Indiana Jones and the Sith Stone
Posted by: Darth Danno 04.09.08 12:01am

Now that Indy had gotten his first look at a real Trandoshan, he finally understood what it meant to be truly afraid, as if being kidnapped, flown to a galaxy far, far, away, and encountering Darth Sidious didn't do it already.

"So what's the plan?" Indy queried of the Jedi.

Master Tenuto kept his eyes on the duo guarding the basket. "Well, we just have to come up with a way to disable the guards without them alert... "

Just then, one of the Wookies let out a piercing growl that could no doubt be heard from miles. Indy was about to say, "what the hell???" when a pair of Trandoshans appeared on the path behind them. The Wookies began leveling their bowcasters at the approaching duo, but one Trandoshan already had his weapon at the ready. He fired first and dropped one of the Wookies. The rest returned fire as they dove for cover, trying to put anything they could between them and their attackers. Blaster fire erupted up and down the walkway as Wookie and Trandoshan alike tried their best to get the upper hand, or at least get a lucky shot to hit its mark. Honj drew his lightsaber and joined in the fray, deflecting laser bolts away from their party. Indy wasn't sure what would be the best course of action for himself, but quickly realized that the two trandoshans who had been guarding the basket to the shadowlands had heard the shots, seen the fracas, and were racing to lend aid to their comrades.

"Four more coming up the path!!!" Master Tenuto yelled from somewhere behind him.

"Guess these two are mine." Indy said to himself as he drew his Smith & Wesson .45 and fired, hitting one of the Trandoshans in the shoulder. The creature stopped, as did his partner, and they both examined the small hole the bullet had created. A small trickle of blood dripped from the wound. Undoubtedly these creatures had never been assaulted with such an ancient, or ineffective weapon before. Unfortunately, the shot wasn't severe enough to keep them occupied for long, The one Indy had hit glared at the professor with its beady reptilian eyes, and made sure Dr. Jones got a good look at the razor sharp teeth in its mouth, and the way the creature had set its jaw, Indy knew he wasn't amused. His partner also turned his icy stare in Jones' direction, and Indy knew his options were to either make two very well placed shots and bring these killers down, or make sure he saved one of his few remaining bullets for himself. He had to come up with something, and fast, because the pair were bringing their rifles to bear. Running? Hiding? Ducking? All were viable options; he just needed to settle on one. Before he could move though, two bolts of laser fire shot past his ear and hit each of the Trandoshans squarely in the head, killing them instantly. Indy whirled around to see who he should thank, and almost cracked his head on a Wookie bowcaster. The Wookie holding it growled at him slightly, making the Professor wish he had studied up more on the Wookie dialect.

"He said, you're welcome!!" Honj shouted from down the walkway. "And his name is Chewbacca!"

Not sure of what else to say, Indy replied, "um... thanks, Chewbacca," and re-holstered his gun at his belt.

Chewie nodded, and then ran to aid Master Tenuto. Indy was about to join in, when a lone Trandoshan broke through the line of remaining Wookies and headed straight for Indy. The reptilian biped raised a clawed arm, preparing to swipe the archaeologist out of the way. Jones managed to dive just in time to avoid a deep, nasty gash across the face. The creature was heading for the basket, most likely to warn his friends in the shadowlands about the not-so surprise attack. Something had to be done.

Getting to his feet, Indy detached his whip from his belt and brought it to life. He cracked the end of it around one of the Trandoshan's legs, tripping him up, and sending him crashing into the walkway. Indy quickly detached the whip from the creature's limb, and now the next order of business was to get the gun out of that killer's hands. Indy ran up to the fallen lizard, and with one swift kick, knocked the gun away from the fallen slaver and into the basket. Quite proud of himself, the good Doctor let the little fact slip his mind that the Trandoshan was down, but far from out. The reptilian hunter grabbed Indy around the left ankle, and with a quick flick of its wrist, flipped Indy into the basket and on top of the rifle.

Both parties struggled to get to their feet; fortunately, Indy was able to do so first. Quickly, he picked up the Trandoshan's rifle, and pointed the barrel in its original owner's direction. Not sure what else to do, he pulled the trigger and fired, and the recoil from the blast knocked him toward the back of the basket, and almost over the edge. The shot went wide, and the Trandoshan took advantage of it and charged in, using one claw to grab the gun and keep the barrel out of his direction, and the other claw was quickly wrapped around Dr. Jones throat. Indy quickly released his hold on the rifle, and attempted to use his remaining strength to get this overgrown reptile to release its grasp. Almost as quickly, he realized this was going to be a losing battle. He felt himself losing consciousness, and his entire life began to flash before his eyes. Then, something slammed into the Trandoshan's back, ramming its body into Indy's, and if it weren't for the grip it had around his throat, he would currently be doing a high dive into the forest below. The slaver quickly lost interest in Indy, released its grip from around his neck, reached down, picked up the rifle, and returned fire. It was then that Jones saw a good-sized bowcaster blast square in the lizard's back.

"If that had been himself," Indy thought, "no way he'd be standing right now, or breathing for that matter. I guess these... things do live up to their reputations as being tough sons of.... I'd love to see one of them go up against the Nazi army."

Apparently, this slaver was the only one left, at least up here on this level, and from the size of the wound on its back, he didn't have long to live. No matter how much pain he was in, this lizard wasn't going down without a fight. He kept firing at the Wookies and the lone Jedi with reckless abandon, not caring how many shots he fired, or what was hit in the process. Blast marks scorched the trees and the walkway all around them. All Honj and the remaining eight Wookies could do was seek cover. Again, Indy realized that if this situation was going to change for the better, he would have to instigate that change. Pulling his revolver once again, he placed the barrel a few millimeters from the Trandoshan's skull, and fired. Even though his weapon was quite primitive for this world's standards, it didn't really matter when one was in such close proximity to the intended target. Brain matter went everywhere, but still the large slaver refused to fall. Using its last bits of strength, he swung his gun around, and Indy barely missed having it hit him square in the head. Unfortunately, that evasive maneuver made him lose his balance, and fell over the side of the basket. He managed to grab onto the side as he fell, saving himself from falling to certain death. He began pulling himself up into the basket again, but the Trandoshan finally gave up the last bits of life contained within its body, and toppled over the edge, right where Indy was attempting to re-enter the basket. The falling corpse slammed head first into Indy, causing him to lose his grasp, and he plummeted toward the shadowlands hundreds of feet below...

The Slave I landed on Coruscant, and Zam and C-3PX were brought before Darth Sidious. The Clawdite bounty hunter recanted the tale of how they spotted the Republic cruiser as they approached Dantooine, and she decided it would be best if they stayed as far away as possible from the old Jedi enclave. They examined the old ruins, the Matale estate and the Sandral grounds, and finally the ancient grove where Dr. Jones dug up the first piece of Malek's lightsaber. They adjourned to their ship so Indy could open the cylinder and determine where to go next. Zam left C-3PX in charge while she went and took a nap, then woke up when she heard the back hatch open. Finding the Professor still aboard, she went out after C-3PX to investigate. Next thing she knew, she was flying through the air and crashing headfirst into one of the ship's landing struts. Upon waking, she found her blaster broken, and her ship was taking off. There was little she could do with the measly capability of her back-up weapon. A short time later, she heard a loud explosion coming from the direction of the enclave, but couldn't see what happened as she was too far away. Not having anything else to do, she and the droid hiked over to the temple, and saw that the entire roof of the compound had been ripped off. There was quite a large amount of rubble and debris around, and it also became quite apparent that the Republic cruiser was no more. What exactly happened to it still remains a mystery as no bodies were found, and that was all that transpired until Jango came to rescue them.

"Disappointing," Sidious commented. "Very disappointing. I leave you in charge of monitoring a primitive individual not even from this galaxy, and you lose him on the first planet you come to!"

Zam became incensed. "It was the Jed... "

"I don't care if you were besieged by bull rancors!!! This situation has gotten completely out of hand, and now I have to take steps to rectify the matter!" Sidious then turned to Jango. "You recommended this... cretin! I am holding you personally responsible to find Dr. Jones and return him here to me!

Jango simply nodded. "I will take care of it... personally."

Sidious also nodded. "Yes, I know you will. Now, I have another proposition for you. You have the opportunity to obtain a small stipend for your troubles, but restitution must be paid, so if you desire to make any profit on this venture, you must, in turn, take your protégé's life here to appease me."

Zam shot Jango a horrified look, but Fett remained calm and cool as always. "And the other option?"

Apparently Sidious was hoping the senior bounty hunter would take the deal without question, as he expelled a quite audible "hmph!"

"Very well. In return for sparing her life, you will perform your duties to the best of your ability without any thought or compensation or reward. Any monies spent to garner supplies, information, weapons, and the like will come from your own coffers. Which shall it be?"

Jango let his gaze alternate between Zam and Sidious, mulling over his options. "I'll locate your explorer... for free. Any idea where to start?"

Before replying, the dark lord turned to face Zam. "Remember, all that has transpired here, everything you've seen, and everyone you've met, you will have no memory of any of this. Even under threat of great physical harm to yourself, will you reveal nothing. Is that clear?

Zam's face revealed nothing as she replied, "crystal."

"I have many contacts throughout the galaxy, so believe me when I tell you that I will indeed know if you have broken your vow. Then you will truly know and understand the meaning of... suffering."

Zam nodded, and Sidious dismissed her with a wave of his hand. Upon her exit, the Sith returned his attention to Jango. "Disappointing. She failed you, and you gave up the chance of reward simply to let her live, so she can no doubt fail you again. Perhaps my earlier praise of you was misguided."

Jango gave the Sith no inkling if his words stung or not. Instead returning the topic of conversation to the matter at hand. "Do you know where I should start, or not?"

"I believe they are on Kashyyk now, but am not sure where they will travel to next. I do however; know where they will be eventually. Travel to Tatooine and wait for them. I have an associate already there who will deal with the Jedi, but the explorer, as you put it, must remain alive, and it will be your responsibility to bring him back here. There's no need to go looking for them, when they will most assuredly come to you, and this time, failure is NOT an option!!!"

Darth Danno