Part Five: The Hunt

Chapter 57

Shili – Valley of the Lost

Noise surrounded them. Mark hated it. He had swapped stretcher carrying duty with Talos an hour ago, and kept his blaster pistol ready for any danger. Unfortunately, with all the unfamiliar sounds, anything could potentially be a threat.

He hated this kind of waiting. Mark Antilles was a pilot. He was a pilot-for-hire who braved impossible odds and flew like the devilbirds of Mustafar. But when he was forced to be a ground jockey; then he was terrified. He longed for the silence of space. He longed for the noise of engines, the spits of his canons, the nonsense conversations with Nelion as they flew long distances. Instead, he heard creatures. He felt the eyes watching him from the shadows. Were his senses going to constantly be on alert? It was truly exhausting.

A louder rustle suddenly came from above, and he instinctively raised the blaster. He saw movement, a shadow amongst the leaves, and he fired. Blue energy shot into the canopy. Then it was surprisingly bounced back by a shimmering blade of green, slamming into the ground at the pilot's feet. Stass dropped to the ground a moment later, landing in a crouch. She immediately rolled onto her back in time to catch Telle with the Force as she too dropped from the branches above.

The women climbed to their feet, irritation written clearly across both their faces. Irritation that was directed at Mark. He felt and embarrassed heat on his cheeks. Perhaps he could try to dial back his nerves. He loosely saluted the women. "Sorry about that, Lieutenant. Itchy trigger finger."

Telle snorted in reply, "Really? I couldn't tell."

"The blaster bolt you almost killed her with wasn't obvious at all, Mark.", the Jedi joined in sarcastically, "Maybe stop trying to shoot first, get promoted later."

He was about to ask about their progress when he was suddenly shoved roughly aside. The now far more dishevelled figure of Senator Trav-iss stared at the Jedi with incredulous fury. "You have been gone for hours! Are they dead? Or are you going to give me your usual disappointment? Is this all a hoax to you?"

Everyone looked at him with disgust. Even the handmaidens, save for Agatha, understood that Stass was doing her best to keep Trav-iss safe. She gave him a wane, yet patient smile, "Perhaps one question at a time, sir?"

Trav-iss expelled a long breath of anger through his nostrils. "Why are you back, Jedi? You are supposed to be guarding our rear."

"It was rather quick.", Talos helpfully added, though he seemed more curious than angry.

Mark knew what he was thinking. The numbers he had just run through his mind told him that there had not been enough time the Jedi to actually defeat a large group of hunters.

The Calacran Lieutenant spoke first. "We found a group. About ten Trandoshan's. Probably originally twelve, but we took out two at the clearing. They have an Ishi Tib leading them."

"We took out their tracker. Their droid has managed to scan each of the other traps we had set.", Stass told them. "We have discussed other options. Unfortunately, the only viable option we discovered might be a direct confrontation."

Mark exchanged a look with Talos. The commando was slowly nodding. In the limited space of the forest, it was possible that a strategic attack could take out each hunter one at a time. But that wasn't what the Jedi was suggesting.

"What do you mean, a direct confrontation?", the pilot asked.

"There is trap we can lay ahead, near the river. Talos, I want you to take the Senator downstream, through the water. There is a cave about thirty metres down, hidden behind a waterfall. We will hold position at the crossing."

Mark nodded. Walking through the water would hopefully hide the Senator's path from even the Trandoshan's tracking skills. But once they figured that out where the tracks vanished, they might just follow the river until they found the Senator's hiding place.

The Jedi continued, drawing in the loose dirt at her feet with a stray stick. "Meanwhile, Chan and I will be here, ready to ambush them. If we can surprise them, then perhaps we might be able to take out at least the droid. I hope to disable the entire hunting party."

"I've sent you the coordinates of the cave, Talos.", Telle told the commando, "Mark, you and he keep the Senator safe. Hopefully, we will return. If we are not back by morning, get to the top of the valley and comm the Republic to find you."

"Don't I get a say in this?", Trav-iss asked, his tone not one of asking but of demanding.

Four sets of baleful eyes stared at him, and four voices said in unison, "No!"

"But while we are on the subject", Telle stood up and moved towards the Senator, "I have a question. Why the hell was there a statue of you in the cargo hold?"

The Senator seemed taken aback, and began to splutter a response.

He never got the chance to. Stass joined Telle's interrogation, the Jedi's hands clasped behind her back. "More importantly, why was there a spy on board who was intent on getting the statue to her 'Master'?"

"Don't give us any claptrap either, mate.", Mark folded his arms. This felt familiar, he thought. Bluffing a client into telling him about their cargo. And he had the perfect bluff in front of him. "Jedi can sense lies, y'know."

And now Trav-iss' head dropped. "It's a list of my… dealings."

Everyone stared at him. Mark and Telle exchanged a smug look. Early on in the trip they had suggested contingencies for all situations that might arise. This was one of them – if the Senator was a traitor. The handmaidens looked horrified, except for Agatha who looked guiltily at the ground. The Jedi's tendrils were tremoring, but besides that, she showed no emotion. She remained stock-still, glaring at the man.

"What do you mean, 'dealings'?", Miriam asked, stepping forward. "What exactly are you into, Trav-iss? Don't tell me that it breaks your vows to Pantora."

Again, Trav-iss' shoulders slumped. "Nothing sinister, I promise. I have deals with corporations and other worlds that allow me to have an edge on Republic Senators, if the need arises."

"Blackmail.", Mark spat into the dirt, "You mean that you have a collective of blackmail on Republic Senators to urge them to side with you."

Trav-iss nodded enthusiastically, then slowed down the nod to a microscopic movement of guilt, "Pantora has no true voice in the Senate. Not yet. I need to be heard, and this was the only way I could see to get Pantora's message across."

Stass crossed over to the Senator and put her hands on his shoulders. "Fear is natural, Senator. But you should have trusted the Republic's system. They have options for your world, and they are willing to give it. You need allies in the Senate, not fear-filled slaves. But we will need to continue this conversation later. For now, I need to keep you safe. Mark and Talos will lead you to the cave. Stay there, please."

"Actually", Mark spoke up, "I will be staying with you."

"Talos needs help guarding…", Telle started, but she got no further.

"I am a fighter, Telle. What I am not is a patient man. If you are fighting the enemy, then I am not standing idly by. I am coming with you.", he emphasised those last three words. Talking back to his superior officer could be treasonous, so he decided to salute her, "Respectfully, sir, you are setting a trap. I believe that I may be of assistance. If not, then I will surrender my military commission and trail you regardless."

Talos chuckled and took the two carbines from the handmaiden's. "Then here, my friends. If you are doing this, best you do it well armed."

"Unless you have forgotten, lieutenant, we have an ambush to plan and a final trap to check on.", Stass called from the side of the clearing. "Are you coming?"

"What? One more trap?", Mark asked. They sounded like they had already given up on the traps. The droid was finding them all.

Telle shrugged easily, "We couldn't just come here and not expect the Trandoshans to follow us. We had to leave at least one more trap. Stass decided to use this horrid wildlife to our advantage."

"How?", Mark asked.

"We simply found something huge."

The Gundark went down quickly. Cantoni had been tracking the Senate party for the past hour with the technological advancements and thermal imaging from her cybernetic optical lens when she had stumbled across the beast. It spotted her hunters immediately, saliva dripping from it's maw. It bounded over on its gangly limbs, preparing to feast on the Ishi Tib flesh. She pulled her blaster and fired, but the creature moved with surprising speed and dodged. A loud, discordant cry screamed from its throat, and the beast snapped at her arm, trying to knock her aside. It was her turn to dodge.

A volley of bolts zipped past her. Her hunters were trying to protect her. Shooing them away, she grabbed an acid grenade from her belt. The device held a globby compound inside that was highly corrosive. Throwing it overhanded at the beast, she saw it again managed to dodge her attack. The device splattered against the nearest tree, a section of trunk disappearing before her eyes. Broken, the trunk careened slowly towards her, and came crashing to the ground. It flattened a clump of bushes. A single branch went spinning off into the distance. Immediately, Tar ordered for another volley of blaster fire. This time, the bolts slammed into the Gundark. One managed to hit it in the eye, and the beast reared back. Dark blood spurted like a geyser from the blackened pupil. It collapsed in a pile, now just a corpse waiting to decompose.

Cantoni glanced over her shoulder at the Trandoshans hunkered down by a fallen log, their blasters still trained on the beast. She gave a quick nod of gratitude and turned her head to look for the tracks again. They had been at this for nearly four hours now, and had climbed much higher in the jungle. The constant attacks by the jungle's inhabitants had proven difficult and time consuming, but there was little they could do. The traps were another matter, but thankfully RIGGA had been able to stop a majority of the heavy logs and pit traps that had appeared in their path. Those Pa'lowik droidsmiths sure knew how to make an indestructible tool.

The embedded control panel in her left arm chimed. Looking down, she noticed the comm call's origin and frowned in irritation. It was coming from the Illusion. It was probably Lik-Lik with another tip about what the probes had found. She activated the commlink and irritatedly growled into it, "What?"

The Aki-Aki squawked in his strange tongue and her face went white.

"I understand.", her voice shook with fear. "Bring the ship to me. I will take the call back on the Black Revenge."

She deactivated the comm and turned to Tar and the rest of the team, who were staring at her with fixed, curious expressions.

"I am receiving a call from 'him'.", she explained. She didn't need to say anything more. They all knew who 'he' was. "He wants to speak to me immediately. Keep tracking the Senator and bring him back alive."

The men and women muttered acknowledgements of the order, and they turned away as the sound of sublight engines roared above them. The Illusion had arrived. She would be glad to be back on board the Black Revenge. It would give her time to finally process the death of Nathan. But it also meant that she would be leaving her men down below to face threats they were uninformed about. She had never told them that there was almost certainly a Jedi in their midst.

The Illusion touched down in the hanger of the Black Revenge, and Cantoni practically leapt from the Trandoshan's shuttle to run to her private office. Situated at the bottom of the observation tower, it overlooked the empty void of space. The walls on either side were covered with the decapitated heads of the beasts she had killed when her ship had crashed on Ahn Krantarium. Thankfully, many of the cybernetically augmented monsters had been only lightly armed, and it had been easy to fend them off before the Haxion Brood had found her. Behind her office desk chair was mounted the many trophies from her days in the Brood's pit of carnage.

She crossed to the desk now, keying in the comm channel for Tyrannus' personal communication link. The image of the man materialised instantly, his expression stern. His head was hidden under a heavy cloak, but for the first time she realised that she could see the greying beard beneath the folds. His mask was missing. She bowed low to the floor, trying not to wince as he asked, "What is your progress, Captain?"

"Limited, sir.", she replied shakily. She tried to keep the intense fear from her voice. "As you know, the Senator is being hunted by my men in the Valley of the Dead. Unfortunately, finding him has become more challenging. The Senator's protectors have been setting traps and have already killed my best tracker."

Tyrannus ran his hand through the hair on his chin. "Hm. That could mean that he has… special protection. My sources on Pantora have already that several Jedi are missing from the Republic encampment."

Cantoni felt her blood run cold. Jedi? There were Jedi with the Senator? Her suspicions were correct. She had known it, but hearing it was something else. Tar and his men would most likely be slaughtered within the hour. She brought up the vitals in her ocular implant. Everyone (she tried to ignore the three vitals she had personally switched off) was still accounted for.

Tyrannus did not seem to notice her unease. "I read your earlier report. What of the smaller starfighter? From the details and recordings your people sent me, I can tell that it is a Delta-7 starfighter. Whoever was piloting that ship could prove useful in unravelling who else is with the Senator."

Cantoni's beak opened and closed several times before she croaked out, "I have not yet sent anyone to investigate that ship, my lord. It crashed on Arratak. My probes did a flyby and found no lifesigns."

"No lifesigns at all?", the man's voice grew menacing.

She swallowed. "I thought your goal was to capture the Senator."

"It was.", Tyrannus' gaze swung back around to her, and for a moment, she could swear she saw his eyes glow yellow. "But you must understand your enemy. Knowledge is power, Cantoni. Even if the pilot does not prove helpful, I would recommend sending him to Kas Amedda. She would find a use for him that you obviously will not. Of that, I am certain."

She could feel the rage radiating from him. "What is your will, Tyrannus?"

"Find that pilot. Trap the Senator. Bring them to me personally.", his eye glowed again, "You have failed me too many times in these past days, Captain. This is your last opportunity. Do not fail me."

She bowed lower. "I understand, my lord."

The hologram flickered off, and left the Ishi Tib wondering exactly what kind of monster she had signed up with. It seemed worse the cyborg Rancors, Nexu and Acklay that had been found on Ahn Krantarium. Perhaps he would be the one to kill her. Or perhaps she would be the one to outwit Tyrannus.

Only time would tell. And only the Force knew. If it truly existed.