Legend of the Harp

By Hemaccabe

Episode III: The Crucible

Chapter 12: One Way or Another

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

*** Bounty Hunter Mahe Jiru, Relay Station ***

Patience had finally paid off. The quarry had finally been a bit too glib with his communications. I had learned on the Sultoon platform it might be a bit too bold to go for both quarries at once. It was more convenient, but the level of risk was too high. The other reason against going for them separately was the potential for warning the second quarry. In this case, that concern was no longer operative as they had both now clearly been warned.

The clear play was to go for the weaker quarry. That was clearly the Hero of Plynth. Zaemon had been one of the best commanders the Order and Republic had. On the platform, he had clearly shown he was the better hand with a saber. Kazan, on the other hand, had two double bladed weapons. What an obviously overcompensating dilettante he must be. I would take Kazan, then I would be on to Zaemon. Zaemon was still formidable but would be weakened by Kazan's loss.

I got to the relay ahead of Kazan, found a quiet place to stash my ship and stayed on very low power mode.

That fancy black yacht of Kazan's showed up and did a loop around the relay. Clearly, they hadn't noticed me as they docked and put Kazan aboard. Then the yacht left Kazan there all alone.

*** Jedi Knight Furin Kazan, Relay Station ***

I had just finished unloading the gear. It would take many cases of expensive tools and scanners just to do a real survey. Then once the survey was done, many more to begin to effect even the smallest repairs. I had also brought cases with a selection of the most likely needed spare parts. It was a lot more physical work than I had done in some time. Luckily, that didn't bother me anymore…

"See Dear, there are advantages." Sky's voice once again chimed in my head.

"Yes, there are, and I'll miss you. Come back as soon as you can Love."

"Of course." She replied with a smile and was away.

I took some time to rearrange my gear. I would hardly need the style and combat capabilities of my regular things. On the other hand, a good work jump suit would not be out of order.

Yes, my current physiology could withstand quite a bit of insult but working in this station was still not good for me. I could shrug off a certain amount of microscopic dirt and grime, though escorting such pollutants out of my system was a major activity for the small metallic nano particles that made up my body. Further, there could be radiation or particularly toxic substances that would be damaging to me in the Relay's poorly maintained environment. Better safe than sorry.

Just as I was finishing gearing up I heard a voice from behind, "Welcome aboard the relay."

I immediately whipped around drawing my sabers. Yes, I still had my sabers on my person. Feeling safe was one thing, leaving one's sabers behind was another. A Jedi's light saber is his life.

It was the Nyani Jedi Master, Sa Tasta Burana. His blade was already deployed.

"Why are you doing this? You are a Jedi Master. You should be joining us, leading us?" I asked completely confused by his behavior.

"The Order is gone. The Jedi are no more. I am no longer a Jedi Master and you are no more than another quarry."

"Please don't do this. The Jedi still live…" I began but he was upon me.

Our blades met, then met again. One would think, with four blades to his one, with all the sparring and training I had been doing, with all the advantages of my new physique, I should have been far more than a match for him.

However, as with Jors, with only a single blade, Burana still had the advantage. He forced me back and back again. I tried to wrong step him, but he anticipated and instead attacked me from the other side. This put me at a disadvantage. I clawed to regain some position, but he found an opening.

In a split second, his blade stabbed into me and while I was stunned, he pulled the blade back out, then spun around and cut me in half.

It hurt. A lot. Just because my body could now knit itself back together did not mean being cut in half was any less painful. It also meant that a substantial amount of the stuff that was my body had just been annihilated. Which made me that much weaker and stupider.

Burana stopped moving, obviously surprised by my response. I should have been so much gore on the floor. Instead, as I pulled myself back together, I ran.

It took Burana some time to pursue. Even though we could both use the Force to enhance our speed, he was a Nyani and I was a heavily physically enhanced human. While a typical Nyani will have better upper body strength and can brachiate far better than a typical human, they were shorter and slower on foot. Without the Force, there were few humans who could keep up with me. In fact, there were few ground vehicles that could keep up with me. I ran.

When I had enough distance, I stashed all the gear I had except my sabers and comm link. The comm link was useless now, it was short range and there was no long range, i.e. interstellar distances, repeater present, well, none functional. However, if help arrived, it would be good to be able to communicate with them.

Looking at my options, I became a wall brace. Wall braces were interspersed along the walls. I would shorten the distance between wall braces, a practiced eye looking for it might notice, but it was the best I could do on short notice.

A second after I had found my wall perch, Burana ran by as fast as his Nyani legs could carry him. Clearly, he had missed me. Just as clearly, I would not prevail in direct combat. This was a waiting game. Eventually, help would come for me. I just had to evade long enough for help to arrive.

*** And now a word from our sponsor! ***

Please don't miss that this is the third book in this exciting series. Legend of the Harp Episodes 1 and 2 are also on this site! Episode 4 may be on her way soon!

If you enjoy modern urban fantasy and my writing, you may also enjoy a series of three novels I have written in the Dresden Files universe of Jim Butcher, called Warlock of Omaha, Warlock of Omaha Squared and Warlock of Omaha Cubed!

I have also recently released a Star Trek novel. It's called Star Trek: Lost Destiny. Please consider this an invitation to read it.

This writer, like the story teller in the market of old, now has a hat out hoping for a small gratuity. There is no obligation and I'm grateful you took a moment to read. However, if my writing has found favor in your eyes, please take a moment to go to:

Pay

Pal

.me

/hemaccabe

and throw in a little something, a dime, a quarter, a dollar, etc.

While I love to write, I do have a spouse and a child and a job and many other claims on my time that don't understand why I would spend so many hours banging on a keyboard. A small tangible return would help smooth the way to allow me to provide many more stories.

Please help. Thank-you.