Dark Warning

by Jude Watson

  Star Wars

  The Last of the Jedi

  Book 2

  Dark Warning

  by Jude Watson

  source: IRC

  uploaded: 09.I.2006

  CHAPTER ONE

  He was getting closer. Within minutes, he would spot them.

  Obi-Wan Kenobi watched from the cockpit of a grounded, dilapidated

  cruiser as Boba Fett methodically searched the crowded Red Twins spaceport,

  looking for his prey. The Jedi saw Fett's compact body move down the rows

  of space cruisers, his helmet turning as he and his surveillance devices

  took everything in.

  Obi-Wan could see that Fett was moving in a pattern that only seemed

  random. The bounty hunter was cutting over after every third ship to the

  next line, then skipping a row, moving backward, then moving forward on

  alternate rows. It was a complex pattern to follow for an ordinary being,

  but riot for an exceptional tracker like Boba Fett... or a Jedi like Obi-

  Wan. To an observer, Fett would seem to be ambling in a casual fashion, but

  within a few minutes he would have checked out every ship in the spaceport.

  Including the Jedi's.

  Obi-Wan saw his companion, Ferus Olin, watching Fett from the shadows

  of the cockpit.

  "I give us three minutes," Ferus said.

  "Two and a half," Obi-Wan amended.

  Ferus and Obi-Wan had landed at the Red Twin spaceport just a few

  minutes before, along with their stowaway, thirteen-year-old Trever Flume.

  They had tangled with Boba Fett on the planet Bellassa, and were acutely

  aware of his skills. Plus, he had another bounty hunter with him -

  D'harhan, a cyborg with an unattractive but lethal laser cannon for a head.

  Imperial security forces, led by the Inquisitor Malorum, had hired the

  bounty hunters to catch Ferus, a hero of the resistance movement on

  Bellassa.

  Even as Obi-Wan ticked off their possibilities for escape, he wanted

  to kick himself down the spaceport for being here in the first place. He

  had been on Tatooine when he had heard Ferus was in trouble - Tatooine,

  where he was supposed to stay and watch over the young Luke Skywalker. Obi-

  Wan had always liked the former Jedi apprentice, who had left the Order

  right before he was scheduled to take the Trials - in fact, he had been

  relieved that someone who had been so close to the Jedi was still alive.

  But was saving Ferus enough of a reason to risk leaving Tatooine? Obi-Wan

  had been racked with indecision... until he heard his former Master, Qui-

  Gon Jinn, who had at last spoken to him, thanks to Qui-Gon's training with

  the Whills.

  What a shock it had been to hear Qui-Gon's voice, and how unsurprising

  it should have been that Qui-Gon had been the one to tell him to leave.

  Things much bigger than Ferus were at stake, and Qui-Gon told him he needed

  to follow the Living Force... and his feelings.

  So he had followed them to Bellassa, had become tangled up with the

  resistance, and had barely escaped with Ferus. Now he was halfway across

  the galaxy from Tatooine, with two bounty hunters on his tail. Meanwhile,

  Inquisitor Malorum was getting closer to the truth of Luke and Leia's

  existence, by investigating Polis Massa, the place where their mother,

  Padme Amidala, had died. Obi-Wan knew he had to stop Malorum... but first

  he had to dodge the bounty hunters on his trail. Obi-Wan couldn't return to

  Tatooine until he had shaken them off. He couldn't lead anyone to the

  hidden son of Anakin Skywalker.

  "Hey, fellas?" Trever spoke up. His spiky blue hair seemed to quiver

  with anxiety as he looked from Obi-Wan to Ferus. "Not to jump in here, but

  shouldn't we be taking off in a hurry-up-and-blast-me-outta-here sort of

  way?"

  "He'll just follow us," Ferus said. "And there's no way we'll shake

  him in this bucket. We need a different ship. This won't end until we get

  one and get out of here."

  "Right, excellent," Trever said. "Not a problem. Just give me a

  minute."

  "You can't steal one," Obi-Wan warned.

  "Sure I can," the young teenager said. "All I have to do is bypass the

  initial ignition security controls, then - "

  Obi-Wan held up his hand. "Then we'll have security to contend with as

  well as Boba Fett. We have to do this without causing any alarm."

  "There's a new concept for you, kid," Ferus said to Trever.

  "I'll try to keep up," Trever replied with a grin. Despite his young

  age, he had been the most adept street thief in the capital city of Ussa on

  Bellassa. At only thirteen, he had controlled a large portion of the black

  market. When things got too hot for him, he had stowed away with Obi-Wan

  and Ferus as they'd made their escape.

  But if things had been one-sun hot then, they were three-sun hot now.

  Quickly, Obi-Wan, Ferus, and Trever gathered their survival packs and

  jumped off the ship. Obi-Wan made sure to cloak himself, his head

  unrecognizable under a hood. He did not want to be recognized by Boba Fett.

  "We'll have to try a trade. The trick is," Obi-Wan said under his

  breath as he kept his eyes on the roving figure of Boba Fett, "to pick the

  right ship. And the right pilot. He's got to think he's getting a deal, but

  the deal can't be too good or he'll get suspicious."

  "I wonder where D'harhan is," Ferus said.

  "Probably stayed on the ship," Obi-Wan guessed. "He'd attract the

  attention of security."

  They disembarked from their ship and threaded through the grumbling

  crowd. The new Empire regulations had made check-in slow, and departures

  were often held up while lengthy security checks were gone through. Pilots

  and passengers milled around, killing time until their numbers flashed on a

  huge screen overhead. At that point they joined the line to the security

  checkpoint inside the main building. Some of them had turned the area in

  front of the hangar into an informal picnic area, and the bartering of food

  and drink was going on in a lively exchange typical of pilots, as they

  variously insulted and flattered each other into trades.

  Obi-Wan perused the ships. They needed something with a hyperdrive,

  something spaceworthy but not too flashy. They needed speed and some kind

  of weaponry. Knowing Boba Fett's heavily armed Firespray attack ship, laser

  cannons would certainly come in handy.

  In his head, Obi-Wan counted off the rows of ships and the complex

  pattern Fett was following. If they kept weaving in a counter-pattern, they

  wouldn't run into him. Of course, he would find their ship very soon, and

  his surveillance would intensify. But if they were lucky, they'd blast off

  the spaceport by then.

  If they were lucky.

  Which they weren't.

  Boba Fett changed his pattern and spotted them from afar, attacking

  immediately from behind. The Force surged, warning Obi-Wan only a split

  second before the bounty hunter was on them.

  Blaster bolts streaked toward them. Obi-W
an leaped and dodged. He

  didn't want to use his lightsaber - not here, with a crowd looking on. News

  that a Jedi had been seen would spread, and the hunt would intensify. As

  far as the galaxy was concerned, all the Jedi had been wiped out. Any Jedi

  who was found would quickly share the same fate.

  Ferus's Jedi training made him move quicker than an ordinary

  bystander, dodging almost in time with Obi-Wan. Trever's street smarts sent

  him diving under the belly of a ship. A surprised pilot poked his head out

  of his cockpit dome a second after blaster bolts ripped into his hull. He

  started to swear at Boba Fett, but backed down when Fett swiveled and aimed

  his Westar-34 blaster in his direction.

  The diversion gave Obi-Wan two seconds - two seconds that spun out

  into a long moment of contemplation, as he pinpointed the exact location of

  the ships surrounding him, the crowd, the buildings. He saw opportunity for

  temporary shelter but he did not see what he was looking for - an avenue of

  escape.

  When in doubt, he thought, do the unexpected.

  Obi-Wan charged, his hood still concealing his identity. He lunged

  into the teeth of the blaster fire, weaponless. A surprised Boba Fett took

  a step back. He was too good to stumble, but for the smallest whisper of a

  second he was slightly off balance. Obi-Wan saw it. Fett's left side was

  the vulnerable point.

  He leaped. In midair, he twisted, coming down with one boot planted

  squarely on Boba Fett's left knee. But to his surprise, Fett didn't go

  over. Obi-Wan felt the bounty hunter's body give, but suddenly Fett

  reversed direction, planting himself more firmly. Obi-Wan was stopped cold

  and had the unpleasant sensation of feeling an armored elbow smash into the

  back of his head, sending him to the ground.

  He'd seen that move before. The memory of a desperate fight on Kamino

  came back to him. Jango Fett had taught his son well. If only Obi-Wan had

  remembered it in time.

  Ferus came charging as Obi-Wan rolled to his feet, ducking blaster

  bolts with his Jedi reflexes.

  Suddenly, the ship next to them exploded. Obi-Wan and Ferus were sent

  flying by the power of the blast, riding a cushion of air that slammed them

  into the permacrete. Molten durasteel rained around them. Ferus ducked as a

  cockpit seat landed only millimeters from his head.

  "Well, hello, D'harhan," Ferus said through gritted teeth.

  There was a moment of shocked silence after the blast, and then sirens

  began to sound. Pilots and passengers searched for a safe vantage point

  from which to watch the battle. It had been a boring afternoon, and no one

  minded a little diversion. It promised to be a good fight.

  Ferus popped to his feet. His face was black with smoke and dust from

  the explosion. "Love the way those guys introduce themselves," he said to

  Obi-Wan.

  Boba Fett was taking advantage of the explosion to move in, his

  blaster bolts streaking through the air. Obi-Wan knew he had to get under

  cover, away from the spectators. Somewhere he could use his lightsaber

  without attracting attention.

  "Go left," he said tersely to Ferus. "Keep D'harhan occupied."

  "Why do I always get the mean guy?" Ferus replied, with more humor

  than Obi-Wan remembered him having as an apprentice.

  Ferus seemed to float away, he moved so gracefully, sliding between

  two starships and disappearing. Obi-Wan used the Force to propel his jump,

  clearing the ship on his right and landing on the peaked durasteel roof of

  the hangar. There was a dormer midway down the roof, a window that was

  built into the roof itself. Obi-Wan dived for cover behind the overhang.

  Fett was wearing a jetpack, and he soared above to land on the roof

  only seconds after Obi-Wan. He advanced cautiously, unable to see the Jedi.

  Obi-Wan activated his lightsaber. He did it so rarely now that he felt a

  surge of feelings flood him when he did, something close to pain and joy, a

  remembrance of what it had once meant to be a Jedi. Once he had traveled

  freely through the galaxy. Now he had to hide what he was. Now all he knew

  was secrecy and caution.

  Blaster bolts suddenly ripped through the dormer, only centimeters

  from where he waited. Boba Fett was taking no chances.

  Obi-Wan didn't move, even though he felt the sear of heat on his

  cheek.

  He heard the footsteps approaching. Just as they reached the corner of

  the dormer, just when there was only a split second before Fett would see

  him, Obi-Wan leaped out.

  But Fett must have been expecting this. Taking barely a second to aim,

  he fired the concussion missile in his jetpack.

  Obi-Wan felt the shock waves reverberate. He was blown off the roof,

  his body lifting into the air like a scrap of cloth. He slowed down the

  moment, looking for a way to land that wouldn't involve smashing into the

  permacrete rising toward him.

  He reached for the grapnel line on his utility belt. He sent it flying

  as he fell, the hook catching on the edge of the roof. He bounced in the

  air, hard, wrenching his shoulder as he quickly swung himself back up. He

  hit the roof and kept going, charging at Fett, his lightsaber glowing. He

  severed Fett's blaster rifle in one clean stroke.

  Obi-Wan had nowhere to go as Fett suddenly slammed into him, wrapping

  his arms around the Jedi's body, knocking away his lightsaber, and

  propelling him backward, trying to push him off the roof. Instead of trying

  to break Fett's grip, Obi-Wan seized his arms, and the two men shot off the

  edge, spinning in midair. The crowd below saw them now and gasped.

  The two bodies fell through the air for several long seconds before

  Fett activated his jetpack. As he fired his thrusters, he maneuvered the

  jetpack so he could slam Obi-Wan against the side of the building

  repeatedly. Obi-Wan felt the blows shudder through his bones.

  Fett reversed and came at the building again. Obi-Wan saw the solid

  duracrete zooming toward his face. He called on the Force to help. He would

  need it. At the last moment, he drew his legs up and kicked out. The jolt

  radiated up through his skull. They spun out, and Obi-Wan used the

  opportunity to loosen Fett's hold. He dropped, gathering the Force to ease

  his landing and recapture his fallen lightsaber.

  He didn't injure himself, but the pain that traveled up his legs told

  him that his push off the wall had cost him. Spectators scattered as he

  rose to his feet. Boba Fett was coming after him, relentless.

  Ferus ran through the crowd. Obi-Wan felt the Force surge in warning

  as another cannon blast from D'harhan leveled part of the hangar.

  Ferus was blown back by the blast. D'harhan kept coming. Boba Fett was

  gathering himself for another assault. Obi-Wan charged forward, grabbed

  Ferus, and pulled him to his feet.

  "Come on," Obi-Wan urged. He hadn't come this far to lose Ferus now.

  He helped Ferus stumble past the rubble and leap into the half-

  demolished hangar. Massive doors were on the other end, firmly shut tight.

  D'harhan and Boba Fett followed through the opening, blocking any way out.
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  Obi-Wan and Ferus were trapped.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Fett and D'harhan didn't give them a chance to form a strategy. The

  bounty hunters were all movement, D'harhan passing Fett a blaster so they

  could both fire at will. The air filled with debris and smoke.

  "I wish I had a lightsaber," Ferus muttered as he and Obi-Wan dived

  for cover behind a large ship awaiting repair. He had turned in his

  lightsaber when he'd left the Order. "Now would be an excellent time to

  draw yours, Obi-Wan."

  Still, Obi-Wan waited. He and Ferus settled back against a large

  repair console filled with tools. He saw the smoke curl from D'harhan's

  head, and he knew the laser cannons had overheated. Boba Fett's blaster

  fire couldn't penetrate the ship. They were safe for the moment.

  But only for the moment. Obi-Wan scanned the hangar. Despite

  D'harhan's incredible firepower, he knew Fett was the greater threat. Of

  the two of them, Fett had the cunning.

  Above, struts held the roof in place. A series of arcing flexible

  durasteel supports crisscrossed the high space. Half of the roof had been

  blasted off when Fett had fired the concussion missile.

  The support arches would be an excellent place to stage a battle. Fett

  had his jetpack, but D'harhan would be at a disadvantage. He would have to

  remain on the ground.

  Obi-Wan pointed with his chin. "Can you make it?" he asked Ferus,