29 Stand Off 4 (2/2)
”Nope. And my offer still stands. Both of them.”
Before we left to search for the root I contacted the commodore and instructed him to scan the moons for the weapon preventing us from leaving the planet. One way or another that defence system was going down.
=RK=
The kid led us to a canyon to the east of the city. He pointed us towards a couple of green vines snacking down the cliffs.
”No climbing down for us boys.” I said to the clones and called one of the LAAT's. The canyon was more than wide enough for the gunship to fit.
I jumped in with a mixed group of heavy armoured troopers and clones carrying simple blasters. We flew down following the vines. Couple of brown creatures resembling mutated bats tried to scare the transport from their territory but few blaster shots discouraged the beasties.
It took us only a minute to find a cave opening in which the vines disappeared.
”Be careful in there. We do not know what may be nesting near the roots.” I said and vaulted forward.
I landed ten meters lower on the inside of the dark cave. The clones followed suit and started sweeping the surrounding area. I led the way and when I was near the place where the vines disappeared in the rocky ground the floor fifteen meters in front of me exploded revealing a twisted mass of vines and four huge jaws of carnivorous plants.
”Light up that thing!” I ordered. We should have brought flame-throwers.
The plant screeched when it was hit by multiple blaster bolts. Two rotatory cannons sliced into it with like a huge saw blades. Pieces of plant matter flew in all directions as well as drops of green juice which resembled blood. I pulled an incendiary grenade from my belt and threw it at the thrashing flora. It blew up with a subdued 'Whooosh' and engulfed the still alive being in blue flames. It let a last, ear-piercing screech before falling down in a burning heap.
Huh. So that's why I picked that grenade without even thinking about it back in the armoury. My subconscious obviously remembered more about this mess that my waking mind could recall. Weird.
The rock to my right exploded showering me with stone fragments and from it a pair of green jaws darted towards me. I jumped back away from its path and grabbed the hilt of my weapon. My lightsaber snapped to life and I slashed vertically at the ”neck” of the plant which tried to bite me in half. Its ”head” tumbled away from the thick vine that was its body and fell to the ground where it continued to snap its jaws in a futile effort to bite something. The sergeant shot it twice with his heavy blaster burning huge holes in its jaws. It gave a long, piteous hiss and finally laid still.
”Good work. Be on your guard. There may be more of those things around.” I told my people.
Thanks to the vines themselves I could feel life all around us which was practically identical to the carnivorous plant that tried to eat us. We loaded our backpacks with the precious roots and made our way to the waiting LAAT. If there were more of those plants in the cave they decided that discretion was the better part of valour and stayed put.
=RK=
We gave Jaybo a ride to the landing platform where the other LAAT waited for us with the remaining clones. I contacted Pellaeon who had bad news. Thanks to all the junk floating around Requiem was unable to get conclusive scans of the moons. It was time for plan B.
”So you believe you could lift the curse?” Jaybo bounced on his feet.
”It's a weapons' system. If by lift the curse you mean blowing it up all to hell, then yes. Unfortunately, my ship has a trouble detecting its precise location. We need a bait to find it.” I looked at the two vultures which were minding their own business. ”Say, kid, how many of those things do you have operational? And how much for them?” I asked cheerfully.
”A few. What do you have in mind?” Jaybo bounced on his feet.
I smiled at the kid and filled him in on my plan.
=RK=
Republic cruiser Requiem
near Iego
Commodore Pellaeon looked over the shoulder of one of his sensor operators. The powerful scanners of the cruiser were barely able to detect the four contacts flying fast from the planet. There were simply too many debris which were giving out sensor ghosts. However, there was no way to miss the massive energy surge emanating from the surface of one of the moons.
A yellow energy beam jumped from a weapon emplacement on the planetoid and started bouncing from pieces of ships and asteroids. It created an energy net in which the four Separatists fighters were shredded.
”Weapons lock on that location and fire at will!” ordered Pellaeon.
Huge, twin linked turbo-laser cannons rotated in their mounts and targeted a specific spot on the moon then fired. Blue bolts of compressed particles lanced through the void evaporating the junk standing in their path. It took Requiem nearly three minutes to blow a hole through the asteroids and debris before its guns could strike straight at the moon. A concentrated salvo from the cruiser board side hit the place from which the yellow beam emanated.
Three broadsides were more than enough to snuff out of existence the weapon holding the populace of Iego as prisoners.
Just in case, Requiem continued to bombard the moon until the side where attack came was a glowing ocean of molten rock.
=RK=
Unnamed city
Iego
I watched the fireworks with a smirk on my face. Many of the people stranded on this planet were outside watching the light show in orbit. They were talking excitedly when they saw the invisible from here Requiem BDZ one of the moons.
”And that's that kid. No more 'ghost'.” I declared.
I went in front of Jaybo who was looking at the heavens through a binocular. I knelt and floated my lightsaber over the palm of my right hand.
That got his attention and for the moment he forgot the fires in orbit.
”That's so cool!” the kid exclaimed, looking at my hand with huge eyes.
”Please tell me, Jaybo, has some strange things happened around you? Items moving by themselves? Have you felt that sometimes you see things before they happen?” I asked him quietly.
He looked away from my eyes and muttered something I could not understand.
”What was that?” I my lips twitched in amusement.
”Su'm times when I work on the droids a tool I need floats to my hands...” he murmured.
”It's nothing to worry about, Jaybo. That is just a sign that you could use the Force if you receive training.”
He perked at that and a huge grin appeared on his face.
”Does that mean that I can become a Jedi?!” he exclaimed and looked at me with star filled eyes.
I shook my head sadly.
”That is unlikely. You see, in all their 'wisdom' the Jedi refuse to train anyone who is older than a toddler. The oldest boy I knew that they trained was nine and they barely agreed to do it. You are how old? Twelve? Fourteen?” I asked carefully. My face was a mask reflecting how sorry I was about the Jedi's foolish policies.
”I became thirteen last month.” he grumbled sadly.
”Ah. It's all right you know. The Jedi are not the only ones who could train you in the Force.” I trailed off. ”You see...”
I smiled. I had his undivided attention.