I've returned from my long slumber, sorry about the wait. I went back and looked at the first few chapters and noticed I forgot to put in line breaks so I went and did that. I'd also like to thank the Darth Matu's Holocron Discord server for some tips and tricks. And now our feature presentation.
Chapter 5
Ry'ven was greeted by the sight of the village on fire. At the village entrance, a YV-260 freighter had landed and blaster fire could be heard throughout the area. Josei managed to catch up to him and say what was going on, becoming very horrified as she gripped Ry'ven's arm tightly. Master Jeth, Malcom, Lord Akuma, a few Oni infantry officers and several samurai arrived to observe the destruction.
"What is that?" Miyamoto asked horrified.
"The pirates," Duran answered, "They must have tracked us here."
"You purposely led them here?" Josei's brother spat furiously.
"They most likely tracked us here after their scouts failed to report in," the Arkanian answered before taking his comlink out to use.
"Ranharr, Billibango, you read me?" he shouted into the comlink.
"Load and clear, Master Jedi," the Xexto answered, followed by a trill from Ranharr.
"Malcom and I found Ry'ven but we're under attack," Duran explained, "How long till you can get here?"
Ranharr barked that they could be there in about five minutes. Duran Jeth then turned to the commanding officer of the infantry company; an Oni named Taro Sato.
"How long can your men hold off for reinforcements?" he asked.
"About five minutes, but it's cutting it close," the captain answered, "We're down to the last of our kayaku."
"Lock on to my signal and fly towards on it," Duran spoke into the comlink.
"Rodger that," the Ranger affirmed before coming out.
The Arkanian turned to the infantry captain.
"My Padawan and I will keep the pirates while you get your men into position," he told Captain Sato, who nodded affirmatively before he and the other officers head out to gather the rest of their company.
"Do you think you and the rest of the samurai can provide us some support?" Knight Jeth asked Lord Akuma and the contingency of samurai.
"We need to get our red elk ready then we'll be able to help," Wakai answered.
"That might be best," Ry'ven added, "If you charge them by yourselves, you won't last long. Best wait for infantry support."
The young lord nodded before commanding the samurai to gear up.
"Let's go Ry'ven."
Ry'ven nodded and started to head out with his teacher.
"Wait."
The Human paused and looked to see Josei running towards him. Before he could ask, she stopped before him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Come back safe," she said before going back in the house.
Ry'ven was momentarily stunned by Josei's action but shook it off before turning and running to join his master in defending the village.
If Yoshi Tatsuo wasn't scared before, he most defiantly was now. His mother and him were asleep after making it to a village the samurai led them to after be saved by the two strangers. After arriving, the rest of the refugees set up a camp on the outskirts of the village.
Everything was fine till a rumble rang out in the night and a flying machine touched down near the camp.
The raiders landed near the camp and started going through the camp, rounding up people onto their strange flying machine. There were a few people who tried to resist this action.
It didn't end well for them.
Now the young boy, his mother and others were rounded up to be locked on the raider's machine.
"What's going to happen mom?" Yoshi asked fearfully as he sat with his hands and feet cuffed to the floor.
"I don't know," she answered nervously.
One of the guards, some weird looking frogman, heard Yoshi's mother speak and shouted something in a harsh tone as they walked over to the pair. This was then followed by the guard striking his mother in the face with a hand across the face.
"Leave my mother alone!" Yoshi shouted. He struggled against the cuffs and chains that held him to get at the thing that struck his mother but to no avail. The guard just laughed as they raised a fist to hit the chained child. The blow never lands however.
The guard was knocked their feet by some sort of invisible force. Looking over towards the entrance of the flying machine to see a figure wielding a blade made of orange light. One of the other guards drew their weird looking weapon and fired a bolt of light at the figure. The figure used the orange blade to deflect the bolt back at the guard and struck the guard's stomach.
The figure rushed forward to dispatch the guard that had been thrown and slashed the frogman in the chest. Afterwards, the figure made their way to the mother and son.
As the figure got closer, Yoshi realized that the figure was the stranger that traveled with their group of refugees to the village. Pressing a button on the side of the weapon, the blade of light disappeared back into its hilt as the stranger was walking toward his mother.
"Are you alright?" the stranger asked his mother.
Yoshi's mother flinched and started to back away from the man, trying to get between him and the strange.
"Don't worry," the stranger said, "I'm here to free you all."
"Really?" the Oni woman asked cautiously.
"Yes," he said, "Hold out your arms so I can take the binds off."
Hesitantly, Yoshi's mother held out her arms. The stranger took his weapon and activated its orange blade. Then, as if the metal shackles were paper, cut through them. This calmed the woman as she massaged her wrists. Turning to the young boy, the stranger did the same to the boy's cuffs.
"Thank you, stranger," Yoshi's mother said as the boy massaged his wrists.
"Are there anymore captives?" the stranger asked the woman.
"Somewhere," she replied, "I don't know where though."
The discussion was interrupted by groaning from the guard that had been thrown. The Stranger walked over to the guard and grabbed the front of the guard's shirt. Stranger then waived his hand in front of the face of the strange of the frog person while saying, "You will take us to the captives."
The guard said something and started to walk deeper in the ship. The Stranger motioned for the mother and son to follow.
While the Arkanian Jedi was freeing the captives, Malcom was busy tying up the rest of the of the rest of the pirates. Using a few smoke grenades on his belt, the Antarian Ranger was able to keep the pirates from getting a direct hit on him. Anytime it seemed Malcom was pinned down, popping a smoke grenade would allow him to change position safely.
So far, the pirates had lost three out of their thirty members trying to get the one professional solider.
As Malcom was about to throw his last grenade, several of the pirates were knocked over as Ry'ven Vonto jumped into the fray, using his lightsaber to deflect the shots back at the pirates. Eventually the Padawan had to duck behind cover with the pirate firepower getting too great.
"How long till the Oni get ready for their charge?" Malcom asked as the young Human rested beside him.
"They're forming up now," Ry'ven replied between breaths, "Where's Master Jeth?"
"He's on the ship," the Ranger answered, "There were captives and he's trying to free them."
A sudden crack announced the solider company's last volley of slugs before their charge on the pirates. Overhead, the sound of engine thrusters announced the arrival of Ranharr and Billibango in the Republic Cruiser, with the Wookiee providing covering fire to keep the pirates from massacring the soldiers.
When the Oni soldiers crashed into the throng of pirates, some tried to run for the ship. They stopped however by the group of Oni captives from the ship with Master Jeth at the lead. With no other option for escape and a formation of armed soldiers ready to slaughter them, the pirates meekly surrendered.
