Star Wars - Jedi Fugitive

Chapter 11

"You want to arrange transport off-world before the Republic gets here?"

"I can pay extra."

The grey skinned alien sitting across the counter from him started laughing, nearly doubled over.

"So can everyone else who wants to make a clean break." He wiped a tear from his cheek. "That's rich."

"I have the money with me."

"Look man, the next flight I could get you on isn't for another two weeks, and I think we both know that the Republic is going to be here long before then."

"Please, I have to figure out what's going on."

"I can tell you that right now," he growled. "The leadership quit on us."

"Look, I just want to get out of here."

"Sorry. Come back in two weeks, and if the Republic is still letting people leave, you'll have a spot, and, as a gesture of good faith, I won't even ask for the money up front. Just bring it when you board."

Jethro left the transit office feeling more distraught than ever.

As of now, he had no way off world, and a squad of commandos after his life. To make matters worse, the city felt like a powder keg about to go off. Tensions were rising, and Jethro didn't want to be there when something finally snapped.

"You ain't ever gonna get off this rock on one o' their tubs," said a friendly sounding voice.

Jethro turned back towards the Transit Office and the long line he had risked standing in for almost four hours, to see a scratchy faced man sitting on the ground with his back to the wall.

He was dressed in a stained button up and a pair of dirty slacks. A leather jacket had been shed off and lay next to him.

"But seeing the look on your face, you already figured that out."

"Can I help you?" Jethro asked.

"The name's Hanc, Hanc Freemont," he said, getting to his feet, "and it's your lucky day."

"Is it now?"

Hanc seemed hurt by Jethro's tone.

"Now there friend, I only want to help."

"How?"

"Well, those transit types, you see, they have a specific type of crowd they have to look out for." He motioned to the line of people waiting. "The rich socialites. They don't care about a couple of nobodies like us."

"What are you offering?"

"A way off this rock."

"Why me?"

"Because you're like me."

"I'm like you?"

"You ain't one o' those snob-nosed, uppity bureaucrats. I can see you're a salt o' the earth type, someone with the brains to know when to fight, and the brawn to do it."

"Look," Jethro cut him off, "what do you want from me?"

"I'm offended that you think I'm trying to leverage something out of all this."

"There's always a catch."

Hanc hesitated for just a second before answering.

"I need someone to help me break my ship out of impound."

Jethro rolled his eyes and started to turn away.

"Come on, it'll be an easy job now that those droids are gone. Just the local police, and they ain't nothing to worry about."

"I'm not going to..."

Jethro's danger sense flaired and he felt himself instinctively lurch to his left, feeling the heat of the blaster bolt as it passed within inches of his right cheek.

There were several screams from the crowd and chaos erupted. The once orderly line disintegrated as people ran for cover, trampling each other to get away.

Jethro already knew where the shot had come from and was bolting through a hole in the crowd towards an alley. Two more shots were fired from the roof-top vantage point where he knew Dom was tracking him from.

He cut close to the building and ducked around the corner, forcing Dom to move locations.

A new threat made itself apparent when Blazer stepped out of a doorway ahead of him and leveled his blaster at him.

Jethro barely had time to grab the corner of the building and swing himself out of Blazer's way and into an adjoining alley before a hail of blaster bolts passed through the space he had just occupied.

Blaster fire came from above as well as from behind now as Dom regained his line of fire and opened up once more.

He was so focused on avoiding Dom and Blazer, that Jethro almost missed the vibroblade that flashed out of a recess and straight towards his chest.

He reached out to stop the blade's deadly plunge. Grabbing the armor clad arm that gripped the blade, he shoved it down, wincing as he felt it penetrate his side instead of his heart.

Still holding onto his arm, the adrenalin pumped Jethro twisted Leadfoot around and force shoved him into Blazer, sending the two of them toppling to the ground.

Dom continued to fire at him as he left the tight alleyways and headed back into the crowds of the main thoroughfare.

The people here didn't seem to have figured out what had happened in front of the transit office just around the corner, but the sight of two Republic Commandos in full pursuit mode, along with the very noticeable sniper fire was enough to send this crowd into a panic.

Screams and trampling ensued.

Jethro used the force to cast enough people aside to slip through the crowd and onto one of the side streets out of Dom's line of fire. He hoped that Blazer and Leadfoot would be at a disadvantage there, giving him time to lose them.

It seemed to work. He found a foreclosed residence built into the side of a much larger building and slipped inside.

As he came down from his adrenalin high, the dull throbbing in his side became less of an ache, and more like a screaming pain.

Removing the layers of clothing, he found that his thin body armor had done a good job of keeping the blood in. He removed the body armor, and instantly regretted it as the blood started to flow freely from the open knife wound.

Shoving a torn piece of his clothing into the wound to stop the bleeding, he had to grit his teeth to keep from screaming before everything went black.