Star Wars - I, Jedi

by Michael A. Stackpole

  Even though I sensed where the three of them were, I heard her sobs before I ever saw them. Two drunken LazerLords had trapped an indig woman between them and hustled her into an alley. They backed her up against a wall, trapping her hands high above her head, and were covering her face and neck with the sort of sloppy kisses the totally inebriated seem to have mastered. Except for the look of terror on her face, their antics might have seemed comical.

  I moved into the alley as silent as a shadow and grabbed the first man by the scruff of the neck. I whirled him over toward the right, across my body, and smashed his face into the oppo-site alley wall. Something crunched when he hit, then he slumped to the ground. A half step forward and I brought the pommel of my lightsaber up in my right hand, catching the second man with an upper cut. Impact with the heavy metal pommel cap shattered the man's jaw and sent him reeling back-ward.

  One hand went to his mouth and the other dug for the blaster holstered on his right hip. As he started to draw the weapon, I rotated the lightsaber's hilt in my hand and ignited the silver blade. Its explosive hiss filled the alley, with the light painting the LazerLord's shadow across the alley floor and up along the back wall. I arced the blade down, catching the rising blaster at barrel and grip, dropping pieces of it and two of his fingers to the ground.

  A sidekick to his already broken jaw dropped him to the alley floor, then I spun and lunged at his rising partner. Before he could draw his blaster, my lightsaber stabbed through his shoul-der, burning a very neat, button-sized hole through bone and flesh. The oily stink of overcooked meat filled the alley. His face went absolutely white. He stared down at the silvery en-ergy shaft sticking out of his shoulder, then his eyes rolled up into his head and he fainted.

  I snapped the blade off before his falling body could tear itself free of the blade. I didn't want him dead-I wanted nei-ther of them dead. Two dead men would be statistics, but these men would have scars and would tell a wonderful tale. What the visitation had begun these two would continue.

  I turned to the woman who cowered in a crouch. I extended a hand to her and she took it. The tremors in her flesh matched the waves of terror radiating out from her. I made my voice even and as reassuring as I could. "You have nothing to fear, child. They will not harm you any more." "W-who are you?"

  I guided her to her feet and walked with her toward the alley mouth and the street light slanting into it. "It is enough that I am known to be here."

  I let her walk into the light, but I remained in the shadows as I let her hand go. "Just tell them that doom has come to Cour-krus. Their victims will be avenged, and those who fear justice will never sleep securely here again." Then I projected into her mind an illusion of my fading into nothingness while I slipped past her and moved further along the street. I shadowed her to make certain nothing else happened to her, then, when she found safety, I returned to my home.

  The next morning, early, Timmser and Caet came to my suite and insisted Elegos wake me. I emerged from my bedroom looking rumpled and bleary-eyed, then sobered at the serious expressions on their faces. "What's happened? What's wrong?"

  Caet growled, and Timmser provided a good translation. "Two LazerLords got badly mangled last night. Doom has come to Courkrus, and it brought a lightsaber with it."

  The lightsaber made quite the impression on everyone. According to the two LazerLords, the Jedi creature that had jumped them had been two meters plus tall and had congealed out of the night itself. The lightsaber became frozen lightning and the Jedi's eyes glowed like the event horizons of binary black holes. He attacked them without provocation and promised to do the same to everyone on the planet.

  My plans, of course, were less ambitious, but their reports played well in the Aviary. I heard a lot of hollow boasting about what this person or that would do if confronted by this avenger. Others might be frightened, the line went, but the speaker was not. He'd tear the avenger's head clean off, then someone else would offer yet a more terrible fate for the avenger and so on, like the bidding at an auction gone mad. Mob bravery carried everyone to the zenith of hyperbole.

  Then finally someone-me, sometimes; other folks most often-would shiver and clutch at his gunhand as if he, too, had lost fingers. That simple gesture could quiet a group. And the mere mention of the word "Jedi" was enough to send all the braggarts back to their drinks and private fears.

  As a CorSec officer I'd seen this sort of bravado before, and had seen it fade in the presence of a uniformed officer, but never had it risen to such heights, nor plunged to such depths. The Empire's effort to vilify and transform the Jedi into agents of terror worked to my benefit. If the Empire, which was bad enough, had feared the Jedi enough to wipe them out, then having a Jedi here preying on the Invids was about as bad as it could get.

  So bad, in fact, that the captains of the various groups in Vlarnya offered a ten-thousand-credit reward for the Jedi's head.

  And I set out to make it higher, much higher.

  For the next several nights I stalked and hit what I consid-ered to be "soft" targets-bands of pirates wandering the streets in search of trouble. Each encounter occurred differ-ently. The fact that many of the pirates reinforced their courage with lots of lum or whiskey helped me immeasurably. Drunks have often seemed incredibly lucky, and in Vlarnya they were as well-but all of their luck was bad.

  One evening I let a trio of the Fastblast's crew catch a glimpse of me ducking into an alley. I'd been drinking with them earlier and had talked up how a group could go hunting the Jedi and snag him, winning themselves that great reward. The Fast-blasters-two humans, male and female, and a male Kubaz- worked themselves up into a frenzy, then I excused myself and made as if to head home. I wished them luck with their hunt, hoping they would find the Jedi before the other hunting groups, and they took the bait.

  The Fastblasters came running and as they rounded the cor-ner of the alley, I projected into their minds the image of me fleeing before them, my cloak flapping back, water from a sew-age rivulet splashing up with each step. The humans raced after me at full speed. The Kubaz, who didn't quite see the image I projected, slowed and raised a hand to warn his compatriots. Before he could do so, I rose from the shadows that concealed me near the alley mouth and clopped him on the head with the butt of my lightsaber.

  Bereft of his warning, his two companions ran at full sprint into the brick and plaster wall I'd hidden with my illusion. The woman rebounded hard from the wall. Her blond hair wrapped around her face as she twisted through the air and crashed down in a trash midden. The man, who had been a step behind her, had begun to twist to his right, so he took the impact on his shoulder. Even from ten meters away, I heard his collarbone snap. He bounced back, took a couple of stumbling steps in my direction, then dropped to his knees.

  His right hand fumbled with the blaster holstered beneath his left arm, but with his broken bone, there was no way he could get a hold of it. I stepped in closer and thumbed the lightsaber to life. His eyes grew wide and he sank back on his haunches.

  "You've lost use of the arm. No reason to lose the whole thing, is there?"

  He slowly shook his head.

  "Very good." I brought the point of the blade around so it sat a centimeter from the tip of his flattened nose. "The next Fast-blaster I see on the streets will die. Relay that message for me, will you?"

  He nodded and I stepped away from him, retracting the lightsaber's blade. I turned to stalk back down the alley to the street. Even without the Force, I would have heard the snap of his blaster being pulled from the holster. Already three meters away, I turned, lit my lightsaber, and deflected the first shot into the alley wall, where it left a little guttering flame. Two more shots missed wide, I blocked a fourth to my left with the lightsaber, then saw that the fifth would miss right and drill the Kubaz struggling to his feet.

  I reached out with my right hand and blocked the bolt, suck-ing as much of the energy in as I could. The shot stung, sending a jolt up my arm, but I shunted th
e pain aside and funneled the spare energy into telekinesis. I closed my right hand into a fist, then pulled. I wrenched the blaster from his hand, snapping a couple of fingers as I went, then tossed it high onto a roof.

  "Remember my message." I turned again, smacked the Kubaz in the head again with the lightsaber's butt, and vanished into the night.

  Three days later the Fastblast and its crew departed Courkrus for destinations unknown.

  Other crews were not so easily frightened. The Blackstar Pi-rates felt invincible in their sanctuary behind the Mynock Hole and I knew my intervention there would shake them to their core. In an earlier visit as Jenos Idanian, I took a seat that gave me a clear vision of the datapad they used to gain entry into the back. By casually studying the people going in I learned they used a four digit code, but most of the pirates hit the numbers too quickly for me to read them exactly.

  I waited for an older man well into his cups to approach the door and set myself. He punched the number in and waited for a light to go on and a tone to sound before he would be free to push the door open. I reached out with the Force and simply made him forget he'd seen the light and heard the tone. He frowned, then more carefully and precisely punched the code in, letting me read from his actions what the combination was.

  A rainstorm hit Vlarnya the evening I decided to carry my war to the Blackstar Pirates, and the atmospherics certainly added to the tension growing in the Aviary. It also helped that virtually everyone wore hooded cloaks as sheets of rain lashed the city. I was soaked by the time I reached the My-nock Hole, but went unnoticed among the other dripping, cloaked figures in the cantina. I even swept into the back area warded by pirates without being the subject of much scrutiny. Moving with authority and raising a hand to the datapad to punch in the combination appeared to be normal to the pirates seated there, so I only needed to devote a tiny slice of the Force to making them lose the seconds of their life in which I passed them by.

  I punched in the code and pushed the door open. What I found beyond it surprised me because of the opulence. Muted red and gold glow panels gave the foyer and parlor beyond it a warm feel. Doorways across from the entry and in the two side walls provided access to corridors that I guessed led to rooms meant for private pleasures. I caught just enough of the tang of spice in the air to guess what some of the pirates were enjoying, and a half-dozen men and women attired in unseasonably brief costume, lounging vivaciously on overstuffed furniture, sug-gested what others would find to content them.

  And through the doorway at the far end of the parlor I heard the cheers and groans I'd long associated with gambling. With the small self-service bar to my right, the Blackstar Pirates' haven seemed to make available most of the idle-time delights considered desirable throughout the galaxy. This was a place where everyone could have fun.

  To my left a silver 3PO droid with a missing eye sketched a brief bow and extended his hands toward me. "Check your weapons, Master?" Beyond him ! saw a small caged enclosure chuck full of blasters of every size and description, with another 3PO droid locked in, shelving weapons and retrieving them. "I think not."

  "I must insist." The 3PO droid inclined his head toward me. "In accordance with all the regulations in your fellowship con-tract, specifically clause 35.6..."

  I lit the lightsaber and split him from crown to groin with one swipe. Sparks flew as both halves tottered and crashed to the floor. I stepped over the twitching pile of circuits, secretly guilty over how good that had felt, then I pivoted to the right and slashed the lightsaber through the drink synthesizer. Coming around full circle, I leveled the silver blade at the parlor's occu-pants.

  "That was last call. I think you want to leave now." I raised a finger to my lips. "Quietly."

  They scattered mutely as I stalked straight into the gambling den. People hunched over sabacc tables missed me entirely, but those gathered around a jubilee wheel did not. I stabbed the argent lightsaber down into the wheel and let the wheel's mo-mentum carve the rim from the hub. The rim spun off, wob-bling around the table, scattering bets, then rolled to the floor and tangled in the legs of some Rodian carrying a tray of drinks. Between his crash and the outcry from the roulette players, I got the pirates' attention.

  I held the lightsaber before me in such a way that its harsh light deepened the shadows within my hood. "This is no more your sanctuary. This is no more a place where chance holds sway. Doom has come to Courkrus, and if you stay, your only safe bet is on death."

  With that I walked to a door in the exterior wall, slashed it open and let rain slant in. Lightning struck and thunder blasted as I stepped through into the night-well, it did at least for most of the humans I could reach-and then I was gone except from their nightmares.

  And the bounty climbed to one hundred thousand credits.

  The weakness of my approach became very apparent to me and, unfortunately, Shala the Hutt. While my tactics were being very effective, and desertion was beginning to nibble away at the Invid ranks, the fact that I had not killed anyone had begun to work against me. I was dealing with thoroughly and com-pletely ruthless individuals who would kill someone in a fight over scraps from a garbage heap. Since their lives were the only thing of value many of the Invids possessed, the fact that I wasn't killing applied a brake to the plummeting morale and even allowed for a rebound.

  Shala let it be known that he had a method for dealing with the Jedi, but he kept it under wraps. His warehouse became a fortress where even Tavira's future consort was not allowed to visit. He sent his various hench-creatures out to terrorize parts of town outside the Aviary and started delivering his own mes-sages. His crimes against property escalated into robberies and simple assaults, with more and more hideous crimes clearly in the future. His actions were an open challenge to the Jedi, and even though I waylaid a couple of his raiding parties he just made the following ones more powerful and sent them forth.

  Everything pointed toward a direct confrontation between us, which I knew would have to be at the warehouse. I snagged a Twi'lek associate of his-Shala's explosives specialist, a real nasty piece of work-and sent Shala the message that I would meet the Hutt at the warehouse. I didn't specify an exact time, but it was obvious that I would have to find him sooner rather than later.

  Elegos was dead set against my going. "Surprise has been your ally and has allowed you to win through in situations where you should not have. Entering the Blackstar sanctuary was foolish because you'd not been there, but surprise got you through that. You surrender surprise here and it could kill you."

  I shook my head and clipped my lightsaber to my belt. "I've still got a few surprises of my own, you know. And I've been in that warehouse. I've been around Shala."

  "Which is precisely why you should be more careful. You know his crew is mostly non-humans, so your ability to affect their minds will be severely limited. It probably won't help you at all." Elegos frowned at me as he handed me my cloak. "And it's fine for you to absorb a stray blaster bolt or two, but what if they open up on you with a dozen carbines'?"

  "They won't. Look, I'll get a sense of the place before I go in.

  I'1t know if he's got people waiting to jump me."

  "And what if he has robotically controlled blasters so you won't have gunmen to pick out?"

  "I'11 think of something." My answer rang hollow in my ears, too, but it was the only one I had for him. "I can't ~ot face him, Elegos. If I do nothing, he wins, and a lot of people get hurt. I lose my chance to destroy the Invids."

  "If you die, the same thing happens."

  "I have no choice." I shrugged. "I know this one will get ugly, and I'm fairly certain someone's going to die. I'll just have to make sure those who die are those who deserve to die."

  I left my hotel unseen and stalked through darkened streets I found remarkably free of life-at least the sapiens variety. Word had clearly leaked out that the Jedi had agreed to accept Shala's challenge. Since the two of us were likely the most hated individuals on the planet
no one wanted to get in the way of our confrontation.

  The warehouse looked no different than it had before, save the side door was open and no light bled out into the night. I extended my senses toward it, letting the Force flood through me, and picked out only a half-dozen large lifeforms, including Shala on his dais. The others remained hidden deep in the warrens surrounding the central pit. Their nervousness shone like a beacon, but I found Shala frighteningly calm. He was just waiting for me, so I deigned to keep him waiting no longer.

  I entered the warehouse through the open door and was not surprised when it closed behind me. I made my way quickly through the tangled trail of debris to the central amphitheatre, threading a path through chemical drums and twisted piles of metal. When I reached the warehouse's center, I saw a single light on, shining down on Shala and the 3PO droid translator. I slowly stalked down into the amphitheatre bowl and stopped two meters away from the Hurt. I threw back the wings of my cloak and brought my lightsaber into a doublehanded grip, but I did not turn it on.

  Shala muttered something and the droid translated. "The great glabrous Shala the Hutt bids you welcome. He instructs you to lay down your weapon and surrender to him, or you will pay a most fearful price."