Earthlings 3: RISE

2

"WHERE ARE THEY?!"

Eli whirled around to find the 2 Inquisitors terrorizing local civilians, their Purge troopers right behind them. Twelfth Brother reached out towards a nearby shuttle, violently throwing passengers out before dragging one Pantoran man before his spinning red blades for interrogation.

"That guy seriously needs therapy," Makai commented behind him.

"For real," Eli agreed as Twelfth Brother stabbed the man, earning screams of terror from his family. He turned to Makai. "Get Deej and Shin onboard and tell Jack to take off. I'll take care of this."

"What, and get yourself killed-?" Makai countered.

"Just do it. I'll be fine-"

"How are you gonna get back to Tanalorr?! You don't have the compass!"

"I don't need the compass." Eli pushed him and the others towards the Lone Wolf  before stepping forward, using the Force to block Seventh Sister's spinning blades in midair.

The woman slowly turned around, a look of satisfaction in her eyes. "We were just looking for you! And where are the others? The child?"

"Long gone." Eli unclipped his lightsaber hilt. "And if you wanna get them, you'll have to get through me."

--

Jack hated Jedi. That he was sure about now. They were reckless, unhinged, and overall mental, with a tendency to get in fights that were most certainly suicide. Then again, there were people like Matteo Shepard, who were never affiliated with those lightsaber wielding maniacs in any way but still acted like one of them...

And then there was Eli Henderson. In all honesty, Jack expected Eli to be smarter than the average Jedi. After all, his master was Mace Mother Kriffing Windu with that purple lightsaber; surely he would have more sense than Jack took him for at the moment, right?

Then again, He thought as the terminal slowly faded from view. If I were a Jedi, I'd probably do the same.

God, why were they like this...?

"He'll be fine," Nerra piped up hesitantly from the copilot seat. "Those Inquisitors are tame... heh... not threatening at all..."

"That guy nearly killed Ivan," Jack muttered under his breath, indicating the male Inquisitor.

"Yeah, but Ivan's no Jedi," Zia cut in matter of factly. The Togruta made her way to the cockpit before sitting in the passenger seat. "Just the brother of one. And besides, if Ivan was a Jedi, he'd probably beat those Inquisitors hands down- just look at him without using any Force powers... if he even is force sensitive."

Jack drew out a breath before walking over to check on the kid. "So... Shin, is it?"

"Yeah," Shin mumbled, eyeing him warily.

"I'm Jack." He held out a hand in an attempt to play it cool. "Don't worry, I'm not scary. Not like some of the others over there." He indicated Adin and Cor, who seemed to be engaging in an arm wrestle with Lana egging them on.

"I'm not scared of them," Shin said bluntly. "I've seen worse."

"You're one brave kiddo, then." Jack chuckled softly before leaning back. "Well, unless the Empire catches up to us, I suppose the rest of your journey should be pretty smooth. And if we're lucky, we can make it to Aldhani in time to see the Eye."

"The Eye-?"

"Yeah, a triannual thing that happens there. Very pretty. Like fireworks, but natural."

"Triennial," Skoll deadpanned from the back, startling Makai. A tall, middle aged man, Skoll was relatively new to the crew. Not that he was an official member, anyway. He'd only agreed to join in their missions to get enough credits to pay off his immense debt to the Guild, then part ways. And so far, he'd proved himself useful, despite his aloof demeanor...