Chapter 32: The Dune Sea
Author's Notes: Okay, back in business. I decided I needed to do some editing last week. Didn't get as much done as I'd hoped but I got the part that I really wanted to fix cleared up in Chapter 5. I think my original plan was to give Mission the Echani Fiber armor on Taris but forgot. Ah well, I had Calak sell it in the now edited Chapter 5 so that
takes care of that. I prefer the black Echani armor for Mission anyways until she gets the Barawig Shadow Armor. That will probably come up whenever I decide to have Calak visit that station.
As for this chapter. I'm gonna not have Bastila support simply leaving Tannis as that seems rather out of character for her as a Jedi. But she can still be disgusted by him.
The group made their way out into the desert. As they were only a few meters from the gate exit though, they were met with a lone woman.
"Hello there," the woman said. "You must be some group of hunters?"
"Uh yes," Calak said. "We're kinda new to this... game."
"Well, hope it brings you better luck then it did my husband."
"Husband?" Carth asked.
"Former husband I should probably say," the woman said. "He'll be gone soon enough and I'll be off of this rock soon enough."
Calak frowned. "You sound like you're planning to kill him!"
She merely smiled. "Oh I'm through planning. Though I haven't actually done it. If he's smart he'll be able to get out of the little trap I set up for him. But he's not smart. He's probably out there somewhere though, a few miles away. If you want to save him I have no objection. Doesn't matter to me."
Carth drew his blaster. "In the name of the Republic you're under arrest,"
The estranged wife laughed. "Get real! Your Republic has no jurisdiction here! This planet belongs to the Hutt clans! The only law around here is as long as you don't mess with them, they don't care what you do."
Carth gritted his teeth. But it was true, so he lowered his blaster.
"Why did you try to kill your husband?" Mission asked.
"Because he's a scumbag who makes me do all the work around the house. Clean his dishes, repair his droids! And what do I get in return? Nothing! Not even love! He flirts with every other female of every species! Especially Twilek dancers!" she said glaring at Mission. "Not to mention he lacks honor of any kind as shown in how he uses droids to do his hunting for him. He's a liar and a cheat! My mother warned me about him, but I didn't listen being the naïve little girl I was a few years ago."
That sounded like one of the hunters Calak had met at the Lodge. Calak hadn't liked the one called Tannis once he mentioned using droids, neither did the other hunters.
"Normally I would be all for helping a man out of a sticky situation but that doesn't sound like a decent man," Bastila said.
"He isn't. If you find him, tell him Malara says hello," the wife said before waving and cutting past them.
"Well we can't arrest her but we should at least find this guy if we can," Carth said.
"You're right," Calak said. "Even if he is a bad husband."
Canderous scoffed. "I say we don't bother with him. Losing to your own woman. Serves you right if you aren't loyal to her."
Calak had heard there was a Correllian saying, Fear the wrath of a female scorned, or something like that. They walked forward, the twin suns bearing down on them. Calak soon felt tempted to pour some water on himself to cool down but it would be better to wait until they really needed it. At least the temperature-controlled thermos would keep their water cool.
Calak then felt a presence nearby. He looked and saw a flicker of movement.
"Did you sense that too?" Bastila asked.
"Yeah," Calak said.
"As did I," Juhani said. "There were three presences. I can feel their fear though, yet they have resolve. They will be back… and likely with friends."
"Sand people probably," Canderous said.
"Or maybe the Sith," Carth suggested.
"Oh come on Carth, the Sith don't control this world. I bet there's no other Sith here after we killed those Dark Jedi."
…
"There were no other Sith stationed on Tattooine," the transmission told Calo Nord.
"Doesn't matter," the Bounty Hunter said. "I know some hunter guilds on that planet that will be glad to help for a price."
A price they would only receive in blood. Calo would promise them a share of the hefty reward to get their aid. Then when Calak Star and his friends were all dead, Calo would kill his allies. He had agreed to the Sith's offer to pay him a million credits for the capture of Bastila. But Calo had a reputation to uphold. No one ever beat him, no one. Calo aimed to fix that. Calak Star, Bastila Shan, Carth Onasi, and Canderous Ordo had gotten lucky on Taris. Of course, they'd have killed him most likely since they outnumbered him once Davak was killed in the explosion. No one knew the details except the Sith, and that was only because Calo told him. Well, Calo would kill them all. Malak would still be grateful even though he wanted Bastila alive. She could be a valuable asset to him if he turned her to his side, but she was also his greatest threat. That had to count for something.
Calo's Sith borrowed shuttle landed at a spaceport in Mos Eisley, another settlement on the desert world. Saul Karath had assumed that Calak Star was after something called a Star Map. He'd shared the coordinates for that with Calo who would acquire some probe droids that would guard that area. If Calak Star came near that object then Calo Nord would know. They had close first names, both starting with Cal.
"There can only one superior hunter among us Cals," Calo said to himself before noticing. "You actually have an 'ak' like Malak. Funny. Well, you'll be dead soon Calak Star. You'll be a star that will burn out, and I will be a shining star among Bounty Hunters again with no one to question my rep! And some more credits as well!"
…
Soon the crew of the Ebon Hawk saw something in the distance. It looked like a man, surrounded by a group of battle droids.
"Anyone out there?" They heard faintly. "Anybody! I seem to be uh… doomed!"
Calak and the others made their way there. The man had on an orange shirt under a brown vest and carried a hunting rifle.
"Hey there thanks for stopping!" Tannis Venn said. "I remember you from the other day. Glad to see a fellow hunter is out and about. You got any water? I've been trapped here for over two hours under those suns."
Calak passed him his canteen. Tannis opened the top and drank a bit. He breathed in relief.
"Thanks. But I'm still a bit… trapped. Mind helping me out?"
"I heard what happened," Calak said. "So your wife's mad at you huh?"
"Yeah," Tannis said. "Something about me not following her archaic rules of marriage."
"Archaic?" Bastila repeated. "From what she said you left her to do all the work."
"I hunted and brought in credits! She was the wife so she had the job of maintaining the house!" Tannis objected.
"If anything is archaic its men being the only ones to bring in the credits while woman stay at home! A man can help out around the house when his wife needs help!" Carth said. "If mine needed help at home I'd gladly give it! And I'd remain loyal to her as well not flirt with every woman I come across."
Carth seemed to speak from experience. Did he have a wife? Or was he just saying it if he had one? Calak didn't know.
"I say we leave him to his fate," Canderous said.
"Agreement: I say we blast him ourselves!" HK spoke.
"Aw come on!" Tannis lamented. "I know I'm not the most honorable guy here but I don't deserve this!"
T3 beeped, drawing Tannis's attention.
"Hey you got yourself a mech there! That little guy can probably fix my droids no problem!" Tannis said.
T3 replied in a negative beep.
"Hey now, did your droid just spit at me?" Tannis asked.
"Guess so," Calak said.
"Amused Statement: Guess the little circuit picker agrees with myself and the Mandalorian," HK said.
Bastila frowned, "We are Jedi!"
"And soldiers," Carth added.
"We are supposed to protect the innocent. This man might not be the most pleasant husband in the galaxy but he's still not an evil person," Calak said. "We should help him."
"I agree," Bastila said.
"Thanks, I knew you were probably a kind hearted lady," Tannis said smiling at her before looking at Mission and then Calak. "And your Twi'lek looks good too! I bet you have all kinds of fun with her!"
Mission frowned. "I ain't no one's slave or plaything!"
"Alright T3 get the droids under control!" Calak ordered.
The droid beeped in a reluctant agreement.
"Objection: Master, I say we simply put this meatbag out of his misery ourselves!"
"We're supposed to be the good guys here," Calak said.
"This guys not very likable though," Carth sighed.
"Still it is our duty to help those in need. Maybe he'll learn something from his mistakes and become a better person," Bastila said.
T3 went around the four droids and fixed them with ease thanks to his high level built in knowledge of droid functions. Soon all the droids stopped shaking and hung there normally.
Tannis let out a sigh of relief. "That was unpleasant. I guess I owe you my life. Not that that's worth much to you I guess." Calak nodded in confirmation.
"Well, I guess I should at least give you something for your trouble," Tannis said reaching into his pocket and pulling out several hundred credit chips. "It's not much but take it anyway."
Calak shook his head. "No. I want something else out of you. You're gonna sell these droids and you're not gonna flirt with other women anymore."
"But I-
"Those behaviors are what got you into this mess in the first place!" Calak told him sternly. "You cheated on your wife and used these droids to cheat."
"I did that to survive!" Tannis objected. "You see the Sand People? They hunt in groups and so do a lot of the wraids! Those droids help me kill as many of them as possible!"
Calak frowned. "Well, lets see if I can do it on my own! If I win against all of them, you agree to stop!"
"Uh, deal." Tannis reluctantly said.
Calak looked around the seemingly endless desert. He saw the Sand Crawler still in the distance. It strangely didn't seem to be moving?
Maybe something was wrong with it? Calak would have to take a look. But as he looked in that direction he saw a group of hulak wraids, large reptilian like creatures with pink skin and golden scales in some areas.
Calak held up his rifle and turned to his friends. "You guys stay out of this. I'm gonna take them alone. No force powers."
It would have been easy for him to kill the wraids that way but Tannis needed to know an ordinary man could do it as well. Calak still had the advantage of his rifle being high grade as well. Hopefully Tannis would be able to make up for it somehow.
Calak aimed his rifle at the nearest wraid which walked at the back of the group of four. He shot at it, his shot hit the back of the wraid's head. It was killed instantly, but the shot drew the attention of the other three. They cried out at the loss their herdmate and charged at Calak who retreated while still shooting. A second wraid fell, but the next two were closing in fast, faster than Calak could move without the use of the force. Calak quickly drew his lightsaber and managed to slice through the third wraid's head.
But the final one got within range before Calak could turn. It lashed out with its large front legs and swiped with its claws. Calak's jungle clothes didn't offer much protection from the attack, and he cried out in pain, wishing he hadn't left the protective belt and armband he'd gotten from Brejiik on Taris behind on the Ebon Hawk. Then a blaster shot sounded and hit the wraid which cried out in pain. Another shot sounded and the wraid fell. Calak looked and saw Tannis lowering his rifle.
"Calak!" Bastila cried out in concern before running over to him. "Are you okay?"
Calak gritted his teeth and looked at the wound which was bleeding badly. "Not really."
Bastila immediately put her hands on the wound and ran some force energy through it. Calak quickly felt it close and the pain lessen. He took a breath and turned toward Tannis.
"Thanks."
"You nearly got killed!" the hunter objected. "That's what fighting fair gets you!"
"Well, guess it is a bit of a challenge when there are four of them," Calak admitted. "I guess you will probably have to bend the rules a little bit if you're not gonna be working with other hunters."
"I have an idea!" Mission said. "A Flash Mine would probably do the trick to get rid of at least one of them. If you can kill the first two like Calak did and then lead a third into a trap to immobilize it, you finish the fourth then take the third."
"I suppose that could work," Tannis said before looking at his rifle. "And it was kind of fun to actually do it myself just now."
He took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll put my sins that led to this incident today behind me. No more womanizing, but maybe instead of mines I'll just use one or two droids. For a little extra help while I hunt myself."
"I suppose that's fair," Calak accepted.
"Good day fellow hunters, Jedi, or soldiers, whatever you are," Tannis said before heading back to Anchorhead.
…
With Tannis rescued, the group continued on through the desert. But then Calak stopped, his force senses picking up a large number of presences, like the ones from earlier. But there must have been at least thirty of them. They came from all sides, Sand People. Wrapped from head to toe in ragged tan robes and brown masks with goggles over their eyes, they carried gaffi sticks, short staffs topped with sharp blades on one side and a bludgeoning head on the other. Some also carried primitive blasters as well.
"Shields up!" Carth ordered.
All of them activated their energy shields, even the three Jedi. While they had lightsabers which could deflect blaster bolts, it was better not to take any chances if one could get past their defenses. The Tuskens let out primal battle cries in their alien language.
Calak, Bastila and Juhani all lit their lightsabers, while the others drew their blasters. The three Jedi let the force flow through them and charged forward at the majority of the Tuskens that were charging as well. Calak and Juhani leapt into the fray with force leap, their blue lightsabers slashing through flesh and even their opponents weapons as well. Unlike many of the weapons made in this war, which were lined with cortosis, the Sand People Gaffi sticks were just wood and some sort of metal that didn't resist lightsabers. With several lightsaber swings from each of the blue blades as well as the pair of yellows connected to one another as Bastila joined in, and a few Force Pushes here and there, the melee Tuskens were quickly dispatched. As for the handful of blaster wielders, Carth and the others shot those down as they were protected by
their energy shields. Those Tuskens were shot down.
Calak took a few deep breaths, feeling the adrenaline coursing through his veins. A part of him very much enjoyed this fight. He wanted more, to bring these animals to justice for all the unprovoked violence they'd caused. But at the same time, that feeling scared him. The thrill of
battle could threaten to lure him to the dark side possibly.
Then an idea that seemed to come from the light in his heart which had been clouded by darkness for an instant entered his head.
I'll try to settle things with the Tuskens peacefully, Calak decided. That way I at least try and avoid a slaughter.
And they moved further into the desert, following the markers. They'd walked for over three hours through the scorching heat now. They didn't see anything for a while, but then they did. A large brown transport on wheels. Calak had heard of the sandcrawlers, giant machines that were often used by jawas and other parties for journeys into the desert. But something was right about that one, it wasn't moving, and also, Calak could see smoke as well coming from it.
"That must be a Sandcrawler that came under attack," Calak said.
"Let's check it out," Carth said.
"Maybe it was the one my brother was on," Mission said.
"Who knows?" Bastila remarked. "That was days ago though."
They came up the Sandcrawler which had a group of miners outside it. Only about half a dozen men, all armed with blasters.
"Hey!" Calak called.
Their leader, a balding red-haired man came out to meet them.
"Who are you all?" the man asked. "Eh doesn't matter? Can you help us out?"
"We'll try," Calak assured them. "I'm Calak Star, and I've agreed to stop the Sand People attacks. I presume they did this?"
"You would be right. Came out of nowhere," the leader said before his eyes widened as he looked at something behind Calak. "Wait dammit! Here they come again! How do they do that!"
Calak wheeled around and sure enough saw another large group of around two dozen Tuskens. He lit his lightsaber along with Juhani and Bastila.
"Man! We just can't catch a break!" Carth lamented as he drew his blasters and began firing.
"Personally this is just the way I like it!" Canderous let off a stream of heavy fire that took down a few of the Tuskens before they could get close.
Calak deflected a few shots that were aimed at him, though one flew past him and hit one of the miners who fell with a scream. Juhani and Bastila also deflected shots that came at them and even some aimed at their allies or the miners. Blaster bolts soared from both sides but the defenders quickly managed to overcome the attackers who had several of their own attacks come back at them courtesy of the Jedi lightsabers. They fell, either by their own blaster shots, their enemies or the Jedi weapons.
Calak extinguished his lightsaber and turned to the miners as an extra layer of sweat escaped his body.
"Thanks for your help. We really need to get out of here. That group would have wiped us out if not for you."
"Come on then, we'll get you to safety," Calak said.
"Hey don't forget we're gonna be paid for any gaffi sticks we bring back to Czerka Corporation!" Canderous said.
"Oh yeah!" Calak said looking around at the bodies. "Grab whatever sticks you can! We'll turn them into Czerka when we get back."
They grabbed the sticks from off the ground next to their fallen owners. As they gathered the sticks, Calak looked at the bodies as well.
"We're going to have to get into their enclave."
"How?" Mission asked. "I have a stealth field generator but none of the rest of you do."
Carth looked at the Sand People bodies around them. "We don't need stealth generators. We just need disguises."
Canderous huffed. "I prefer a direct forward assault destroying everything in sight."
"Of course you do Mandalorian," Juhani said in a voice of contempt.
"Well, we'll do what we have to," Calak said. "Try and see if we can settle it peacefully somehow, and if not we'll kill them all."
The others nodded reluctantly. Hopefully HK's alleged ability to speak Sand People would prove invaluable in negotiating. Only time would tell.