Part 6
"Well... There's always some sugar packs if you need a sugar rush, right?" Alanna said trying to lighten up her mood.
Jo laughed, starting to cheer up a tad. "Yeah, I guess so." She sighed getting up again. "So, what do ya want to do now? It's kind of strange just staying in one place. I don't think I could ever get used to it."
"Did Kanar say where we are heading for next?" Alanna asked, biting her fingernail's new growth off.
Jo shook her head. "He said he needed to fix the engines or somthing like that on his ship in case we need to do some emergency running, and knowing us, we definatley will."
Alanna laughed. "Yes, that is true."
Jo chuckled and smiled. "Well, that's the life of an intergalactic criminal."
"Right again!" Alanna said giving a small snort of laughter.
Jo grinned and nodded. "Eh, what can I say, it's only the truth I speak to you now." She sighed thinking. "I wonder were we should go next..."
"Me too. Hundreds to guess from!" she said plainly, wondering herself where they would go.
Jo shrugged. "The list is endless. We could always go to Tatooine, Naboo, even back to Coruscant."
"I almost think we would be better in my homeworld, Shilli. I know of... underground places..." She said with a little tad of a smirk.
Jo grinned. "Underground huh? Are you sure about that? We don't want to hurt any of your family there." She looked concerned seeing that she rather liked Alanna, she didn't want anything to happen to her loved ones.
******
Cossan raised an eyebrow at the feline creatures words. I don't really think that'll work to well... He took a swig of his drink, still observing the scene, hand resting lightly on his blaster. Just in case.
******
Alanna shook her head. "No one goes there anymore. It's my familys mine. The government doesn't know about it. No records of it. It's pratically invisible, its so well concealed. And besides, I have no family. I had my mother, but the Jedi took care of her." She said, spitting out the last sentence with vengance.
Jo's eyes softened for a moment putting her hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Alanna." I'm sorry. Such empty meaningless words. But at the moment, there was nothing else to say. Sorry wouldn't bring anyone back.
"We'll get revenge."
******
The Zabrak man's face suddenly relaxed.
"I will leave," he said. Then he turned and returned to his table. His friends looked a little confused, but their rambunctious chatter resumed soon enough.
Britta smirked and sat down again.
"Nice job, Jedi," she said. "Though I would've liked to rough him up a bit."
She chuckled and kept eating her food.
Cossan was completely bewildered when the Dathomerian just left them alone. His friends seemed rather confused as well. He glanced over at the strange pair, now happyly eating their food. How did, what the? His face lit up as it hit him.
Jedi. He chuckled and glanced over at the pair.
******
"I wish that could be true. The Jedi who killed her ate a posion that killed him while we were dueling. He said that now no one could ever prove that he killed my mother. And then he lay down dead." Alanna said with a sad sigh.
"Shall we go tell Kanar about the idea?"
Jo sighed. "Such a pity, he deserved much worse." She nodded. "Yea, come on lets go." With that she strolled off.
Alanna nodded and strode off with Jo to find Kanar.
Kanar finished patching the power converter and put it back into place. He checked the other components to make sure that they were all working properly, then he went outside to check that the external parts like the engines weren't damaged any.
******
Jedi spread his paws. "Well, I thought this way we could avoid a scene." He went back to eating.
Probably for the best," Britta said. She shrugged and finished off her food.
"Ready to get moving?" she asked.
Jedi stood up and said "Let's go."
******
Alanna and Jo walked up. Alanna spoke first. "I found a good place to hide. Shilli. I have... a secret place. No one, not even our government or anyone outside my now-dead family knows about this place... We would be impossible to find there. I suggest going there."
******
Britta paid the tab and stood up. She put her hood back up and walked back out into the streets. She waited to make sure Jedi was following her before walking back into the neighborhood and over to their speeders.
"I suggest we get some rest before we begin the chase again. It's getting late. We'll need all our strength," she said.
Jedi nodded.
******
"Normally I would take this opportunity to point out again that the people on Shili hate me, but at this point I think I'd rather confront angry Togrutas than Jedi," Kanar said. "The ship seems to be in perfect working order. We shouldn't have any trouble if we need to make a quick getaway."
Jo grinned. "Alrighty then, Shili it is." She glanced at the ship feeling rather excited for some reason.
******
Cossan watched the two Jedi exit the bar and sighed, getting up himself.
Going already Cossan? The bar tender asked, his head tilted to the side. Cossan smiled. "Yea, I'm just gonna call it a night. See ya." With that he stood and exited the tavern, keeping an eye on the two Jedi.
"Alright, let's go," Britta said. She mounted her speeder and sped out of the underworld and back to the Temple.
******
"We should probably leave tomorrow. Personally I'm not too thrilled about leaving tonight. I'd rather get some sleep first. How about you guys?" Kanar asked.
Jo shrugged. "Personally, I'm not tired at all. If you'd like you can sleep while I pilot the ship." Expecting mistrust from Kanar she quickly added; "Trust me, I know a lot more about piloting than I do machanics."
******
Jedi nodded and followed.
Cossan frowned, a bit dissapointed that the Jedi just flew off like that. "Oh well, I'm going to the temple anyway." He sighed and set off on foot to the nearest Taxi stand.
Britta parked her speeder in front of the Temple.
"Well, I think we should see if we can find this Kanar in the archives and then head to bed. We've got a whole galaxy to search," she said. She headed off towards the archives and hoped that there would be enough information there for them to find this guy.
******
"I suppose you two know where we're going better than I do," Kanar said. He sighed, "Alright, fine. Just don't smash up my ship."
******
Jedi stifled a yawn. "Sure, right behind ya."
Britta chuckled when Jedi yawned,
"Don't worry, hopefully this won't take long," she said. She walked into the Temple and into the archives. She sat down at a kiosk and entered Kanar's name into the search. It pulled up the images of several people. Britta looked at Jedi,
"Any familiar faces?" she asked.
Jedi scanned the rows, then shook his head. "Try looking through the older archives. Those robes were for a youngling, but he's at least 18."
******
Jo grinned. "Don't worry Kanar, I know what I'm doing. Go get some sleep." She walked up into the ship, making her way to the cockpit and plopping down in the pilot's seat. Alright, Shili here we come.
Kanar nodded.
"Alright. Wake me up if we run into trouble," he said. He walked into the back of the ship and sprawled out on one of the benches along the wall.
******
Britta moved back a few pages to the older pages,
"Anything yet?" she asked.
Jedi's eyes locked onto one portrait. "There," he pointed.
Britta tapped on the picture and pulled up the man's full bio.
"Kanar Revuni. Expelled from the order when he was barely a Padawan. He's a mechanic. It says that authorities have tried to arrest him many times and every time he's been let go. That's very interesting," she said.
******
Jo nodded and flipped on a few switches, checking that everything was functioning. All systems go.. get ready for take off. She started the engines and smiled as the ship took off. She leaned back in her chair, visibly relaxing.
Alanna closed her eyes and hummed very softly, she was barely heard as she meditated.
Kanar drifted off into a light sleep. He wasn't about to relax completely. He didn't want to take any chances.
Jo flipped a few switches and plugged in some coordinates into the computer and set the ship into hyperdrive. She gazed out of the windsheild at the colored streaks dashed across the sky.
Alanna reopened her eyes to the star streaked windshield of hyperspace.
******
"Yeah," Jedi replied. "I wonder why he was expelled....."
Cossan had arrived at the loading dock of the Jedi Temple. He paid the Taxi driver and walked into the temple glancing around. Well, haven't been here in a while. I wonder what those Jedi were up to back there. There was a soft beeping noise. Cossan stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his Comlink. "Leutenent Cossan. We've tracked an enemy StarShip entering Area 25 Airspace. Direction, Shili. Track them, and bring them down. Meet your wing at the Temple Hangar. Over." Cossan grinned. "Right away Sir." He dashed off to the Hangar and hopped into his Z-95 Headhunter and took of along with the rest of his wing.
******
Alanna felt a prickle of unease suddenly. "When we enter the atmosphere, we will have to leave this ship, so not to be traced. We also are going to need some disguises..."
Jo raised an eyebrow. "I don't think Kanar will let us do that..." She groaned holding her head in her hands. "What are we supposed to disguise ourselves as anyways?" Suddenly, and idea hit her. "Do you have any simple brown cloaks and lighter clothes? We'll need lightsabers too."
"Yeah. I have like five pairs. What size?" she asked and began to rummage though her small and compact bag. She came out with medium for herself and waited for Jo to tell her her size.
Jo shrugged. "I dunno, just give me something in the middle." She grinned. If they went disguised as Jedi, then, no one would suspect them. They'd have to cloak their Force signature of course. "Do you think Kanar could cloak his own Force signature? If not we'll have to find a way to help him."
"Maybe. Not sure. He doesn't seem to really care about who knows he has the Force or not..." She tossed Jo a cloak that fit her fine. "I should probably explain a few things... Once we're on Shilli. I'm... Well known. Not for crime, but... Well let's just say I'm the leaders daughter." Alanna said, shifting her feet. "My father had an affair. I was never supposed to exsist. He stayed put of my life until his true daughter with his real wife died. Of course then he brought me into the spotlight, against my wishes. It might be better that we go to the palace, where we could have better protection. If Kanar doesn't want to risk leaving his ship, we should go there. What do you say?"
Jo slipped on the cloak. It fit her perfectly. She let out a nervous laugh about Alanna's comment about the Shili leader. "Hah, I don't think that'll go very well. The Shili leader and I, well, we've got some rough patches." She grinned. "He said he'd have my head if he ever saw me again. And frankly, I don't feel like fighting any friend's father at the moment." She shook her head remembering back when she was much younger.
"It's best that we stay incognito."
"Got it." Alana said. She rummaged around for a larger cloak for Kanar and the faintest tink of metal on metal was heard. Alanna coughed a couple of times to try and the hide the sound as she pulled out a good cloak for Kanar. She laid it over his lightly sleeping body and tip-toed away.
Jo's ears pricked up, picking up a very faint metal sound over Alanna's coughs. "Alanna, what are you hiding?" She raised an eyebrow and glanced inside her pack.
Kanar was jarred out of his sleep when Alanna put the cloak on him. He sat up.
"What the-?" he looked at Alanna and held up the cloak. "Um, what is this?"
"A cloak. Put it on. And it's nothing, Jo." Alanna said quickly and shoved something farther in a secret compartment. She hid the bag behind her.
Jo grinned and returned to the pilots seat. "Alright, whatever you say Alanna." She sighed, still smiling and glanced at the small screen on the console. There were five blinking red dots. "We've got trouble. Five fighters by the looks of 'em."
Kanar looked at the cloak,
"Oh kriff. We're masquerading as Jedi aren't we? Kriff," he said. He sighed. "Alright, what's the plan then? I assume it's changed since I was under the impression that we were going somewhere where no one would find us. The fact that we're wearing disguises leads me to believe otherwise."
Alanna frowned. "Get I the lead ones I intercom and say, Code 6838 I repeat, Code 6838. If that doesn't work, show me where this 'ships guns are."
Jo nodded. "Kriff, this is just perfect. And yes Kanar, we're going as Jedi. You better learn how to cloak your Force signature." She closed her eyes using the Force to feel through the ship and out into space, sensing the shapes of the Starfighters. "They're Z-95 Headhunters. The guns are right in the front at the edge of each wing." She shook her head, taking the ship out of Hyperdrive and preparing the guns.
"Get ready, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
Cossan and his Wings mad it into hyperspace. A large red dot apeared on the screen. "That's them." Alright, Just as planned. They assembled into a diamond formation and sped forward straight for the ship.
Alanna hit the comlink button and growled, "If you are of the Shilli government, the code is 6838. This is the leaders daughter, and I command you to stop your pursuit of us. If you do not, I shall have my father put you in the darkest, smelliest, moldiest, and most inescapable cell in this galaxy. I repeat, this is Alanna, the leaders daughter. Shoot us down and you shall be killed." she stood up and got into one of the manual guns and prepared to fire.
Cossan raised an eyebrow at the strange voice coming over the comlink. He shook his head an replied. "This is Luetenant Tainn, Starfighter for the Republic. We have strict orders from the Jedi Council to hunt down and stop this ship." He paused. "Leader's daughter or not, you are harboring two dangerous criminals on your ship."
"The Jedi Order doesn't have the right to go shooting down leader's daughters. I suggest turning around before I blast your friends out of the sky for my protection!" Alanna called, Force-pressing the comlink.
Cossan glanced desperatley at his comrads. They merely shrugged, leaving the matter to him. He sighed. "Look, we won't shoot as long as you hand over the Sith." He looked forward to the approaching the ship.
"That is our final offer."
******
Jedi turned away. "Now let's get some sleep before we fall asleep here," he said to Britta.
Britta nodded.
"I'm heading to my ship. I guess I'll just find you tomorrow, then we can start hunting," she said.
******
Kanar cursed and got to his feet.
"I can see where this is going. Jo, out of the pilot's seat. My ship. My rules. If those clowns start shooting I'm getting us out of here. I told you going to Shili was a bad idea," he said. He shooed Jo out of his seat and took the controls.
******
Jedi dipped his crested head to her. "Okay. See you." He took the elevator back to the floor that his room was on, and unfastened his black cloak. He then lept lightly into bed, and, like the felines he was related to, curled up half-underneath the cover, and promptly fell asleep.
******
Jo sprang up out of the seat. "They're going to fire at us no matter what. Let's just get out of here." She smiled sadly. They'd probably have to fight these pilots. Oh well, you'll do what you must.
Kanar looked at Alanna.
"Sorry Alanna, but if we don't get out of here, we're toast. Someone man the guns in case they start shooting and we need to shoot back," he said. "Make sure you turn them around first or we'll be shooting into vacant space. Oh, and hang on."
He grabbed the controls and made the ship bank hard to the left. He increased their speed. He narrowed his eyes in concentration. There was an asteroid field a ways away. He was fairly confident that he could lose the other ships in it. That would give them more time to figure out where they were heading next.
The Hawkbat flew forward into the asteroids. Kanar's expert hands moved the controls, sending the ship into hard turns and spins to avoid each giant rock that came at them.
"Are they following us?" he asked as they came to a slight gap in the field where he could slow down a bit.
Cossan's eyes narrowed as the ship banked left for the nearby asteroid feild. "Oh just great. Come on, let's get 'em boys." He moved the fighter forward into the asteroid feild, his smaller craft following easyly through the maze of asteroids.
"On my signal, open fire."
Jo concertrated on the Force. "Yeah, three are following, one leading the group and two are staying behind." She glanced over at Kanar and smiled.
"This is where the fun begins," Kanar said. He grinned and pushed the ship forward again. He sent the ship into a steep climb over a large asteroid.
Jo rolled her eyes. "Sure, fun." She dashed over to the back of the ship to, as Kanar so simply put it, man the guns. She plopped down into the chair and whirled around, facing the huge window in front of her. The three fighters were in her line of site.
Cossan manuvered through the asteroid feild, getting closer and closer to the ship. His comlink buzzed on."Open Fire." Cossan smirked and let loose a birage of laser beams.
"Hey, this wasn't supposed to happen Kanar. These are from the JEDI. Not SHILLI. If you let me do a little negotaiting, we could maybe land, unharmed, and then Jo and I could take care of them. But if you insist on getting fried, be my guest!" Alanna half hissed, frustrated.
"If they were from Shili I would let you do your thing," Kanar said, maneuvering the ship out of the way of the lasers, "But if these really are Jedi ships and they're trying to kill us, then I doubt we can negotiate something."
Cossan furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. He fired more beams, doing a quick barrel roll to avoid a small asteroid.
Alanna huffed and sent a barrage of random lasers, making one of the fighters move to the right to avoid a laser bolt, only to get blasted by one on one of his wings.
Kanar moved the ship out of the way of the lasers easily. It was easy enough to use to Force to see where the bolts were. If their pursuers were going to catch them, they would need to try something else.
Cossan winced, feeling the impact of the laser beam vibrating through the wing. Looks like we're going to have to do this pirate-style. He pushed the ship forward speading to the larger ship and extended the landing gear. He adjusted the position of the ship so that when he flew over, the landing gear would tear the top of the ship below.
Kanar reached out with his senses into the ship. He could tell all what was going on with the ship's inner workings. The landing gear was going down and it was coming over the top of his ship.
What? Oh kriff.
"Hang on!" he said. He pushed down hard on the controls and sent the ship into a nose dive down past the asteroids.
Alanna leaned back and attempted to still strike down any pursuing fighters.
Cossan heard more lasers being shot. He turned to see the two ships following explode in mid flight. His eyes widened with shock.
"No!" Turning, his face now hard with determination he chased the larger ship farther into the asteroid feild, blasting away, aiming for its engines.
Alanna gritted her teeth and felt the Force surge. Groaning with the effort, she entere Cossan's mind as a whisper. Leave us. We will leave you alone. Otherwise... we will give you a merciful death. She broke out gasping. It took so much energy to speak into one's mind. Gasping with fatigue, she began firing directly at his weapons, hoping to to disable them.
Cossan glared, forcing the enemy out of his mind. Never. Not until I see you all rotting in a prison cell. He did a sequence of barrel rolls and retraced his landing gear again, diving in for the kill.
Alanna hissed and let her anger seep into her, making her shimmer with rage. Letting out a war shriek, she began rapidly firing while focusing on undoing every bolt in that kriffing ship using the Force. She felt that ship slightly shudder and focused on it even harder.
Cossan tried his best to manuver around the lasers but they were just to many. He felt the wings on his ship shudder and half of one tore off, metal shreiking in protest. "Kriff, this is just perfect." He pointed the nose of the fighter straight at the nearest planet, Shili and set forward at full speed. The landing gear scraped the roof of the ship and seemed to take off a bit of the metal.
Alanna let out a sigh of relief. "Kanar! What now?! I suggest going after him, so we can finish him off. And we can get my father to intervene."
Cossan cursed, most of the systems were failing. He leaned back in his seat, preparing for the crash, almost doubting his survival. Well. This is it then. This is the end. He shook his head forbidding himself to think like that. No Cossan, you'll make it out of this one. Just like the rest. He sighed looking forward to the oncoming planet.
"Three minutes until impact," said a robotic female voice. Cossan cursed again as the ship entered the planet's atmosphere. The tall forest canopy apeared out of nowere, soon surounding the ship. He closed his eyes just as the ship hit the ground. It toppled and slided through the trees finally skidding to a stop upside-down against a large tree. Cossan was out cold.
Alanna was tempted to wrestle the controls out of Kanar's hands. She wanted to pursue this stranger NOW. If they let him escape alive, he could return to hunt them again another day.
Cossan groaned trying to push himself up. He had some how managed to fall out of the seat during one of the flips and he now lay on what looked to be the ceiling. How am I even still alive? He clenched his teeth and rolled onto his back, despite a stabbing pain in his side and leg. He reached for his Comlink, which still looked intact. He tried to communicate with the Temple.
"Hello, this is Star Fighter 5784. I've crashed in Shili. I don't know what happened to the rest of my Wing. I suspect they must be dead. Please. Help."
Alanna gave a snort and headed for an escape pod. "I'm going after him now!" she called out, and hit the button for the pod to be jettisoned.
It landed a few meters away for the still smoldering crash site. She kept her hand close on her light saber as she walked closer. She thought she heard a male voice but wasn't certain.
Cossan's eyes widened. There were footsteps, and they were getting closer. Oh. My. God. He glanced around and saw it, his blaster was laying just a few feet away. He dragged himself over and grabbed it, then returning to his former position and laying completely still, not even daring to breath. Please... someone... anyone!
******
Jedi, who, now that it was morning, was strolling through the corriodors when another Jedi ran out of a passageway.
"Jedi!" he called. All the faces turned to look at him. "No," he said impatiently. "That Jedi. His name." Walking over to Jedi, he said "I just recieved this commlink from someone who crashed on Shili. Can you fly out and help them?"
Jedi cursed. "We're on another mission right now! But," he thought. "I suppose we could fly by and check it out. The ship we were pursuing headed in that general direction anyways." He turned, and walked off to go tell Britta.
******
Cossan lay there, perfectly still, a small pool of blood forming around his side. That's it. If I'm not killed by this madwoman, I'll probably bleed to death. He sighed and closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.
"I can sense you. Don't try to hide yourself. I suggest not using that blaster. You don't want to lose your arm, right?" Alanna asked calmly and took a deep breath and walked into Cossan's vision. She was far enough away where she could get to her lightsaber if needed.
******
Jedi strode over to Britta's ship, walked inside, and poked her. "Britta! Wake up! Slight change in plans, now we need to go to Shili to rescue some guy who commlinked us."
******
Cossan shuddered. He hated it when people did that. He slowly propped himself up against the side of the ship, clutching his wound with on hand, the other setting down his blaster.
"Now what? You just kill me then?" He raised an eyebrow examining the strange Togruta woman.
"Nah. I'd probably just have my father jail you for trying to shoot down the Leaders Daughter in Togruta Space. No big deal right?" she asked, being slightly sarcastic. If he was polite enough, maybe she could just have him banned for the planet of Shilli...
******
Jedi hissed. This was taking too long! He dropped to all fours, and ran out of the ship and bounded to his own, his Aethersprite Light Interceptor Jedi Starfighter. He opened the top, vaulted in, hit the controls, and sped off. I'll commlink her later, he thought.
******
Cossan rolled his eyes. "Overly compasionate for a Sith if you don't mind me saying." He gave a 'little boy' stareand spoke in a mocking tone. "You Highness." Come one.... didn't anyone get the distress signal?!?!!?
Alanna let out a exasperated sigh. " I'm NOT a highness thank you. And technically I'm not that all Sith-y. Sith probably would have sliced your head by now by shooting us. And don't call me highness please. It's bad enough to have to wear the stupid headress and dress when going anywhere in Shilli without you calling me 'your highness'." she huffed.
******
Jedi, when he was far away enough, hit the button for hyperspace travel. he quickly closed his eyes, for, as he said before, the initial jump bothered his eyesight. After that, it was a straight shot to Shilli.
******
Cossan raised an eyebrow now feeling rather light-headed from the loss of blood. "Well, if you plan on taking me prisoner, you're going to have to carry me there." He slumped back against the wall, splotches of red forming in the corners of his vision. "I-I don't think... I'll stay awake... for v-very long."
Alanna rolled her eyes and grumbled something and unceremonisly dragged him out of the cockpit. She took out her belts first aid kit and cleaned up his wounds efficiently. When she was done, she stood back up and cleaned her hands of the blood while keeping a careful eye on him.
Cossan winced as he was dragged out of the cockpit onto the rough earth outside. He sighed and let Alanna work on his wounds, not that he could really do anything to stop her.
"S-strange way to... treat s-someone who... almost killed you." He managed a weak smile. "W-why the change of heart?"
"There's still the chance that my friends or my father will kill you, ya know." she commented dryly.
Cossan sighed. "Oh well, everyone has to die sooner or later anyways."
Alanna didn't comment, but simply packed up her things and stuffed them roughly into her bag.
Kanar cursed when Alanna jettisoned and escape pod.
"That girl isn't very patient is she?" he asked, "I supposed we should go after her."
He turned the ship around and used the controls to track the escape pod to the surface. He landed not far away and walked out.
"Alanna?" he called.
Being out here was making him jittery. He didn't get along well with the Togrutas. He was kind of Public Enemy Number One. Ok, maybe not number one, but he was up there on the list.
Jo shrugged. "I don't really think we have a choice." Jo stepped out of the ship, following Kanar to the crash site. She glanced at the injured pilot and then to Alanna. "Since when do we heal our enemies Alanna?"
"Over here. This ones the only survivor. Also the leader," she called out to Kanar.
Cossan glanced wearily at the two new figures. Oh great. Just what I needed. Three crazy psychopaths holding me hostage. Kriff, how will I get out of this one? He sighed, trying his best to stay calm.They'll come. Just be patient.
Alanna gave a small inside smile as she felt his mood in the Force.
******
Jedi was nearing his destination. He came out of hyperspace and swung around the planet. He wished he could try to contact the ship, but... "Wait!" he said to himself. I can use the Force to talk to him! He concerntrated hard. Hello. I am Jedi and we've recieved your commlink. I'm coming to help you.
******
Cossan's eyes widened, he couldn't believe it. Be careful, I was hunting down three criminals, they're all here. And from what I can tell they're all force weilders. He glanced up at the Togruta who was now smiling. "What?"
"Were not physchopaths." She said covering her mouth to hold back a giggle. She shook her head at his confusion. "It's an inside joke."
Cossan tilted his head to the one side and rolled his eyes. "No, of course not. You're just a bunch of cold-hearted murderers, my mistake." He snarled, eyes gleaming with hatred.
******
Jedi nearly fell off his seat. "WHAT?!" he yelped. "Maybe that's them! I can kill 2 birds with one stone!" He started in to land.
******
Alanna felt the ship come to land. "Only because the Jedi killed everyone I loved. So I will strike back. Be careful what you say, you don't want your head off your body do you?!" She said hissing with anger. She ignited both lightsabers and called to Jo.
"A Jedi is coming. Tell Kanar to get out of here if he doesn't want to fight!" With that, she turned to Cossan flames burning in her eyes.
"You. You told him where we were. Of course you did." She growled with a a sound coming from the back of her throat. It sounded like a Sand Panther's growl. Snarling, she picked him up with the Force and slammed him into a nearby tree. She hoped she knocked him unconsious.
Cossan smirked, a sense of satisfaction feel over him. "But of course. You Royal Highness." He flinched as he felt himself being picked up and flew into a nearby tree, hitting the ground with a soft thud. He yelped, clutching his side and laying on his stomach.
Jo nodded and ignited both sabers. She glanced over at Kanar, her look telling him to just stay out of this one. Moving over to stand next to Alanna she sighed. "Some hostage we've got ourselves huh."
"An annoying one on that point. I HATE being called 'highness'!" She shuddered at the word. "I'd keep your mouth shut if you don't want to hurt more."
Jo raised and eyebrow and stiffled a small laugh. "Calm down Alanna. We've got some real buissness to take care off, not just annoying hostages."
"Alright alright." She grumbled and moved into an offensive form, ready for the Jedi.
Jo grinned and twirled her sabers, waiting for Jedi to step around the corner.
Alanna sighed and let her hands fall to her hips. "And here I thought the Jedi were eager to face off the Dark Side beings and kill them." She let out a sigh.
Jedi had brought his ship in to land. As he touched down, he could now feel 4 life forms near him. One was weaker than the rest. First, he buckled his belt back on, the one that had the holster for his lightsaber, then, he opened to top of his starship, and Force-jumped out with a flip. He hit the ground running and came to a clearing. The 3 he had been pursuing were staring at him, and as he whipped out his blue lightsaber, he saw the form of someone lying on the ground.
"Fancy seeing you three here," he growled. "Let this one go, and I may spare you."
"Don't think you're all powerful. It's not wise to be so proud and sure of your abilites, Jedi. And why should we let him go, when he tried to kill us?" It was an honest question as she snapped her blades together in a defensive form.
"Oh," Jedi waved a paw. "I am not being overconfident, it was just a threat. And I applaud him for trying to kill you, I tried too." He swung his blade in a circle. "Let's begin, then, shall we?"
Alanna frowned. "Such confidence. Don't underestimate me." She warned and circled him, her lightsabers in a constant motion. "Your taunts miss their mark. Better think of some better threats faster!"
Jedi hissed and leaped at her.
Alanna crouched low and flipped under him while he soared over her. She kicked him in the mid-section and sent him tumbling to the ground. She let him get back to his feet and waited, ready to spring into action.
Jo, always being more of the direct approach, dashed straight ahead, assuming her usual, red saber spinning in defensive and yellow saber sliceing format.
Jedi blocked her blows, since he had landed nibly on his paws. He took a swipe at her and grazed her leg. Then, he spun his saber very fast at Alana, and nearly severed her arm.
Alanna sensed the blow, and moved gracefully in time to avoid it. She Force tripped him and got his saber tangled with hers, making him vulnerable to Jo.
Jedi quickly released the hilt of his saber, but, since he was no longer tugging on it, he used the Force and it flew back to his paw. He then gracefully returned the flashing blows.
Alanna put most of her anger in like storage, readying it for when he was tiring. She in return blocked the blows, much thanks to her heritage of Togrutas.
Jo felt the saber graze her leg but she ignored it. She charged forward, swiping quickly and leaping from side to side avoiding his attacks.
Jedi suddenly felt one of the two Sith's sabers rip through his side. He was in agony, and now was so angry he let his feelings escape him. Sparks danced along his fingers, and a bolt of Force lightning zapped Alana. Jedi yowled with shock and pain, but still continued his attacks.
Alanna used the Force to absorb and, and blasted it back at him. She added an even more painful bolt of her own, directly at his head.
Jedi, through some pained miracle, dodged the bolts, and slashed at Alana and Jo.
Jo blocked Jedi's sabers and let loose a bolt of force lightning, aiming for Jedi's heart.
Jedi, his pain streghnthening his bond with the Force, somehow deflected it and forced Jo back against her ship.
Cossan watched the battle wide-eyed. And I thought fighting them would be easy. He shook his head and noticed his blaster laying just a few feet away. Praying that the Sith were to occupied with the Jedi, he dragged himself over and picked it up, taking aim for their hearts.
Jedi countered one of Alana's attacks and rounded on Jo, Force-shoving her up against her ship and keeping her there.
Jo snarled and countered his force push, shooting out lightning again and again.
Cossan aimed at fired several lasers, aiming for the Sith's heads or hearts, trying his best to help the Jedi.
Jedi hissed, doged most of the bolts, and jumped up and kicked Alana right in the chect, sending her flying, hopefully knocking her out.
Alanna landed other feet and charged at Jedi, avoiding all his kicks and attacks at her.
Jedi flew by her, and landed painfully on his paws.
Cossan fired another few shots, grazing the arm of one the Sith. He closed his eyes, waiting to be injured again.
Jo winced as a blaster beam grazed her arm, ruining her concentration. "You'll pay for that, pilot." She whriled around taking in a deep breath, about to let loose a huge bolt of Force lightning.
Alanna sighed. "Kanar! Can you deal with the stupid pilot already?!" she called out to Kanar. Frustrated, she sent a stray bolt at the Jedi's lightsaber.
"I thought I was supposed to stay out of this one!" Kanar said. He rolled his eyes and went to deal with Cossan anyway. He took his saber hilt out of his pocket and ignited the blade. He jumped in front of Cossan and dodged his blaster bolts rather than blocking them. He could block in a pinch, but it wasn't his strong point. In situations like this it was just easier for him to dodge them.
"Ok, are you going to put the gun down and be nice, or will I have to silence you myself?" he asked.
Cossan would have laughed if he hadn't been in this situation. "Be nice? Really? You expect me to be nice to the people I'm assigned to kill? Not very likely." He grinned, an idea popping into his head. Please work... He shot again, but this time at Kaner's feet. Grabbing a handful of dust, he threw it into Kanar's face. Hopefully temporarily blinding and distracting him. Cossan forced himself up and half limped half ran into the woods, clutching his side in sheer agony.
Kanar dodged the bolt fired at hit feet, but he wasn't able to avoid the dust that Cossan threw at him. He made a surprised sound and backed away. The dirt stung his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and blinked furiously to get the dust out of them. He squinted into the forest as Cossan tried to run for it.
"I don't think so," he said. He sheathed his saber and ran after him, using the Force to find him in the undergrowth.
"Kanar! Just like knock him out or put him to sleep using the Force if you have too!'' Alanna shouted and leaned in, growling in the Jedi's face.
Jedi, still stumbling and growing woozy from blood loss, just decided to smack Alana in the face with his heavy paw, trying to knock her out. After he hit her, he rounded on Jo and flashed his saber in dizzying arcs, trying to land a blow.
Jo smirked and dashed forward, slashing widly and jumping from side to side, doing her best to avoid Jedi's blows. "Kanar, did you get him? Hurry up already!"
Cossan ran through the underbrush knowing that his persuers were already close behind him he looked over his shoulder. Just as I thought. He stumbled over a small fallen tree, tumbling head over heals, and landing on the hard ground with a soft umph.
Jedi suddenly grabbed Jo's blade with the Force, and slammed his forehead into hers. He just wanted to knock them out so he could help himself...
Jo yelped in surprise as Jedi took hold of her saber. Her eyes widened just before he hit her in the head. "Oh kri-" Her words were cut of by Jedi slamming his head into hers. She stumbled back a few steps then fell to the ground.
Jedi turned and sprinted away into the forest, following Kanar and the pilot. He found Kanar and slashed at him with his saber.
Alanna leaped, using her cat like skills, and kicked the Jedi in the head, causing him to fall to the ground. She glanced at Kanar and went after that stupid, kirffing pilot.
Jedi painflully got up, and tripped Alana. Then, he jumped on Kanar's head, knocking him over, since Jedi was the size of a human male.
Cossan heard the muffled noises of a fight behind him, but he kept on running. Come on Cossan, you can do this, just run. Keep running. He ran for another minute or two and skidded to a stop, eyes widening in dispair. Up right in front of him was a giant rushing river.
Jedi, now in front, came up beside Cossan. "Do.. you need... help-" he said, before he broke off, wincing and clutching his side. "Hop... On," he said, painfully, then crouched down.
Cossan's eyes widened. "Are you alright?" He rushed forward looking at the wound, it was almost as bad as his. "I think it's best if we both just walk. Did you get the Sith?"
"One... Of them..." he panted. "Oh, come on." He grabbed Cossan with surprising strength, and Force-jumped across the river. He stumbled, and fell when he landed.
Cossan stumbled when they landed, but regained his balance relatively quickly. "We should get off planet as fast as possible, seeing as we're both injured and outnumbered." He extended his hand to help Jedi out. "Thanks for saving me back there. I'd be dead if it weren't for you."
"I might be dead because of you," Jedi said, and laughed weakly as he took the offered hand with his metal paw.
Cossan pulled him up and sighed. "Well, we're still alive, that's all that matters, if you want I'll pilot the ship on the way back to Coruscant." He glanced down at his torn and bloody uniform sighing then looking at the Jedi. He didn't look much better.
"Maybe we should just rest on Shili for the night, you don't look so great."
******
"Ugh..." Alanna groaned as she got back up. She whipped put an unseen commlink that no one else had seen before, and contacted her father. "I was almost assianaited by a Jedi and a Pilot, Father. Can you hunt them down for me?" she waited for the reply.
******
Jedi nodded, then promply sank to the ground. "I wish I would brought SOMETHING to cover my wound with. But I don't even have a cloak."
Cossan eased himself down next to Jedi and tore off a peice of his pant leg. "Here, it's not the best, but use it, it should be good enough for now."
Jedi looked up at him. "Thanks," he said gratefully, annd pressed the cloth to his side, wincing. "I wish I could get back to my ship, but it's back that way." He pointed across the river.
Cossan glanced back over the river. "We could rest until nightfall, then head back when it's dark." He sighed leaning back against a tree. "I know they can probably sense us, but hopefully they'll be asleep by then."
Jedi nodded. "Okay. What now?"
Cossan glanced upward looking at the tree above them. "Can you still climb with that injury? I think it's best to get off the ground."
"Who needs climbing?" Jedi asked. "I can jump both of us up there."
Cossan grinned. "All right then, if you're sure."
Jedi took Cossan again, then jumped straight up, landing on a thick branch. It hurt when he landed, but he tried to withsand it.
"Climbing would've hurt a lot more," he said to Cossan.
Cossan winced as they landed, using the nearest tree branch as support until he regained his balance. "Yeah, but when you can't use the Force, climbing's all you've got." He sighed easing himself down on one of the more sturdy looking branches
"So, what's your name? I can't just call you Jedi Master Furball now can I?"
Jedi grinned weakly. "Just call me Jedi."
Cossan nodded. "Just Jedi? Alright. I'm Cossan."
Jedi said teasingly "Okay. But, if you want, you can call me Jedi Master Jedi."
Cossan grinned. "Or I could call you Jedi Master Furrball if you'd prefer."
"Well, yeah, that still includes my name." Jedi said, and laughed.
Cossan laughed but quickly clutched his side in pain. "Alright, I think we better just settle down. I'll keep first watch."
Jedi laughed. "Well, if you want. I'm partly nocturnal, so I'll just sit here. Maybe tell you the story of my ridiculous name."
Cossan shrugged. "Only if you want, I won't bother you with stupid questions."
Jedi said "Eh, I feel like talking. It takes my mind off the pain."
Cossan sighed leaning back against the branch. "Alright, talk away then, but don't be surprised if I fall asleep, it's been a long day."
"Okay. Well, that's actually my name. Jedi." He waited for Cossan to laugh.
Cossan nodded. "It's interesting, but not the worst I've heard."
"Then I'd hate to hear the worst. Jedi the Jedi. How utterly ridiculous." Jedi shivered. "Anyways, when I was born, my mother wanted to give us great names. She wanted us to have a great future, but we lived on Mustafar, with vitually no communications or ways to get off the planet. So she named me Jedi, for the great Force-users, but she named my brother Sith. You see, she didn't exactly know what the Sith were, all she knew was that they also could use the Force and had golden eyes like my brother. So then we were playing chase one day when I was about a month old, and suddenly, I rendered my brother immobile. I used the Force on him. Of course, I didn't know it at the time, but Luke was flying by, and he felt it. He found us, took us for Jedi training, and that was that." Jedi finished.
Cossan raised an eyebrow. "Luke, as in Master Luke Skywalker?" He let out a small laugh in disbelief.
"Yep." Jedi said.
Cossan's eyes widened. "That's incredible."
Jedi nodded. "Yeah. He trained me and my brother personally. We would've been the first ever Xano Jedi. But my brother never made it there. He turned to the Dark Side. Only I was named a Jedi."
Cossan nodded and yawned. "Sorry, it was a rough day. So your brother is Sith the Sith?"
Jedi laughed, even though it hurt. "Yep. Fate was uncreative, hmm?"
Cossan refrained from laughing, it was just to painful, but he did have a huge grin on his face.
"Quite uncreative indeed."
Jedi closed his eyes. "Yes. I kinda need some rest, now, if I'm going to live."
Cossan nodded. "Go to sleep, I'll keep look out." He pulled out his blaster and positioned himself so he'd have a good view of his surroundings.
Jedi nodded, closed his eyes, and fell into a painful sleep.
Cossan listened to the Jedi's rythmic breathing for most of the night, deciding to let him sleep. By sunrise his eyelids were threatening to close. He turned slowly to face Jedi and shook him awake.
"Oi, Furrball, wake up."
Jedi's eyes opened. "Oi yourself, and don't do that, it hurts."
Cossan yawned. "Sorry, can't exactly think straight right now."
Jedi nodded, then yawned. "Let's try to get back to my ship."
Cossan nodded and glanced down, slipping off of the branch. He landed in a sort of crouch, one hand in front on the ground for balance. He flinched but clenched his teeth trying his best to ignore the pain.
"Let's go."
Jedi jumped down and landed without a sound, but winced and clutched his side.
Cossan glanced up at Jedi and sighed, beginning to trudge forward. When they reached the river again he plopped down by the water's edge and unwound his blood-soaked bandage, trying not to look at the horrible gash in his side.
Jedi followed him, but went right down to the river to wash his wound.
Cossan placed the bandage on a small rock and waded into the river until his wound was submerged. It stung quite badly, but at least this way it would be clean.
Jedi hissed as he gently brushed off his fur, and the water ran away red. He then waded out, and said "Okay, I'm going to try a new trick. If it works, I'll do it for you, too."
Cossan nodded and waded out of the water, leaving a trail of red behind him.
"Just don't kill youself. I don't want to fly into the temple with a dead Jedi and his ship."
"Oh, it's not that dangerous." He then put his paws near the wet fur of his lower half and concentrated. The fur began to dry, and soon, he wasn't wet at all. He grinned at Cossan.
"You want me to have a go on you?"
Cossan shrugged. "Might as well, I don't exactly feel like running through the forest water logged."
Jedi limped over to him, and concetrated again. Soon, Cossan was also dry.
"The Force has its perks," Jedi said.
Cossan began to wrap the bandage around his side again since the bleeding still hadn't stopped. "You think I havn't realized that Furrball?"
Jedi grinned. "Well, you never know. I knew someone who invented these special gloves that allowed her to become a Sith." He rebandadged his own injury.
Cossan raised an eyebrow. "So she somehow used the gloves to magnify her Force sensitivity? Clever woman." He finished re-bandaging his wound and stood, ready to force jump across the river.
"Ummm, she was a Xano like me..." said Jedi, then looked at Cossan, and burst out laughing, though it REALLY hurt.
Cossan grinned. "Oh shut up before you kill youself."
Jedi smiled. "Sure. But anyways," he continued as they walked. "Why did you crash-land here in the first place? And who are you, really?"
Cossan raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, who am I really? I'm Cossan Tain, fighter pilot for the Republic. I was sent with my Wing to capture and kill the three Sith." He paused. "But as you can tell, I crashed after they blew off my fighter's wings."
"Ah, so you're for the Republic. That's good. Well, lucky for you, I have a ship, and maybe, in time, I can repair yours."
Cossan shook his head. "No, it's pretty much ruined from the crash, I'll have to build a new one eventually."
Jedi smirked. "You'd be surprised."
Cossan rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it, I just want to get back to Coruscant as soon as possible."
Jedi nodded and they kept walking. "Here we are," he said. "The site of the battle." He stepped over the crumpled grass and broken branches. Blood spattered the grass here and there.
"Let's go," he said, shuddering.
Cossan glanced around and his eyes fell upon a Sith just laying there. "I-is she dead?" He asked quietly still heading for the ship.
"I don't think so," Jedi replied. "I just head-bashed her."
Cossan grinned. "Women these days."
Jedi grinned back. They came to his ship. "Here it is... Oh, dang, it's a one-person craft, but I suppose we'll have to make it work..."
Cossan sighed. "Um, do you have a cargo hold or somthing? I could always just stay there."
"Yeah, I do, come to think of it. I just never really needed it before now, because my only cargo was me." He turned to Cossan.
"Can you think of anything worth salvaging from your ship?"
Cossan shook his head. "It was just supposed to be a quick mission, in and out. There's nothing useful in there."
Jedi nodded, and opened the hatch. "Here, the cargo hold is behind there." He indicated a small door behind the cockpit seat.
Cossan nodded, hopping into the ship and squeezing into the hold. It was a tight fit, but it would have to do.
"Just don't forget me in here, Furrball."
Jedi looked at him. "Why would I do that? I could hardly forget another life form in there. The Force, remember?"
Cossan shrugged. "I dunno. Just, don't." He closed the door an sighed sitting in the darkness. Might as well catch up on some sleep.
Jedi watched as the door closed on his new companion. Then he opened it again.
"Do you want some light in there?"
Cossan reached into his pocket and pulled out a little holoprojector. "I'm good." He said and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.
Jedi closed the hatch and the small door again. He powered up his ship, and took off. The slight jarring movements really hurt his side, but he managed. He then jumped to hyperspace.
Cossan sighed, within seconds he had fallen into a deep sleep.
Jedi blinked as the stars swirled around him as he set the course for Corascant. He then sat back, and unbuckled his belt, laying it on the floor beside him.
Cossan sighed, trying to find a more comfortable position. He could feel the ship jump into hyperspace.
They traveled for a while, then Jedi eased the ship back into normal speed. He closed his eyes as the stars became stationary again. Coruscant was visible ahead of them.
"We're nearly there," he said, knocking on the cargo door.
Cossan heard a knocking on the little door. He sighed inwardly and opened the door, popping his head out. "Sorry I didn't catch that."
Jedi felt the door behind him bump open. "I said we're nearly there."
Cossan nodded, forcing himself up and out of the cargo hold. "I thought I'd never see Coruscant again."
Jedi said "Well, you're seeing it now." He landed his ship at the Jedi Temple and Force-jumped painfully out. "Do you want to stay for a while to heal?" Jedi asked. "You could stay with me."
Cossan raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" He said painfully jumping down from the ship. "I haven't stayed in the temple since I was... well, still training to be a pilot."
Jedi nodded. "Sure. As long as you don't plot to kill me."
Cossan grinned. "Now why would I want to do that? You did just save my life after all."
Jedi shrugged. "You never know." Then he limped into the temple. All the other Jedi turned and stared. "What happened?!" The same guy that Jedi had recieved the commlink from Cossan from had ran up to them.
Jedi winced. "Hit a spot of trouble. Can you take us to be healed up a bit?" The Jedi nodded, and walked off.
Cossan limped inside, trying to ignore the looks he was getting from the other Jedi. "You must be quite a favorite around here."
"Yeah, being trained by the one who restarted it all also has its perks." Jedi sighed. "It's also sympathy because of my brother."
Cossan rolled his eyes. "You're not the only one who loses family, that shouldn't make you an idol."
"Hey, I didn't ask for all this." Jedi shook his paw at Cossan. "Do you think I WANTED a betrayal, and to lose my arm?! I'd rather not be famous for this..."
"Of course not, but trust me, your not the only one who's lost someone close to them."
"Yeah, well, it's not like I can just go and tell them to knock it off, now can I?" he said sarcastically. The shouting also hurt, so he walked the rest of the way in silence.
Cossan shook his head and muttered to himself. "You could if you wanted to."
Jedi twitched an ear. "I heard that. I just value being a Jedi more than stopping this baloney."
Cossan rolld his eyes. "Whatever, let's just go already so we can get some sleep."
Jedi padded to the healing room, and the whole time he was treated, all he thought of was what had happened. I couldn't stop it if I tried... Could I? he thought. When that was finished, he walked to his room.
Cossan sighed, following the instructions of one of the medical droids and laying down on a cold metal table. After a half and hour of painful probings, disinfections and stitches, he was finally free to go.
******
Jo groaned slowly pushing herself off of the ground, rubbing her temples. "D-darn Furrball." She glanced around to see Jedi's ship missing, along with that stupid kriffing pilot.
******
Jedi showed Cossan to his own room, and where someone, or some droid, had set up an extra bed.
"I'm sure now you won't criticize the special treatment," he said, rather harshly. He just had had a really rough couple of days, and now this.
"And I'm sorry if my glowing bothers you, I can't help it." He went over to his own bed and layed down, but didn't fall asleep.
Cossan shook his head. "It's more than I could have hoped for. And trust me, the glowing doesn't bother me at all. I think it's kind of cool, really." He smiled plopping down onto the bed.
Jedi smiled wanly. It no longer hurt, really. "Thanks. G'night." He flopped over and stared out of the glass window.
Cossan layed down covering himself with the soft blanket. He closed his eyes and within minutes, you could hear his breathing.
Jedi heard Cossan fall into a deep sleep, and within minutes, he was up, and watching the speeders and ships fly by below through his window, forehead resting on the glass. A tear rolled down his face.
"Will I ever be truly normal?"
He looked to the stars.
End of Part 6
