Дэйв Волвертон - Jedi Apprentice 1 - The Rising Force

The Force was his ally.

He could feel it moving him, moving through him, and through the draigons. He leaped and somersaulted. He spun and slashed through muzzles and claws. The battle became a dance of sheer survival.

As he danced, Obi-Wan changed. He felt subtle promptings he’d never felt before. He saw attacks before they came. He sensed the flail of a tail before it happened. The muscles of the draigons seemed incredible defined, so that he could read tiny flickers of movements that revealed which way a draigon would turn. Dead draigons piled on the ground around him. He gave himself entirely to the dance.

After several long minutes, he began backing toward the mouth of the cave. He had an idea. If he could kill the draigons at the very mouth of the cave, the bodies would block the entrance. If enough entrances were blocked, they might have a chance.

He fought his way back ferociously. He had just gained the entrance when he heard a familiar laugh.

“Well done, little one!” Jemba chortled. The enormous Hutt slithered from the shadows farther back in the cave. He held an oversized blaster rifle.

Obi-Wan barely had time to glance at the Hutt, for three draigons had gathered at the mouth of the cave.

“Help me!” Obi-Wan called to Jemba as he fought. It would be easy for the Hutt to shoot the draigons. He could help with his plan. Obi-Wan knew he wouldn’t care to save him, but Jemba would certainly want to save himself.

“Of course,” Jemba chortled. “I’ll help you — to death!” He raised his blaster rifle and aimed.

Grelb huddled beneath his rock. Draigons lay at Obi-Wan Kenobi’s feet. The boy stood with the mouth of the cave yawning wide behind him.

The Hutt chuckled softly. He saw his chance and squeezed the trigger of his blaster.

The bolt shot out — but the Grelb’s surprise, young Obi-Wan must have sensed it coming, for he dodged to the side. The bolt barely missed him.

Grelb shouted in rage and prepared to fire again. This time, he would not miss. But suddenly, he felt huge teeth rip into his tail.

He had been concentrating too hard. He had forgotten to keep a lookout. A draigon had found him.

He barely had time to cry out before the draigon yanked him from under his rock.

Obi-Wan stood panting. He’d felt the Force, had dodged as the blaster bolt came from nowhere and sizzled past his head. Perhaps no one felt as surprised as Jemba the Hutt.

The enormous Hutt took the blaster bolt in the chest. For the briefest moment, Jemba stared down at his wound in disbelief. “Well, ha!” he laughed in horror.

His surprised eyes stared into Obi-Wan’s for a moment. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed. Then Jemba slumped onto the muddy ground and died.

A draigon’s cry wrenched Obi-Wan’s attention back to his situation. He barely had time the thrust his lightsaber at the huge attacking mouth, then jump back.

“That was a little to close, I’d say,” Qui-Gon remarked from behind him. His lightsaber powered up and glowed green. “I think you could use some help.”

Together, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon jinn fought side by side. The Forced pulsed between them. They knew without speaking where the other would move, when the other would strike. When Qui-Gon moved forward, Obi-Wan sprang back to protect his flank. When Obi-Wan leaped to the right, Qui-Gon made sure he was covered from the left.

Clat’Ha joined them, a blaster in each hand and a spare strapped to her leg. Qui-Gon and Clat’Ha had worked quickly to administer the dactyl to the Arconans, and they had revived enough to stand together and fight. Si Treemba and a group of Arconans handled any draigons who dared breach the opening.

Obi-Wan’s plan worked. Draigon bodies piled up at the entrance, blocking it. Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and Clat’Ha left a small squad to protect it and raced to the next cave opening. Then the battle began all over again.

Before his death, Jemba had ordered the Whiphids and Hutts of Offworld Corporation to defend the cave where they had gathered. He instructed them to fire from the rocks outside the cave. It was a foolish strategy. Hundreds of miners had been slain. Finally, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon convinced them to fight at the cave entrance and use the draigon bodies as shields.

The Offworld miners and the Jedi worked to guard the cave entrances, but draigons dug new entrances through the rock, so that at times they broke through and came at the miners from above or behind. That’s where the Arconans came in handy. By evening, it was evident to every Hutt and Whiphid on that rock that the Arconans were not cowards. They were creatures born to caves and darkness, and when it came to time to fight in their own element, they proved themselves to be ferocious and cunning.

No draigon that tunneled through a cave’s roof caught an Arconan by surprise. Indeed, the Arconans were so fierce that the Whiphids and Hutts finally retreated and left them to finish the battle.

Near nightfall Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were still battling at the last entrance to the caves. Smoke rose from the draigons’ mouths as they let out their piercing cries in the dusky air. But the cries had changed from war cries to signals. Suddenly, what was left of the flock roared and leaped into the air. The draigons circled the island twice, then flew off in defeat.

When a ragged cheer went up from the surviving Hutts and Whiphids, Obi-Wan thought that it was merely a cheer of relief. But when a huge Whiphid came out of the cave and gave him a rough pat on the back, and when Hutts actually circled him and began to clap, Obi-Wan realized that these were not cheers of relief. Their former enemies cheered for the Jedi.

And later, when he and qui-Gon went into Jemba’s chamber of the cavern and took the rest of the dactyl back for the Arconans, no one tried to stop them.

Because of Jemba’s orders, over three hundred Offworld miners were killed in the battle. Eighty-seven Arconans had lost their lives. The caves filled with the Arconans’ hum of mourning.

Obi-Wan lingered at the cave, watching his friend grieve with his fellow Arconans. It was time for Si Treemba to be with his people. Obi-Wan put a hand on his shoulder and pressed gently, then walked away.

The miners’ work force was nearly cut in half. While the Arconans grieved, Clat’Ha made plans for their future. She went to one of Jemba’s chieftains, a Hutt named Aggaba, and said, “Aggaba, I want to hire you and your people.”

“Which ones?” Aggaba asked suspiciously.

“All of you,” she said. “You’re temporarily the head of these men, until you reach Bandomeer. I’ll buy out your contracts.”

“And then what?” Aggaba asked. He had a cunning look in his eyes, as if he wondered how he might make a profit.

“I’ll offer all of you an invitation to work for our mining company,” Clat’Ha said. “We share the profits, so it’s a step up for you. Think about it. When we get to Bandomeer, your bosses there will demote you, put someone else in over your head. This is your chance to escape from Offworld Mining, get decent jobs that will pay you better now, and in the long run.”

Aggaba licked his lips and stared around like a cornered Jawa. “Out contracts would not be cheap,” he said. “I would want, say, two thousand per worker.”

“Any money I give you,” Clat’Ha countered, “would just go back to your corporate headquarters. So how about I make you a better offer. I’ll give you twenty for each worker, and a personal bonus of twenty thousand just for signing with me.”

Aggaba’s eyes grew wide with delight. Clat’Ha hid her own glee. Aggaba would accept the deal out of greed. But the rest of the workers would have their freedom.