Jedi Academy

The Magnificent Seven

Chapter 6

(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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The deep silence of the dark jungle dominated much of the landscape of Dathomir, now that it was way into the night, closing up on sunset within a few hours. Tiny creatures could move around the top of the mighty trees with less fear of getting eaten by bigger carnivores. Few of them dared leave the safety of the trees to search the mist-covered ground for food.

In the thick branches of one of the greatest trees, a group of seven strangers to this planet slept quietly. Sitting with his back against the massive trunk, a tired young man from Coruscant overlooked the groundlevel below him and his friends. Random had kept his promise to the girl sleeping peacefully next to him, clutching his tunic. He had managed to stay awake during the entire night, refusing to close his eyes in fear that me might fall asleep.

He did a mental note of staying in bed for the next few days once they reached the Academy back on Yavin 4. If Master Jaden had the least sense of human emotion, she wouldn't deny them a little rest.

Looking over to the others, his other friends. It's strange that just these few days with each other had formed a relationship that could be resembled to family. Of course the Zabrak kids, Phoenix and Tween were already family, and Ryu was close enough to a brother to Random.

They would live in the Academy for the rest of their lives, grow up together, help each other and love each other.

Strange thing that growing bonds like that were considered to be a part of The Dark side of the Force a few years ago. That personal feelings could get in the way in a mission. Random didn't believe that. He meant that personal feelings was a motivation, a source of courage, and at least what made them human.

It was so quiet. Still hearing nothing but Phoenix's snoring and the wind. But there was another sound in the distance. Something thunderlike, drawing closer.

Random looked through the top of the branches and saw that the sky was growing darker. Clouds of black gathered above them, inviting everyone and everything to a cold shower.

Suddenly, he felt Kayley's hands clutch harder to his tunic, letting a scared moan escape her sleep, Random instantly sharpened his ears and eyes. And there it was.

Standing on the ground, the massive Rancor just stood there, glaring up on them without a sound. Random's mind frantically measured the distance from them to the ground against the length of the Rancor's arms. How had it managed to get this close without him noticing?

Swallowing a lump, he saw the hollow eyehole in its twisted skull glare right at him, letting out a deep rumble from its lungs. It obviously recognized the creature responsible for causing it pain and darkness to its eye, sitting just out of reach, looking back at it.

The Rancor circled the tree silently, trying to find a way to get closer to the branches, but no such luck. The food remained out of reach, much to its great discomfort.

Random finally got over the shock seeing this and poked Kayley lightly in her shoulder. The girl slowly opened her eyes with a huge yawn, stretching her sore arms, suddenly realizing who was sitting next to her. But before she could say so much as a 'good morning', her ears caught a angry growl from the ground.

Seeing the Rancor looking right at her, she was about to scream, but Random's hand quickly covered her mouth, turning her head away from it and towards him instead.

"sssshhhhhhh, quiet. Don't upset it," he whispered, not removing his hand. The panting sound of her breath coming through her nose, the frighten look in her eyes was enough to break Random's heart. After a few seconds, she calmed down and gave him the nod, telling he could remove the hand.

"We got to wake the others," Random whispered to her and Kayley nodded again. Moving quietly across the trunk and over to the rest of the sleeping group. The Racor followed their every move, as if it was waiting for one of them to fall.

"Yo, Phoenix… Wake up, man," Random whispered as he gently shook Phoenix's arm. The young Zabrak mumbled something and rolled over.

"mmmmm, just a couple of minutes, mama… promise," he mumbled in his sleep before he tiredly opened his eyes and looked down. His yellow eyes stared right into a face below that washed away all feelings of tiredness in a split second.

"Oh…..heh heh, No hard feelings, eh?" Phoenix said as he slowly crawled closer to the others, eying the Rancor all the time. The gigantic beast below answered him with another furious growl.

"Okay, now what do we do? We can't stay here forever," Selene said and looked over to Random. His face was deeply focused on the problem already.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking………… I'm done thinking. Okay, Mr. Grumpy downstairs waits for us to get down from here, so we have to stay out of his reach."

"You mean run like heck?" Auron asked and looked down to the Rancor. He had been in contact with it before, and didn't want to do it again.

"No. We'll use the trees. Jump from branch to branch. Ryu, are you ready for it?" Random said and turned towards his old comrade in arms. The silent Kel Dor nodded and ran out on one of the branches, focusing on the Force and leaped with all his strength away from the tree.

The Rancor saw that some of the food was making an escape. Flying in a perfect arch from this tree and right towards the next. Wondering if it should follow that or stick with the rest of the group.

Ryu's fingers clutched the branch in the next tree and hung there for a few seconds before he swung up and turned towards the others, signalising that there was nothing to it.

Tween was up next. Using her higher evolved sense of the Force seeing to perfectly calculate the distance. The branch slightly bent as she connected, causing her to look down and see the Rancor making it's way over to their tree.

Ryu grabbed her hand and helped her up and waited for the next jumper to come. This would take a long time if they were to jump from tree to tree, but with the jungle, there was pretty much noting else but trees.

This form of moving closer to their target was a serious waste of time. Hopefully they would make it to the complex before the prisoners were taken away from them.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Several hours later, when the heavens had released its load of water down on the lush land, providing the jungle and ancient forest with another rainstorm, the group stopped in a tree overlooking a huge complex waiting for them in the bottom of a valley.

They had lost the Rancor by a cliffside a few hours ago and hopefully it had lost their track in the rain, not really missing its company.

The valley was rather open. The bigger trees had been cut down quite a while ago, starting to grow back up again. Revealing a big old prison complex resting safely with a river surrounding the area. It looked like this prison hadn't had any maintenance for years. The forest around was partly growing up the old cracked walls, the painting on the walls had been removed by years and years of rain and wind.

Auron took up his Tenloss Sniper and scanned the walls and the area around the building through the bitter rain.

"Hmmmmm. Lightly defended. I don't think they expect any company. I count around 20 guards outside. Sloppy and randomly spread around. The lake is barely guarded at all, just like Master Skywalker said. We can easily swim across the lake and into the waterpipes, but we're gonna have to leave most of our equipment here," he said and lowered the weapon, looking back at the others.

Random took the rifle and looked through the scope. This place was in serious bad shape. So unlike the Imperial Remnants to let a place like this fall for the slow decay of time. But judging by the soldiers walking around, these guys hadn't seen combat for years and were surely to damn lazy to maintain this place.

There was a almost comforting peace covering the valley. The Stormtroopers obviously didn't like to get wet and were gathering in groups of 3 or 4 under shelters spread around. Neglecting their original duties for their own comfort. Random almost felt sorry for them, cause if their mission was a successful one, they would either be forced to straighten up, or be transferred to a battlefield of some kind. Nothing they would enjoy.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Inside the basement of the prison complex, just below the ground level, the water circulationsystem had stayed up and running like this since the complex had been built. Never failed to do its duty, nor spread chemicals into the lake just outside.

But now it had seven unexpected guests making their way through the pipes. Equipped with small oxygen tanks no bigger than two average fingers, the sneaky Jedis could easily handle 5-6 minutes under water.

Auron's head was the first to penetrate the surface of the waterpool. His weary eyes and armed E-11 rifle scanned the room for anything that could pose as a threat. The only sound he could hear was the constant babbling of the water itself. And the sound of Ryu's head coming up next to him.

During the few days he had known the silent Kel Dor warrior, he had formed a kind of duelling brotherhood with him. They were close to equals when it came to the skills with the lightsaber, but Auron knew that Ryu could never beat him when it came to marksmanship. Auron had practised with a gun since he was a kid. Able to hit anything he aimed at, even if the target was moving. He could adapt himself to the gun the second he felt his fingers close in around it. Immediately calculate accuracy, range and firepower.

Dripping with water, he got out of the pool and used the Force to secure the room itself. Every shadow was lit up, every crate and hidingplace meant nothing. It took him only a few seconds to determine that the room was empty. The rest of the team came to the surface and climbed up onto the solid floor.

Each of them was now equipped with the standard E-11 blaster rifle in their hands. The lightsaber hung in their belts, ready to be put in use if necessary. For infiltration missions, lightsabers wasn't the ultimate choice, due to the sound and the light coming from the intense energyblade.

As they walked up to the door, Random, Auron and Ryu aimed at it with their guns while Tween walked up to it and closed her eyes. Scanning the room behind the door, she shook her head at the boys. Secured.

With the Force to guide them and telling them what they wanted to know about the room, they didn't have to check it twice as they stepped inside the new room. Nothing but a few old computers creating a comforting humming to the chanting of water in the back. As they stopped by the door leading to the corridor, Tween sensed something coming towards them.

Two individuals. Slow walk but still threatening. Random stepped up to the door and looked down the corridor and spotted two Stormtroopers coming towards them. The two soldiers seemed to have a rather boring conversation, discussing the fact that it was so dreadfully boring in this place.

"Ya know, man… I thought it would be exiting to be stationed on this rock. 'The home of the Rancors'. It sounded so promising, but the blasted beasts seem to keep to themselves. Don't ya think?" one of them said, obviously bored shitless.

"Are you crazy? I don't even wanna SEE a Rancor up close. I hear that their skin absorbs laser-fire. Gonna need a bloody cannon to put 'em down, and here you are, wishing for them to cause trouble?"

Suddenly, both Stormtroopers felt something slam into the back of their knees, sending them roughly to the floor. The helmet absorbed the impact-damage, but in surprise and reflex, they lost both weapons in order to hold their hands protective in front of them as they hit the floor.

Both helmets were pulled off their heads to stop them from calling for any kind of backup and the rifles were kicked away.

Looking up, they saw seven people gather around them. None of them aiming at them with their weapons, just standing there, looking down at their tackled bodies.

The first Stormtrooper got up and pulled out his survival knife, holding it in front of himself as a last line of defence. But his sense of having a tiny chance washed away as the people around him held small hilts of metal towards him.

His mind froze and he lost all control over his muscles. Lightsabers. Lots of lightsabers. The knife fell out of his hand and hit the floor with a dull 'tink'. Raising his hands in surrender, his buddy followed shortly afterwards.

"Good morning lads. Hope ya don't mind to take a break for a few hours?" the young Zabrak male with the tattoos said and flashed a grin at them. Both Stormtroopers stepped closer to one another. Looking around in their faces, their lives flashed before their eyes. And it didn't seem so interesting at all.

"A…..are you gonna kill us?" the second Stormtrooper asked as his eyes were focused on the black hole in the hilt pointing right at him. To his surprise, the human male with the black hair shook his head. Judging from the way the others lowered their hilts after that action, the knew he was the leader.

"Nope. We don't kill for pleasure. We're just here to rescue life. The two of you don't pose as a threat to us, but I'm afraid the both of you will be rather tied up about this room for a few hours," Random said to them and Selene handed him some bandage to tie their hands.

"Let's keep moving," Kayley said and pulled Random's sleeve. The two Stormtroopers was tied up and sat on the floor, looking at the seven of them with more awe than hate. They had been taught that Jedi Knights killed Stormtroopers on sight. This group somehow didn't.

"Okay… Thanks. Be safe…" the second Stormtroopers said as the group disappeared into the corridor and out of sight.

"Yo. Remember what I said about missing action and stuff?" the first one said.

"…yeah…?"

"I take it back."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was a long walk towards the top levels where the prison cells were located. Passing the old and boring corridors, eaten at by time and lack of care. They had come across a few patrols, but their positions were fairly easy to predict and they always found a place to hide. The troopers did their patrol out of pure habit instead of duty, using the time to walk for sport and talk with other troopers.

For now, it was best not to attract attention from the rest of the base by blasting off at any white uniform they came across. It felt like walking on eggs as they nearly checked the spot on the floor their boots would land. But with the Force, walking silently was much easier.

Finally, they reached the top floors.

And even here, things were pretty quiet. Even more quiet than downstairs. It was close to annoying not to run into some action. Just a few surveillance cameras they had to sneak past and a few troops that never even noticed them. It was almost too easy.

But the peace was short-lived as the door in front of them opened, revealing two Stormtroopers. Both groups was as surprised to see each other. Tween cursed for letting the silence of this place take her guard down. She had become out of focus for only a few seconds, and now she had to deal with the consequences.

The first trooper lifted his weapon, but before he could pull the trigger, Random had grabbed the barrel of the rifle and twisted it out of his grip, using Force-Push to throw him backwards. Slamming into the floor with a thud.

The second saw a green flash of light just in front of him, then he felt the weight if his weapon was reduced by half. Looking with horror behind the helmet, the trooper dropped the weapon that was now cut in half and took a few steps away from the masked Kel Dor who glared at him. Seeing no other way, the two troopers raised their hands in surrender.

"The prison cells….with the Republic pilots…….where are they?" Kayley asked as she and Selene removed their helmets. Both troopers pointed to the door behind them. Too frightened to speak up.

"How many people are in there to guard them?" Random asked and grabbed the closest trooper by the collar of his armour and pulled him close to his face. Trying to act scary, he saw the fear deep inside the trooper's eyes. He had most likely never seen a lightsaber nor a Jedi before.

"Uhm….I……one…one….there is only one……an officer…. a lieutenant…" the trooper stammered and the other nodded in agreement.

"You guys are coming with us…..in case we find out you are lying," Auron said and pressed the hilt of his lightsaber into the other's nose. None of the two dared to argue about that.

The were both shoved towards the door and forced to open it. Revealing a room with a few control panels and several monitors overlooking every cell. And in front of the biggest computer, was a chair with someone sitting there in it with both legs resting on the edge of the panel.

Auron and Phoenix raised their blaster rifles and slowly walked over to the officer. The chair hadn't turned around yet. The others remained at the door while Ryu guarded the corridor outside.

Auron and Phoenix jumped to each side of the chair and aimed at the officer sitting there. The black holes in the barrel of their guns were prepared to blow him to the next world if he tried anything stupid.

But to their surprise, the officer didn't move an inch. Sitting casual in the chair with his black boots resting on the controlpanel in front of him, the officer didn't seem to notice them.

"Hey. Give us the keys to the cellblock, now," Auron said as he looked at the officer from head to toe, trying to read his body language in case he was going to surprise him. But not even then the man moved. Phoenix bent down and looked up under his grey cap and into his face.

"Hello?……Anyone home?" Phoenix said and waved his hand in front of his face. Still no reaction. Only the slow rising of his chest, moving his stomach in and out indicated that he was alive.

"I think this lad is asleep," Phoenix said and stood up as he lifted the officercap on his head and let Auron look at the quiet expressionless face. Auron didn't lower his gun at him, but he had to admit that he expected him to be awake after the noise they had created in the corridor, but this guy was sleeping like a baby.

"Uhm….Random?… This guy's sleeping… What do we do?" Auron said and turned his eyes over to Random who tried to lock the door to the corridor.

"Wake him up," was his reply as Ryu stepped inside the room and closed the door behind it and locked it. Walking up behind the two captured troopers to make sure they didn't caused any trouble.

Phoenix grinned like a child and looked down at the sleeping officer. Putting his hands under the boots still resting on the controls, he lifted them up and caused the officer and the chair to fall backwards and crashing into the floor, instantly waking him up from his dreams.

"Hey what in tarnation is going on here?" he yelped out as he shook off him the surprise. As he was about to get up from the floor, a sudden intense light appeared right in front of his face. At first he thought someone had shot him and that the world froze, allowing him to see his life flash before his eyes. But as his eyes looked down the warm trail of green light. NOW his life flashed before him.

"….Jedis…. Please don't hurt me… I have a wife, kids, popcornmachine and a mutt… Please…" the guard begged to the owner of the lightsaber. Ryu of course, didn't say a word in return.

"Relax, pops… Show us that key ya wearing that will open the cells for us, and we'll spare that life of yers, and yer friends over there. " Phoenix said with a grin and looked down at his frightened face. The Officer nodded and pointed at the keycard hanging down from his right pocket.

"Let's go, R-man," Phoenix said to Random and snatched the keycard.

"Yeah. The rest of you stay here and watch over the prisoners. We'll put them in a nice cosy cell when we're done," Random said to the rest of the group and received a confirming nod from everyone. Next thing he felt was Phoenix grabbing his sleeve and pulled him down the other corridor.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The cellblock was huge. But luckily for Random and Phoenix, most of the doors were partly broken or none-existing. Phoenix started to hum as they walked down the dark corridor, trying to get the moods up again. Not that it helped much.

"You have to do that?" Random asked and looked over to the young Zabrak. Phoenix just grinned and shrugged the question away as he continued to hum. Suddenly Random stopped him and pointed to the door just in front of them. A red light lit the dark wall above it indicating that someone was inside of it. The pilots.

"Oh yeah…. Finally we're getting to rescue something that isn't devoured by anything, eh R-Man?" Phoenix said and nudged his friend. Random just sighed and shook his head. Putting the keycard into the slot next to the door, the metallic surface quickly disappeared.

The inside of the cell was fairly lit up as small bits and pieces of the wall were missing, providing the seven pilots inside with plenty of light in this dark situation. The rain that was now covering this side of the planet easily entered the cracks in the ceiling, making nice little puddles on the cold floor.

Looking at the door, they expected a group of Stormtroopers or maybe a interrogation droid of some kind. Not two young men dressed up like Jedi Knights.

"Thank ya so much for using Jedi Rescue Phone. For just 100 credits an hour, we rescue everything, with or without pulse," Phoenix said and received an elbow in the arm from Random.

"We're sent by the New Republic to get you out of here. Please follow us," Random said and got everyone of the pilots on their feet. They looked like they had been given some rough treatment and no food. Dirty, tired and rugged they reminded Random of themselves.

The pilots didn't believe their eyes as they came back to the controlroom and saw the rest of the rescue group. All Jedis. A Zabrak girl and a Kel Dor male pushed the two captured Stormtroopers and the officer back the way they had just arrived. Figuring the Imperials would be put in their cells for discomfort.

"Are you really Jedi Knights?" one of the pilots asked. To his surprise, all the people shook their heads. But their hope was quickly restored when they said they came from the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. Close enough.

"Okay people. We need to get to the southern hangar now. According to Master Skywalker, there will be some shuttles for us to escape in. Let's move," Random said and opened the door to the corridor again. Checking it for enemies, he signalised to the rest that it was clear.

And with Tween and Ryu back from the cell block, they made a run for it.

The pilots were tired and scared. But they knew that following these young warriors through the base was the safest route. Running between them, with three Jedi in the front and four in the back, they felt at least a tiny spark of security. Enough to drive them on.

It didn't take long before they saw white uniforms around the corners as they ran down the corridor. Hearing someone shout at them, Random knew that their cover was blown. The troopers wasn't in their direction and disappeared too fast for them to shoot them. All they could was keep running, and pray they didn't run into a small army of Stormtroopers.

The sound of the alarm suddenly rang through the complex, mixed with more shouting behind them. But they couldn't stop now and make a stand. It was too late for that now.

Phoenix felt a beam of energy fly past his ear, slamming into the wall next to him with a small black mark on the dull painting. A few inches to the left, and that blast would have hit him between the horn.

Ryu grabbed the young Zabrak and pulled him away from another blast that passed just next to them. Looking over his shoulder, he saw one Stormtrooper kneeling at a corner way behind them, aiming his weapon at them. Activating his lightsaber, Ryu spun around in the air and felt the slight vibration in the hilt as the blast his directly into his blade, sending it back and into the wall.

Next thing he saw was Auron joining him with his blaster rifle, sending a rain of red beams back towards the attackers. He didn't try to hit anyone, knowing that rapid fire never became accurate firing, but it was enough for the troopers to keep their heads low.

Random yelled back at them that they had reached the hangar. Just in time as the other end of the long corridor became a moving mass of white uniforms and red fire. The second everyone was safely inside the empty hangar, Random and Kayley sealed the door and destroyed the mechanism that would open it. It bought them a few minutes, hopefully.

The hangar was gigantic, with only three shuttles stationed there. Everyone scanned their part with their eyes before they could determine the hangar was indeed empty. Kayley broke into a run away from the door and into the closest shuttle with Tween backing her up.

Even the shuttle was empty. Like it was begging someone to fly it. And hearing the call, Kayley went straight behind the controls in the pilotseat. Random came in only seconds after, strapping himself to the chair next to her.

The rest of the group entered the shuttle and found a seat. Straping themselves, they prayed for a safe take-off.

Kayley pressed a few buttons on the dashboard and the alarm in the hangar said the doors would open in a few seconds. Right after that, she activated the rest of the shuttle, hearing the comforting sound of the engines awakening after a long sleep. Feeling the entire shuttle trembled by the force of the engines, she smiled. Turning her head towards Random, she saw that he was smiling back at her. The mission was soon over.

The gigantic metaldoors slowly opened, revealing a rainy Dathomirian jungle. The skies had opened their gates and unleashed a rough rainstorm over the fertile land. Random smiled again, this time to himself as he began to think of his bed back at Yavin 4. How he longed to spend the rest of the day there.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

But his victory was brutally cut off as a gigantic hand grabbed the hangar gate and brutally pulled the whole thing right off the wall. Random and Kayley watched as the newly created opening revealed their old one-eyed Rancor friend. And he had brought reinforces.

Out of the foggy rain, over 20 Rancors marched head-on towards the now open base. Their massive bodies dripping with rain and hate and everyone of them unleashed a roar, shaking the very foundations of the planet. Hands filled with razor-sharp claws prepared themselves for killing and destruction.

"You think he's here to forgive us?" Kayley whispered in a almost squeaky voice. Looking over to Random, he simply shook his head in return.

Random quickly went through the alternatives in his head. Sorting out ideas that were useful and those who were plain madness. And he came down to two conclusion.

If they stayed in the shuttle, the Rancors would rip this ship apart like a ragged piece of meat.

If they left, the Rancors would rip THEM apart.

Random looked out through the window to take the hangar itself in a big view, trying to ignore the Rancors making their way towards them. The hangar was huge, filled with crates in all sizes that could prove useful for cover. If the Rancors didn't smack them away instead of moving around them.

Random un-strapped himself from his seat and opened the door leading to the others. Kayley turned her head towards him with a frightened look on her face.

"Hey where are you going?" she called out for him.

"I'm gonna distract them. Once the Rancors gets away from the opening, get this ship outside and I'll try to get back to you," Random said and opened the door leading back to the hangar. The others all turned in their seats as they looked at him. Looking back at Kayley, they saw the Rancors making their way through the hangar opening, coming right towards them.

Random ran to the right, speeding up by using the Force. He had to get as much space between himself and the ship as possible. Jumping up on top of a few crates, he grabbed his blaster and aimed at the Rancor closest to the ship. He recognized the black hole in the skull. The same Rancor that had followed them last night.

Sending a blast of pure energy towards the creature, he took out his lightsaber and started waving it around to get attention.

The big Rancor felt something annoying burn at the side of its head. Turning to the right, the eye that still existed saw something familiar. The blue light that caused great pain. And the piece of food who blinded it. The feeling of hate returned to its head as it opened its mouth and roared on top of its lungs.

Random felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the Rancor roar at him. It skipped a few more beats as the rest of the Rancors suddenly grew completely quiet and looked in his direction. After the one-eyed had unleashed another roar, the entire pack moved towards him. The entire hangar was filled with the rumbling sound of their growls and their mighty footsteps.

Kayley looked on the scene happening outside the shuttle. One Rancor was bad enough… but 20????? And Random was alone against them. She looked over to him and saw his blaster rifle was on rapid fire, as a rain of blasts rained against their massive bodies, not seeming to have any affect whatsoever.

She wanted to turn this ship around and start blasting at them from behind with the canons mounted on the ship. But that would attract unwanted attention and make his sacrifice a useless one. Leaving the door in the back open, she activated the engines and the ship slowly rose from the floor.

Random heard the click coming from his blaster. No more ammo, meaning he would have to rely on his skills to get out of this mess. Throwing the blaster at the closest Rancor, he grabbed the hilt of his lightsaber and took a huge backflip, landing between the big crates and containers.

Not wasting a second, he ran deeper into the maze of steel boxes, seeing gigantic shadows moving on the surface of the containers all around him. Starting to think that this hadn't been his brightest idea.

Looking up at a corner, a ugly massive head came around and glared down at him. The next thing that happened was the container itself coming right at him, threatening to crush him between it and another crate. Without thinking, Random jumped upwards and landed on top of the moving container, looking at five Rancors attempting to grab him.

"Act on instincts, don't think," Random said to himself as he rolled out of their way and jumped to his feet. Jumping again, he landed on one of their heads, actually feeling the growl under his feet before he jumped again towards a bigger container.

Which was lucky, because the second he jumped away, two other Rancors slammed their fists at him, hitting the third Rancor, starting a big brawl between them.

Random couldn't allow himself to stand still for a split second as he kept running and jumping. He had gotten the Rancors far away from the shuttle like he should. Now it was time to get back. But as he jumped off this new crate, he felt the presence of the one-eyes Rancor again… right below him.

The foaming Rancor slammed its hand into the body and sent him flying over the crates, landing brutally one the floor, knocking the air out of his lungs.

Random's world was about to fade as the enormous pain raced through his chest. Trying to get up, he saw that the one-eyes Rancor and eight others were making their way towards him.

The whole hangar once again trembled under their might. Feeling the floor under his body shook with each of their footsteps. His body cried out, demanding that he would get up and continue to run.

His rescue came in a form he had never expected. From the door he and his friends had come through, a rain of red blasts rained upon the Rancors. Creating confusion in their attack. Lifting his head, he spotted a group of ten Stormtroopers. Every one of them were blasting off towards the Rancor, trying to hold their ground. These creatures could tear this place apart now that they were inside. That was something they couldn't allow.

Whilst the Rancors tried to understand the situation, Random used vital Force energy to heal himself enough for him to get up. Not much of a healing, but it would have to do for now. Forcing himself back on his feet, he continued to run towards the hangar opening leading outside into the rain and to his ticket home.

Running out into the rain, Random thought he had never before been more happy to get the comforting cooling the rain could provide him. The burning pain in his chest started to dim off as his black outfit turned wet. All the more reason to long for a nice day in bed, reading a nice holocron or something. Maybe learn some new secrets about the Force.

He stopped for a second as he noticed he was lost in the fog and the rain. Looking around, all he could see was grey shadows and water passing his vision. He had told Kayley to wait for him outside… had they left him?

Looking around, he suddenly saw something forming in the wall of moist and raindrops, hearing the sound of engines coming all around him. He knew it. They hadn't left him. Smiling to himself he limped towards the shadow, keeping the memory of his bed fresh.

But before he realized his mistake, the shadow emerged out of the fog. It wasn't the shuttle.

The one-eyes Rancor glared down at him. Finally it had him trapped out here where there was no cover. Seeing the tiny dot on the ground moving around like a wounded animal it knew that this time, revenge would prevail. And lunch would be served.

The blue light from that weird metal thing came back. The pain-bringer. Snarling in anger, the Rancor ripped up the ground in front of it, sending a wall of mud, water and dirt right at the food. Causing the blue light to disappear and the food falling to the ground, trying to crawl away.

For maybe the first time in its life, the Rancor actually smiled. The next second, everything went black.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A burning shockwave covered Random as he was crawling on the wet ground. The sound of bones being crushed and meat being burned to ashes followed the huge explosions that took place just above him. He suddenly felt the ground right behind him being crushed under the mighty weight of the Rancor, knowing the foot mush be mere inches away from him. At least he would fight to the end, he thought and rolled around onto his back with the lightsaber back online to make a last stand.

But there was nothing looking down at him. But by looking down at his feet he saw the Rancor one the wet ground… with the massive head nothing more than a smoking crater on the gigantic body. Chunks of fried meat and bloody pieces lay all over the place. It was dead.

The wind around him suddenly grew stronger as the sound of the engines came closer. Looking up towards the raining sky, he saw the shuttle lowering itself towards him, the mainguns glowing at the tip of the barrel.

Kayley had returned and saved his life just in time. Facing her fears and terminated it.

Seeing Ryu coming down for him, hanging from a rope, he couldn't help but to smile. It was over. Feeling the darkness taking over, he closed his eyes as he felt Ryu's three-fingered hand grab him and held him close for being dragged back into the shuttle.

When he opened them again, he was laying on one of the beds in the shuttle, Selene sitting bend over him, taking care of his wounds. Another one from the group of rescued pilots sat on the other side of the bed, working with Selene. Phoenix stood behind them and glared at Random. His yellow eyes piercing him through the bones.

"Listen up, R-Man….. the next time ya rush yer dumb nut into another crazy-arse suicide attack like that…… the least ya could do was to invite me along, savvy?…"Phoenix said and grinned like a kid down at his leader.

The pilot attending to him pushed Phoenix gently away before Random could say anything else.

"Thank you all for coming to our rescue. Those Imperials would have beaten the information out of us with those nasty interrogation droids. The New Republic will surely send you a reward for this," he said. The rest of the pilots nodded in agreement and could for once feel the comfort in a soft seat, inviting them all to a trouble-free sleep.

"A vacation would be nice……" Random said before his eyes closed again. Selene covered his beaten body with a warm blanket and put a wet, cooling cloth over his forehead, telling him to get some sleep.

The warmth was so overwhelming to his nearly broken body. The biting aching slipped through the fabric of the blanked. Feeling his body loosen up, drifting into a comfortable sleep, surrounded by a gentle darkness that embraced him and kept him safe as the shuttle jumped into hyperspace.

On the way back to Yavin 4. Towards home.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That's it for another chapter, but fear not. A new chapter is under construction as soon as I have the time. But a little sad news I have. From now on, suggestions for missions won't be fulfilled unless they REALLY get my attention. Right now I sit on so many suggestions that I fear that I'm over my head in them.

And last, but not least, here is a feedback to my faithful reviewers. The very oil that keeps the machinery inside my head going.

Wrrohm: Thank ya so much for a nice review. I know that school is always against us authors, but that's life. No escapable route to take that doesn't take ya to yer doom. Sad really.

Tinuviel Undomiel: Sorry they never met the Force Witches, but maybe if they are unlucky, they will get the chance to meet them in a later chapter. Next chapter will have Jan and Kyle, so keep yer ears open.

Seriyu-the-ice-dragon: I think Korriban is still around. Lot's of burial places fro Siths… How nice a visit would that be? Maybe they visit it someday… who knows? I KNOW!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The password is password: The thought have passed me mind more than once. And I have a feeling that it will become real soon enough. Just sit down and wait.

Shanesnest: The man himself. Thank you so much for liking these characters. And I trust ya had a nice experience with this chapter. Bet ya thought the ending would be nice and quiet… No serrie. I had to bring the Rancor back. I just love to cause trouble for them when they least expect it.

Omeganian: Yes, If ya read this, then I can be delighted to tell ya that Rosh will appear in the next chapter. He was highly annoying in the game, and I ain't saying if he's changed now or not. Time will tell.

Shalashaska-001: Nope, he came back to teach them a final lesson. And I'm so glad to hear that you are planning to return to the author business. Way to go.

Snackfiend101: Reviews like this always warms an old heart. Thank you so much, but don't underestimate yerself. But to your question, yes I have considered a beta-reader, but I don't know who to give the mission to. Do you feel up for it? If the answer is yes, send me a mail.

Ultimate-Vader-Fan: I think both Ryu and Phoenix love ya as well. But since Ryu is on his way to fall for Tween, I think Phoenix will fall for YOU. But I have a feeling that ya won't mind that. Heh heh. But I'm glad ya liked the two of them. I'm proud of them meself. Soon, they will have a mission for their own. Stay tuned for that.

Metalmorph: You idea for a mission is proving most interesting, and it shall be done. As for the new lightsaber styles, they will come. They don't give double-bladed lightsabers to rookies, ya know. As for our fave Sith (next to Darth Vader) his name is Darth Maul… Not Dart Mole.
Knight2 is da best: Funny name ya have selected, but no complaining. Your idea of a mission is interesting, and possibly the next mission after a nice few days at the Academy. But don't expect it to happen just the way ya said, cause I find it a little lack-of-details, if ya know what I mean. And to start kissing in a situation like that is soooo Hollywood. I want something original. I want it my way.

Dark Master: Your idea of a mission is basically the same as a inch above this line. It's a good idea, no doubts of that, but a bit vague for my taste. I don't want the kissing scene to come just like that. Love needs time. But I won't let ya down, boy. Just stay with the story and you will be rewarded.

PS: Thanks for saying this story kicked Harry Potter's ass. That means I'm really getting better in the author business.

The Dark Lord Revan: Thank you for the review. Hope this Rancor fight proved to be worthy of yer attention. And if the feeling of loving someone is the path to the dark side, then call me a Sith right away.

Peace out, my friends. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.