Fragments of the Dark

Chapter Eight

Din ducked as a blaster shot whizzed past his face.

This was going very poorly and where the hell was Celene-

The clearing exploded in a shower of light. The man nearest to him pitched forward, his head entirely missing. The one behind him simply dissolved. Din looked up, finding the telltale glint of her silver rings in the sun perched on one of the roof-tops.

He moved from behind the pillar, slamming into the nearest man and sending a blast through his chest. His flame thrower took care of the next two. His grappling cable dragged the third man to his feet where he snapped his neck in one move.

Silence filled the clearing and Din slowly stood, looking around. The dust settled and Celene leapt lightly from the rooftop, landing on the ground effortlessly. Din shook his head, he would never get used to that.

The IG Unit was unfortunately still standing. The three of them stood in front of the giant steel doors. Celene turned to the droid. "Can you open it?"

"I shall attempt." The droid stepped forward, examining the control pad.

"Nice shooting." Din noted the slight cut across her neck, the gash on her cheek.

She gave him a look as if to say, did you expect anything less?

"Success." The droid announced stepping back.

With a groan, the giant steel frame began to lift. Slowly, inch by inch it revealed a dark and dusty room. Silently, the three of them stepped into the space. A lone figure jerked out from behind the corner and Din raised his blaster, the shot finding it's mark before either of his companions could react. His empty hand was raised, hovering in front of Celene's torso, as if to hold her back. He dropped it wordlessly and she didn't seem to acknowledge the gesture.

She raised the tracking fob. "It's still active."

"My senses indicate that there is a life form present," the droid informed them as they stepped over various discarded crates. A slight beeping filled the room, echoing as Celene spun in a slow circle.

"There," Din pointed as the beeping accelerated near a small pod shaped object. Slowly they approached.

"This must be it." Celene said. She reached out to open it and Din gripped his blaster, subtly moving closer to her. The lid hissed open and for a moment they all stared in collective silence.

"I thought...they said fifty years old," Celene breathed.

"Species age differently," the IG Unit said.

Din was only half listening, his attention fixed on the small green life form before him. It's enormous eyes stared at him, seeming too intelligent for it's infant like body. It was wrapped a in a brown blanket, it's tiny hands reaching out to them.

"It's just a child," Celene said softly.

"Perhaps it could live many centuries," the droid said. "Sadly, we'll never know." It raised it's blaster.

Celene reached out, grabbing the blaster. "No," she snapped. "We'll bring it in alive."

Din tensed, tearing his gaze from the child as the droid said, "The commission was quite specific. The asset was to be terminated." It slowly raised the blaster again, aiming at the child.

The shot went off and Din snapped his head to look at Celene. The droid collapsed to the floor smoking. Her hand trembled slightly as she holstered her blaster. She look at him, her eyes clouded with an emotion he couldn't place.

"It's a child, not a fucking asset." She said quietly.

"I wasn't going to stop you."

"Were you going to stop the droid?" Her voice was dark. She leaned forward, stretching her hand out toward the little creature. It's large eyes gazed up at her face in wonder. It's fingers brushed against Celene's.

Din scanned the room around them "We need to get out of here. Before more of them show up." He recognized the small control panel on the side of the pod and linked it to the controls on his wrist brace. It gave off a soft beep, and then fell into line alongside Din as he and Celene head back out into the bright sun.

Celene squinted. "The blurrgs will be gone so we'll have to make it back on foot." She shaded her eyes, looking to the mountains to the west. "I calculate that to be the fastest route. About a day and a half's walk."

Din didn't question her. They left the smoking encampment, the small pod in tow. As they crested the first set of dunes, Din looked back at the small child. "What do you think it is?"

Celene rested a hand on her blaster. "I don't know. I've never seen the species before. One that ages so slow... it could live to be five hundred years old."

"It's just a child. What could the Imperials possibly want with it?"

Her gaze was heavy as it fell on him. "You have no idea."

Din's feet slid in the sand as he scrambled to catch up. "What the hell does that mean?"

The dunes broke in front of them leading down to a rocky cavern. Celene slid down the sandy hill, tense at the bottom as she scanned the area. Din followed, eyeing the red rocky walls on either side of them. It felt like a trap. "I don't like this."

"Me either." She started forward, hands loose at her sides. Their footsteps echoed in the shadows. It was cooler here, out of the blazing sun. The further they progressed, the narrower the passage became. Above them, the giant rocks nearly touched, almost forming a ceiling above their heads. Small lizard like creatures darted in and out of the crevices, scrambling along on four legs.

Celene froze ahead of Din, holding up a hand. His blaster fell into his hand with practiced ease. He strained to hear whatever she heard but only the whistling wind answered him. He slowly swiveled his head, searching in the shadows.

Something rustled to his right and a trandoshan leapt from the rock face. His staff slammed into Din's blaster hand, knocking the weapon from it. The impact jarred his bones, the wrist brace of his armor shuddering.

Celene suddenly exploded beside him, slamming her foot into the child's pod, sending it racing back and out of the way. A second trandoshan leapt from the shadows, swinging his axe at her head. She ducked and rolled to the side.

The first trandoshan advanced on Din, swinging his staff at his face. Din caught the weapon, slamming his body weight against the other bounty hunter. He hit the floor with a thud and Din crushed his windpipe with a stomp. He unhooked his rifle from his back as two more figures dropped into the clearing.

A knife whistled past his face, burying itself in the face of one of the trandoshan. Celene crouched across the clearing next to the child, panting. Din spun and aimed at the last bounty hunter, dissolving him with a single shot from his rifle. He let out a breath and turned to face Celene.

On the floor next to one of the fallen bodies was a grey tracking fob, beeping softly as it zeroed in on the child's location. Celene slammed her heel into it, crushing the object to dust. She looked at him. "I'm beginning to think there are a lot more tracking fobs on this little guy out there."

Din slung his rifle back over his shoulder. "It would appear that way. The question is, why the hell do they want it so badly?"