Confessions of a Gran

Posted on Fri Sep 28th, 2012 @ 9:25pm by Bomoor Thort & Thane & Berry

2,143 words; about a 11 minute read

Chapter: Chapter I: Web of Fate
Location: Corellian Sector, Nar Shaddaa
Timeline: 1100 Hours, Day One

OLD

Soresu required ultimate calm and concentration, and the Gran was quickly losing it. Finally, in what could only be seen as a final move of desperation, he switched into a poor attempt at Juyo, trying to call upon his emotions and fury to batter away at Thane - it had the opposite effect, and with one wide swirling cut, Thane pushed the Gran's hilt from his thick hand, sending it clattering away towards Bomoor, and then brought the blade down upon his arm, severing it just below the elbow.

Bomoor sensed the combatants' surge of emotion and looked over to see Thane holding the Gran to the ground - his lightsaber angled towards the defeated force-user.

NEW

"It's time," Bomoor shot to Berry, "We need to get moving. Follow close to me."

Berry hopped out of the taxi. "Finally!" She stuck close to the Tall Guy, which wasn't hard to do since he was so tall (so she could see him better in the fray).

The pair made their way around the edge of the platform, the surrounding gangsters did not attack but the opposing side began firing when they saw another Jedi approaching. With Berry behind him, Bomoor drew on the force and began swiping and tilting his lighsaber before him, sending blaster fire back into the mob. Slowly, they managed to edge past the fighting and into a small street just past the warzone.

"I think we're out of the danger zone for now," he said, ushering the humanoid girl back from the corner.

Berry puffed a cheek, frowning a little poutily. "I didn't even get to land a punch," she mumbled in disappointment. Although she had to admit, Boomy had skill. She quickly snapped out of it and looked around, eyebrows raised. "Where's Pale Guy?"

Answering Berry's question, the Gran was thrown next to Bomoor and the girl with the help of the Force, with Thane striding up to join them, the battle still proceeding behind them. Groaning, the maimed Dark Jedi used his remaining arm to push himself up, but was pushed down again by Thane's boot, his lightsaber blade aimed down towards the back of the three-eyed alien's neck.

"I would very much like to rid the galaxy of all of those idiots back there," Thane said, flicking his head back towards the turf war, "and give a bit of order, but it seems we have something far more interesting to be dealing with." He gave the Gran another push of his boot as he tried to bring himself up again, causing him to swear aggressively in Huttese. Whilst the presence of the dark side was thick within the being, his mastery was far from remarkable.

Berry's brows furrowed slightly as she looked from the Gran's arm to Pale Guy. The Jedi did that, huh. Too bad. She frowned up at Thrane. "I could've helped if you guys let me." Then her frown left as she was captivated by the newcomer, eyes slightly widening. She leaned down a little to peer at the man. Three eyes? And he looked like a goat! But...he didn't feel very nice. Berry pointed at him and glanced up at the Jedi. "This guy is pretty mean, isn't he. Like, really really mean."

Bomoor looked at Berry. So, she could read auras too? Albeit, with a strange interpretation of what she could sense. The Ithorian wondered whether she was too old to be taught differently but then why would she be drawn too them otherwise?

"Who is this being?" he asked, turning back to Thane and his prisoner, "Did he say who he is affiliated with?"

"No," Thane admitted, "but I'm sure he will." He stepped around the Gran so he was facing him as well, but kept his blade pointed at the Dark Jedi's face. "Who are you working for, and what was that fight back there about?"

Now allowed to be more upright, the Gran was cradling the remnant of his arm as all three eyes seemed to narrow, glaring from Thane to the other two. Panting and wincing, he spoke, his Huttese thick. "A turf war," he declared, "between those slimy Hutts and their hired guns." He sounded as about impressed with the local life as Thane and Bomoor were.

Thane's own eyes narrowed at that. "And you thought, out of the kindness of your black heart, to go and take part in the violence?"

The Gran grinned, and let a low and pained laugh, still clutching his stump.. "The Master will end all of these scum when our time comes; we just must lower ourselves to join this rabble until we get what we need. If a few hundred sentient scum must die for us to gain unimaginable power, what does it matter? They are nothing! May as well enjoy the fight whilst it's available." He spat at the Jedi's feet.

At that, Thane grimaced, and looked at the disgusting splatter in front of him, giving Bomoor a chance to have his turn as Thane fought the urge to spit back in the Gran's face.

Bomoor once again quelled his feelings and faced the Gran who, in his opinion, had no right to be calling others scum, "Who is your master?" he asked, "What interest does a Dark Jedi have with Hutt infighting? Tell me quickly and I may just be able to talk my friend here into going easy on you."

Berry smiled confusedly. Yeah, easier than chopping off his arm. These Jedis had a weird sense of humor. She looked back at Goat Guy and resumed concentrating. If she did so, she could pick up words in between that weird slimy talk.

"The Hutt turf wars are a means to an end, Jedi," the Gran replied aggressively, the last word sounding more like an insult. "The Cult's alliance with Zorbo will see you ended." The pain that the Gran had been experiencing seemed to be dwindling, replaced instead by his anger at his defeat and hatred for his captors. "So what now, Jedi?" He asked, mainly looking along the violet saber of Thane's weapon. "Are you going to kill me?"

Thane did not let his eyes wander from his fallen opponent. Given the chance, even a victim of cho mai could call upon the Force (or the dark side, in particular) to regain some sort of advantage, or stage an escape. He did not seem keen to let him go.

"If we release him," he said to Bomoor, "he will escape back to this Cult of his, say who we are, and perhaps even plan an attempt at revenge." They could tell by Thane's voice he was already rationalising his choice to them. "And we have no way of keeping him as a secure prisoner." His blade edged closer to the Gran's neck, making the Dark Jedi pull his head back slightly. His fear was growing, but he hid it surprisingly well. Blaster fire continued in the background; without the Gran, both sides seemed equal in the battle. "I say we remove him from the equation."

Berry frowned again at Pale Guy in confusion. "Some Knights you would be." She tilted her head at him, eyes wide. "Wouldn't news of you guys distract the bad guys from their main goal? And anyway..." She squatted and peered at Goat Guy. "Killing him's too easy right now." She frowned up at Thane. "Lame."

"Are you suggesting we make him suffer instead?" Thane asked the Near-Human, slightly surprised. "I've offered him a quick, clean and painless death, which is already more than he deserves." Once again, he moved the blade closer to the Gran, less than half an inch between the blade and his skin. "If he gets back to this Cult - the size of which we don't yet know, so we can't comprehend their abilities or willingness to avenge a defeat - we could find our primary mission compromised."

Berry glanced at the Gran, head tilting again as if she was observing some birds eating or something. "Wouldn't you want him to see you beat the bad guys? He can't when he's dead, y'know." She stood, staring up at Thane. "Since you guys are Jedis, right? I think you can beat them, but whatever. I'm not holding the glowy-stick." She shrugged, sticking her hands in her pockets and gazing over at the battle with some interest.

"You know..." Bomoor spoke, holding his hump as he pondered, "...he is technically a Jedi prisoner. We cannot forget, we are civilized beings, even if we face those who are not..." He went on, eyeing the Gran as he said it. "I think sometimes you forget who we are and what we represent."

Suddenly, Bomoor felt a surge of passion coming from the wounded Gran - an intense scream within the force energising the drained prisoner. It was a far different technique to the revitalisation ability Bomoor used, it was a calling to deep within oneself. A summoning for the rage within. The Gran kicked Thane backwards, freeing himself to leap upwards with great might. However, he did not intend to flee - his pure rage urged him to fight and he landed by Berry, hoping to take a life and feed on the dark energy.

"Damn it!" Bomoor shouted, calling on the force and sending a blast of physical energy into the attacker, knocking him away and onto the floor once again, "I would have given you a chance!"

A flicker of pleasure intermingled with anger could be felt coming from Thane at the move, and thrusting his open palm towards the Gran, sent him spiralling backwards with a gust of Force power. Jumping over to where the Dark Jedi lay, Thane thrust his boot firmly onto the alien's chest and swung his blade across his foe's throat, decapitating him.

Extinguishing his blade, he kept the hilt gripped in his hand as he walked back to Bomoor and Berry. "It wouldn't come as a surprise to you either if we discovered our mission with Rezer was linked to this Cult, would it?" Thane asked Bomoor with a level of resignation. His voice was still steely from his battle with the Gran.

"Hmm, that certainly was a bit dramatic..." Bomoor sighed, "But at least he won't be causing us any problems. You are right though, this cult requires attention. Let's do some more digging."

Thane nodded having calmed down, himself not a fan of the drama that came with their job. Nevertheless, the Dark Jedi had not truly given them much a chocie.

The part-Aquar smiled faintly over at Pale Guy. “Now that wasn’t so easy.” Berry wasn’t really that worried about the Mean Goat Guy, even if he stood right by her. Nothing she couldn’t handle without her friends’ help. She frowned a little. But she didn’t have her friends with her this time to tell her when to stop, or keep her from getting lost.

She looked over at Tall Guy, smiling again. It was good to know they were so nice. She could just feel it from them. Well, not always as strongly from Pale Guy, he was a bit mixed up. Maybe these Jedis could be her new friends. “Where are you guys gonna dig? I wanna help! It’s not like I have anything else to do.” She gazed down the small street with a sigh. She still had to hit someone!

"Right," Thane replied, pointing a finger at Berry, "but keep yourself back. If you're intent on joining us, then don't get in the way. The last thing I want on my conscience is a girl getting herself slaughtered by a bunch of thugs, just because she thought they were a bit rude." He stepped over to where he had defeated the Gran the first time, and pried the inactive lightsaber hilt from the detached arm before placing it within his jacket.

The turf war was continuing to go on behind them, but it was not their business to interfere with it. As things stood, it was probably best not to intervene, for fear of influencing events one way or the other.

"We should get away from here before things really get out of hand," the Jedi Guardian declared, nodding away from the scene of the battle. It looked to be that the side the Gran had been opposing was beginning to get the upper hand. They did appear slightly greater in numbers, and slightly better equipped. Memorising what he saw, Thane turned back to the others. "I'm sure there's a cantina near here." Grinning to Bomoor, he gave a shrug. "Well, it worked for you last time."

Bomoor let out an amused hum, "And perhaps I can finish my drink this time too!"

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