As Des burst from the heart of the tree, another bolt struck nearby. She ignored it as the trees fell silent. Her bright coloration wouldn’t help her here, but that wasn’t so much a concern. Speed and deception would be her allies.
In a pale blur, she made for one of the trees. The Force swirled through her, gathering in her legs, powering her muscles. She leaped, springing high into the air. At the same time, she used it to lift her higher as she made contact with the side of a tree and practically ran up it for a handful of steps. Leaping off she flipped once to land on a branch.
The sniper cursed as his first shot missed. The platinum-haired girl was too fast. She disappeared around a tree. That would be a problem, but they were always fun to hunt down. And there was a second prize here. He’d turned his attention back to the tree where the male had been. Only for a canid form to burst out. In shock, he’d been late to shoot. Some species could transform. The man seemed human, but this was larger than almost any canine he’d ever heard of. It didn’t growl and bark but took off in another direction with
purpose. There was intelligence in it’ Maybe that was the second prize. He felt sure of it. And if that were the case, he was worth more than the Jedi girl. Well, they were both worth a lot. He picked up his comlink. “Yeah, this is Wurtz. I have two prizes. One looks like a Jedi. The other is some kind of shifter. Send a full extraction.”
his goal was to herd it in the direction of the sniper and force it to brush against the tree.
With luck, it would knock the man out of it and make him easy prey for his fangs if he survived. Once the large beast was in sight he briefly dropped his rifle and charged with a snarl. A breath later it thundered through the trees and after doubling back, herded it towards his target.
Except herding such a large beast wasn’t easy for the lupine form. It just wasn’t that big. The herbivore bolted at first, only because it’s natural instinct was flight. But It was aimless. Moving in closer, he managed to get the creature heading in the general direction, but on a wider turn.
Her pulse throbbed in her ears. Being shot at was a hell of an adrenaline dump. This wasn’t training. Even if they were using droids. These had to be class IV, and they were as likely to kill her as anything. But the physical effort did nothing to lessen the chemical concoction flooding her body, and of course the enhancement of the Force. It was just as much a ride as any race. Except the stakes were life and death. It was the thrill of the hunt. And she refused to be the hunted.
She leaped from one branch to the next, clearing gaps between trees, though with alight enough touch she hardly disturbed them in her passing. The whole time she narrowed down on the droid. Finally, she came to rest just overhead. Perching for a moment she waited until the droid moved a little forward.
It was spindly, but with a cylindrical body. Its head was another cylinder with a blunted cone atop it. It reminded her of an IG unit, but she’d never seen one in the real world.
Scooting forward she let herself fall several meters, feet first. She raised her saber overhead, and just before impact thumbed the blue-white blade to life. Slashing down with her momentum, it bit into the droid’s chassis but not as deep as she expected. The arms windmilled horizontally and struck her in the upper chest with murderous force with a deep
wulf. It knocked her head over heels over a log. Des saw stars and she couldn’t breathe!
Thud! Thud! Thud, the droid advanced, each leg impacting the ground like pistons, propelling its heavy frame in her direction relentlessly. One foot snapped up and shattered a fallen tree almost twice as thick as she was. The splintered pieces struck her, and sent her rolling, renewing the pain in her chest.
In desperation, Des rolled onto her back, stretching out her right arm, saber in her left hand now. She summoned the Force, gathering it up, and releasing it in a blast of kinetic energy, like a giant fist directed at the bot.
It’s sensors registered the gesture. It was a power gesture. A warding gesture. The target wielded a lightsaber. They were likely a Force user. It registered in less time than it takes to blink. Then its accelerometers went crazy as an unseen kinetic Force slammed into it, sending it flying backward to slam into a tree. It plummeted six meters to the forest floor. Internal diagnostics began showing yellows and redlines all over as systems began to fail. Danger level exceeding tolerances. Locating target… The female was rising. Time to self destruct. Engage final protocols. A targeting pip came up over her, and its arm struggled sluggishly to bring the auto carbine built into the arm onto target. It released a trio of shots.
Nearby, on the edge of Anse’s hearing, he would hear the snap-hiss of a lightsaber and its deep hum, it’s changing pitch as it bit into something. Then a resounding, fleshy thud and a cry of painful impact from Desbre, uncontrolled. A moment later a loud CRACK as a tree shattered in half.
The white-haired Jedi saw the droid shuddering, servos and gears whining. She could smell wiring burning, and its main chassis was cracked. It raised it’s right arm even as a whine began to build up. The Force warned her, and she gave herself over to it instinctively, transferring it to a two-handed grip. She slipped into main defensive ready which deflected the first bolt, then waggled left and right, little more than a couple twitches of her hands. Each movement caught an angry scarlet bolt and sent them whizzing into the forest. Wasting no time she rushed forward and dispatched it with an oblique slash through the power core, low to high. The whine stopped and the droid shuddered, lifeless.
Gasping for air, she drew the Force around her, washing away the pain in her chest, and filling her with renewed energy. There was still another droid to kill.
Another impact of wooden metal. Then blaster fire, a staccato burst of shots.
One bolt whizzed nearby, striking somewhere in the canopy.
That caused the herbivore to turn. They began to eat the distance up, flying over the ground. Any time it tried to veer, Anse turned it back.
Wurtz dropped to the ground. They’d have to be hunted down. He checked his display for the droids. One reported contact. There came a distant boom of metal and lumber, then another a couple seconds later. Then blaster fire. Diagnostics scrawled across the screen, and then all data stopped. “Frak,” he muttered. The other droid was fine. It was already collapsing in on his position but punching out to the side.
A distant rumble caught his attention, along with the sound of snapping branches. Something was moving in the distance. He saw it then, the massive herbivore. he had gear for capture, but some lethal options too. Something like that, he might just piss off with a bad shot. Reaching up to his rig he pulled off a concussion grenade and lobbed it in a high arc.
The slight hillside they were all on rocked with a devastating explosion. Dirt and debris gouted high into the air and in a seven-meter radius all around. A massive blast wave of air came with it. It drove the air from the creature’s lungs, and Anse’s too, as flying flinders of wood jammed into its flesh and set it’s fur ablaze. It bellowed in pain and rage but did not slow. It spotted Wurtz and lowered its head.
”Oh frack,” he cursed and readied himself to move. He’d have had better luck dodging a freight train. The creature slammed into him, tossing its head. The impact lifted him from his feet and sent him slamming into a tree. He careened off, spinning on all three axes before landing in a heap with a groan. The creature continued on, but he rolled to his feet, staggering.
Anse Baenshaol
