Me: I'm hoping to make this a big update to make up for my laziness and lack of updates in the last few months.
Disclaimer: SW does not belong to me.
Chapter IV
Rhedyn and Nomulus circled each other like a pair of fighting animals. Dalthor stood three steps to the right of Nomulus and was slowing circling behind the woman, waiting for his chance to attack. Rhedyn watched both of the men, her cool blue eyes calculating and evaluating her opponents, waiting for the right moment to attack, or at least waiting for one of them to make the first move.
Security guards had arrived minutes ago, but they too had become interested in the outcome of this fight. It didn't seem fair. The young woman was out numbered. How would she defend herself against two men who were both twice her size? This would be an interesting fight indeed.
The three bounty-hunters circled each other, uncaring that the nightclub goers were crowding around them, jostling for the best view. Nomulus and Dalthor closed in around Rhedyn from either side, fists raised. Rhedyn's blue eyes flickered between the two male bounty hunters. She focused more on Dalthor and pretended not to see Nomulus sneaking up from behind.
Nomulus saw Dalthor smirk over Rheydn's shoulder as he teased and taunted the woman, then while he thought she was distracted, Nomulus went to grab her form behind but she gracefully stepped under his arms at the last second.
"Tsk, tsk. You should know better than that Nomulus" she said playfully as she shook her finger at the bounty hunter, while the crowd booed her around them.
"Seems you're not the favorite of this fight, Rheydn. Give up before you embarrass yourself" Nomulus replied and gestured to the people around them and then at her.
Rhedyn smiled politely in return, then jumped and launched herself at the Nautolan with a kick. Nomulus grabbed her leg mid-flight and swung her around before releasing her. Rheydn gasped in surprise as she went flying through the air only to be caught by Dalthor, who wrapped his arms around her lithe form, effectively capturing her. She struggled against him but he was built like a tank and his thick arms refused to budge.
"Well that didn't take long. I guess you weren't as good as you thought you were" Nomulus sneered and ran a finger along the side of her face. Rhedyn sneered right back and hissed at him, then while he wasn't paying attention, she bit his finger as it strayed too close. The Nautolan yelped in pain, and then slapped her hard across the face.
"Insolent bitch!" he hissed at her, blackness swirled in his eyes again. He grabbed a knife out of his leather boot and Dalthor tightened his grip. Nomulus seized a handful of Rhedyn's white hair and yanked her head back onto his companion's chest, the knife going into place at her exposed throat. The woman stared defiantly back at him. Her lip stung where he had cut it opened with the ring on his finger and her cheek was beginning to bruise, she could feel it.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the security guards begin to converge on them having realized what Nomulus was going to do. In the blink of an eye, the woman kicked the Nautolan's arm away from her, and then threw her head back into Dalthor's face. The giant grunted in pain, his hold on her loosened and she easily escaped. She parried more of Nomulus's knife attacks before kicking him square in the chest and then in head with her steel-capped boots. Nomulus was kicked right into the first line of spectators who immediately pushed him straight back in, cheering and shouting leering and sexist comments at Rhedyn.
The woman smiled politely again, that smile was beginning to get to him, and before either Dalthor or himself could stop her, Rhedyn had leapt up on the railing of the steel catwalk above that was free of people, except for a cloaked person hiding craftily in the shadows.
"You coward, you're running" Dalthor's rasping voice followed after her.
"She who runs away can earn the bounty another day!" Rhedyn shouted over the angry yells of the crowd. She bowed theatrically to both Dalthor and Nomulus before jumping off the railing and came face to face with a person hidden under a cloak.
"The greatest enemy is not the one who is the most powerful…." a voice spoke from the depths of the hood.
"But the one that is powerful and will never give up" Shekla finished quickly, her eyes scanning the catwalk for spies or people approaching them.
"There is a small abandoned stall a few streets away. Left, right, and then left again. Meet me there, Jedi" and with that said, the person disappeared through a doorway and into the night.
Blaster fire erupted around Shekla and she quickly ducked behind a stack of crates. She saw people screaming and rushing towards the exits. The Padawan quickly recognized Master Windu and her Master fighting the crushing crowd to get to her. Shekla was unarmed. She'd left her weapons belt on the floor and since her skin-tight outfit couldn't conceal a lightsaber, her Master had hidden hers in his jacket. Blaster fire continued to rain destruction around her and the attacker was on the catwalk opposite her and there was nothing Shekla could do to defend herself.
A blaster bolt hit one of the thin metal wires holding the catwalk up and it narrowly missed Shekla as it whipped past her. The whole catwalk began to jerk and shake as her unknown attacker continued to sever the wires holding up the catwalk, then suddenly the whole thing, or at least Shekla' s part, became too heavy for some of the remaining wires to support, and so the young Jedi Padawan's world tilted dramatically. Shekla quickly grabbed a hold of a railing and watched in dismay as her cover tumbled off the catwalk and smashed on the floor, leaving Shekla completely exposed.
Kit watched as Shekla hung from the railing of the half collapsed catwalk and saw the attacker on the opposite catwalk take aim at her defenseless form. They were covered in silver and blue armor from head to toe and an assortment of weapons could be seen on various parts of the armor.
Kit and Mace force leapt and landed on either side of the person, drawing their lightsabers as they landed. The Nautolan Jedi savagely kicked the attacker's gun hand, sending the blaster skidding across the metal mesh floor and over the edge of the catwalk. The person dropped to the ground and kicked out at Kit's feet, knocking the amphibious Jedi over.
"No offence Jedi, but your acting skills are terrible. I could smell the training on you as soon as you walked in the door. A true bounty hunter like me wouldn't squabble with rivals in public" a male voice said from inside their helmet. Mace lunged at the bounty hunter only to have his hands tied together by grappling wire.
"Kit go help your Padawan, I can handle things here!" Mace yelled and attacked the bounty hunter again.
Kit nodded and disengaged his lightsaber before somersaulting up onto an overhead steel beam and running across it to help Shekla.
Shekla's fingers were sweaty and slipping on the metal railing. She was concentrating hard on finding the Force and using it to propel her up over the railing and onto a safe part of the catwalk, but the harder she concentrated, the less Force the young padawan could feel.
As the metal catwalk creaked and groaned around her, Shekla summoned all the strength and Force she could find and leapt…..
…….just as the few remaining wires holding her part of the catwalk gave way and crashed to the floor, created a twisted mass of sharp, deadly spikes rising up from the heap.
Shekla's jump landed just short of where she'd aimed and she quickly had to grab the end of the safe catwalk so she didn't fall, the end that had broken off from her part of the catwalk resulting in jagged pieces of metal being Shekla's only choice of handholds.
Shekla struggled to hold onto the piece of metal but it was biting into her hand and caused her a great deal of pain. She accepted the pain as a message from her body telling her that she was injured, like she'd been taught to do, and tried to think of a way out, instead of the blood running down her arm. She looked across to the other side of the room to see Master Windu battling with the bounty hunter but she couldn't see her master anywhere.
"Hang in there Shekla, I'm coming to get you!" Kit yelled and Shekla looked up to see Kit jump off the end on the beam and run along the catwalk towards her. He dived onto his stomach at the edge, grabbed the back of her tunic and lifted her carefully up onto the catwalk.
"No pun intended, padawan" he added, smiling when Shekla was safely sitting next to him. His smiling waned when he saw the bad state she was.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you, Shekla" he whispered gently touching her bruised cheek.
"That's okay, Master, I shouldn't have bitten you." Kit took Shekla's lightsaber from inside his jacket pocket and placed it in her uninjured hand.
"Did you make contact with the informant?" Kit asked as his disguise faded and he once again wore the outfit of a Jedi.
"Yes. I have to meet them at another destination" the padawan replied.
"When?" Kit tore a strip of material off his tunic and tenderly wrapped it around Shekla's hand. Even though he was being as gentle as possible, Shekla still winced slightly as he tied the ends together.
"ASAP." Kit's face grew more serious.
'We'll help Master Windu, then we'll go together okay" Shekla nodded.
The Master/Padawan team turned just in time to see Mace jump off the catwalk to avoid being grilled alive by the bounty hunter's flame projector. Kit then watched as the faceless man disappeared through another doorway and into the night.
"Kit, Shekla, how are you up there?" Mace called to the catwalk.
"Shekla's cut her hand and has a few bruises, but it's nothing a med droid can't handle" Kit called back.
"What about the informant?"
"I have to meet them at another destination" Shekla replied as her master leapt over the railing and landed next to the other Jedi and untied his hands.
"Well done, Shekla" Mace said as he massaged his wrists, his own disguise as Dalthor melted away.
Kit felt a stab of guilt. Shekla had done a good job that night, she'd even been injured while doing her duty, and he hadn't even thanked or congratulated her. The young girl sensed what he was feeling through their bond and sent him a 'don't worry about it' smile.
The sound of something rolling towards them had the two Masters igniting their lightsabers in seconds. Two destroyer droids rolled through the main nightclub door, navigating around debris before righting themselves.
"Shekla GO! The informant won't wait forever. Master Windu and I will catch up to you! Go!" Kit yelled to his padawan as he and Mace started deflecting the first of the droid's fire.
Shekla took one look at the Jedi Masters deflecting blaster bolts below her, before dashing out the same door the informant had used.
Shekla exited the building from a second story fire escape. The storm was still raging, but she pushed any fear she had to the back of her mind and followed the directions the cloaked informant had given her.
The young padawan ran down the street not making a sound even as the mud splashed up her boots and pants. Rain stung her face and drenched her clothes. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed but Shekla ignored it all as she ran. She turned left at an intersection then right at another and finally left into a side alley. She used her lightsaber as a light source and held it aloft trying to see. It was a dead end but hidden away, nestled between pots and wooden crates, was a tiny stall.
She approached the stall, senses tuned to anything that might indicate a trap. The cloaked person came out of the stall, a lantern glowing dimly in the gloom, then disappeared back into the tiny space. Shekla took a deep breath and followed.
Once inside the stall, Shekla saw that it extended back into the building behind it. She disengaged her lightsaber but kept it in her hand incase of an emergency. The cloaked person lit another lantern and placed on a rickety wooden table. Shekla closed the door behind her.
"There are people who don't want me talking to you Jedi, so I must be quick. Rattatak is a harsh planet and only the strong survive. The Republic has had very little influence or interest in its people or what goes on here. Therefore Rattatak has become a haven for outlaws and people with illegal plans. Gladiatorial games have been a part of this planet's history since as far back as anyone can remember, but now our government is hearing rumors about other things. Things more dangerous than just gladiator games." The figure had been pacing back and forward, talking quickly while Shekla kept ever vigilant to any disturbances.
"What kind of things?" Shekla prompted.
"There is a gladiator training camp hidden deep in the mountains to the north. We believed it was destroyed a decade ago in a freak accident, but apparently someone has re-commissioned it. Children are being kidnapped and never seen or heard of again. Not just here, but all over the planet. And then there is this storm. Sure we have the occasional storm, but never this bad. It seems like its feeding off the fear of the people. The more they fear, the more powerful it gets. I and a few other people believe that these things are all connected and that is why I asked for you Jedi to come to Rattatak" the person stopped pacing and faced Shekla.
"Why doesn't your government look into this?" She asked.
"Our government is full of weak people who easily give in to threats and bribes" the figure spat. "There is no honor in those people. They care little about the fates of the stolen children or the worries of the natives. Truth is the gladiatorial businesses have them wrapped around their little fingers. No, there is very little we can do."
"What about the bounty hunter that believed to be responsible for the deaths of Republican senators and political figure, not to mention the act on a Jedi's life?"
"There are many bounty hunters on this planet; I wouldn't know where to start telling you about them. I can tell you that it wasn't the man who was in the club tonight. This bounty hunter most probably has something to do with the gladiatorial business. Although its nearly impossible since all but a few gladiators survive, there is the chance that the bounty hunter may have been a gladiator at some point and changed their vocation."
"What about this re-commissioned training camp?"
"It is like no other. Usually a person can walk straight into the camp, but this camp has security everywhere. We've sent people on scouting missions. None have come back. Although one person did manage to send back information via a comlink. It was a picture of a thick steel wall with a password lock. Whoever is operating that camp doesn't want anyone to know their business. We tried to bribes someone to try and find out the password but…" Shekla held her hand up, her senses tingling and the informant went quiet immediately.
"What is it" they asked, fear lacing their voice. Shekla turned, her blue lightsaber blossoming in her hand, just as the flimsy wooden door shattered into a million pieces. Standing in the doorway, blaster raised was the bounty hunter her Master and Windu had fought.
Shekla took a defencive position in front of the informant and deflected blaster bolt after bolt back at the bounty hunter, while at the same time calling out to her master through their link.
All exhaustion disappeared from her muscles as she felt the Force flow through her. The padawan's lightsaber hummed and sang as Shekla fought and defended against the attacker. She doubled her efforts as the bounty hunter drew a second blaster out of his holster.
The hunter's blaster bolts were everywhere and so was Shekla's lightsaber. But despite her best efforts, Shekla missed one bolt. She looked over her shoulder just as the informant was hit. Their body was thrown against the mud brick wall and Shekla watched as they slowly slid down to the floor.
The padawan tuned back to the bounty hunter to see them wave at her before igniting their jet pack and disappearing.
The feelings of defeat and failure assaulted Shekla as she ran to the side of the informant, her bounty hunter disguise falling away. She was once again the thirteen year old padawan of Kit Fisto, who at his very moment had to watch the life drain out of the person she had just strived and failed to protect.
The informant's hood had fallen off when they'd been thrown and Shekla was surprised to see a woman in her early forties looking back at her. The woman had shoulder length white hair with a few strands of grey beginning to emerge and although the woman's eyes had dulled with age, they were unmistakably amethyst.
"Please," the woman grabbed Shekla's wrist in a tight grip. "Please…find my babies. Please find them" she whispered, two tears running down her cheek. Shekla nodded, swallowing back her own tears and watched as the final dregs of life drained out of the worried mother.
Kit and Mace had just finished fighting and the two destroyer droids lay in a pile of scrap metal amongst the rest of the debris, when the Nautolan Jedi felt his padawan calling for him.
"Shekla" he whispered and took off out of the nightclub, Mace Windu not far behind. The masters followed Shekla's Force signal and felt her determination. Then both men felt the young girl's feeling of failure and defeat wash over them and they increased their efforts to reach her. The two arrived just in time to see the bounty hunter they'd fought earlier lift off and fly into the night with his jet pack.
Kit burst through the wreaked door, concern for his padawan written all over his features. He and Mace were relieved to see the girl alive and watched as she gently closed the eyes of a woman who must have been their informant and pried the woman's hand from her wrist.
Mace crouched down next to the fallen woman and checked her pulse, shaking his head afterwards. Shekla stood up, still looking at them woman, then turned to her Master.
"I tried Master, but I missed one" Shekla said quietly, referring to the blaster bolt she'd failed to deflect.
"It's alright Shekla. You did your best. No one will blame you for what has happened" Kit replied. He went to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Shekla just shrugged it off and walked over to lean on the edge of the table. To Kit, his padawan's whole demeanor seemed to say that 'well my best wasn't good enough'.
"I'll make contact with the authorities" Mace said and walked outside, comlink in hand, leaving the Master/Padawan team alone.
The Nautolan Jedi rested against the same table as Shekla and watched his padawan. Her small body was shaking, and she took several deep breaths to calm herself, knowing he was watching. Kit put his arm around her, and pulled her into a fierce hug. This time Shekla didn't resist.
"Who is she, Master?" the padawan whispered and Kit looked at the informant closely for the first time.
"I'm not sure, Shekla" Kit answered, slightly astonished by the similarities he could see between the dead woman and his Padawan. Shekla on the other hand just accepted his answer.
"As soon as we get back to our quarters, you're going straight to bed" Kit said stepping back from the embrace. Shekla just nodded, the weight of the whole day crashing down upon her tired body. She swayed gently and felt Kit's arms catch her as she slipped into unconsciousness.
Me: I'm so glad I got that out now. Next chapter is already in planning stages.
If your wondering how the Jedi were able to disguise themselves, well I made up (at least I think I did) a device that has no name but it allows the user to outwardly project another disguise eg a bounty hunter.
Any problems or questions email or leave a review.
I hoped you liked it,
Luineraugwen the Dark Elf