Krysira's Destiny - Chapter 18
Krysira’s Destiny
Chapter Eighteen
Enormous storage area
The blood trail led the group to a deserted storage area. There were discarded
crates and barrels along with various mechanical odds and ends, strewn in a
disorderly fashion along the walls. There was a second level with a few intact
walkways that spanned across the area, as well as walkways along two of the
massive walls. Many doors lined the second level, whereas there were only about
a handful on the first level.
Some of Elkan’s warriors were looking for the blood trail, while the rest of the
group waited, some more impatiently than others.
The Jedi stood slightly apart from the group, studying the layout of the area. Trip
made his way over to them, standing close to Krysira.
All were unaware that they were being watched.
Drayce heard the sound of footsteps and pulling Ori quickly out of sight cautiously
took a quick peek to see his pursuers in the area. He scowled fiercely.
“What is it?” Ori whispered.
“We have company,” Drayce whispered back.
“What do we do now?”
“Fear not, my pet,” he simply said as he gave her a knowing smile.
Ori nodded, trusting his judgment, but wondered what he had in mind.
Krysira crossed her arms over her chest, frowning ever so slightly.
“Qui-Gon,” she said.
“I know, Krysira,” the elder Jedi replied.
Trip leaned closer to Krysira. “Is something...wrong, Krys?” He asked.
“Possibly, Trip,” she replied, softly.
Ori watched with interest, as Drayce pulled out a small device. He leaned down to
her.
“Our escape lies through the second doorway,” Drayce whispered.
“But how do we get there?” Ori questioned in a whisper. “Surely they will see us.”
Drayce merely gave her a purely evil smile, as he pressed three buttons on the device.
The simultaneous sounds of doorways beginning to open caught the attention of all
three Jedi.
“Move back!” Qui-Gon shouted to the
warriors that were looking for the blood trail, as he had his lightsabre
glowing green. “Padawan! Protect the Prefect!”
The warriors instantly backpedaled to the group, pulling their weapons.
At the same time, Obi-Wan followed his Master’s order and took a defensive
position in front of Ca-Yanne, his lightsabre blazing blue.
“Take cover!” Krysira ordered, gently easing Trip behind her with one hand, while one
of her lightsabres blazed white in her other hand. Trip had his blaster in
hand.
Vallen drew his blaster, looking over his shoulder at Lonan and Hoshi. “Get back!” He
snapped, seeing them scramble behind some old crates.
In the meantime, Elkan, Archer, Malcolm, Trey and the other warriors also had
weapons drawn, taking defensive positions behind various crates and barrels.
Caden pressed himself against a wall, holding an old discarded pipe, while
Chelz hid behind a crate.
The doors finished opening.
Silence.
Everyone tensed, not knowing who or what was coming through the doorways.
Suddenly, Exoian-sized humanoid-like rust colored ‘droids started marching into the open
area out of all the doorways.
Archer’s eyes widened. “What the...” he exclaimed trailing off, not knowing what to say.
Elkan was stunned momentarily upon seeing a couple of hundred or so ‘droids pouring
out of the doorways. “’Droids!” Elkan shouted, never seeing so many before.
“We must act quickly!” Qui-Gon urged, as he charged
forward, swinging his lightsabre at the nearest ‘droid.
The ‘droids opened-fire at the Jedi.
Krysira charged forward as well, her lightsabre striking the oncoming ‘droids with
precision, while Trip kept her covered with blaster shots of his own.
Elkan and Archer along with the others returned fire. Obi-Wan reflected blasts back
at the ‘droids, disabling them enough to be destroyed by the blaster fire.
Trip glanced upward, seeing more ‘droids appear on the walkways above the group. He
looked back at Krysira who had just waded through the ‘droids along with Qui-Gon, both reaching the
opposite side of the area.
“Krys!” Trip shouted, worriedly.
Krysira spun around at the sound of Trip’s voice, concern etched on her face.
“Look up!” Trip shouted again, motioning upward.
Both Krysira and Qui-Gon gazed upward to
see what had alarmed Trip.
Drayce cautiously peered out of the doorway staying in the shadows where he and Ori
were hiding.
His attention was on the female Jedi, noting her graceful fighting skills and her
obvious beauty. He thoughtfully rubbed his chin at a brief passing thought, but
promptly pushed it out of his mind. Now was not the time nor place for such
thoughts.
He studied the situation. If only the ‘droids could lure the Jedi away from their
current position, then he and Ori could escape.
An urgent warning from the Force caught Krysira’s attention. She saw a ‘droid that
was moving up quickly to an unsuspecting Trip whose attention was focused on
the ‘droids to the opposite side of him.
“Qui-Gon! Cover me!” Krysira requested urgently.
The Jedi Master reacted instantly, no questions asked, as he blocked oncoming
blasts away from Krysira.
The pretty Jedi Knight took her lightsabre and taking a step forward, sidearmed it
at the sneaky ‘droid. “Trip!” She shouted.
Trip’s head snapped around after dispatching two ‘droids to see Krysira’s white
lightsabre whirl through the air at the ‘droid that had come up on his blind
side. His eyes widened upon seeing the blade neatly behead the ‘droid in one
strike, then whirl back towards Krysira, much like a boomerang.
Krysira already had her blue lightsabre ignited in her other hand, as she used the
Force to control the other lightsabre, which she caught neatly and parried
blasts from more ‘droids.
Trip merely shook his head in amazement, then continued to fire.
But Trip wasn’t the only one who was amazed at Krysira’s lightsabre skills. Archer
also had seen the ‘droid bearing down on Trip and was going to blast it, but
saw that Krysira had taken it out first. He was quite impressed with Krysira’s
fighting skills.
Krysira gazed upward at the walkways, seeing that two of them were beginning to fill up
with ‘droids. She quickly analyzed the situation, then acted.
“Qui-Gon! The walkways!” Krysira called, as she leapt gracefully upwards, somersaulting once, as she
landed with uncanny balance on the railing of the walkway nearest to her behind
the ‘droids.
She quickly noted that the walkways were wide enough to accommodate at least two
beings of average size...just enough to maneuver around. She leapt down from
the railing and began to wade through the ‘droids, which particularly didn’t
stand a chance against the skillful Jedi Knight.
At the same time, Qui-Gon leapt up onto the other ‘droid-filled walkway, landing amid the ‘droids, taking them out left and
right.
In the meantime, Caden was smashing nearby ‘droids with the old pipe that he had
found earlier, using a hit and duck for cover method.
Three warriors, a mixture of Elkan’s warriors and government troops, lay on the
floor, dead.
Malcolm hunkered down behind the barrel that he was using as cover, after blasting a
couple of ‘droids. A look of realization crossed his features, as he holstered
his blaster and pulled out his phase pistol. He quickly adjusted the settings,
creating a whistle of sorts. He stood up.
“Take cover!” He shouted.
Those near the front of the battle fell back, as Malcolm underhanded the whistling
phase pistol into the middle of one unit of remaining ‘droids. When the phase
pistol landed amid the ‘droids, some of them looked down in curiosity.
Then...an explosion...
Drayce saw their means of escape.
“Come, Ori. This is our chance,” Drayce said quickly.
And so under the cover of the explosion, Drayce and Ori dashed across the open area
behind the ‘droids and through the second doorway, unnoticed.
Meanwhile, Vallen saw the need to get his charges out of the battle. He looked back at
Lonan and Hoshi.
“Follow me and stay close!” Vallen hissed.
Caden saw Vallen lead Lonan and Hoshi out of the line of fire. “Chelz! Go with them!”
He ordered.
Chelz responded instantly and nimbly went around the crates and barrels to follow
Vallen and the others.
Obi-Wan, seeing the logic in Vallen’s actions turned to Ca-Yanne. “Come, Prefect,” he
said, urgently.
The Rybrillian Prefect responded without question and followed Chelz with Obi-Wan
right behind her, lightsabre off but in hand.
Archer saw Vallen leading the non-fighters out of the battle under the distraction of
the explosion. He looked at his security officer. “Malcolm! Stay with Hoshi!”
He ordered.
Malcolm pressed his lips in a thin line, but followed Archer’s command and dashed after
Obi-Wan, blaster back in hand.
Krysira dispatched the last ‘droid on the second level on her side, as did Qui-Gon on his side.
The rest of the group finished off the dozen or so ‘droids that were left standing
from Malcolm’s phase pistol explosion.
After running around a far corner, Drayce paused upon hearing many footsteps
following them.
“I...do not...believe this!” Drayce snarled through gritted teeth.
He drew his blaster and stepped back around the corner.
And fired...
Upon hearing a blast go wild, Vallen stepped over in front of Lonan and Hoshi,
protectively, blaster at ready.
Chelz looked up ahead after hearing the shot to see who fired it. Her mouth dropped
open upon recognizing the noble form of Drayce.
Obi-Wan skidded to a stop, upon getting an instant vision. In his mind, he saw Vallen
getting shot.
A second shot was heard.
“NO!” Obi-Wan shouted, as he leapt forward, lightsabre blazing, as Vallen was hit in
the chest.
A third shot was heard, but Obi-Wan deflected it, as he arrived at Vallen’s side,
while Chelz moved instantly to help Lonan and Hoshi lower Vallen to the floor.
The remaining members of the group relaxed a little upon seeing that all the
‘droids had been destroyed.
After belting her lightsabres, Krysira had a feeling of dread come over her, much
like the one she had back at Jinix.
“NO!” Krysira shouted, a look of horror on her pretty features.
Qui-Gon looked over at his Jedi companion. “Krysira! What is it?” He questioned worriedly.
“Something terrible has happened,” she answered.
Upon hearing this, Elkan then realized where Vallen and the others had gone. He
sprinted across the open area nimbly moving around the destroyed ‘droids to
disappear into the doorway.
Krysira and Qui-Gon leapt down to the
open area to join Trip, Archer, Caden and Trey along with the remaining
warriors, as they followed Elkan through the doorway.
Drayce smirked evilly to Ori, as he reholstered his blaster.
“That should keep them occupied,” Drayce said with no remorse whatsoever. “Come, my
pet.”
The two continued at a brisk pace down the corridor.
Elkan dashed down the corridor to the group. He saw Chelz and Obi-Wan kneeling next
to Vallen, who was lying on the floor. He skidded to a stop and fell on his
knees beside his fallen life-long friend. Elkan saw Chelz trying to stop the
bleeding from the chest wound and Obi-Wan helping her.
Elkan grabbed Vallen’s hand in his hand.
Vallen slowly turned his head towards his friend. “Are Lonan and Hoshi...safe?” He
asked in a weak voice, then coughed.
Elkan nodded. “Yes...my friend. You did your duty.” He felt tears swell up in his
onyx-colored eyes.
The others rejoined the group.
Vallen smiled weakly. “I will be with Reyna now.” Letting out a long breath, he closed
his eyes, as his hand went limp, while his head lulled to the side.
Elkan pressed Vallen’s hand to his forehead, while the group bowed their heads in
sorrow and respect for this warrior.
Lonan fell to his knees and losing his composure, wept bitterly. Hoshi knelt next to
the young Exoian page, holding him, as tears spilled over her cheeks.
Obi-Wan bowed his head, allowing tears to fall. He then felt the comforting touch of
his Master’s hand on his shoulder. He looked to see Qui-Gon kneeling next to
him.
“You did all that you could, my Padawan,” Qui-Gon said in a low gentle voice, as he put his
arm around the youth’s shoulders in comfort.
Elkan choked back a sob, as he gently laid Vallen’s hand down at his side, then
looked up at Chelz, who saw the look of loss on Elkan’s rugged features.
“Who...did...this?” Elkan questioned, his voice breaking.
“Drayce,” Chelz replied softly, unable to keep the tears from falling.
Without warning, Elkan leapt up and charge down the corridor.
Trip took a step forward. “Elkan! Wait!” He shouted.
Krysira laid a gentle hand on Trip’s arm. “He is not about to listen to reason, Trip,”
she said softly.
He looked at her. “We better follow him.”
She nodded. “Agreed.”
Krysira and Trip sprinted down the corridor after Elkan. Malcolm and Archer looked at
each other, then without a word, both men followed.