'So are you a jedi?'.
'No'.
'A sith?',
'No'.
'A human?',
'… '.
'That last one was a joke'.
'… right'.
Jiri was walking with a spring in his step, he hadn't spoken to anyone outside the township for some time and couldn't wait to get to know this guy. But this Tyken didn't seem interested, he looked agitated. Although if what he said about being captured was true, that wouldn't be surprising. Jiri didn't really want to talk about that though, there were far too many questions to ask.
'So is space… like big?'.
'… really?'
'Well from what you've seen?'
'…'
'So that's a no? Okay, well it's just that I really want to go there, space that is, travel, see the sites, shoot some stuff, there's a world of adventure out there waiting for someone to grab it by the scurf of the neck, and that someone can be me!'
Tyken didn't seem to react to most of what Jiri said, he just kept walking. Jiri begun to feel frustrated by this lack of response. 'You know, this dark brooding thing you've got going? I'm sure it really impresses the chicks, but it's boring the crap out of me, if we are going to travel together you should lighten up a bit or the trip take a lot longer than it really should'.
Tyken turned at this 'I do not wish to travel with you. You are immature and petulant, you will get killed and I do not wish that upon my conscience'. Jiri jaw stiffened, he became infuriated by this 'you know, if I knew what any of that meant I would probably take offence to that'. Jiri threw down his backpack and rifle and stood right up to Tyken. 'You don't want me around because you think I will be dead weight?'. Jiri stared into Tyken's eyes challenging him, daring him to make a move.
Tyken was shocked, he felt the adrenaline pumping through his body in anticipation of a fight. Tyken was quite a bit taller than Jiri, he towered over the youth looking down, expecting the kid to back down. But as he looked down he and locked eyes with his new companion, he could tell that Jiri was not in the least bit scared and would not back down. For a moment, Tyken wasn't even sure if they fought that he would win. The youth was most definitely sure of himself, and could likley handle a fight, but it didn't matter. Jiri's help was only needed to get off the planet. After that, he was free to do what he wanted. He had a life already on this planet, including a family that Tyken was already sick of hearing about. That was a lot more than Tyken had in his life, he could not take that away from someone else.
'I will not kill you, I still require your assistance to escape this planet. But as soon as we have acquired the means to leave, you will to return to your existing life. You have a family, a life on the planet, a future. I have none of those things, and if I were to take those things away from you I don't think that… Tyken's words trailed off… they stuck in his throat and suddenly he couldn't finish the thought. He chose not to, turned away from Jiri and resumed walking.
Jiri called after him, 'Oh right, and just like that you stop talking? I was just thinking you… wait, you hear that?'. Jiri had stopped, he looked skywards, something in the sky again. Jiri focused on his hearing, his expression was blank. Tyken stopped, 'What?'. There was a pause, then Tyken heard it, a whistling noise. Jiri pulled out his binoculars and turned them to the skies, altering the focus to bring the airborne objects into view. Black metallic cylinders, traveling at an extreme speed 'They're… pods of some sort'. Tyken's face darkened, 'Carrying what?'. 'Hard to say, probably not people, moving too fast for that and they are not big enough, but there's a lot of them'. Jiri pulled the binoculars away from his face, only to realize one of the cylinders was coming down on their exact location. 'Oh shi….', Jiri jumped to avoid the incoming pod, Tyken leaped to the other side as the cylinder come crashing down into the ground, the massive impact forcefully pushing the cylinder into the ground. The loud smash of metal hitting the surface rang through the air, the ground shook with the tremor of impact,, dust went everywhere. As the dust begun to settle, Jiri looked over the scene. Both he and Tyken had been thrown aside by the impact, he saw Tyken's light-saber on the ground next to the pod. Tyken was writhing in pain, he must have landed on his injured arm while getting out of the way of the pod. Suddenly, the cylinder clanked with a loud metallic smack that echoed in the air, and released several large black floating droids, six or eight of them. They all surveyed the area, then one approached Jiri before pausing for a moment, floating in front of his face. Jiri looked on in confusion, 'I have a bad feeling about this'. One of the droids approached him, after a slight pause, the droid begun to sound an alarm. The droids sounded in unison 'Subject found: Initiate retrieval protocols: Terminate potential aids'. The droids descended on Tyken, they deployed electro-stun emitters and begun to hit Tyken over and over. Tyken begun flailing and falling backwards, struggling to keep away from the droids, without his weapon and with an injured arm, he could not stop them.
Droids also approached Jiri, pulling out blasters 'Terminate potential aid'. Jiri rolled backwards over his rifle, picking it up as he did so in one swift movement. As soon as he was prone, he snapped off a succession of hip shots, taking out each of the approaching droids, causing a spectacular shower of fire and metal to rain down. He then lined up his sights and shot at one of the droids assaulting Tyken, the explosion sending debris all over the place. Two droids remained, they quickly turned and rushed Jiri. Jiri lined up his sights again and pulled the trigger. The next droid blew up, scattering parts everywhere. He turned his rifle and lined up his sights on the last remaining probe. The droid stopped suddenly, frozen levitating in the air. Jiri kept the probe lined up in his scopes, waiting to see what would happen.
A blue light emanated from the probes eye, a figure in a mask appeared. His voice sounded almost robotic. 'Greetings Jiri', Jiri felt a chill run up his spine. 'Yes, we know who you are. It would seem that you have something that belongs to me'. Jiri narrowed his brow, 'I'm no thief, so I can honestly say that I don't know what you are talking about'. The figure responded 'that man you are with, he belongs to me'. Jiri looked at Tyken, who was only just recovering from the scuffle. The figure continued 'he is worth a great deal to me, I would appreciate your co-operation in returning him. I will ensure you are compensated for your assistance'. Jiri looked at Tyken, then back at the figure 'Your putting a price on a life of another being? I don't think I like you'. The figure begun to laugh at this, Jiri barred his teeth, infuriated, 'did I say something funny?' he barked. The figure paused, then his tone changed to a more sinister one 'My patience is running thin young one, your choice is simple – you bring him to me or I destroy you, I destroy your family, I destroy your town, I destroy everything you have ever -' Jiri opened fire, destroying the droid and the transmission. 'Boring conversation anyway' sided Jiri as he approached Tyken. Jiri again took his medical tool and scanned the wounded arm. 'Well, this must be really painful, and it will now take you a bit longer to fully recover, but you should live'. Tyken looked at Jiri '… thank you' he finally said. 'Yeah, no sweat, now lets get moving, there are more pods so more droids, and this guy knows who I am, and if he's serious about his threats a lot of people are in danger…'. Jiri didn't want to mention that the first on the list of people in danger would be his parents.