Child of the light part 5
Christie had to fight the urge to take a step backwards, the three thugs behind him made this impossible to do, he did not know if they had blasters or knives in their hands and he could not risk provoking an attack and sustaining a potentially fatal injury, no he had to play this carefully.
"Look, I do not want any trouble," he said slowly and calmly to the obvious leader of this group, careful to let his voice be neutral yet strong enough not to come across as some weak creature ready to beg for his life.
His words only caused a malicious smile to form on the face of the man before him and he let out a cruel barking sound that could have been heard as a laugh, his hand moving to pat against his holstered blaster pistol.
"Well, you got trouble, ain't ya" was his response, obviously now feeling he had the upper hand and was enjoying the numerical superiority he held and the weapon he had and Christie's apparent lack of any weapons.
Without warning, Christie suddenly felt his senses blasted once more, a scream of threat, but worse than these four men, the stormtroopers perhaps? he fought back the urge to look back towards the door.
if they had returned he was sure they would have shouted out some command to surrender or at least make their presence known, they were soldiers, but sometimes no better than the thugs that had him kept in place now.
Taking a moment to quiet his mind, he saw the lips of the thug before him moving but he could hear no words. his senses now focussed on understanding the call of the force as he felt it washing over him and he could sense another life form strong in the force, wild chaotic energy, not focussed but still powerful.
His mind now at ease, he turned his head and panned around the room, the thugs now seeming nothing but an unneeded distraction, his path now becoming clearer to him.
His eyes locked on a dark-haired girl, she was dressed in dirt cover rags that might have once been considered clothing, long since fallen victim to the elements and whatever indigent lifestyle this child had found herself in.
He looked at her face to try to form some sense of recognition, it too was covered in the dirt and grime as she stood at one of the tables that were being used as another makeshift gambling spot for several men.
Christie squinted as he felt her presence washing over him, the girl seems to be begging for something from one of the men at the table, a large humanoid with considerable girth overflowing his waistline.
The man was seemingly uninterested in her pleas for something, but Christie watched as the girl's hand moved with frightening grace and precision into the man's jacket as it hung open.
her hand removing what he assumed were a handful of credits without being noticed and bringing it back to slip the fund into a small hanging pouch that hung from the back of her belt unseen by those at the table.
From where he stood at the shuttle Captain Tarquleth observed commander Jaramon suddenly close his eyes, whatever had held his attention before had now become nothing to him.
The captain turned his head slightly, the urge to look back to where the Commander had been previously staring into space, but before he could complete the action, he saw Jaramon's eyes opened wide as if hit by some form of sudden revelation and causing his head to snap around to look towards the Captain.
"Captain, tell your men to move in on the cantina, do it now" he barked out the order, his voice seemed a mixture of triumph and anger as he issued the sudden command.
"Halt" the sound of a modulated voice rang out from the entranceway of the cantina, Christie instantly recognised the tone as that of an imperial stormtrooper, the voice amplified through the trooper's helmet.
Christie turned his head to look towards the door, his eyes taking in the form of a single stormtrooper in the doorway, his blaster rifle coming up quickly to follow up his command to halt.
The gaze of the imperial soldier was not focussed on Christie but looking past where he stood and towards where the young pickpocket girl was, the weapon now aimed directly at her.
Christie turned to look back to where she stood, a look of panic on her face as she began to twist on the spot and threw herself forward and was running towards the back door of the cantina.
"Halt, I said halt" the voice of the stormtrooper louder now as he called out to the girl to make her stop, his words ineffective in doing so as she continued to dart across the cantina, a sense of panic now spreading among the gathered patrons at the presence of the imperial soldier.
"All troopers move in on the cantina and apprehend anyone in or around that location" Captain Tarqueleth broadcast to the men under his command, he wanted to tell them more, but his orders were still vague and he had orders to follow and issue to his men.
Several acknowledgements were being returned through the com-link system by the squad leader and he knew his men would be rushing towards the location and assuming command of the area as quickly and efficiently as possible.
His orders were now given and the men reacting to them Captain Tarqueleth turned back to where Commander Jaramon had been standing, this done to seek further guidance to best aid his men, as well as relay the update to the man.
The Commanding officer now moving and striding past his stormtrooper subordinate and marching quickly with powerful strides towards the centre of the town, his attention fully focused on something and this is enough to give Captain Tarqueleth reason to give chase and follow.
Christie looked back to where the stormtrooper stood, his weapon pointed towards the fleeing child as he tracked her movement across the cantina, his hand gripped the weapon and his finger rested on the trigger as his body tensed for a moment as he prepared to fire the weapon.
Christie turned quickly and was not facing the three thugs that stood behind him, the closest ones faced turned from that of a look of arrogance now shifting to that of shock as the man they had been bullying turned to face the three of them.
Before any of them could react, Christie brought his left hand up and pointed its palm outwards towards the three men, this action made them seem even more confused as they looked back at him.
An unseen force of energy leapt from Christie's hand even as he pushed downwards with his feet and suddenly leap into the air and away from the three thugs as they suddenly flew backwards from whatever force now struck them and sent them across the cantina.
A moment later Christie landed on the ground close to where the young girl had previously stood, her short legs already pushing as she continued to rush towards the exit and the sense of freedom she sought beyond.
His attention focussed on the back of her head for a moment as he watched her duck between two burly-looking men and from his line of sight, he wanted to give chase but knew he had to deal with other issues, his head already snapping back to where the stormtrooper stood weapon in hand.
Christie once again let his hand slip between the folds of his shirt and pulled the handle of his lightsaber from between the folds and into the open, this action not enough to draw the trooper's attention as he still tried to track the fleeing girl and fire on her.
The blaster kicked in the trooper's hand as he fired, the energy bolt flying forth from the rifle and across the bar, the sound of the lightsaber igniting at the same time and the glowing blue blade forming from the handle of the weapon in the hand of the Jedi Knight.
With a twist of his body, Christie turned and the blade came across and caught the path of the blaster bolt, his skills a little off from years of inactivity, but still good enough to catch the bolt in mid-air and send it upwards into the ceiling of the cantina and destroying the light fixture that formed part of the ceiling.
"Look, I do not want any trouble," he said slowly and calmly to the obvious leader of this group, careful to let his voice be neutral yet strong enough not to come across as some weak creature ready to beg for his life.
His words only caused a malicious smile to form on the face of the man before him and he let out a cruel barking sound that could have been heard as a laugh, his hand moving to pat against his holstered blaster pistol.
"Well, you got trouble, ain't ya" was his response, obviously now feeling he had the upper hand and was enjoying the numerical superiority he held and the weapon he had and Christie's apparent lack of any weapons.
Without warning, Christie suddenly felt his senses blasted once more, a scream of threat, but worse than these four men, the stormtroopers perhaps? he fought back the urge to look back towards the door.
if they had returned he was sure they would have shouted out some command to surrender or at least make their presence known, they were soldiers, but sometimes no better than the thugs that had him kept in place now.
Taking a moment to quiet his mind, he saw the lips of the thug before him moving but he could hear no words. his senses now focussed on understanding the call of the force as he felt it washing over him and he could sense another life form strong in the force, wild chaotic energy, not focussed but still powerful.
His mind now at ease, he turned his head and panned around the room, the thugs now seeming nothing but an unneeded distraction, his path now becoming clearer to him.
His eyes locked on a dark-haired girl, she was dressed in dirt cover rags that might have once been considered clothing, long since fallen victim to the elements and whatever indigent lifestyle this child had found herself in.
He looked at her face to try to form some sense of recognition, it too was covered in the dirt and grime as she stood at one of the tables that were being used as another makeshift gambling spot for several men.
Christie squinted as he felt her presence washing over him, the girl seems to be begging for something from one of the men at the table, a large humanoid with considerable girth overflowing his waistline.
The man was seemingly uninterested in her pleas for something, but Christie watched as the girl's hand moved with frightening grace and precision into the man's jacket as it hung open.
her hand removing what he assumed were a handful of credits without being noticed and bringing it back to slip the fund into a small hanging pouch that hung from the back of her belt unseen by those at the table.
From where he stood at the shuttle Captain Tarquleth observed commander Jaramon suddenly close his eyes, whatever had held his attention before had now become nothing to him.
The captain turned his head slightly, the urge to look back to where the Commander had been previously staring into space, but before he could complete the action, he saw Jaramon's eyes opened wide as if hit by some form of sudden revelation and causing his head to snap around to look towards the Captain.
"Captain, tell your men to move in on the cantina, do it now" he barked out the order, his voice seemed a mixture of triumph and anger as he issued the sudden command.
"Halt" the sound of a modulated voice rang out from the entranceway of the cantina, Christie instantly recognised the tone as that of an imperial stormtrooper, the voice amplified through the trooper's helmet.
Christie turned his head to look towards the door, his eyes taking in the form of a single stormtrooper in the doorway, his blaster rifle coming up quickly to follow up his command to halt.
The gaze of the imperial soldier was not focussed on Christie but looking past where he stood and towards where the young pickpocket girl was, the weapon now aimed directly at her.
Christie turned to look back to where she stood, a look of panic on her face as she began to twist on the spot and threw herself forward and was running towards the back door of the cantina.
"Halt, I said halt" the voice of the stormtrooper louder now as he called out to the girl to make her stop, his words ineffective in doing so as she continued to dart across the cantina, a sense of panic now spreading among the gathered patrons at the presence of the imperial soldier.
"All troopers move in on the cantina and apprehend anyone in or around that location" Captain Tarqueleth broadcast to the men under his command, he wanted to tell them more, but his orders were still vague and he had orders to follow and issue to his men.
Several acknowledgements were being returned through the com-link system by the squad leader and he knew his men would be rushing towards the location and assuming command of the area as quickly and efficiently as possible.
His orders were now given and the men reacting to them Captain Tarqueleth turned back to where Commander Jaramon had been standing, this done to seek further guidance to best aid his men, as well as relay the update to the man.
The Commanding officer now moving and striding past his stormtrooper subordinate and marching quickly with powerful strides towards the centre of the town, his attention fully focused on something and this is enough to give Captain Tarqueleth reason to give chase and follow.
Christie looked back to where the stormtrooper stood, his weapon pointed towards the fleeing child as he tracked her movement across the cantina, his hand gripped the weapon and his finger rested on the trigger as his body tensed for a moment as he prepared to fire the weapon.
Christie turned quickly and was not facing the three thugs that stood behind him, the closest ones faced turned from that of a look of arrogance now shifting to that of shock as the man they had been bullying turned to face the three of them.
Before any of them could react, Christie brought his left hand up and pointed its palm outwards towards the three men, this action made them seem even more confused as they looked back at him.
An unseen force of energy leapt from Christie's hand even as he pushed downwards with his feet and suddenly leap into the air and away from the three thugs as they suddenly flew backwards from whatever force now struck them and sent them across the cantina.
A moment later Christie landed on the ground close to where the young girl had previously stood, her short legs already pushing as she continued to rush towards the exit and the sense of freedom she sought beyond.
His attention focussed on the back of her head for a moment as he watched her duck between two burly-looking men and from his line of sight, he wanted to give chase but knew he had to deal with other issues, his head already snapping back to where the stormtrooper stood weapon in hand.
Christie once again let his hand slip between the folds of his shirt and pulled the handle of his lightsaber from between the folds and into the open, this action not enough to draw the trooper's attention as he still tried to track the fleeing girl and fire on her.
The blaster kicked in the trooper's hand as he fired, the energy bolt flying forth from the rifle and across the bar, the sound of the lightsaber igniting at the same time and the glowing blue blade forming from the handle of the weapon in the hand of the Jedi Knight.
With a twist of his body, Christie turned and the blade came across and caught the path of the blaster bolt, his skills a little off from years of inactivity, but still good enough to catch the bolt in mid-air and send it upwards into the ceiling of the cantina and destroying the light fixture that formed part of the ceiling.
