Jedi Academy
The Magnificent Seven
Chapter 5
(My first Jedi Knight story. Just so you know, Star Wars belongs to George Lucas. Bless his genius mind. So if anything is in violation of the Star Wars spirit, let HIM speak up. Thanks)
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Jungles aren't always emerald trees and plants growing everywhere, creating a moment of spectacular beauty that will linger in your mind for the rest of your life. The jungle at Dathomir certainly didn't fall into that description.
A swampland, filled with dark trees that sometimes seemed to melt together with the shadows, creating several imagined hiding places for creatures beyond the greatest nightmare. Branches hanging down from their host like sad, clawlike hands, reaching out for anything that would be within their reach.
This planet was a true nightmare.
And in a clearing in the dreadful forest, a group of seven brave young people gathered around each others.
Random looked up at their faces as everyone's gaze was aimed at a crater in the mud. Ryu had found it and everyone knew instantly that this wasn't any ordinary crater, but the footprint of a creature which was feared throughout the whole galaxy. A grim reminder of that Dathomir, the planet they now stood in the middle of, was the original homeplanet of a terrible form of life called Rancors.
The footprints were leading to the north. The same direction they were suppose to go. The massive monster had created a nice pathway of broken trees that disappeared into the mist. Random saw clearly the worry in most of their faces. They were still just rookie-students, and couldn't possess enough knowledge to take on a Rancor if the beast decided to attack them.
"Okay, this is a big fucker, aye," Phoenix said as he looked up from the footprint and on the rest of the group. Amazing how one series of footprints could remove any feeling or control of one's legs.
"Tween, what do you see?" Random asked as the young Zabrak bent closer to the print and floated her hand over it.
"About 15 ft tall. 10... maybe 12 000 pounds. Just a few hours ago. Aye, three hours ago. And in the same direction we're heading. Ain't that wonderful, eh?" she replied and stood up again. The silence once again ruled in the jungle as nobody said a word for several minutes.
"Maybe we should, like, get going now. The sooner we get off this rock, the better," Kayley said and looked around into the misty forest. The feeling of being watched was creeping her out.
Random nodded and gave the order to keep going towards their original target. With Ryu still in the front as scout, they left the clearing in a hurry with no evidence of their presence. Auron kept his watchful eyes on the footprints planted deep into the soft, moist soil under them. He had seen a Rancor once in his life, observing the destruction it could do, this thing scared him more than anything else in the galaxy.
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After 4 hours of quick pace, the group halted to take a little rest in another clearing. The tracks of the Rancor had lead away from their path and taken a more western route, much to their well earned relief.
But the trip had taken much longer than first expected. After around an hour into the walk, the map-reader was broken and useless, and to find out which way was north in the jungle was proving more difficult. This had cost them precious hours.
Had this landscape been flat and easy to travel in, they could have reached the prison facility within 10 hours max, given a few breaks. But climb up cliffs, crossing swamps and figuring out which way to take in the middle of the night wasn't an easy task.
At least, they had found a quiet and dry spot on the roots of a gigantic tree overlooking a misty little lake. Sharing the ration they had and handle out waterbottles, discussing where to go next.
"It'll soon be too dark to continue anyway. We'll keep this up for another hour and then try to get some sleep for the rest of the night. We still have 50 hours to get to that facility before the Imperials will take those pilots to the Star Destroyer," Random said and looked through the group sitting around him.
"Aye. But once we're at the facility, we still need to find a way into that fortress. Ain't gonna be easy," Tween said and nudged her brother who was about to fall asleep.
"Go and wash yer face, bro. You look like Bantha poodoo" Tween continued and managed the rest of the group to snigger at him. The young Zabrak yawned and stood up, walking towards a little pool to clean up and wash the sleepiness out of his face.
"But how do we sleep? I ain't sleeping on this wet ground if that's on your mind, mister," Selene said and crossed her arms. Kayley and Tween shared the same opinion.
Ryu made a few signals with his hand and then patted the massive tree they were sitting on.
"He's right, these huge trees are perfect for taking a nap in. High enough to escape the reach of any Rancor I've seen," Auron said and hit knuckles with Ruy.
"...the trees...?... Aren't there.....bugs and stuff up there?" Kayley whined and looked up towards the top of the tree. It felt like millions of tiny eyes stared back at her, laughing a sinister session at them. Waiting for them to come up to them and be crawled upon.
"Sure. That's why they call it the jungle. One branch of this tree contains perhaps hundreds of different creatures. Some so small you can't even see them," Auron said and did his best to hide a laugh that was about to burst out of his mouth.
A little away from the rest of the team, Phoenix heard the girls cry out in squeaky voices, hearing his sister saying something like 'boys are so disgusting', or something very similar to it. He guessed the rest of the guys in the group was making jokes now that he was over here instead, washing his face in a little pool.
Looking down at the dirty water, he began to wonder if Tween was right. A boy didn't think twice about washing his face in this kind of water. He smiled to himself thinking about all the perky girls back home.
Suddenly he felt something. Barely noticed it, but it was there. Like a tiny vibration in the core of his spine. Leaning back on his knees, he looked around in the misty forest, scouting the dark world surrounding him.
And there it was again. Only this time his eyes noticed movement, but not from the fog.
Looking down, he saw a ring forming on the surface of the water. Moving from the edges and towards the middle, growing smaller and smaller. The same vibration could be felt through his whole body the same second the ring was created.
Was water suppose to do that?
Slowly standing up, he felt the vibration again. They grew stronger by the second as well as the rings in the water.
Looking up towards the wall of mist, he could hear trees breaking in the far distance, standing frozen on the spot for a few seconds before his mind snapped back to reality.
"Oh, hell no," he peeped and turned on his heel, running like crazy back to the others.
"Big fucker. VERY big fucker on the way. Take cover if ya value yer life," he said as he passed them, taking cover inside a hollow treetrunk. The rest of them watched as he disappeared into the shadows before they all turned towards the other end of the clearing.
Tween closed her eyes, holding her hand towards the sound that was rolling through the forest like a wave of thunder. And then she saw it.
A massive creature made out of a warning red light. She had never felt so much dark energy in one thing before. And the towering creature was less than 200 ft away from them, closing in on them fast.
The young Zabrak opened her eyes and her face twisted in a frightful expression. She stepped back and seemed like she had seen a ghost.
"It's here. Everyone hide," she said and ran into the same trunk as her brother.
The team broke up and quickly fond any kind of shelter and remained quiet. Hearing the thundering vibrations of footsteps echoing through the trees and deep rumbling breath. Random, Ryu and Kayley hid behind one of the moss-growth trees, trying desperately to control their breath and their hearts as it felt like it was about to burst out of each of their chests. Random moved his head carefully to the side until he spotted the towering figure that was forming in the foggy wall on the other side of the clearing.
There it was.
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Random was about to lose control of his silence as he saw this gigantic monster enter the clearing and stopped right where they had been standing a few seconds ago. The stinky brown skin was filled with old scratches, pointing out that this Rancor had seen lots of combat. The teeth was nearly glowing in the dark as it opened it's mouth and unleashed a roar that shook the trees around them. Cutting deep into their ears, bringing forth their worst nightmares as they all knew they were standing only a few ft away from death itself.
Selene clung to Auron's arm as the two of them had found their shelter behind a pile of boulders. Hearing the footsteps of the Rancor coming closer and closer, sniffing the air as if it had already caught their sent. Feeling her heart beat faster and faster until she prayed the Rancor wouldn't hear the drumming.
Auron held his breath as he heard the Rancor now stopped on the other side of the boulder they rested their back on. Slowly removing the sniper-blaster from his back the hand slowly made it's way down to the belt where he put the safety off on his E-11 rifle as well as reaching out for Selene's E-11.
This weapon might be a mass-production and the choice of the standard Stormtrooper equipment, but easy to come by, plenty of ammo and a fair accuracy. A perfect close-combat gun for Auron.
Back on Coruscant, he was an excellent marksman. Now his skills would be put to a serious test. Victory was great, and defeat was not an option.
Selene saw his mind. She didn't want him to leave her, but if she tried to protest, the Rancor would eat them both. She let go of his arm and gave him the nod. Then she watched with horror as he jumped away from the boulder, spinning in the air and sent at least 4 shots from the rifle.
With the two blasters held tightly in his hands, Auron squeezed the triggers and aimed at the monsters head. A terrible road of anger rumbled through the jungle as the Rancor felt the irritating blasts hitting its skin. Turning towards the little human, it dived forward with its massive jaws open.
Auron's eyes went wide open and he quickly jumped to the side, avoiding the jaw with a few inches. Feeling something inside his head, he jumped again just in time to avoid the monsters claws.
Once again, his blasters were raised and sending a new rapid rain of red energy towards the big face. If he could only hit the eye, but the blasted thing wouldn't stop moving its head.
Now the Rancor had enough with this annoying little thing and dived forward again, but this time with the deadly hands held infront. Auron tried once again to jump away, but was caught off-guard for a split second and was brutally pinned to the ground. Losing one of the blasters in the attack.
Snarling in agony, he raised the black barrel of the rifle again in an attempt to empty the whole thing into its face. Watching as the open jaws revealed rows of razorsharp teeth, coming down towards his head. Just then, Auron saw something in the corner of his eye.
Phoenix came in from behind the Rancor and slid in under its legs. Making a face, he shoved his own E-11 rifle into the Rancor's ass and squeezed the trigger. The Rancor let out a scream that sounded like a thousand thunderstorms. Roaring of all its might towards the sky.
Now Ryu jumped forth from his hiding place and activated his lightsaber. Jumping past the raised head and slammed the glowing blade into its throat. But he never got to land as the Rancor lashed out its hand and slammed a repayment into the brave Kel Dor. Sending him flying through the clearing and into a mudhole with a splash.
Returning the attention back to the human on the ground, the Rancor saw two other pathetic creatures helping him behind a great tree. Selene and Tween held a firm grip in Auron's arms and ran as fast as they could away from the battlefield. Seeing Random and Kayley team up and attack from behind.
Hate burned in the dark eyes as the massive monster turned around to face this new threat. With a fried wound in the throat and a terrible pain in the butt, it felt the anger grow to a point beyond sense. Launching itself towards them, it let the long arms sweep the ground to knock them away.
But the two humans wouldn't stay on the ground and leaped over the battering ram. Snarling in anger, the Rancor doubled back and lashed its arms once again, knocking over a tree in the process. Kayley ducked just in time and held her lightsaber up and made a small cut in the overgrown arm. Random dived forward and tried to slice up the monster's stomach, but the skin was to thick to make any kind of permanent effect.
After the Rancor stumbled a bit backwards, Kayley saw her chance and jumped upwards and slammed the burning blade and sliced in a deep cut in the nose, but once the pain reached the Rancor's brain, the arm acted on instinct and lashed out for her, knocking her far, far away. Taking Random in the punch and sent him off the battlefield like a projectile.
Kayley also was thrown away, only she landed in the open clearing.
Kayley felt a massive pain shooting through her body as she slammed into the tree. It was like all her strength left her in an instant when she tumbled down the ancient trunk and landing limp on the moist ground. Seeing the Rancor shaking the worst pain off itself, she felt an enormous feeling of dread as the monster turned its massive head towards her, growling in hunger as fresh blood tickled its nose.
Dragging herself over the ground, she tried to activate her lightsaber, only to discover it was no longer in her grasp. Desperately looking around, she saw it 20 ft away from her, lying on the grass, waiting to be picked up.
But her legs wouldn't obey her orders and the Rancor was closing up. It had already reduced the distance between them with half. Putting all efforts in her arms, she crawled towards the hilt, panting in fear as she felt the ground under her tremble every time the monster placed its foot on the ground.
Her every muscle froze as she noticed the gigantic shadow towered over her, and felt the foul breath in her neck. Rolling over, she watched with horror the jaws opening and roar a hot wind down on her, edging closer to finish her off.
Suddenly, the monster lifted its head and unleashed another roar, and started waving its massive arms around. Opening her terrified eyes, Kayley saw that stuck on the Rancor's head, was Random. Hanging on for dear life while the Rancor tried to smack him off.
Stumbling around, crashing into a few trees and knocking some of the smaller down, the Rancor desperately tried to remove the annoying little parasite, but it seemed like the human predicted the fanatic attempts to remove him and stayed constantly out of reach.
Random had never in his whole life felt so scared. Hearing the crashing sound of the jaws slamming together a few inches away from him and the huge claws trying to tear him off.
Down on the ground, he saw Kayley constantly rolling around, trying to avoid being stomped on by the rampaging feet.
Feeling his arms started to grow tired, Random knew he had to finish this quickly in order to stay alive. Grabbing the hilt of his lightsaber, he released it from the belt and stuck the piece of metal into the Rancor's left eye and pressed the activation button.
The Rancor saw with horror the blinding blue light coming towards its eye, then before its vision went black, it felt a pain greater than anything it had faced before. On instinct, it threw it's head away from the pain and saw the human finally letting go and flew across the clearing once again. The pain was so enormous. Like the eye was burning.
Covering its face with its mighty hand, the big Rancor ran away. Away from this pain and dangerous creatures. Disappearing into the mist the same way it had come.
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Random managed to stumble back on his feet. Putting the lightsaber back in his belt, he did a little mental scan of his body and came up with the knowledge that no bones were broken and no limbs were missing. This had to be his lucky day.
Calming himself down a bit, he walked over to Kayley who tried to stand up as well. Her outfit was muddy and messed up and her face had several scratches from the fight. Looking towards the others, he saw Ryu stumbling his way toward Auron, Phoenix and Tween. The silent Kel Dor looked like he had been in a wrestling match with a Gamorrean in a mudhole.
Smiling, Random took a hold of Kayley's hand and helped her up on her feet. Feeling her weight supporting itself against him, he realized just how light she was. Her messy head looked up on him and their eyes met.
Random was about to say something when he felt her palm slap him hard on the side of his face.
".....what the heck was that for...? I just saved your life" he said with a confused voice and used his free hand to rub the place she had hit. He looked down at her again and saw her grumpy expression glare daggers at him.
"You were late," she replied simply and crystal clear. Random stood frozen on his spot as he watched her making her way towards the others, limping a bit on her left foot. He sighed and followed her.
Nobody was seriously hurt from the Rancor, but they were all tired and pretty beaten up. There was very little more they could do this night. Random suggested that they would make camp for the night. All they had to do was to move for another half hour away from this place.
The Rancor was defeated, but chances that it would return for revenge was just too great to linger in this place. The rest of the group shared a nod and followed their leader with no arguments.
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Ryu came up on Random's side and looked at his oldest friend. Random looked back at him and saw several small scratches on his head. Tiny streaks of blood rolled down the metallic mask of his but was dyed before they could fall to the ground and form a trail behind them.
The quiet Kel Dor made a few handsignals and made Random blush a little. He didn't want to speak out loud so he made handsignals back.
(I did what I had to do, Ryu. You did the same once, remember,) Random signalised.
(I know. But that was a Sand Burrower , not a Rancor,) Ryu answered with his quick signals.
(We are a big family now. And that's what a family does. Love and look out for each other,) Random said back to him, but suddenly realized what he had said. And even with the mask covering his face, he could see that Ryu felt a familiar pain by those 'word'. Ryu was an orphan, only a child when he watched his parents and brother die by the hands of the Empire.
After they had met several years ago, Ryu and Random had created such strong bonds they looked upon themselves as brothers. The brother Random never had and the brother Ryu once had lost. Now his family had been increased. Looking back at the 5 people behind them, Ryu smiled under his mask. All the pain he had felt was gone. Replaced with a warm feeling deep inside his core. He would never be alone again.
After a few minutes they came upon a gigantic tree that reached high up towards the star-filled sky. Ancient, gnarled and with hundreds of branches big enough to sleep on filled the massive tree trunk. Tiny creatures living in the tree became aware of the unwelcome guests and quickly found cover in the shadows that covered most of the mighty plant.
Helping each other, they climbed as high as they could until they were out of reach of any Rancor that might come by and surprise them. Looking down, it was around 100 ft to the ground under them, indicating that if they didn't fall down they were safe for the rest of the night.
Phoenix opened his backpack and took out a long rope that was supposed to be used once they arrived at the complex. Cutting it into 7 equal lengths he said that they could tie themselves to the tree in case they would fall of the branches during the night. Sleepwalking was not an option now.
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After a half hour, most of them were tightly asleep in the crown of the tree. The dark night around them had transformed from a nightmare to a sweet lullaby that brought them on a welcoming journey to relaxation.
Random however was still a light-sleeper. Not feeling the least tired with the exception of a sore butt and a little red mark on his cheek from Kayley's hand. Putting his hand on the spot, he found himself smiling.
It was crazy when he thought about it. He had only known her for a week or something, and he was really starting to fall for her. Not because she was a fairly attractive girl, but also because of her spirit. There was something in her while she was in the field, something he never seen in any other girl he knew. The passion, the courage and the will to keep going truly amazed him.
He sighed and looked down on the ground. Everything was so quiet now. Like the whole forest had become a dead wasteland once again. The only sound he could hear was Phoenix gentle snoring.
Suddenly he felt a hand land on his shoulder and his heart skipped a beat. About to draw his weapon but relaxed as soon as he saw Kayley standing over him, looking a bit tired. Her features wasn't so messy anymore, but still had a few marks of fighting and rolling around on the ground.
"We really should stop seeing each other like this. You're gonna give me a heart attack one day," Random said in a bit hard tone of voice. But he had no choice but to soften up as she sat down next to him, tying her rope to a branch nearby.
"...You okay?" he asked. This time he found it best to whisper his words to her. It took a little while before she replied.
"... I was so scared, Random. So scared. That... thing... was going to eat me alive. I can still smell its foul breath..." she said and looked at her trembling hands.
"I... I don't know if I'm fit to become a Jedi. I mean... fear is the path to the dark side. I don't want to go to the dark side, Random. I'm still afraid. It's like every time I look to the ground under us, I expect it to stand there... looking at me with those evil eyes... waiting for me to come down..." she said and covered her face in her hands. Feeling her own pulse slamming against her face.
"Eye," Random suddenly replied. Kayley looked up from her hands and right at him.
"... What?"
"Eye. Not eyes. That thing paid for trying to eat you by losing one eye. So it would in that case look at you with an evil eye," he said and tried to smile at her.
Kayley smiled weakly back and managed to let out a soft giggle. Lightly punching his closest shoulder.
"But come on, Kayley... In a situation like that, it would have been inhuman not to feel fear. Fear is just another emotion that nobody can live without. That doesn't mean that you will turn into some crazy-ass Sith just because you were scared."
"... You really think so? You don't think of me as a wimp for being scared?"
"When I jumped up on that monsters head to stop it from killing you and knew that it would do anything in its power to crush every bone in my body and THEN eat me, I was scared beyond belief. One little mistake or miscalculated movement would send me right to the 'other side'. But you got to keep a positive mind. Be thankful that you didn't die."
Kayley smiled at him again and dyed the tears off her face. His words truly comforted her and suddenly, the jungle wasn't that scary anymore. She looked down to the ground and saw no Rancor. No evil 'eye' that glared at her. She saw the soft grass, the wild flowers and a little creature skipping across the clearing under them.
Right here, in this position, she was safe.
"Thanks, Random. I needed to hear that," she whispered and leaned closer to him, resting her head against the soft fabric of his tunic. Then she felt his arm move around her shoulder and gently pulled her closer. She kept her eyes closed and smiled.
"Random?" she gently whispered, just to make sure he was there.
"Hmm?" he replied and looked down at her sleeping face.
"What if it comes back tonight?"
Random heard her and understood perfectly. Looking down he reminded himself that there was a fair chance of running into it again. That it would follow them for revenge. Right now it didn't matter since it couldn't reach them, but he felt he needed to give the sweet girl resting so peacefully against him some extra comfort.
"I'll stay awake, Kayley," he whispered to her. Seeing a new smile spread across her pretty little face, he knew she had heard that. Right there and then he wanted to lean down and kiss her a gentle 'goodnight' on her already blushing cheek. But his mind told him to take it easy and one step of the time. No sense in rushing into anything.
Right now, she would sleep peacefully. Without worry or trouble.
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That's it for chapter 5. They are at least getting closer to the Imperials. But still have quite a few miles left to go through Rancor-land. Don't you just feel the dread slowly crawling up yer spine?
This story was to be longer, but I felt it was about time I updated. There is still plenty of missions for them left, and if ya have a cool idea or a request of a mission for them, doesn't matter how cruel it is, they will most likely get it. Poor bastards.
Now, a little reward for my faithful reviewers.
Wrrohm: I still planning your idea of a mission. It will happen sooner or later. Once they are a little more experienced in battle. Can't be too cruel at them this early.
Shanesnest: Well I spent a long time doing the scene on top of the temple, and I wanted to have a nearly equal scene in this chapter. The terror on Dathomir ain't over yet, so if I were you, I'd be on the lookout for more of those Rancors. As for Phoenix, I would have guessed that you have realized that he's the clown of the group.
Omeganian: Yes there will be all of the lightsabers soon. Right now, none of them....with perhaps the exception of Ryu and Auron, that can handle a weapon that complicated. Got to stick to realism here. As for your idea of a mission, I like it and have started to cook up the story behind it.
Dynamis: Your idea of mission interested me. I like the idea behind it and the fact that it will prove most difficult for them all. I'll give it a try soon enough.
Tinuviel Undomiel: I know ya want to read more, sweety, and you must have patient. Your idea of a mission will be seen in the near future as I think it's about time we see some family between Kyle and Jan.
Hart: Don't worry. I haven't forgotten Rosh. I don't like him at all, but I'll do my best not to bash his poor ass or anything. I'm sure he's changed over the years.
White Shadow: Cheesy title? If that's an attempt to insult me, I'm afraid you failed. I like the title and I'm gonna stick to it. Easy as that. Heh heh.
Shalashaska-001: My old comrade in arms. I trust ya had a pleasant view of the tension during that night. And believe me when I say "It ain't over yet".
The Dark Lord Revan: Greetings, milord. I appreciate your reminder. I know there are two different types. I have a little feeling I will write a bit of both. Just wait and see.
Seriyu-the-ice-dragon: Since yer review are so short, I'm giving a short one back. I like the fact that you like this and hope to see your name again in this chapter.
Yes, that's it for the reviewers and the story. I hope ya don't hate me for being a bit late on the update, but my sparetime is shorter now than ever before. I can barely get home and eat some supper before something else drags me into a direction. It's such stress I could go crazy.
Hope that doesn't happen during the next update.
Peace out, my friends.
Darky.