A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Chapter 3: The Scavenger

It's evening on this planet, but the sun is long behind the mountains we landed in. The landscape is mostly barren of vegetation, only small spindly bushes around the cliffs and outcroppings. A perfect place for a group of people to hide.

We move quickly, having expected our cover to be blown from our entrance. They must have infrared in their helmets too- Vicrul at the very least. He leads us toward a grouping of heat signatures at the end of the ravine we're in. I run along with them, holding my blaster, ready for a good fight.

My heart starts beating faster as I focus my mind on what we're walking into. This won't be like a regular bounty hunt. I'm generally handed the difficult bounties, but even they have been somewhat boring as of late. This sector is less of a haven for criminals than others I've lived in. But never have I had a Jedi as a bounty. Much less two.

We round a slight curve and come upon our quarry. There's glowing light illuminating the scene partially in blue, and partially in green. The sources come from two lightsabers. The green is held by a cloaked figure, and based off the shorter and slender person holding the blue one, he's the old man with the artifact- Skywalker.

The young woman known as the scavenger stands ready for a fight at the front, determined face illuminated in blue, while Skywalker lingers off to the side with a relaxed posture. It sends the message that all these people are guarding him, that he'll be using his power only as a last resort. And that may be true... Only time will tell.

I need to see what I'm really up against before I get any closer. It's obvious I'm not exactly with these grubby, black glad, lumbering men. I'm sure they do well for themselves around the galaxy, I'm just much more refined... and shiny. So, I step away and aim my blaster, shooting with perfect aim at the young woman's determined face.

She doesn't even look at me. Her blue lightsaber blocks the shot, sending sparks flying from the spot where it hit. Her wrist twirls with a speed I literally can't see. There's no way I can anticipate where she's going with that glowing death blade. I throw my other arm out and bend my thumb up to touch a button on my glove at the base of my pointer finger. Six tiny little rockets explode out of my wrist cuff as a grid pops up before my eyes. I focus my vision on the girl to direct the aim, ignoring the others around there. They're engaging the men surging at them from beside me- I don't need to bother with them.

The Scavenger's full attention finally turns to me as the sound of my rockets alerts her. I watch in awe as she twirls her lightsaber, twisting and ducking to avoid each one that comes at her all at once. My nerves spike. I've never come across an opponent like this before. I'm not entirely sure I'm trained enough for this. The five men around me start to engage the Jedi companions, cutting them down with relative ease.

Sniper shots pepper the air from behind, but they're directed at the old man, hovering in the back of the crowd. He deflects each shot lazily with the green blade.

I rush forward to engage the young woman, her bright, big eyes staring me down with determination. She's quite a bit shorter than me, so average height for a woman. To my extreme pleasure, she looks a little surprised that I would engage her head-on with brute strength. My blaster finds its way back into its holster as I pull out a long silver knife from my belt next to it.

Her blue saber blade comes hurling down at me. Throwing my wrists up, I block her blade. My boots plant on the rocky ground as the force of her strength slams against my wrist cuff. She gasps, her eyes huge and staring at the place where my beskar stops her lightsaber from slicing me in half.

But that surprise is short lived. With a jerk of her head, she pushes forward, a concentrated frown on her blue lit face. I push up against her forward momentum. It forces her to stumble back, and I get in close with my Beskar dagger. She blocks every move I make, though I see her brow start to sweat, and her nostrils flare with anger. My own breath is fast and hard. She's much stronger than her stringy body suggests. It must be her Force powers.