Chapter 23
Kisto was shooting out at the prison guards and the few Stormtroopers who had made an impromptu defence. The element of surprise was surely gone now and the battle lay undecided. His Wyrmbin, Lassie, charged on and gobbled up anyone unlucky enough to find themselves near it.
The green Twi'Lek gritted his teeth when he saw that the Stormtroopers had created a barricade of gunmen that shot down anything that got close. Kiso reached behind him and produced a grenade. "Lassie, can you charge at them?" Kisto asked the bulbous white worm beneath him. Kisto shook his head, of course it can't understand me. He thought to himself.
To his surprise the Wyrmbin charged at the assembled Stromtroopers. Recovering from his surprise, Kisto began shooting at the barricade of blocking Stormtroopers. Using the element of surprise and the fear they felt at seeing the Wyrmbin charging at them, Kisto was able to take some of them out. However the men in white armour were able toshoot Lassie, causing it to reer up and throw its Twi'Lek passenger off. Kisto landed on his back with an "Oof" and was forced to watch as his Wyrmbin bravely conitnued charging ahead. The Stromtroopers shot at Lassie as it screamed in pain and finally it rolled over onto its side and went still.
Kiso bit back a moan of heartache. He looked at the distance Lassie had gotten before it fell and summazed that from where the Wyrmbid was, the distance to the Stormtroopers was a grenade throw away. Kisto ran forward, making sure to keep low and behind the length of Lassie's fallen body so that the Stormtroopers did not see him coming. When he got to the body he peeked over it and threw a grenade.
The grenade soared through the air, bounced twice before landing next to the feet of a Stormtrooper. The Stormtrooper looked down at the grey sphere and shouted, "Grenade!" The Stromtroopers dived in different directions as the bomb went off.
Kisto took the opportunity to jump over Lassie's body and finish off any remaining Stormtroopers. The Cloubits also saw the opening and also took advantage by helping him finish off the Stormtroopers with well aimed spears and Wyrmbids.
Kisto got into the facility and ran to the engine room. He produced four bombs from his back, activated them and threw them in the engine room. He ran away before a multitude of explosions sounded out, destroying the engine room and depraving the facility of power.
The blearing alarm went silent and some parts of the prison was engulfed in darkness as the generators tried to take over. The first part was done, now Kisto ahd to locate Buck, Zack and any of his Rebel brethren and escape.
/
Zack cut down two more guards with his Cloubit companion. They then proceeded to race out into the rest of the prison, which had degraded into anarchy. The prisoners were fighting back against the guards and it was becoming obvious that the guards would soon lose.
He saw a tide of red small bodies entering the fray and taking out a chunk of the guards. This was followed by white giant worms, which were seemingly being commanded by the Cloubits. The Cloubit next to him raised a spear as it excitedly shouted. It looked at Zack and said something.
Zack did not need to know the language to tell ti wanted to join its brothers and sisters in battle. He nodded to t and it bowed before running to the main battle. Zack decided to head for where Buck was in hopes of helping him.
/
The prison warden was gathering his remaining men in an effort to launch one last ditch defence. "Arm yourselves!" He shouted to the assembled personnel who were currently picking out blasters. "These prisoners and savages are not taking Ekadi! We shall show them the power of the Empire!"
"Sir?" One of his subordinates said. "Where is Inquisitor Ripper? Shouldn't she be helping us."
"Her?" The warden sneered. "She's too busy pursuing personal endeavours to to be of any help. We're on our own but be assured, the Emporer will hear about her conduct!"
/
The alarms went silent and the room was engulfed in darkness. The only light came from a red shaft of light coming from a device held in Inquisitor Saza Ripper's hands. Buck Johnson stood in place, thinking of ways he could take advantage of the darkness. But then, the lights came on, first in white before shifting to a red hue.
"I can feel it." Saza said, licking her lips. "Your hate is radiating off of you in waves."
Buck kept quiet as he watched her circle him. He was determined to succeed where Zack had failed.
"Didn't your Jedi friend tell you never to fight a darkside user with hate in your heart?" Saza said as the lights shifted to a white colour again. "But I don't understand why the hate is directed at me. You both are the ones who failed to protect your lady friend."
Buck raised his rifle blaster in a flash and released a volley of shots. Saza parried the shots as she ran towards him. Buck stood in place as he continued to release his parry of shots only to have them reflected away from their target. Saza redirected a shot back to him and it hit his rifle, causing it to explode in a shower of white sparks.
Buck unholstered his pistol just as Saza swung down towards his head with her lightsaber. He dived to the side, narrowly dodging the red blade. The lights shifted back to a red colour as he got to his feet and let out a few more shots. Saza easily defended against them and kicked out at his hand, knocking the weapon away from his grip.
Buck found himself dodging another deadly lightsaber swing as the blade rend in the air behind it in red. He produced a round sphere from his back and threw it at her. Saza called out to the Force and used it to telekinetically grab the sphere in mid air before pushing it back to him. Buck dove out of the way as the stun grenade went off. He was out of most of its field but his legs got caught in its blue, buzzing energy dome.
He fell on his face and when he tried to get back up, fell down again. His legs had become numb from the effects of the stun grenade. Saza began walking to him, like a spider approaching a fly caught in its web. "You do realise that you never stood a chance, right?"
The ights flickered back into white, washing the room in the bright colour. Buck gritted his teeth under his helmet as he tried to will his legs to move. He produced another sphere from behind him and sent it rolling out in between them. The sphere exploded before Saza could do anything about it and a black cloud of smoke engulfed them both. Saza kept walking and visciously swung down to where Buck was... or had been as her blade struck the ground.
"You are quiet resourceful." Saza said between coughs caused by inhaling the black smoke around her. She could not see anything other than her lighsaber blade in the black smoke but she did not need to see anything with her eyes. "You would have made a wonderful Stormtrooper commander."
The lights changed colour again and became red. Buck saw this as an advantage as it would help conceal him. Unlike his enemy, he did not have a bright glowing weapon, so he was sure he could not be tracked. Slowly he came up behind her and when he was close enough charged. At the last second, Saza turned around, leading with her lightsaber and by only dropping to his knees and sliding through, did Buck avoid getting decapitated. Saza swung the blade over her head and brought it down to where Buck had stopped and instead of meeting flesh and bone, her blade hit the ground again.
"I can sense you, you idiot." Saza sneered into the black smoke. Buck took off his helmet and held his breath so that he did not breath in the smoke and give away his position by coughing. He now knew that she was using the Force to pinpoint his exact position but maybe he could, make her doubt her abilities. He threw his helmet...
"Unlike you I don't need..." Saza heard a sound at her side and turned to face the source of the noise before she felt him behind her, forcing her to turn around again but it was too late as Buck delivered a kick to her side.
"Don't you ever shut up?!" Buck shouted as his kick connected with her lightsaber was knocked away and out of the smoke cloud. Buck charged her and tackled Saza out of the smoke cloud before landing on top of her. He brought his hands around her neck and began squeezing the life out of the Inquisitor.
Saza fought desperately but could not get his determined grip from her throat. She looked around urgently for her lightsaber but it was no where to be seen. However, there was a weapon that she could see... Buck's pistol.
Thrusting her hand out, she made the pistol slide towards her using her fingers in a beckoning motion. The pistol slid towards her then stopped, then slid again only to stop. Buck noticed that the weapon was getting closer to her outstretched hand and doubled his efforts by squeezing her slender neck harder. Veins began popping out of her face and her eyes became red and watery but she remained steadfast in her task and beckoned the weapon towards her. The weapon finally flew into her waiting hand, forcing Buck to relinquish his hold and roll out of the way as she fired above her at where his head used to be.
Saza had to cough as she took grateful gulps of air. As soon as she could focus she looked for Buck who had run over to the only other weapon in proximity... Saza's lightsaber. He picked up the weapon that was foreign to him and prodded along its length. It was black and had a curve structure that was like a hand guard. He found a button and pressed it, causing a blade to leap out, only on the wrong side. He had to jump back in order to avoid getting his legs stabbed by the sudden appearance of the red laser blade.
Saza began to snicker at this and soon was cackling in mad laughter as she shot at Buck with the pistol. Buck ran for cover as the badly aimed shots burned the ground near his feet and sped past his head. He was able to get into a cell that protected him from the shots. Soon the shots stopped and he heard the sound of a trigger pulling but no more shots coming out.
The battery has run out, he excitedly thought to himself. The lights switched back to a white colour. Buck looked at the lightsaber hilt in his hands and turned it around. He activated it and a red blade appeared on the right side this time. After a few breathes, he ran out of the cell and charged at Saza with a fearsome war cry. Saza discarded the pistol and widened her stance to stand ready.
When he was close enough, Buck leapt into the air, with the lightsaber raised above his head, ready for a down swing. Saza thrust her hands out as claws and Buck found himself suspended in the air as his momentum was brought to a hault through the mechanics of the Force. In a moment of terror, he looked down at her crazed face, which was breathing shallow breaths through clenched foaming teeth. At that moment, Saza looked more psychotic than beautiful. She swung her hands to the side, sending Buck hurtling into the same directions, where his spine crashed into the edge of Ru' Bik's cells and his body flipped over the Vultan's head.
The lightsaber was dropped near the cell opening and Saza called to it, making it leap into her hand, where she felt it belonged.
"Ru-Ru'Bik." Buck said as he forced himself to his feet. Ru' Bik looked at the human. "I will... protect you!" Buck said as he stepped in front of Ru'Bik protectively and faced Saza.
Saza giggled to herself before activating her lighsaber. "Come now, Johnson. There is no galaxy where you win this fight while I have my weapon and you have nothing."
Buck raised his fists defiantly and widened his stance into the basic fighting stance he was taught as a Stormtrooper. He was tired and he knew that he would most likely lose but he refused to back down.
She giggled again, covering her face in her hands before looking up to reveal that the psychotic look had returned to her face. "You're a joke!" She angrily spat before she made her advance.
"Buck!" A voice rang out, stopping her in her tracks and her face returned to normal as she looked to her side and saw Zack waiting there with his green lightsaber in hand.
