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by deckard » Fri Aug 27, 2010 3:50 am
Chapter 15 - Tatooine Echoes
The small, furry Jawa hand gently closed around the grip of her Ion blaster. She was on her own for another three days until the ‘Crawler came by and she needed this food. Breathing slowly and steadily, she took aim at the gathering of desert scurriers in the shadows ahead. When the majority of the little creatures were in range, she gently tapped the trigger and a blue haze of energy was flung out of the muzzle, washing over them.
Five of the nine fell to the ground dead. The remaining four, which had been shielded by the others, ran away and hid amongst the rocks. Smoke rose from the less fortunate animals as she came out from behind her rock, holstering the blaster and muttering to herself as she set to collecting her dinner, dropping them one by one into a small sack.
As she did, the rock beside her popped several times, sparks flying, immediately followed by the report of a rifle.
Cursing in her native tongue, she dove back behind the rock, rolling into the sand. Sandpeople, she thought to herself. Her hearts were beating hard now as she rolled over and crawled forward to get a look at where the fire was coming from. Glowing eyes peered out from beneath the darkness of her hood as she scanned the top of the cliff where it met the darkening sky.
Nothing.
She scanned back across the ridgeline again and this time caught some brief movement as a raider’s head protruded momentarily above the rocks. It raised its’ head up again as she watched, the reddish-orange sunlight glinting off the metal eyepieces and spikes thrusting out of the wrapped bandages. It was looking for her, trying to find her again among the rocks.
The Tusken Raider slowly moved its’ rifle back and forth over the stone, staring through the sight and taking aim on her general area as it sought her out. Then he fired several shots which ricocheted in a shower of sparks on the stone above her.
One of two Tuskens grunted as he worked to get a better firing angle, leaning out over the edge of the rock . . . and right into the center of Danz’ targeting reticle. The seasoned Sandtrooper watched as the Raider moved its’ head squarely in to the center of his sight imaging. He gently squeezed back on the trigger of his rifle, releasing a bolt of energy which burst through the head of the Tusken as it roared one final time. Immediately there was a second blast, taking out the other Raider, who slumped forward across the flat rock.
The little Jawa cautiously raised herself to her knees, dinner in hand, peering from behind her rock. She looked over to where the blast had come from. A kneeling Sandtrooper was rising to his feet, powering off his rifle and slinging it over his shoulder as he ascended the boarding ramp of his ship . . . a beautiful Imperial shuttle. The little Jawa’s eyes glowed brighter as she momentarily dreamed of stripping and salvaging it. She came back to reality as she remembered that she was alive because of its owner.
A moment later, Danz reappeared, emerging from the ship with an armful illuminators to mark their descending path in the hillside. The hatch to the ship closed as he moved away, starting back up the cliff toward the tiny B’Omarr shrine near the top. The little Jawa gathered up her bag of food and scampered off toward a small cave to prepare her meal. She glanced over her shoulder once or twice to make sure no more Tuskens were watching . . . and to have another look at the shuttle.
* * *
The air in the depths of the ancient wreckage was completely still. Light filtered in from ripped openings in the hull far above. As Ddraig stepped off the last rung of the durasteel ladder to the floor, Nadon turned and continued to lead us further along the gentle slope into the darkness. He took several steps beyond the light, and just as my thermal imaging kicked in, I heard a woooshing sound fly past me on the left, then on the right.
As I looked around to see what it was, a faint glow began to fill the room . . . a glow emanating from a dozen points around the room. I saw Nadon, arms raised up with hands open and extended, silhouetted by the glow from . . . trees.
I stepped a bit closer and pulled off my bucket, as did the others, taking in what we were seeing a little clearer. As I lowered the helmet away from my face, there were several more woooshing sounds that flew past me and disappeared into the darkness. The glow from the trees steadily grew brighter until we could clearly see that the glow came not from the trees, but from small creatures clinging to their trunks.
The arrangement of trees was circular around the floor of the room, and arranged at evenly spaced intervals up the walls and across the catwalks near the roof. At their bases, were large watering basins filled with the roots and sealed around the bottom of the trunks to prevent moisture from escaping.
Cables were stretched tight across the room, side to side at varying heights. Nadon stood in front of a small, crude bench with a coil of cable on the lower shelf and several small items strewn across the top. Danz came walking up behind us, and dropped an illuminator to the ground next to several medium sized storage crates as he pulled off his bucket.
Nadon, with eyes closed in concentration, lowered his hands and lay them out flat in the air, spreading his long fingers just above the surface of the bench. As he did, the woooshing sounds streaked past us as a half dozen remote seekers flew in from the recesses of the darkness, silently whisking past and coming to hover just above the Ithorian’s hands, rotating ever so slightly.
Nadon opened his eyes and turned to us, gesturing with his arm, “Ben Kenobi’s Jedi training arena.â€