang straight up. He landed with neat precision inside the opening.
Snap-crack! The bladed whip snaked around Sabeeth's leg and Bethra yanked. The sudden tug made Obi-Wan lose his footing just as he landed. He was spun in a circle and fell, ending up on his stomach, half in and half out of the hatchway.