‘We have been following them for about an hour, when we finally had the ce to see their main ship... It was quite big... but it was also a transport ship with a small hangar... It had at least four rotatable turbo ser turrets. Their ship seemed to be heavily modified and well armoured too...’

  “That is not what I hoped for.” — Said Seldibo...

  “Definitely not...” — Agreed Ayel with a clearly troubled expression...

  Seldibo activated his wrist unicator and called the others, who were still hiding.

  “Guys, e out. It is time for the “B” pn.”

  “Uood!” — Came the answer immediately, and that was all they spoke.

  “Uhm... may I ask, what is pn “B” exactly?” — ‘I questioned him, knowing nothing about a pn “B”.’

  Cire pced her hand on my head and smiled weakly.

  Ayelfita also turowards me. She looked into my eyes and smiled.

  “You have a rare pair of eyes, such a lively pink color, even for a twi’lek it is a rare oake this, you will soon.”

  ‘She gave me back my lightsaber... Oh, I see...’

  “Okay, we are irag beam now... I don’t have to trol the ship anymore.” — Reported Seldibo, while standing up from the trols.

  ‘I saw Jaing in through the door behind us. He was in full gear equipped with a she automata ser gun.’

  “e on guys, it is time for us to shine. Get year in tune!” — ‘He shouted at us, while giving Cire and me a happy wink.’ — “Since when did the Ohnaka Gang start to get boarded by enemies? We are the ones who used to do that, ain’t that right!?”

  “Yeah!” — Shouted a few pirates nearby.

  “Get to the ramp, we will wait for them there, we have to run out of the ship and take defensive position as fast as possible. I don’t want to die because this unarmoured piece of trash blows up under my ass!” — Shouted Jack to the others, and we moved to the ramp as fast as possible.

  ‘Jad Seldibo crouched down beside each other in the corridor as the first line.’

  ‘The corridor was narrow, and only two adults were able to stand side by side. Me, Ayelfita and another weequay were in the sed line. We stood tall. This way, we were able to fire over the boys’ heads. Well, I don’t really have a handgun, but the others did.’

  ‘Soon, the ramp began to open, as someone clearly ope with the help of a droid from the other side. Everyone was tense and silent. I could only hear the quiing breathing of the surrounding people. I was not much of an exceptioher. However, my training made it so, that it didn’t really appear in my body nguage that clearly. Yet I felt my heart throbbing in my throat, just the same.’

  ‘As the door tio open, the meical white light of the hangar began to make its way into the dark corridor. It blinded us for a sed, but I could still feel the presence of the three creatures standing outside. We were able to hear them speaking with each other, clearly oblivious to our presence.’

  “Kill the man, immediately. He seems to be a coward, and I don’t like his face...”

  “Yesss... What about the female?”

  “Well, if she is pretty, I may have a closer look... kekekee...”

  “Oh, yes! But what about the kid?”

  “Hmmm... Kill his father in front of her. Then we will take her to the hunt with the other ohat should be enough motivation to make her into... kssss... worthy prey... And if not, well, I will have a rophy.”

  ‘All of them began to ugh at that... But their ughter was cut short, as the ramp lowered and Ayel got a vision of them: there were three red ser beams fired in quick succession. Eae was right on target, melting the faces of the still ughing trandoshans into a bloody paste.’

  ‘They died just like that. Never even knowing what hit them.’

  ‘All of us began to run down the ramp and out of our ship. We ducked behind a few crates but they were not really suitable as a real cover... Sadly, there was nothing else to use in this pce except the y fighter ships, and they could blow up just as easily us our ship.’

  ‘The three shots that were fired didn’t go unnoticed. Soon more trandoshans began to arrive at the hangar. This time they were not ughing, more like hissing with rage as they realized their position as hunters had been promised.’

  ‘I was croug behind the crates in the middle of our pirate group, tinuously firing at the trandoshans. I just fiscated a bster from the previously killed trio, not that they will have much use for it anymore.’

  ‘I already mao kill a lizard with it. The fool took an unlucky shot to its fad stopped twitg. These bastards’ skins were naturally resistant to psma, at least to a degree... Which left their face as their only ot. Especially because they didn’t bother to wear helmets, sihe helmet would weaken their naturally evolved sense of smell and hearing.’

  ‘The surrounding pirates were basically shouting and cursing at them tinuously since we left the ship, and I mean, every one of them, even Cire...’

  ‘Oh hell, she had a nasty mouth for sure... We were kind of lucky, with our meager cover, because the enemy didn’t have any at all. Their numbers, oher hand, kept growing...’

  ‘But the pirates’ morale was high, as we had killed at least five of them, while we didn’t suffer any losses yet. Something that was about to ge fast.’

  ‘I could see that we were about to be overrun by the enemy. They already encircled us as some of them were running on fs with an increased speed, getting into key positions that allowed them to fnk us.’

  ‘Just then, two ser beams hit a weequay beside me in the chest. He immediately dropped lifelessly on the floor... One of the trandoshans jumped over the crates biting into the neck of a female weequay, while Jack jumped orandoshan’s, back, grabbing its neck from behind stabbing his ko the lizards face that was forced to release the unlucky woman... Sadly, she would likely bleed to death with such a wound, anyway...’

  ‘Three shots hit another weequay man, this time in the back, as the ohat ran by began to shoot at us... I saw as more trandoshans arrived into the battle through the hangar door... If this goes on, we will die in a minute... Our formation was at this moment practically ent. Everyone was shooting around while cursing tinuously. This battle was unfocused and chaotic. I was really missing the es right now... We could stand round easily, with es...’

  ‘I shot down another lizard when I saw Jack get hit on his shoulder, finally falling off the back of that raging trandoshan... As it was released and blinded by pain, it threw himself on the first moving thing, and that thing was unfortunately Cire, who immediately started to run towards Jack... When she saw him getting hit.’

  ‘As that crazed animal fell on her, it bit into her hand and cwed into her back simultaneously. I heard her painful cry, and for a sed I fot about the risks, the fear of getting hit by a stray ser and losing the memories that so many masters over so many years built up with the utmost care...’

  ‘I simply stopped thinking about that... My senses expanded and the world slowed down. I could feel the flow of the surrounding battle, every presence moving in a bloody whirlwind. In my suddenly heightened awareness, I actally let go of my bster.’

  ‘It began to fall slowly towards the steel floor.’

  ‘I sensed as Ayelfita was hit in her leg with a bster shot.

  ‘I sensed as Seldibo knocked over one of the lizards that were about to jump on the kneeling Ayelfita.’

  ‘I sensed as the other two weequays were desperately trying to keep away the closing enemies.’

  ‘My dropped gun suddenly hit the floor, creating a strangely clear metalliging sound. That sound reminded me of a memory I tried to bury as deep as possible.’

  ‘Those very memories burst forth against my will like a broken dam flooding my senses. My master’s lightsaber hitting the floor. Then another one, his master’s lightsaber, and another one quickly followed until a familiar mask fell on the ground, creating the same noise over and ain...’

  ‘That infuriating sound... Stop it already! Do you hear me?! I heard a stretched-out ughter in my mind. Then a voice appeared. It was a mix of many voices... speaking at the same time...’

  ‘You are not a Jedi-di-di. You are one of us-s-s. Do not hesitate-te-te. Act like one of us-s-s.’

  ‘Do not hesitate!’

  ‘At the end of the blurry vision, I heard my voice speaking out a familiar sente romise I made to myself after iing the memories...’

  “What good is our knowledge if no one uses it in the end?”

  ‘Then I snapped bato reality.’

  ‘As I opened my eyes, I just know that there was a yellow gleam in them. I tio draw heavily from the dark side as the quickly darkening veins began to extend over my paling skin.’

  ‘I stood up from the cover of the crates, simultaneously releasing a heavy air pressure that momentarily froze the etlefield.’

  ‘The lizards immediately sehe ge imosphere. They khat another predator had appeared. They were looking around, smelling the air carefully, trying to find it, but it was already too te for them.’

  ‘I raised my arms by my side as the closest seven trandoshans began to grab at their necks. They were panig and choking on their own spit. They sooo their knees, struggling against the hold of invisible fingers. That was the moment when I closed my hands, creating a terrifying sound of snapping bones. Seven bodies stopped struggling ao the floor at the same time.’

  ‘The blood thirst that ruled the battlefield had ged. Now it turned into fusion, panic, but mostly fear.’

  ‘This frozen state was broken by an erandoshan that mao overe his initial fear, sending a ser bolt toward me. I activated my lightsaber, blog the shot and sending it back towards the face of the o inated from.’

  ‘The unusually big trandoshan mao move its head i sed. The shot only grazed the left side of his face, leaving behind charred scales in the form of a straight, elongated scar. The particur lizardman refocused its vision on me and hissed out a single word with burning hatred.’

  “Jedi...”

  ‘I looked into his animalistic eyes.’

  “You are wrong. You stand before one of the Lords of the Grey, and you will be my prey!”

  ‘I sent a powerful lightning strike towards the further erandoshan. The heavily pressed lightning hit him in the chest, then it immediately bolted towards the nearby lizards, cooking them partially. Many of them fell on the floor vulsing while some miraculously mao stay on their feet, but they were still mostly paralyzed by their unwillingly vulsing muscles.’

  ‘They were already dead, even if they hadn’t realized it yet.’

  ‘Knowing that my victory is at hand, I reached even deeper into the darkness, fueled by an unexpinable desire to cause them more suffering. Bringing out one of the most terrifying teiques I had access to.’

  ‘This time it was tinuous red lighting that burst forth from my fiips. It hit every remaining lizard in the room. Yet instead of quickly killing them, it attached itself to their bodies, tinuously sug out the very life from its victims.’

  ‘The lizards were screeg and wriggling, scratg the ground with their cws, blinded by their unimaginable pain.’

  ‘The stro of them sted about ten seds, when its body turned into a bck, unreisable dry husk. Some of those husks were still g into the floor with wide-open mouths that were howling from pain only seds ago, but now there will be no more sound leaving those cursed throats ever again.’

  ‘The sudden silehat engulfed the hangar after the hellish screams died dow behind a suffog aura of silence.’

  ‘As the sense of euphoria from my one sided victory passed. I felt a deep sense of emptiness. My powers were pletely drained, sweat freely running down my face, as I struggled to remain on my feet.’

  ‘I couldn’t show weakness, not yet, I reminded myself through my fuzzy thoughts.’

  ‘I was not alone.’

  ‘I slowly turned around and saw that the remaining pirates were looking at the massacre with shaking bodies, obvious fear, and terror mirrored in their eyes...’

  ‘Cire gave me a look of abhorrence. Jack seemed to be about ready to throw up. While the twi’leks were simply frozen iheir usual fa?ade was o be seen. One of the weequays turned his gun towards me and shot, as his fear overruled his sanity. I raised my left palm and blocked the beam with it, pletely dispersing the energy bolt a few millimetres from my open palm.’

  ‘The otherwise simple a caused me a sense of vertigo. As icy dread traversed ay pletely bed veins, draining my vitality in py empty force reserves.’

  ‘I should not have used that red lightning. It was pletely unnecessary, only managing to turn my allies against me and burning through all my force reserves. I scolded myself internally. No matter, it was futile to ponder on the past now.’

  ‘With a sweep of my arm, I knocked out the on from the panicked man’s hands using the force. I winced as even more ess spread ay body.’

  “That was your only warning.” — ‘I told him calmly.’

  ‘The guy seemed to freeze in his boots. He turned pletely still and unmoving, as if he had lost sciousness. Yet his eyes were still following me.’

  ‘The first oo pose herself was Ayelfita, then Seldibo followed her example soon. They forced themselves to tiheir stupid act, and I was kind of full with it already.’

  ‘Ayelfita walked towards me slowly, giving me a strained smile.’

  “Well, well, well... So you are really not a jedi after all...“ — She chuckled. — “I mean… A jedi isn’t supposed to kill like that? Is it?”

  ‘At the mention of the jedi, I felt a burst of frustration, ohat was long since buried inside me ing to the surface at st.’

  “A jedi... heh. What is the differeween killing with a lightsaber and killing with the living force? I tell you what, arrogahe only thing that stops them from doing so is their blind arrogance!”

  “Letting their enemies run arou and right, because they believe that their power and knowledge will always make them e out on top at the end. While they stantly make sad gestures about the suffering of civilians and the death of hundreds of thousands. I just read in their archives that they want to capture the mass serial killer separatist leaders alive? They missed a bunch of ces to elimihem in these few months of war... because they didn’t want to kill them...”

  “I am not a jedi... yet I let their arrogance sway me... Their very force presensciously sways me towards making stupid decisions... But, that is over now... I have paid back my debt by saving you towards Hondo. Now, we have no more business with each other. This ship is mine, since I was the one who took it from the cold bloods. You will leave with yours the way you came.”

  ‘Ayelfita seemed to look around, thinking over her choices. Her gaze seemed to linger on one of the charred, bck, ghostly bodies that was frozen into a corpse statue while trying to cw out his own eyes...’

  “I guess we are good, then. We will take our dead and leave immediately. Bye-bye!” — She stated with a fake cheer that tio grate on my nerves. I felt an urge to snap her bones just to hear how her real voice sounded for once.

  ‘As if sensing my thoughts. They stood up, gathered their things along with their panions’ dead bodies, leaving behind only the charred ones and they were gone ihan five minutes.’

  ‘I watched them leave as I closed the hangar doors and began to walk towards the inside of the ship.’

  ‘I felt an immense headache pulsing through my mind. My body was shivering uhe effects of over accumuted dark side energies and I could barely put one leg in front of the other.’

  ‘Still… I o know… I o know what the other living presence was on the ship aside from me.’