Chapter 2: The Heavens Tremble
Mission pulled a small chunk of rock away from the refuse pile, revealing a serviceable, if somewhat tarnished vibroblade. She pulled it free and held it up for appraisal. Several spots along the blade, free of rust and wear, still glistened in the artificial light.
"Nice. Polish this off, we could get ten, maybe twenty credits for it."
Zaalbar glanced around, watching for the Rakgulls to come out of the shadows and start their inevitable attacks. Usually there were only two or three, but lately the packs had been getting larger… and more persistent. Zaalbar let out a low growl. A growl few non-Wookies understood.
"Oh, settle down, Zaalbar. You worry too much. We'll be out of here before you know it."
Mission slid the rusted sword into a hand-woven sheath that ran across her back.
"Besides, nothing out of the ordinary happens down here nowadays anyway."
Mission turned to face her best friend as the ceiling behind her exploded inwards, sending down a shower of dust and debris over half the Undercity. Zaalbar pulled Mission underneath him in an attempt to shield her from the huge slabs of steel and concrete plummeting to the ground. Dust from the crashing rubble enveloped the pair, blinding them. Lighter debris rained down around them for a few more moments, a few pieces striking Zaalbar in the back as he covered Mission. When the dust cleared, and the falling debris stopped, Zaalbar slowly stood up as Mission crawled out from under him. As she dusted herself off, she turned to Zaalbar.
"Thanks, Big Z. Don't know what I'd do without you."
Zaalbar let out a low howl. Mission smiled and gave her friend a quick hug.
"Oh come on, you big softie, that's not true." Mission pulled back, performing a quick scan of the Undercity.
"We'd better find out what that was about."
Reven stood up, adjusting the collar of his jacket into a somewhat presentable fashion. Not that he had anyone to impress. Bastila was knocked out cold. Reven stared down at the unconscious Jedi. Worthless trash. He knelt down and search the still breathing body for the only worthwhile thing she could give him. Even as he searched, Reven's eyes lingered, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest… the soft wisp of her breathing. It was… soothing, almost. Peaceful. Even… No!
Reven jerked up, half out of frustration, half out of self-disgust. The stupid kinrath didn't even have her lightsaber. Where the Hell did she keep it? On the ship? Did she have it with her when they jumped into the escape pod? Reven slumped against the wall. This certainly put a kink in the already rocky plan he had come up with. Leave Bastila unconscious. Steal her lightsaber. Find a way onto the Leviathan. Find Malak. Kill Malak. Reclaim the title "Dark Lord of the Sith". Now, he had no lightsaber. Sure, he could still cleave his way through Malak's worthless drones using conventional weapons and the Force, but even Reven wasn't arrogant enough to think he could take on a Sith Lord without a lightsaber. Reven slid down the wall until he was sitting on the pods cold, steel floor. If his luck got any worse…
The door to the pod was flung open, and a green Twi'Lek stepped in, waving his blaster around. There were at least fifteen more thugs behind outside the pod, from what Reven could see. The one in the pod began shouting out alien gibberish.
"All right, hands in the air, scum. We'll be taking you and your pretty friend there. Brejik'll want some time alone with her, soon enough."
Reven rolled his eyes. Is this what normal people had to put up with?
"Hey, when I tell ya 'ta do something, that means you do it? Understood? Now get up off your ass, or I'll plaster it all over the wall!"
Lightning arched through the confined space of the escape pod from Reven's hand and into the unlucky Twi'Lek's chest. He screamed, falling backwards out the door and landing hard on the dirt ground, his body still twitching.
The Black Vulkars hesitated.
The man emerged from the shadows of the pod, coming to rest in its doorway. The Vulkars began to raise their blasters, their survival instinct overpowering their desire to take a live slave. The man threw out his hand, and there was a sharp blast of air as each Vulkar was knocked off their feet. As they started to get up, lightning surged from the stranger, coursing through all sixteen of them in turn. The fierce electrical barrage was maintained for almost sixteen seconds, leaving the Vulkar recovery team charred and smoldering.
Reven had always liked Force execution.
Mission slipped her head back down below the rubble pile, whispering to Zaalbar excitedly.
"Did you see that? He must be a Jedi! We should see if he needs any… wait, isn't it only Dark Jedi who do the lightning thing?"
Zaalbar looked back at her helplessly.
"Yeah… I guess you wouldn't know, huh?"
Mission lifted her head above the debris to get another quick glance at the stranger, but he had disappeared inside the escape pod. When she was once again hidden completely from view, she and Zaalbar discussed a course of action.
"I think we should sneak up for a closer look. Wait outside the pod, maybe. See if he's a Dark Jedi or…"
Zaalbar growled.
"Oh, come on, you big baby. Maybe he's got some sweet Jedi… gear inside."
Zaalbar growled a little lower.
"All right, all right. We'll just wait here and see what happens. How about that?"
Zaalbar let out a moan.
"Jeez, you're suppose to be the big, strong one. I thought you'd be a little more gung-ho about this."
Zaalbar let out another moan.
"I am not blind. Of course I saw what he did to those Vulkars. We're not going to try and capture him, though, are we? We're just going to wait here until he leaves, then sneak into his pod and see if he left any goodies for us. If he didn't, we'll leave, and if he does, we'll grab 'em and high tail it out of there. He's never going to find us on a planet of 12 billion people."
Zaalbar gave up with a defeated howl.
"Don't worry, Big Z, it'll be fine."
But it wasn't fine.
