Star Wars: Offspring

Chapter 6

Time slowed. Gizzk drew back and raised his rifle to take a shot at him. Simultaneously, Diran’s eye’s focused on and assessed the threat possibility from every Trandoshan in his visual range with Force enhanced speed and accuracy. Gizzk, ten o’clock, aggressive, immediate. Dewback one and two, twelve O’clock, anxious but holding back. Guard at one o’clock, apprehensive, confused, nervous but ready to fire. Rear sentry, approaching, unaware, far away. The last two, not visible, out of range, but still a threat. Aggression and animalistic anticipation flooded the area … but there was also this bright and shining optimism and … joy?

His assessment was cut short by the click of Gizzk’s trigger. There was an explosion back in the chamber of the flechette rifle sending an expanding spray of projectiles towards Diran. In response, in a microsecond, his eyes estimated the trajectory of the soon approaching spread. He dipped his left shoulder backwards, nearly folding himself in half. The projectiles, aimed for a chest, flew past Diran’s face and scattered in the forest behind him. His right hand extended forward, open, palm up. From under the cuff of his sleeve his light saber hilt shot out, grip end first, striking Gizzk in the sensitive nerve cluster of his snout. The lightsaber shot back into Diran’s grip as fast as it had shot out. The golden blade ignited in his hand as he recovered from the contorted dodge and assumed a defensive stance.

Gizzk, stunned by the blow was about to fire again. By instinct, he slid the barrel slider back and loaded another round of projectiles in the chamber to fire again. The other bodyguards weapon, a heavy repeater rifle, was about to discharge in response too. Jace Diran lifted his left hand up and swung his saber hand down. Gizzk’s weapon leaped out of his grip and arced up and over the tree line out of sight. The saber did not make contact with anything but the gesture called the force to aim the other gunner’s weapon to the floor just as he discharged it. The automatic fire projectiles splashed in the dusty ground until Jace called the weapon to his left hand. Three seconds had passed.

Brine heard shots and snapped his scope back to the front of the caravan and frantically searched for a target. Brine cursed himself for getting distracted in the middle of a mission. “Ah, Deegs ya bugger, where’s yer head!?”

But what he saw was Jace in a holding his lightsaber in front of him in one hand and an upside down repeater rifle in the other. He focused on the two Trandoshans seated on the dewback. The animal was agitated and starting to buck and rear up. “Ahhh, hold still, would ya.”

The rear Trandoshan stopped running, the human with the lightsaber had just disarmed his two fellow guards. He didn’t want to get too close so he got on one knee, aimed the tranquilizer riffle at the man and fired. Diran sensed the threat and merely used the force to stagger the now weaponless guard in front of the tranq-dart. With a thunking noise the dart struck the guard in the back below the left shoulder. There was a look of shock and realization as the guard turned and gave an accusatory look to the rear guard and slumped to the ground.

“Aaaagggh!” Brine whispered to himself as the target he had adjusted to ducked to a crouch behind the wooden crates. He heard another cracking noise but the guard in front staggered and went down. “Deegs, ya ain’t earnin’ yer keep.”

He settled back on the two targets on the mount. Both made furtive gestures and drew weapons. “Heh. Ye just bought yourself some hurt.”

“Enough!” Syysskryl screeched at full volume, pulling a blaster rifle from a holster in the dewback’s saddle. His son hissed loudly too wanting to match the ferocity of his father, pulling twin blaster pistols from his sides.

“He cannot defeat us all! Jedi means many jagannath!” They hissed and screeched in unison, bearing jagged teeth with strings of saliva swinging and spraying in their breath.

That’s when the crates exploded.

Wooden planks and metal framing went flying end over end in every direction. There was a high-pitched Wookie roar. The captives broke out of their prison with animalistic ferocity. The Trandoshans had only prepared for docile, apathetic prey. Had the tranquilizer already worn off?

Jace squinted and tried to comprehend what just happened. He was in a conflict but could not take his eyes off of the scene at the rear. On the shoulders of one of the young wookies was a human toddler, one hand gripping a lock of fur from the wookie’s neck and the other swinging up in the air. It was his daughter, light brown curly hair that normally extended out in all directions was now blown back in the wind. Her mouth was trapped in a cheek-wide open mouth grin, and she was giggling uncontrollably. Jace had no idea what he was looking at. At least he knew now where the bright innocent force presence was coming from. He assumed it was related to the innocent nature of the captives.

Diran and the Trandoshans all stood with mouths open watching the scene and heads cocked in puzzlement. He and Syysskryl looked at each other, locked eyes, and then both returned to focus back on the confusion.

“What in the force …” Brine lost his volume control this time. Wookies were jumping out of their prison confinement and leaping into the forest. There was the distinct sound of a youngling laughing … it sounded like Leelah.

To the right, the guard with the tranquilizer rifle was temporarily knocked over by the stampeded of wookies, but he’d recovered and stood with weapon aimed at the crowd. Brine laid his crosshairs on the gunner and squeezed the trigger. There was a loud report from his disruptor rifle, a solid beam of orange energy extended from the barrel, and the sniper finally knocked down his first target.

Instantly Jace didn’t care anymore about the slavers in front of him, he staggered back a few steps and started to draw the force into himself to explode away from the scene to protect Leelah. As he got ready to run, his vision turned black and the force decided just then to give him a vision.