Chapter 13 Viral and Tyrien

Anakin and the troopers continued to push toward the bunker where they believed Boba was being held. Behind them lay the bodies of half a dozen vornskrs cut down by blaster and lightsaber as they attempted to kill the Force sensitive Anakin. As he beheaded the last one, Anakin began to worry anew about Obi-Wan and Zak, hoping that if they had been attacked, they had been able to fight the animals off and get away. Without the ability to access the Force, Anakin had no way of knowing if they were even still….NO, he must not even think such a thing. He quickened his pace, wanting; needing to know that they were alright.

----------

Tyrien grabbed a light, took the lift down to the sublevel and headed for Boba's cell; he triggered the door and looked in. Boba lay on the floor where he had left him except that he had turn on his side with his head facing the wall and his legs were drawn up against his chest. He moved into the cell and nudged the boy in the back with his boot, "Hey, kid; are you still with us?" He asked shining the light on Boba's face.

Boba moaned and brought his hands up to cover his eyes, "What…now?" He whispered hoarsely, "Is…it…time?"

"No, not yet; I just wanted to make sure you hadn't gone off on us before we were ready for you to." Tyrien said.

"Then go…away…and…leave me…alone." Boba replied.

"Don't worry, kid; it'll soon be all over." Tyrien assured him.

"Yeah…I know." Boba mumbled as the door slid shut.

Tyrien smiled as he walked to the other end of the corridor and triggered the door to Zak's cell.

Zak was still standing chained against the back wall; his was down and his chin was resting on his chest. Tyrien stood in the doorway for a moment, shining the light toward Zak, waiting for him to look up; when he didn't, Tyrien moved toward him. He had only gone a few steps when Zak lifted his head and squinted against the sudden brightness, "Master?" He asked.

Tyrien gave a short laugh, "Not hardly, kid." He answered.

"So it's over then." Zak replied resignedly.

"No, I haven't heard anything yet; I just thought I'd come down to see how you were doing." Tyrien told him.

"Well, now that you have, you can go away." Zak said.

Tyrien laughed again, "I don't think you're in any position to be telling me what to do." He replied moving a little closer and aiming the light straight at Zak's face.

Zak squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head to the left trying to avoid the intensity of it, "Alright, you've made me squirm; are you satisfied." He asked.

"For now." Tyrien replied and then fingered the braid that extended just below Zak's right ear, "Say, what's this?"

"Why do you care?" Zak asked, as he attempted to turn his head the other way so that Tyrien would release it.

"I'm curious; it must have some meaning." Tyrien answered, pushing Zak head back to the left.

Zak sighed and lowered his head, "It does; it's a sign of rank." He told him.

"Oh, I see; what, because you're a student?" Tyrien asked.

"Because I'm an apprentice, yes; now please, let go of it." Zak requested.

Tyrien grinned and tugged on it, "Alright, alright; don't be so touchy." He said and then patted Zak's face, "You probably won't be an apprentice for much longer anyway, because your master will be dead."

"It isn't over yet, Tyrien; you underestimate Master Kenobi." Zak replied.

"We'll see, kid; we'll see." Tyrien answered and then turned and left the cell, triggering the door behind him.

Zak breathed a sigh of relief; for a few minutes, he thought Tyrien would cut his braid off. Then he thought about his master and about Boba, probably imprisoned down here somewhere with him; how were they doing? And where was Master Anakin?

----------

Viral set the ship down easily beside the bunker. Finally, the time had come for him to put his plans in action. He picked out two blasters from his store and left the ship. He walked up to the door of the bunker and hit the door control. The door slid open and he entered the bunker cautiously and glanced around. He noticed two lightsabers lying on a console but the room was unoccupied, "No problem, I'll just have a little look around and then wait for you." He said aloud. He crossed the room to the lift and was about to trigger the lift door when it slid open and he came face to face with, "Tyrien?" Viral said in disbelief.

"Well, hello, Viral; come to join the game, have you?" Tyrien asked pleasantly.

"No, I've come to put a stop to it; Cardl is very upset." Viral answered.

"Cardl knows about this?" Tyrien asked, suddenly sounding a little worried.

"Yes, and he has sent me to put an end to it and bring Kien and Devan back to him." Viral replied, "He will not be happy that you are involved in this too, Tyrien."

"You don't have to tell him about me, do you?" Tyrien suggested.

"What choice do I have?" Viral asked.

"We could work something out; after all, Kien and Devan are the ones who came up with this, I only came because they promised to pay me." Tyrien told him.

"There's nothing to work out, Tyrien; I have to take care of all of you and then take the boy to Cardl." Viral said.

"Then I can help you." Tyrien offered.

"What's this? You're changing sides here? What gives?" Viral asked suspiciously.

"Well, I'm not stupid; it's obvious that their days are numbered and I'd rather mine not be." Tyrien explained.

"Your loyalty is touching; but the thing is, my plan can't work if you're my partner." Viral told him.

"What plan is that, Viral? Do you plan on telling Cardl that I was the one who suggested Myrkr? He knows, doesn't he, that you told them about it." Tyrien replied.

Viral smiled and pointed one of his blasters at Tyrien, "You're too smart, Tyrien; I guess this is going to end sooner than I expected." He said.

"Wait; we could blame it someone else." Tyrien suggested, desperately.

"Like who? Cardl has already guessed that neither of them decided on this place; we're wasting time, I have to get out of here before someone else shows up." Viral answered, aiming his blaster.

"Egan; we can blame it on Egan! He's way out beyond the Outer Rim; he won't be able to deny it." Tyrien said.

Viral lowered his blaster and cocked his head in thought, "Hmm…Egan, huh? That just might work; alright, Tyrien, you've got a deal." He replied as he holstered the blaster and held his hand out.

Tyrien shook Viral's hand, "So what kid did you want?" He asked.

"What's that supposed to mean? The bounty hunter, of course; who else?" Viral answered.

"Well, we have that Jedi kid too." Tyrien informed him.

"Jedi kid? Oh no, I should have known; who's idea was that?" Viral wondered.

"Devan's, I think." Tyrien replied.

"Why does that not surprise me; what's she doing; using him as bait?" Viral asked.

"No, the bounty hunter is the bait; the Jedi kid is leverage." Tyrien told him.

"Leverage?"

"Yes, so that Kenobi will play their little game." Tyrien explained.

Viral shook his head, "They're insane, the two of them. Do they have any idea what will happen if they actually succeed in killing that Jedi?" Viral said.

"They don't care, I guess. That's why I had pretty much decided to leave them, but Kenobi's ship and another Jedi are in the clearing where mine is, so I can't." Tyrien replied.

"Well, you don't need it now, do you." Viral told him and smiled.

"No, I guess not; so, shall we take the kid and get out of here?" Tyrien asked.

"We should take care of Devan and Kien before we leave, but there's no reason why we can't put the kid on the ship." Viral answered.

"Why can't we just leave them here?" Tyrien asked.

"Well, I guess we could, I suppose." Viral conceded, "Where is he?"

"Down below; the Jedi kid is down there too, what should we do with him?" Tyrien asked.

"Leave him; I'm sure the last thing Cardl wants is to have the Jedi come down on him for kidnapping one of their kids." Viral replied.

"What does he want with the bounty hunter?" Tyrien asked.

"He wants to give him to Chancellor Organa as a token of good will." Viral told him.

"But you're kidnapping him." Tyrien pointed out.

"Yeah, but nobody's going to know that except you, me and Cardl." Viral answered with a smile.

"And you don't think the kid is going to figure it out and tell Organa what happened?" Tyrien asked.

"I'm guessing that the kid is not in the greatest shape, am I right?" Viral said.

"Yes, that's true enough." Tyrien admitted.

"Well, think about it; the kid could be confused, you know, because of everything he's been through. Who'd believe him?" Viral explained.

"You have a point. He's below, why don't you go down and get him and I'll keep an eye out up here." Tyrien suggested.

"Good idea; that way just in case they come back while I'm getting the kid, they won't suspect anything." Viral said.

"Exactly; don't take too long, though." Tyrien replied.

"I won't; in and out." Viral promised as he triggered the lift door.

----------

Obi-Wan slammed the vornskr into the nearest tree, breaking its back. The animal yelped and then went limp and Obi-Wan flung it toward the other vornskrs waiting to attack him. The survivors sniffed it, looked at Obi-Wan for a moment and then proceeded to devour their dying comrade. Obi-Wan looked away in disgust and moved quickly deeper into the trees, hoping to elude them for at least a short time while they were occupied. He could hear Kien crashing through the undergrowth and moved away from him; he had not seen Devan for an hour. He was drawing on his reserve strength now, and did not know how long it would hold out. If Anakin was planning to make an appearance, he thought to himself, now would be the time.

----------

Devan was frustrated; not only had she lost her Jedi target and Kien, she was now lost herself. She never thought shooting Kenobi would have proven so difficult or taken so long; if she had, she would have waiting until morning instead of ending up groping around in the dark for a quarry in a dark cloak. Why didn't she take the damn thing away from him? "Because you thought it would slow him down, you idiot." She said aloud, "Idiot! How could I be so stupid?"

She shook her head and leaned against a tree; it was very tempting to just to contact Kien and see if he had been any luckier than she had, but if Kenobi was nearby, contacting Kien might just alert him, and she definitely didn't want that. With a sigh, she hoisted her weapon higher on her shoulder and moved on.

----------

Kien forced his way in through the bushes between two trees; certain he had seen a flash of movement on the other side of them. When he got there, however, whatever, or whoever he had seen was gone. "Damn it, Kien; you either have to be more quiet or move faster." Kien told himself aloud and then shouted, "I know you were here, Jedi; come on out and end this thing now."

There was only silence, "Come on; I know you must be pretty tired by now….give up now and we can both go home….well, alright, I can go home." Kien continued.

The wind rustled the leaves in a nearby tree and, overreacting, Kien shot a bolt up into it. It was only after the bolt had lodged firmly in one of the tree's lower limbs that Kien realized how incredibly stupid that must have looked; fortunately, Devan had not been there to witness it or she would have called him an idiot. Maybe beginning the hunt so late in the day had been a mistake; he hated stumbling around in the dark.

----------

Banyon heard voices and realized he had finally reached the clearing; cautiously, he crouched down and peered through the bushes. The clearing was full of Clone troopers. "Blast." He whispered and blended back into the trees knowing there was nothing more for him to do but just wander around and hope he found some sign of Devan Carlyle or her partner in crime. He doubted that he would find any worthwhile clue before Aang arrived. This venture was fast turning out to be a very unprofitable one. He could only hope that he would be compensated for his expenses.

----------

When the lift door opened, Viral looked both ways down the dimly-lit corridor; he hadn't thought to ask which cell they had put the bounty hunter in. With a shrug, he turned left and stopped to look in each cell until he finally triggered the door to Zak's. He could barely make out a figure standing at the back of the cell, "Time to go, kid." He announced, thinking it was Boba.

"What?" A boy's voice asked.

"I'm going to get you out of here. It'll be alright." Viral assured him.

"Who are you?" The boy asked.

"Your salvation, of course, Boba." Viral answered.

"Boba?" The boy repeated.

Viral took a portable light from his belt and shined it towards the boy, "Wait a minute, you're that Jedi kid; I've got the wrong cell." He said, then turned and left sliding the door closed behind him.

Zak pulled at against the chain holding him in frustration; this stranger wanted Boba and he very much doubted that was a good thing and Zak could do nothing to help him.

----------

Anakin entered a clearing and was relieved to see the dark shadow a building in front of him; he was disappointed to still not be able to feel the Force, and attributed it to the small size of the clearing and the number of ysalamiri in the trees surrounding it. He turned to the men behind him, "Let's get this over with." He said and then marched boldly up to the bunker door and triggered the opening mechanism. The door slid open and a man standing on the far side of the room whirled around and pointed a blaster rifle in his direction, "Who are you?" The man demanded.
Anakin smiled, "I might ask you the same thing." He replied.

"I…I'm on a hunting expedition; all perfectly legal, I assure you." The man told them.

"Right; and I'm the Chancellor of the Republic. Where is Boba Fett?" Anakin asked.

"I don't think you're in any position to…" The man started.

"Really? Because there are more than a dozen men aiming weapons at you right now; I think you had better put yours down and tell me what I want to know, Tyrien." Anakin said, cutting him off.

Tyrien considering that for a moment before lowering the blaster rifle and letting it fall to the floor, "I don't know what you're talking about." He claimed.

And that was a mistake; Anakin was across the room in seconds, pinning him against the wall by the neck with his prosthetic arm, "I don't have time for games; now where is he?" He demanded again, increasing the pressure of his hold.

Tyrien struggled for a moment against the unnatural strength of Anakin's arm and then knowing that this man could strangle him to death, he gasped, "Low…low…"

Anakin released his hold enough for Tyrien to speak, "Lower…level." He gasped.

"There, now; that wasn't so hard was it?" Anakin said, smiling again and then turned to Ged, "Take care of this piece of filth."

"Oh that would be my pleasure, Master Skywalker." Ged replied.

Anakin pushed Tyrien to the floor and Ged took the binders from his belt, put a knee between Tyrien's shoulder blades, and pulled his arms around his back, "I've got him, sir; take some of my men and find our boy." He said.

"No, I can take care of this myself; if those other two come back, I want you to have all your men with you. No telling what that pair will do." Anakin answered.

"Very well; we'll wait for you here then." Ged told him.

Anakin nodded, triggered the lift and, when the door opened stepped in; the trip to the sublevel was quick and the lift door opened to reveal a dimly lit corridor. He heard movement to the right and turned in that direction.