Too young a hero
Proviwtion Mountains
Core World of Mearisa
September 24th, 1936
The Proviwtion Mountains crisscrossed the western and central regions of the continent and at one time had been such a place of beauty and wonder. Now its brown white cap and frosted tree tops hide dangers and suffering that have become normal in a galaxy without the Great Republic. The low hanging clouds gave the area an eerie greenish brown glow as the morning sun attempted to pierce the thick smog filled atmosphere. The sounds of a gun fire in the distance told the story of some long forgotten struggle. Long ago, a slave revolt occurred on Mearisa. The Jedi were called in by the pirate government to crush the revolt. In five short weeks, the revolt had all but been crushed. Those slaves who had escaped the Jedi fled in to the mountains and continued to fight against impossible odds. Many years later, most on Mearisa had all but forgotten about the revolt or those still fighting to bring an end to the pirate rule on the world. Every once the war gets close enough for some to take notice, but they simply choose to ignore it. So the war continues as a loud explosion is heard in the distance as long range artillery is fired from their bases near Disperes and strikes targets within the mountain range. A pair of jets flying just high enough to clear the tree tops soared over the peaks of the ridge as they moved in to the mountain range. The pair of fighters moved in unison as they lined up on their attack runs.
The led fighter fired off four missiles in rapid succession. Once the last missile had fired from under the wing, the fighter turned and pulled up. It didn't wait for the conformation of the strikes. The second fighter followed the flight path of the fighter before it. The side of the mountain ridge exploded with so much force that boulders as large as the fighters were tossed in to the air. The second fighter took its turn to fire now. Two missiles shot out from under its wings in a simultaneous firing. Just as the first fighter did, the second one turned and pulled up hard. Two long flames shot out from the afterburners of each fighter as they rocketed for the safety of the ridge line. Behind them the two missiles hit the side of the mountain. There was hardly any explosion this time. Instead, the air around the mountain turned to a yellowish haze as poison gas hung low in the trees. The sounds of gun fire slowly started to trail off as the yellowish cloud of death moved lower and lower down the mountain face. Soon only the sounds of the departing jets are all that could be heard echoing off the walls and faces of the mountains.
The sound of the two jets passing overhead echoed throughout the mountainous region as the six camouflaged figures inched from the brush. Their mud covered faces looked up as their eyes searched the skies around them. The two jets were clearly moving too fast to see the group, but they were not going to take any chances. Slowly they moved back on to the path that they were walking prior to the jets being heard. They took their time moving on to the path as the leader, a Togruta, nodded as he made a bird like sound. The group took a more relaxed state as they started to come closer and gathered. When they had heard the jets just a few moments before, they had all darted in separate directions in hopes of making a harder target to the jets. Soon, they started to smile as the sounds of the jets died off in the distance. They didn't know why the jets were here, but the group did know enough to know that the jets meant trouble and the explosions meant someone had been killed. But they were alive and for the moment that was enough for them.
Most wore some kind of camouflager clothing that had shown signs of being torn, patched and blood stains from past owners. Some of the uniforms didn't fit very well and were tied or otherwise fastened to ensure a slightly better fit. It was clear that this small group was some kind of rage tag local combat team. Small metal grenades hung from their mismatched gear and had been covered with torn cloth to ensure that they would make little sound as the group walked through the mud filled forest. All of them had some sort of backpack on their backs. Each had at least one secondary weapon and all carried a military style assault rifle of some type as a primary weapon. Their gear was clearly worn and heavily reused. Only two wore some sort of head protection while the others only relied on their hats with fresh leaves tucked in to them. One of them smiled as others laughed over their luck for not being spotted by the jets.
Once more sounds filled the small mountain pass as an explosion echoed off the rock faces. Once more the group vanished from sight in a rush. All that could be seen was greenish brownish flashes as they each dove for cover. Longer than the time for the echoes to subside the group remained hidden from sight. Only when the safety of the team had been assured did the bird call go out again. This time much more carefully they moved from their cover and took their place back on the path. A female Twi'lek, who's age couldn't be more than fourteen walked forward to the Togruta male leader. “That was closer. Maybe two or three clicks from here.” She was Aalya and her long rifle with powerful scope tagged her for the group sharpshooter. The wound on her left head tail told all who saw her that she had been a fighter for some time. The spark of childhood that should have been in her eyes, lost to her long ago. For her, fighting had become a way of life. It was the same for the rest of them as well.
When two or more racial groups are forced to live together, the language barrier becomes a obstacle that has to be over come for all to survive. The individuals learn to mix their languages to find a common grounds to communication on. During the days of the Great Republic, many scholars called this form of communication, coding. For this group, it was a matter of survival learned from birth. A spoken language that mixed multiple languages together. A human male and female walked up as the two male rodians kept watch along the path. The human male, Zeckle, spoke up, “it was close but we have pushed too far as it is. We should turn back” he said softly and quietly. The two humans were clearly younger than the Twi'lek, as were the two rodians. Like Aalya, Zeckle learned early on that it had to be kill or be killed by the enemy. There was never a childhood for him. Unlike Aalya who was born free in the mountains, Zeckle was born a slave and liberated just a few years ago. Despite his young age, his baptism of fire came the week he was liberated. Ever since that day, he had never been without some kind of weapon.
The Togruta, Leer, nodded as he turned and took a knee. The rest followed suit. “I know we have pushed far, but we were sent to find food. The shortage is growing worse by the day. What choice do we really have” he explained with an ending question of the fact of their mission. He was the oldest of the group being only a few months older than the Aalya. Like Aalya, he was born free high in the mountains. His family could trace their heritage directly back to the first revolt two generations past. Trained from birth to fight and survive in these mountains, he is a natural mountain warrior. “We have to push forward more. One more day searching then we will return home. Okay” he asked of his team.
Zeckle nodded, “our newbs are not up for this long patrol” he said motioning back to the rodians. While they were barely older than him, it was clear they lacked the experience the other four had. Only being liberated just a few weeks ago, this was their first real mission. They had some level of basic training but nothing could have prepared them for such a long first mission.
Kitalia, The human female, nodded, “we would have been better off leaving them back home.” she said coldly and bluntly. The two Rodians had been replacements for the two members of their group who had been killed during their last mission. Her words echoed heavily in the hearts of the other three. Like Zeckle, she too was a liberated slave as well. She was born free but enslaved at such a young age that she didn't remember ever being free before. Her eyes radiated the hate and pain that she held on to deep within her heart. There was one thing she hated more than Jedi, it was what her former Jedi Master turned her in to. The lower half of her face was covered with torn green pants leg. Her face had been brutally scared by her former Master after she had served his soup improperly. Now as a free person, she covered that scare and the horrors of her life under his collar. Sadly, those scares are clearly heard in her voice, “The fact that they are still alive is as much a measure of luck as it is our skill to keep them alive. They are dead weight to us.”
Leer nodded, “we didn't have a choice Kit” he said using her nickname within the group, “and you know it. We still don't have a choice.” It was clear that she didn't like the statement but she knew enough to keep her mouth shut. “Look,” he start as he pulled out their old map, “there is a city just over that ridge. We should be able to find some food there. There has to be something useful for us there. Already we mapped out five new mine fields. So this patrol has been pretty successful already. Luck is with us guys. What do you say? One more day” he pleaded his team for just a bit more time. He knew the suffering back home. The hungry of others weighed heavily on his heart.
The three others look to each other and nodded to each other. Aalya spoke up, “okay one more day, then we turn back.” They were never a dictatorship, so command decisions were made by talking and listening. Aalya was respected within the group and if she trusted the plan the other two would normally follow suite regardless of their own feelings about it.
Leer smiled as he nodded, “agreed” he said putting his map away, “tomorrow, we start for home.”
Aalya slowly rose followed by the others. She turned to the two rodians and made a bird call different than the other two. They looked to her and nodded as they turned to the bushes. They spoke softly to the two pack animals as they lured them from the bushes. While it is clear they are pack animals, their backs were bare of any load. It showed the nature of the group's mission and their current failure to gather food. Despite the new information that they found to map, the single goal was to find food. It was a goal that Leer was starting to fear he might not be able to achieve. So much was resting on them, and so many depended on them not to fail. Slowly the group continued their march through the mountains and over the ridge. With the raising sun before them, the pushed forward. Further from home, and deeper in to danger.
During lunch, Leer made the following Journal Entry:
Quote:'Sept. 24: We decided to push one more day further. How can we return empty handed while so many are starving. So many fields we found, left barren by the Jedi. So many sources of water are toxic because of them. We have to find food or everyone back home will suffer even more. There is so much suffering, it seems that that is all we are now. Last night, Aalya asked if we would ever see a galaxy with no Jedi. Kitalia prayed that the last one would die by her hand. Have we gone so far to become just like them? Has hate turned us to no better than they are? Still I look at Kitalia and all I see is her hate for those monsters. I am worried about her. I don't believe our newbs care much for her. They were arguing with her about how she had killed a Jedi soldier. Sometimes she does worry me. When we get home, I will talk to her and try to help her once more. I have to save her from her own hate. Has hate become our real enemy?'
After a long hard forced march the group reached a small city and started to search it. They had hoped to find much needed food and supplies for those back home. However, all they found was an abandoned ghost town. The buildings had to have been abandoned in a since of haste due to so many things left behind. However, it was clear that others had searched the area already. Nothing useful was left. Still they split up in to two groups of three and searched the dirty broken community that once thrived here. Their despair rose as they reunited empty handed. The only useful information they did uncover was a few more mine fields. With the sun hovering low in the distant horizon, they turned to search the eastern side of the town. As they crossed what seemed to be some kind of junkyard, they saw a large truck on its side. The front of the truck was burning and there were a number of areas that had been damaged by blasts that could only be from mines. The body half laying out the back told them that it was a Jedi Transport. They each took to a hiding spot where they could see the truck and react to a Jedi attack.
Leer was worried of an ambush but then something caught his eyes. Next to the body out of the back of the truck was a case of cans. The truck carried food and supplies for some Jedi Unit in the area. He smiled as realized their find. He gave a soft bird call and watched the two Rodians turn to look at him. He pointed to the three story red building behind them. There were a few windows that they could use to cover him and the others. He gave them a set of hand signals explaining his plan to them. They each nodded their understanding of the plan and started to move back from their hiding place. He watched them move for the building carefully making sure to cover them. Once they were inside, he turned to Aalya, who was already look to him. He gave her some hand gestures as well explaining what he wanted her to do. She nodded as she put her long rifle away and drew out a shotgun. Leer looked back to the building when he heard two soft bird calls. He saw the two barrels that belonged to the Rodians taking aim. He turned to Kitalia and Zeckle. They were both watching him now. He motioned for them to move up the side of the truck together. They slowly rose from their positions and took the lead as Aalya followed them. Leer got up and started to head for the lower section of the truck.
As the four started to reach the truck, Aalya broke off from Kitalia and Zeckle. She walked for the rear entrance of the truck's cargo area. With a flip of a switch, a long dagger flipped out from under the shotgun and fixed like a bayonet. Aalya poked the body in the back making sure he was dead before entering the cargo area. Leer nodded to the two humans and Aalya as he continued to walk down the underside of the tipped over truck. The damage was clearly done by mines. He paused and pulled out his goggles. He let out a bird call as he took a knee. He knew that only anti-vehicle mines could have done this kind of damage, so the risk to his team was minor. Still he was not going to take any chances. He put the goggles on and searched the area. The ground lit up with little red disk like devices just under the surface of the ground. He heard Kitalia report back with her own bird call. It confirmed what he was seeing. The dirt road was heavily mined with anti-vehicle mines. It made sense, the road led from the town to the mountains. He could see the anti personal mines further up the road and along either side of the road. The truck didn't get far in to the field before hitting one. He gave the caution call as he continued to move forward.
It was a large cargo truck with eight massive tires. While Leer had seen a large variety of Jedi vehicles and crafts, he had never seen such a large truck before. However the weapon points along the sides and heavy armor told him that it was a good thing. Taking down such a heavily armored truck would have been impossible for his little team. They had only one rocket between them and he wasn't sure it could have dealt enough damage to stop this massive truck let along flip it on its side. He reached the mid section of the truck and saw a burned body laying nearly ten meters away from the truck. The body laid about the ground like a man size rag doll tossed down by some angry child. Leer closed his eyes as his head hung low. Two months ago, he had found himself trapped in a brutal life or death hand to hand combat with a Jedi foot soldier. They both fought hard to survive the battle. Leer finally won by running his combat knife in to the side of his enemy. Before that battle, Leer was a lot like Kitalia. He was filled with the same level of hate and anger for the Jedi as she held on to. But in that moment of death, Leer looked in to the eyes of the man he had just killed. Just moments before, the Balosar had been trying to take Leer's own life. Now, Leer felt the man's last breath on his face. Leer set there with the body for what seemed like hours just looking in to the eyes of death. That day, Leer change and let go of his hate, he let go of his anger. In that moment of death and life, Leer changed. He began to look at the war in a totally new light and started to have a deeper understanding of the real cost it held over them. He wanted to find another way to end this war. He wanted to bring peace to his people even if the Jedi wouldn't allow it. Leer opened his eyes as he heard Kitalia's bird call sound out. 'She found a survivor!' he thought to himself as he moved towards the front of the truck with a renewed haste.
As he made his way around the front of the truck, he saw Kitalia aiming her weapon at what could only be the Jedi Commander of the truck. He saw Zeckle checking two other bodies and Aalya moving up from the rear of the truck. Leer smiled as he knew they owned the truck now. He relaxed his posture as walked up to the Jedi. He saw the Jedi's laser blade in two pieces just out of reach of their prisoner. “So lets see what we have here” he said with confidence. He knew that they could learn some valuable information from their new prisoner.
“Don't get your hopes up” Kitalia said coldly while she never lowered her aim on the Jedi.
He didn't understand her comment till Leer walked up and saw that the Jedi was clearly not just any Jedi. He knew his hopes of breaking the prisoner were over as the identity of the Jedi became clear. While they didn't know his name, they new his race. He was a Ne'Dor Jedi! Leer knew that there were many Ne'Dors within the Jedi. They were the noble elite of the murdering band. Normally they would just call the shots from their fortifications and let other races or slave warriors do the dying. While he knew that the Ne'Dor most likely wouldn't talk, he knew that there was some reason why he was out here. “Check the cab of the truck” he told Zeckle. Leer sighed knowing the struggle he was going to be facing while attempting to get anything from the Jedi. With rumors of the Ne'Dor's powers rocketing back from his memory, Leer approached with great caution. He took a knee in front of the Jedi and switched his language to a broken form of basic, “You, name Jedi” he asked. Leer could tell that the Jedi was in allot of pain. Its legs had been broken, with a few deep wounds along his midsection and legs. From the looks of it, the Jedi crawled from the front of the truck to where he was now. The Jedi was just just resting against the top of the truck.
The Jedi just shook its head, then Kitalia spoke up, “These monsters are trained not to talk. Might as well let me have some fun with
it.” The tone in her voice was more than enough to explain what she meant by fun. It bothered Leer, allot.
Leer shook his head as Aalya walked up. He hated the way Kitalia didn't see them for what they were. Living breathing, caring beings. 'The cycle of hate has to stop' he thought as he turned to Kitalia. “Lets try first” he said softly to her in their language. He then turned back to the Jedi while pulling out his canteen. He did everything in his power to soften his voice as he tried to remember the word he wanted to say in basic. “Water” he said unsure if it was the right word expressing what he desired to say. Leer took a sip of his own water to show that it was not poisoned.
The Jedi nodded as he reached up and took the water. None of them had seen a Ne'Dor before but all had heard so many stories about them. The rumors told of how Ne'Dors were so dangerous and capable of such horrors. Leer knew in his heart that they had to be like him. That some had to have felt that it was a time to end the hate, end the killing and end the war. He trusted his heart as he let the canteen go. He watched the Jedi lift up its breath mask and take in some water. Leer could hear the pain of the Jedi as he drunk the water. Leer felt petty for the wounded enemy and turned his eyes away from him while he drank the water. As he looked away he saw something glowing from the Jedi's weapon. It was a bluish stone pulsating as it slowly moved from the weapon on its own. Leer couldn't help but watch it. He had never seen anything like it before. The stone seemed to flash as if it was alive. Aalya took her eyes off the Jedi as the stone slowly lifted up off the ground. “Its beautiful” she said softly as it hovered just off the ground.
What they never saw was the eyes of the Jedi, hidden behind its goggles. He also was watching the stone for other reasons. He was using the last of his will to preform the simple trick and pushing his own life force in to the Force Crystal to cause it to pulsate. He needed a distraction long enough to get his hands on the weapon just out of his reach. These pathetic rebel slaves could never be allowed to claim a Ne'Dor prisoner of war. He cursed his foolishness that allowed his lightsaber to be sundered and taken from him. He would not make the same mistake again. He inched his hand closer to the weapon of the Togruta in front of him. He watched the crystal hover and dance as the two humans were now watching it also. He had it dancing for them while he caused it to flash. From their reaction, he could tell that none of them had ever encountered a true Jedi Master before. It would be the last mistake that they ever made. He was about to make them all pay for their arrogance with their lives. The weapon was just in his reach as his will was starting to fade. The distraction had done its job. The Jedi flung its hand to the weapon and grabbed it.
Leer felt the Jedi pull on his weapon. Leer anything but stupid, he knew the stories of Jedi Masters and was not about to fight and loss that battle. He dove to the side giving Kitalia a clear and clean shot on the Jedi. Even the Jedi was surprised to see how fast the young teen reacted to the change in the situation. Kitalia's heavy assault rifle took aim and reported so loudly that it rung in everyone's ears. The sound of metal impacting metal echoed just after her rifle fired. The Jedi through up its hands just fast enough to cause Kitalia to hold her next shot. The Jedi could see the Force surging through her. 'she is Force Sensitive' he thought to himself as he made sure not to allow her another reason to fire again. His eyes glanced at the hole next to his head. It was large enough for his thumb to easily pass through. He was not sure if she missed or hit where she was aiming at. He was not about to test his luck or the Force once more.
Leer saw Zeckle and Aalya take aim at the Jedi as well now. He might not like Kitalia's view of the war or the Jedi. But he knew he could always trust her to have his back. He nodded to her as she aimed at the Jedi's head. “He's yours. Make him talk” he said coldly in their language while he recovered his weapon and canteen.
Kitalia nodded as she lowered her rifle. “Hold him please” she said as she slung her weapon and walked forward. Leer held the Jedi tightly. Kitalia pulled out a modified grapple launcher as she approached the Jedi. Leer knew what was coming but he needed this Jedi to talk. She grabbed the Jedi's left hand and stretched it out while forcing it up to the roof of the truck. She drove the launcher in to his palm and pulled the trigger. A loud discharge of air made a loud roaring sound off the truck as the metal spike ripped through his hand and in to the truck. His hand was effectively locked to that place on the truck as his blood started to drip from the fresh wound. The Jedi let out a loud cry of pain. She nodded to Leer as she took the right hand and repeated what she did with the left hand. “When I am done with him, he will tell you all that he knows. Then, I will let him die!”
Leer got up and walked away. “I don't care, just find out why he is out here.” he lied, he did care. The echoes of the cries of pain filled his memory already. He hated the idea of this but he didn't know of a better way to achieve what he needed to do. The Jedi was too dangerous to take back home with them. They didn't have time to wait the Jedi out. He was limited in his options and hated it. He motioned Aalya over to him as he walked away. The Jedi screamed out louder as Kitalia started to do her thing. Leer shook it off as he turned to her Aalya. “What did you find?”
“The back is filled with all kinds of food and supplies. Enough to feed everyone back home for at least a month maybe even two. You did it. We completed our mission” she explained as she patted him on the back.
He felt horrible as the sounds of the Jedi screaming seemed to be all that he could hear. He surely didn't feel proud of completing anything. He tried to shake it off, “Get the kids and load up the pack animals. I want to get out of here as soon as possible. Stay near the rear of the truck and away from the mine field at the front.” She nodded then spun and walked away sharply. He heard her call for the Rodians as the Jedi screamed some more. He turned to see Kitalia using that special energy gift she has. Her hands glowed blue as she shocked the Ne'Dor's head. He screamed out in pain as her energy leaped over his head while smoke slowly rose up from his head. He waved Zeckle over and waited for the human to approach. Leer watched with a pathetic look on his face. He wanted to stop what was going on but couldn't. Part of his heart demanded that he do something to stop what was happening.
“I think this is what they were doing. Look at what I found” Zeckle said showing a map in a plastic cover. “See this must be some new unit near the lake to the north of here” he explained pointing to a point on the map.
Leer smiled as he looked at the map, “Kit, stop!” he ordered as he examined the map. He had his excuse to stop Kitalia. It wasn't all that he was sure the Jedi was hiding but it was enough to stop what was going on.
“Sir?” Kitalia said confused.
Leer walked up to the Jedi and dropped to a knee once more, “talk don't? Don't need it” he explained in broken Basic while waving the map and packet. The Jedi looked down as if a sense of surrender. Leer then changed back to their own language, “The stupid bastard.” he smacked the Jedi on the head with the map and packet. “They were on the wrong road!” He said with a smile “They were lost!” He could spare the Jedi life without looking like he had grown soft. Hopefully, he could show Kitalia that torture was no longer needed. The map alone was worth it all. He got up and turned to Kitalia, “Leave him for his own to find or not. He will live or die not by our hands” he ordered.
She nodded, “Yes Sir.” The disappoint was high, she wanted the Jedi to die. She wanted to be the one to kill him. She wanted all of them to die. She watched Leer walk away as her smile grew. She could easily kill the Jedi and Leer could not stop her. The thought crossed her mind as she gripped her knife. She held it ready to ram it in to the Jedi. But something came over her. She hated the Jedi but Leer was like a brother to her. She shook her head and changed her mind. At least she could make his life a bit more miserable. She turned her head back to the Jedi who was now watching her. Kitalia pushed her finger in to one of his wounds and soak it in his blood. He groaned in pain as she looked in to his eyes. She reached over his hand and wrote 'Let all Jedi DIE alone and broken like this one.' After she was done writing her little message, she leaned back and removed the cover over her face. Taking a deep breath she removed her breath mask exposing her face. Her nose had been forcible and cruelly removed with some kind of dull bladed weapon. The scared marks indicated that a saw of some kind had been used to slowly cut her nose off. “See me” she said in broken basic while she drew out her combat knife once more, “see you! I now!” She started to pry off the breath mask of the Ne'Dor with her knife. He started to cough as his breath mask was removed. She nodded as she continued to remove his goggles as well. “Suffer! You suffer like others” she said in broken basic. She slowly stood up as she replaced her own breath mask, but not before spitting on the Jedi.
Holding his goggles and breath mask in her hand she turned and walked away. She could have never known that she was condemning the Ne'Dor to a slow painful death. She only figured that he would suffer from the smog filled atmosphere that his kind caused. Killing the Jedi was not her intention, she trusted and respected Leer too much to betray his wishes like that. Her lack of knowing about the Ne'Dor didn't save her from the path she was already on. In her heart, her lack of respect for the life form she was causing to suffer cause it to darken just a bit more. It was a result of her hate and anger that she still held on to. It was just one more form of attachment that came with dark results. She saw Leer standing by the rear of the Truck watching the kids loading up the pack animals. He looked at her with an expression on his face. She rose her hands, “I promise, I left him alive. Suffering just like they make us suffer but still alive.”
Leer nodded, “Fine. Hopefully they got a distress call out before we showed up. Take Zeckle gather up all the weapons and other equipment. Go to the woods over there and bury them. We will come back for them later. For now, I want to get as much food back home as possible” he ordered. He watched her turn and walk away. “Oh, also, lets lighten the packs. Anything we can live without bury them as well. I mean to pick this truck clean in two hours.” She nodded then continued to follow the order.
Stripping the truck took over two hours, but in the end all that was left was just the truck. What they couldn't take with them was buried in six different locations. Each burial site was nearly five feet deep. The team knew that they had little time to get this job done, so they worked hard and fast. Sometimes they all worked on digging other times they switched out. When they were done, not one of the burial sites could be identified for what it really was. On Leer's map, he made sure to map out each with great care and precision. They were covered in dirt and sweat as they gathered around the Jedi one last time. The light of the day had barely dipped behind the mountains. Leer looked down at the creature before him. The other bodies had been picked clean of anything usable. However the Jedi was left just as he was found, fully clothed. For them, wearing the robes of a Jedi was very bad luck. Kitalia stepped forward and lifted her boot up and slammed it down on the bluish crystal. It shattered under the impact, “no tricks” she said in broken basic, “die for you!”
Leer shook his head in disgust for her comment. The Jedi must of misunderstood Leer's action as he lunged as far as his pinned hands would allow. He screamed at Leer in his alien language. It seemed hateful and full of resentment. “Lets leave him for his own to find” Leer said to his team and turned and walked away. The team followed Leer with the pack animals fully loaded. Not one of them looked back at the screaming Jedi. The truck vanished from their site and soon the alien cries for help would become lost on the wind. They moved back west back in to the woods and the safety of the mountains. With the setting sun behind them and the full moon before them, the small team of teens made a good pace away from the small town and the prisoner they left behind. They walked for another three hours till they were sure that they could not be followed or surprised when they made camp.
It had been a long day and everyone was eager to rest. Leer wanted to push deeper in to the night but he knew his team needed the rest. He smiled to his team as they built a small camp fire and set up their bed rolls. Normally they would be using tents but because they needed to make room for the food, for the next three days, they will be sleeping under the stars. He was proud of what they had managed to do. Earlier, he had held up a can of baked beans and decreed that “Tonight, we shall eat like Kings and Queens!” The spirits of his team were well soundly lifted as each wore smiles and filled the camp with laughter. It was only a can of baked beans between six of them. But for the past three days, they have been eating only what they could find. Mostly roots and small berries. It was only a can of baked beans, however tonight, it would be a feast among them. He looked to his journal once more as he wrote his last entry,
Quote:'today started out as a bleak day. We found a Jedi transport filled with food. It is more than enough to keep those back home alive through the winter. More importantly, Kitalia had a chance to kill a Jedi. I gave her an order to let him live. She had a chance to kill him while my back was turned, she didn't. I know she is still holding on to the hate that burns in side her. But I really think that its not too late for her. I know that I can save her from the fire which rages in her heart. I have to save her. If not me, who would? Yes, today was a very good day for us all.'
The Zeckle called out that the feast was ready. Leer smiled as he put his journal in his pack with all his maps and got up. He let the others get their food first while he waited. He noticed that Kitalia was sitting a lone at the edge of the camp. Leer pulled his cup out when it was his turn and grabbed a second cup full. He thanked Zeckle for cooking the feast and then turned to join Kitalia. He walked up behind her, “Mind if I join you Kit?”
She nodded, “Sure, boss”
“Here I got you some” he said offering the small cup of steaming beans for her to take. She didn't. “Listen, you are going to need your strength if you are going to make it back home” he explained. He took a bite of his own, “And hell, your boy Zeckle can really cook. He tossed some Elcia Root in with them. The flavors are really good together” he pushed the cup on her once more. She reluctantly took it this time. “I really think that Zeckle might be on to something with this latest creation” he said than paused as he realized her mind was else where. “Thinking about that Jedi?”
She nodded, “Their all scum. You should have let me kill him” she said taking a bite from the beans. She didn't want to admit it in this conversation, but they were good. “They all deserve to die. Slowly and painfully. Nothing good has ever come from them” she explained. Leer knew enough of her history to understand where the hate comes from. Her world had been betrayed by the Jedi. Her people had been enslaved for profit and her world's riches looted.
Leer nodded, “they are all scum. But I am starting to think that fighting and killing is not the answer. Listen, you looked in to his eyes. You saw his soul. Don't let your hate cloud what you saw. He was a living being just like you are. He has a soul just like you do. A soul that can be saved” he tried to explain softly as he guided her face so he could see her eyes. “His soul can be saved, just like yours can.” Leer was not as wise as others back home but he knew that she would listen to him much better than anyone else. He had to reach her.
A tear dripped down from her eye as she listened, “I don't know if I can be saved any more. I keep wanting to do better but I feel this tugging on me. Bidding me to do these horrible things. Leer, am I too broken to be fixed?” she asked as more tears flowed from her eyes.
Leer shook his head as he pulled her in to his arms, “the Lord can fix anything, even you. You just have to trust in Him and free your heart from all this hate.” He felt her arms rap around him tightly. He actually felt for the first time that she could be saved from her own hate. He let her bury hear face in his neck while he held her. With the fire burning and crackling behind him, he held her tightly as he assured himself, 'we will fix you, I promise.'
