Chapter 9 A Deadly Game

Hearing a familiar voice behind him, Bail froze. For a moment, he did not want to turn and face the voice behind him for fear the voice was just his mind playing tricks on him. When the voice repeated his name for the second time, a faint glimmer of hope stirred inside him and he slowly turned his head. Coming toward him was the boy he had grown very fond of in spite of himself; several paces behind him, was the dark-haired apprentice of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Boba cradled one arm in the other and Bail saw the now- bloody bandage wrapped around his upper arm, his companion was limping. Master Kenobi was nowhere in sight. Knowing how Boba would react, he controlled his desire to embrace the boy and stood up slowly, "Thank the Maker; I thought you were all buried here." He exclaimed. "But you are hurt, Boba."

"What? Oh, it's nothing; Chancellor, we have to get back…." Boba started to reply.

"No, look at it; you are bleeding." The Chancellor persisted.

"Umm…I know and I'd really rather not look at it." Boba told him.

"Where is Master Kenobi?" Bail requested.

"There were hunters up on the Heights. I guess they didn't want us snooping around up there." Boba informed him. "Master Kenobi is still up there, we have to help him."

Bail breathed a sigh of relief, "You mean he is not buried here either?" He asked.

"No, he's still up on the summit." Boba said, "Now, come on."

"Did you come down the other side?" Bail asked.

"Yes sir, there's a tunnel up there…it's a long story and we don't have time to explain it all right now." Zak answered, "Master Obi-Wan needs help now."

"Alright; however, the two of you will remain here." Bail replied.

"Why?" Boba asked.

"Why? Because you are injured, Boba, and Zak is limping. Both of you will remain here." Bail insisted.

"I don't think so, Chancellor; we came down to bring help to my master, not to send help to him." Zak said.

"No, I will not allow it." Bail answered as he moved past them; the Clones followed dutifully.

"If you don't take us with you then we will just follow you up there." Boba threatened.

The Chancellor stopped and turned back to him, "What?" He asked.

"You heard me; we aren't staying down here." Boba told him.

"I do not believe this; now I understand how Master Kenobi felt. Very well, however, you will have your arm tended to before we climb." The Chancellor conceded. "And later, we will have a discussion concerning dissention."

"Fine, lecture me all you want after we help Master Kenobi." Boba said.

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Obi-Wan sat behind his rock shelter; a bloody crease along his cheek marked the place where the sniper's slug had grazed him before hitting the rocks behind him. He had been incredibly lucky that the slug had not hit him fully in the face; on the other hand, he thought he had missed his target entirely, which was incredibly unlucky.

It was quiet now, and Obi-Wan knew that the sniper was just waiting for him to show himself again; however, he did not intend to give the sniper another opportunity to take a shot at him. He knew also that very soon the sniper would come down to see why; Obi-Wan knew he was running out of time. Anakin had connected with him again; concerned for him, but Obi-Wan suppressed his thoughts and convinced his brother that he had things well in hand. The last thing he wanted was for Anakin to abandon his wife at a time when she needed him the most for something that would be resolved one way or the other before he even arrived. He looked toward the open expanse that his apprentice and the young bounty hunter had crossed little more than an hour ago. The moonlight clearly showed their footprints leading to the path that led down. If anything, at least they had gotten away with some of the evidence they had found in the cave. His Force sense alerted him to the danger before his ears did. Stifling a groan as his stiffened body protested, he shifted into a crouch, dropped the crude slug thrower and pulled forth his own more familiar weapon. Obi-Wan waited until he could sense that his assailant was almost on top of him before he ignited his lightsaber. The barrel of a slug thrower moved into view just beyond the rock where Obi-Wan crouched; waiting, weapon up, ready to strike. Obi-Wan waited as barrel drew a little closer before rising from his position, bringing his blade up and slicing through the slug thrower's barrel. It fell to the ground, its end still hot, melting the snow where it hit. Obi-Wan's startled attacker reacted quickly by throwing the remainder of the damaged weapon at him. With a flick of his lightsaber, Obi-Wan sliced it into two more smoldering parts and then held his weapon before him, "Now, you are going to tell me what in blazes is going on." He demanded.

The man laughed, "Haven't you figured it out yet, Jedi?" He asked mockingly.

"I know that you are poaching up here; but what I do not understand is why you are willing to kill to prevent anyone from finding out. The profits cannot possibly be big enough to rationalize murder." Obi-Wan answered.

"Unbelievable; and I thought the Jedi were supposed to be smart." The man laughed. "This has never been about poaching; not really."

"No, it's about the hunt, isn't it; the challenge of killing something with a primitive weapon." Obi-Wan surmised.

"Well, now you're getting somewhere." The man replied.

"So you would murder to protect your hunt?" Obi-Wan questioned.

The man shook his head, "Maybe that nasty little fall addled your brain; think about it, Jedi, and maybe the right answer will come to you." He said.

"You cannot mean that we have become part of your hunt?" Obi-Wan guessed.

"Ah, maybe you're not as stupid as I thought. More specifically you; the boys were just an annoyance really, although they came in handy a couple of times." The man added.

"So it's been me you have been after all this time?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Well, since your young student found our last catch, yes." The man answered, "We realized that hunting a Jedi would be the ultimate challenge; we were a little disappointed when it looked as if we had eliminated you so easily by shooting you off the cliff face. Then, of course, we had to get rid of those two pests that were with you; but then you got right back into it. You even managed to survive that second attack when we tried to blow up the cave and after you took out Gibbon, we knew we had a real challenge on our hands."

"So this has all been a big game to you." Obi-Wan said.

"I guess you could put it that way." The man answered.

"But you killed one of your own players." Obi-Wan replied.

"That was necessary; he got himself caught." The man told him.

"I rather doubt he would agree with you." Obi-Wan argued.

"He knew the rules going in and he knew it was risky to enter the playing field." The man replied and then smiled, "He took a chance just as I have."

"What?"

"You have taken me out just like you took out Gibbon. The game is finished for me." The man said. "Now, I will be eliminated just like he was."

"Eliminated? By one of the other players?" Obi-Wan asked.

"No, that would be strictly against the rules; that's the keeper's job." The man answered, "Otherwise we would all be eliminating each other so there would be less competition for the quarry."

"Who is your keeper?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Ha, ha; you have got to be kidding. I can't tell you that, it would be against the rules, you see; and don't ask me how many players there are because I can't tell you that either." The man replied.

Well, I know there were at least two of you until your keeper killed one of them." Obi-Wan said.

"Alright, I'll give a little help here; there were three. Me, Gibbon and the one who took you off the ledge." The man informed him.

"Gibbon must not have wanted a challenge then; he didn't have one of your slug throwers." Obi-Wan decided.

"He never liked them; he is…er…was always partial to explosions. He hunted the chyrax with us, but he never used a slug thrower; but he did favor a crossbow. I'm rather surprised he didn't choose that weapon for this hunt. That might have made the game a little more interesting." The man answered.

"So when is your keeper going to come to eliminate you?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Oh well, that could be any time really; it's up to his discretion. See, that's the fun part of the hunt for him." Then man explained. "This is not a normal hunt, Jedi; we had to make certain additions to the regular rules. Normally, the keeper gets to hunt too; but for this one, we thought it best if he just sat out and watched us. If one of us was taken out by you, then that one would have to be taken care of; in order for him to get some satisfaction out of this, he gets to choose when and how. Normally, he would just make sure we all followed the other rules."

"You're twisted; you are all twisted." Obi-Wan stated.

The man smiled, "Well, enough talk; I'm dead already, I might just as well go out in style. The man said, reaching for an obvious second weapon, "At least you know if the keeper eliminates me before you get a chance to, he will not come after you; he's not allowed."

"I warned your friend, Gibbon; and I will warn you, don't try it." Obi-Wan told him, holding his weapon defensively before him.

"I told you, Jedi, I'm finished one way or the other; I'd rather go out in a blaze of glory." The man replied, whipping a pocket slug thrower from inside his jacket and firing.

Obi-Wan's reaction was perfectly timed as he moved his blade to deflect the slug. The lightsaber did little more than slow the projectile down, however; and as Obi-Wan brought his weapon up to strike his attacker, the slug hit him in the side. The man went down when Obi-Wan took his arm off at the shoulder, and Obi-Wan dropped to his knees, clutching his side with one hand and his weapon in the other, "I warned you; why did you do make me do that?" He asked.

The man grimaced in pain and then managed to smile, "Blaze of glory, Jedi." He said, "I got you…more than…Gibbon…managed…to do."

Obi-Wan sensed someone else approaching and scrambled for the slug thrower the man had dropped.

"Don't bother, Jedi; I'm not here for you." A man said, appearing from the shadows. "Well, Barclay, I see you marked him anyway. But you know the rules." He brought his weapon up.

"Yes…well, I…bested…Gibbon, anyway." Barclay replied.

"Oh yes; you did that alright." The keeper acknowledged, "But it is over for you; you do know that."

Obi-Wan inched closer to the discarded weapon.

"Of course….I did….agree…..just like….every…one else." Barclay answered.

Obi-Wan reached for the weapon and the keeper stomped on his hand, "Now, don't be doing that." The keeper said, "You're not supposed to shoot the keeper."

With one hand now pinned beneath the keeper's boot, Obi-Wan brought his lightsaber up; the keeper knocked it away with the butt of his weapon, "I see I will have to teach you the rules." He said as he struck Obi-Wan in the face with it.

Obi-Wan's vision blurred; he could vaguely make out the face of the keeper leaning over him, "Killing the keeper is not allowed, but don't worry, Jedi; it would not be very challenging to kill you when you can't fight back. The hunt will be suspended until you recover your wits." He said and then he laughed, "But it's far from over."

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"Come on; we don't have time for this." Boba said impatiently as one of the Clones was rewrapping his arm.

"I have already sent some of the Clones on ahead with Zak. I told you that you could not come until you arm was treated; you can wait." Bail replied. "I still do not understand why I agreed to allow you to come in the first place; the Queen will be furious."

"What does she care?" Boba asked cynically.

"In case you have not noticed, Boba, she has taken to you." Bail answered, "She would like…" He did not finish.

"Yeah, I know ; she wants to be like my mother. I don't need a mother, Chancellor." Boba told him.

"Don't you?" Bail asked.

Boba looked at the ground, "I don't know…anymore." He admitted.

"All finished, sir." The Clone announced as he secured the end of the bandage.

"Great, thanks…uh…could you uh…I'd rather not see those other…uh bandages; could you…umm…pick them up for me?" Boba stammered, turning his head as the Clone bent down to retrieve the bandages he had removed, "Are they gone?"

The Clone stashed them under the seat of the speeder, "Out of sight, Boba." He assured him.

"Good, thanks; now, let's get going." Boba said.

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Zak led the Clones up the path, as they air turned cold, he fastened his coat and pulled out his master's breather. He moved as quickly as he could, ignoring the burning muscles in his right leg. Within twenty minutes, they had reached the summit; the lead Clone pulled him back and several Clones entered the open expanse ahead of him.

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The keeper had gathered his hunters together to wait until Obi-Wan regained consciousness so the hunt could begin again. With the appearance of the Clones, the decision was made to postpone the hunt until it was safe to resume. They were interested in the challenge of the hunt; they did not want to fight the Clones. They withdrew to their safe haven to wait.

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Shielded by the Clones, Zak directed them to the rocky mound where they had sought shelter from the shooting and where he and Boba had left his master. They came upon first the arm and then the body of the unlucky Barclay. While one of the Clones knelt to examine him, Zak's eyes shifted to another body lying nearby, "Here; Master Obi-Wan is here." He called out as he moved quickly to his master's side.