KGWrites

3979 BBY, Pyrshak System, Ahto City, Manaan

Drejek Thek

The market at Ahto was busy today, a trader ship had clearly just arrived to offload goods. Amongst the hustle and bustle Drejek moved through the crowd. The young boy seemed to belong in the crowd, moving through it as readily as he could swim Manaan’s oceans. To an observer he would seem strange, reacting to parts of the crowd before he even saw them coming, he would slow his pace to allow bigger beings past, turn suddenly to avoid having to hustle through queues at stalls and twist and weave through gaps many people wouldn’t have spotted at quick glance.

Inwardly, Drejek was barely using his eyes to find his way, instead relying on the ebb and flow of the Force to show him the path as his mother had taught him. It guided him through the gaps in the crowd as if he was holding someone’s hand, linking him to his destination. His eyes, meanwhile, unburdened by the need to find his path, were watching the crowd, studying the people around him with curiosity and cautious suspicion. Despite living on Manaan for nearly four years, half his life thus far, Drejek had been unable to shake the habits he had developed while the family had been on the run, the idea that anyone could be a danger.

It had only gotten worse since his father left.

Drejek shook his head as the thought of his father began clouding through his mind, dismissing the memory. His father was gone, but Drejek and Allana were still here, still safe, and still a family. It was all Drejek needed to know. Instead, he focused on his destination.

The trader’s stall was out of the way of much of the rest of the Ahto market, down an aisle not frequented by the offworlders but that many Selkath and other residents of Manaan knew was worth the visit. Drejek moved down until he saw the signature cranial horns of the person he sought.

“Kanor!” He called out, sticking his hand in the air and waving to catch the Zabrak trader’s attention. The man turned at the call of his name, eyes scanning the crowd to find who had called on him until eventually they settled on Drejek, and he broke into a wide smile.

“Is that young Drejek Thek I see? Or has this old trader’s mind finally gone in his age?” He chuckled, leaning forwards across his stall to address the boy as he approached.

“You’re not that old.” Drejek said with a chuckle, folding his arms across his chest.

“Hmm, perhaps not. You do look different since I was last here after all. You’ve gotten taller.” The Zabrak trader mused, holding out a hand to measure the boy, his dark brow furrowing slightly. He reached down below his stall, working through crates.

“I do not see your lovely mother with you.” He said as he searched. “You haven’t lost that beautiful woman somewhere in this market, have you?” Drejek turned scarlet and puffed up his chest, making Kanor laugh and hold his hands up in mock surrender.

“Okay okay, I apologise.” He chuckled, winking at the boy. “But you know, maybe pass on the message that there’s always space for her on my ship. She’s wasted here on Manaan, the Selkath just don’t appreciate her like other beings do.”

“Gross.” Drejek responded, rolling his eyes at the man’s jokes. It was a running joke between the trader and the family, and at least this time he was spared his mother’s joking flirting back to the Zabrak. He lifted a little datapad to show Kanor.

“She’s busy, getting new parts for the waterspeeder, safety measures so can learn to drive it properly. So, it’s just me.” He told Kanor, his voice swelling with pride at both being finally allowed to learn to drive the speeder and also the responsibility he had been trusted with. The trader held out his hand towards the list and Drejek obligingly handed it across. Kanor’s eyes scanned down it, his mouth slowly curling into a smile.

“She is a woman of fine tastes your mother. And as usual, we have all she has asked for. Even the Meilooruns, not many people doing the Lothal run right now. Give me a moment.” And with that he disappeared back behind his stall, searching through crates and gathering the supplies that Allana had listed, muttering to himself.

As he searched, Drejek took the opportunity to give himself back over to the Force, sinking into the river of lives flowing around him and gently moving through them. He sighed deeply as he let it wash over him, the sound of the market gently ebbing away.

Until something reached out back at him.

Drejek stood bolt upright, rigid as he began to look around, reaching out towards the feeling. It wasn’t his mother’s gentle touch of the Force, he knew how that felt, cool and gentle, like a drizzle of rainfall. This put Drejek in mind of something more like the touch of a cool breeze on a hot day, it wasn’t bad exactly, but it was different. And different meant it was someone new.

He reached out towards the feeling through the Force, trying to locate it as his eyes frantically scanned the crowd. It reacted to his touch in the Force, attempting to pull back in surprise at his response, but he seized it. Gripping it through the Force and reaching back along it, finding the mind at the other end. It felt quiet, like someone trying too hard to keep themselves hidden, and the surprise at being discovered was clear across it. Even as it pulled away, Drejek focused on it. He felt his head turn instinctively towards the link and immediately he spotted the source.

A human woman, looking around the same age as his mother, was watching him from a stool on a fast-food stall. Or rather, she was making an effort not to be noticed watching him, almost seeming to study her pot of spiced Polbastfish noodles as if it held all the secrets of the galaxy itself. She looked fairly inconspicuous, dressed in the outfit of a spacer, a cropped pale brown leather jacket worn open over a dark grey vest top, long pants with a long red stripe down the side of each leg, boots that rose to just below her knees and a pair of flight goggles hanging loose around her neck. Her brown hair had a slight plum purple tint to it and was pulled back into a messy bun at the back of her head. She seemed every bit one of the many spacers that came through Ahto City. But with the link of the Force, Drejek was certain there was more to her than that, no typical spacer was linked to the Force like she was.

Drejek almost leaped into the air as behind him Kanor thudded down a heavy bag, bulging with the supplies he had asked for. He turned and glanced at the man, forcing a smile to his face, recalling advice he had heard from his father talking to his mother while they had been running. Act as if you’ve seen nothing. His mind was still racing, running through a thousand possibilities about who this mystery woman was, and what she wanted. But he spoke with as much normality as he could muster to his voice.

“Thanks, Kanor, how much is all of this?” He asked, though clearly what he had thought would come across as a normal voice was anything but as the Zabrak narrowed his eyes at him.

“It’s gonna be 28 credits. Are you alright young one?” He asked, concern and confusion clear in his voice. Drejek nodded heavily, forcing another cheery smile as he pushed across the credit chit and lifted the bag onto his shoulder, already turning away from the counter.

“Yep!” He said, his voice seeming far too loud. “Just got… a lot to do. Gotta go meet mom. I’ll see you later Kanor.” And with that he began moving back through the crowd, the Zabrak’s response lost among the people moving back and forth.

He kept his eyes on the woman, taking a wide circle that wove through the crowd around to the other side of her, scanning her closely. She lifted her drink to her mouth and as she did Drejek stifled a gasp and turned to hurry away through the crowd.

He tried to put the image from his mind, maybe it was just his imagination. But no, the more he thought about it, the more he was sure he had seen it. Holstered just below her arm, hidden beneath her jacket, had been a long metal tube, similar to the one his mother wore on her belt. A lightsaber. That was a bad sign, a very bad sign.

He needed to find his mother.

***

The little cantina was named simply Balos’ Bar and was, much like the area of the market, only really frequented by locals. It looked out over one of the large, curved bays that made up the edge of the floating city of Ahto. The soundstage played a gentle, flowing tune of Selkath water songs as Drejek entered, the music contrasting greatly with the worry that played at his mind. He looked over his shoulder again as he entered, making sure the woman hadn’t followed him, but he couldn’t see her.

He hurried up the stairs inside the cantina to the balcony seating area, where Allana was sitting, leaning back in one of the chairs. The sea breeze caused her hair to flow to the side slightly, several locks blowing across her face as she turned, smiled and raised a hand in greeting to her son.

Her smile faded slowly, and her brow furrowed in concern as Drejek didn’t return the greeting and instead hurried over to her, his face serious.

“What’s wrong Drejek? Trouble with Kanor?” She asked as he sat down in the seat opposite her, still trying to remain calm. With one hand he lowered the bag of supplies to the floor as he shook his head.

“No, Kanor had everything we needed.” Drejek replied evenly, keeping his eyes firmly fixed past his mother at the stairs he had just risen, part of him expecting the strange woman to appear at the top of them at any moment. He leaned across the table slightly, his voice lowering to just above a whisper. Sensing what he was about to say was not for everyone to hear, Allana leaned forwards too.

“But I saw someone mom, I think they were watching me. I felt them through the Force and…” He trailed off, looking around slightly as if simply talking about the woman would make her appear.

“She was carrying a lightsaber.” He finished, his voice barely a whisper.

Allana’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open for a second as she took in Drejek’s words, then she gave a gentle nod. Her eyes hardened and her jaw worked slightly from side to side as she thought for a few moments. Then eventually she took a long breath.

“Okay, we’re going to get up from here and go home. Like we always do. I’m going to call a favour from a friend, we’ll go to one of the Kolto mining platforms out to sea and lay low there for a couple of days. Hopefully this watcher will give up the search and leave the planet without any trouble.” She told him and Drejek nodded slowly in understanding. One thing though worried him about his mother’s plan.

“But what if they don’t leave? What if they find us out there?” He asked and his mother looked at him for a long time, saying nothing. And, slowly, Drejek understood.

“It’s out of town, far away. If any trouble happens it won’t be easy to find it.” He finished and Allana nodded once, her face set with determination even as she regarded her son with a strange sad look in her eyes that Drejek couldn’t understand. But for now he shrugged it off, just hoping his mother was right and they wouldn’t need to worry.

“Come on.” Allana said, standing and turning to walk towards the stairs. And then she froze in her tracks. Drejek looked up at his mother in confusion, then past her towards the stairs, and his blood turned to ice in his veins.

The woman from the market was stood at the top of the stairs, watching them. Now she was facing them, Drejek could see her deep green eyes, like the leaves of a forest. Eyes that were locked with Allana’s ocean blue ones. Drejek barely dared to breathe as what seemed like an eternity passed between the two women, with no sound being made by either. Gently, Allana’s hand dropped to her side, next to her lightsaber and she shifted her weight onto her left leg, preparing to fight. But the woman moved next, holding up both of her hands palms outwards, a gesture of peace. Drejek couldn’t hear or see anything passing between the two, but he could feel the Force rippling between the two as they probed each other, a silent conversation of questions and intentions. Slowly, Allana’s arm extended in front of him, guiding him behind her and hovering in front of him, like a barrier between him and the woman.

“Stay behind me sweetheart and go pull your chair around next to mine.” She told him, her usual kind and loving tone gone, replaced by a strained and cautious one. Not knowing what else to do, or if he even could do anything, Drejek obeyed.

Once the chairs were in place, Allana tilted her head towards the table and the other woman nodded, lowering her hands again to her sides. Then she strode towards them and pulled a chair from another table, placing it across the table from where Allana’s chair was.

Now that she was up close, Drejek could see that the woman was much taller than he had thought at first, with broad shoulders. Her tied back plum hair revealed a thin face, with a square jaw. Her pale skin bore the marks of freckles across her nose that served only to seemingly enlarge her green eyes. Despite the serious look on her face, something about her seemed almost gentle to Drejek. Welcoming and soft, like her touch through the Force had been. And yet, she moved like his father had, with the surety and strength of a seasoned warrior.

As she settled into the chair, the woman swung her cropped jacket off and over the chair, revealing toned, muscled arms. Despite how thin she looked at first glance, she was clearly strong. Next to her, Allana looked small, and for all her experience in combat, she seemed hopelessly outmatched as a warrior by how this woman carried herself. For the first time in his life, Drejek was suddenly unsure if his mother would win a fight if it came to it. And that wasn’t even thinking about the fact that Allana’s leg was still damaged from her brief fight with Gredun back when he had left.

Allana tapped the table as the woman settled down, fixing her with a long glare and not speaking. The woman regarded her carefully, a questioning look in her eyes before she sighed, reaching back and unclipping her lightsaber. Drejek held his breath, waiting for her to strike with the weapon. But then she turned her hand downwards and placed the long metal tube on the table between her and Allana and he let the breath go, looking up at his mother for guidance. She nodded to the saber and he reached out and took it into his hand. Then Allana sat slowly back down into her chair, nodding for him to do the same. Drejek followed suit, sitting next to his mother and then looking between her and the mysterious woman, some part of him already knowing he wasn’t going to understand all of this conversation.

“Hello Allana.” The woman said. Her voice was quieter than Drejek had expected, like every word was selected with care, but it didn’t seem threatening. Just a little cautious.

“What are you doing here Tumise?” His mother replied curtly, not bothering to waste time on the pleasantries. The woman, Tumise, looked a little hurt before sighing.

“Would you believe that I didn’t actually come here for you?” Tumise began and Allana scoffed. “It’s the truth Allana.” Tumise insisted and Allana leaned forward, her lip curling slightly as she placed a hand in front of Drejek again.

“Well, you are not taking him either. Not from me.” She growled and Tumise’s mouth became a thin line as she gave a slight nod.

“I’m not here for that either Allana, I promise.” She watched Allana carefully, her eyes seeming almost sad. “Please, Allana, you’re like a sister to me. Please trust me. I’m not here for you, or to break up your family.” She reached a hand across the table, placing it gently in the centre. “I… The order has hurt you Allana, I know that. And asking you to come back isn’t about to work. Nor should it. That’s not why I’m here.”

Allana regarded Tumise’s hand for a moment, taking a long and deep breath that seemed to waver slightly. Then she tilted her head, examining the other woman.

“Even if I believe you. If the council knows where I am, they’ll just send others, Jedi that aren’t as… sympathetic to me as you are.” She said. Tumise shook her head.

“The council don’t know I’m on Manaan. And they won’t know. I’m on my way back from the rim, Hutt Border dispute.” She said by way of explanation. “As far as the other Jedi are concerned, I made a fuel stop.” She looked into Allana’s eyes again, her mouth curling up in a gentle smile. “I’m not here to hurt you Allana, I swear.”

For a long time, there was silence between the two women as Allana studied Tumise, weighing her words and gently probing her for any deception through the Force. But Drejek watched as his mother’s hand slowly came down to rest on top of Tumise’s own on the table, and a smile curled her own mouth, even as single tear ran down her cheek. Allana looked up again into Tumise’s eyes, letting out a long breath.

“I… I missed you so much.” She said after a moment, the waver in her voice causing Drejek to reach out and squeeze her other hand, letting his mother know he was there, that she was alright. His touch seemed to bring Allana back into the moment as she turned her head to look at him, as if remembering he was there.

“Oh.” She said, sniffling slightly and reaching down to place her hand on Drejek’s shoulder. “Tumise, this is my son, Drejek Thek. Drejek honey, this is Tumise Thanewulf, she and I had the same master when we were padawans with the Jedi. She’s…” She turned her head to regard Tumise again and smiled. “She’s a good friend.”

Tumise smiled at Drejek, and he shied away slightly behind his mother’s arm. Not out of fear anymore though, or at least, not entirely. But rather, now that she was smiling, and that he knew she wasn’t a danger, he couldn’t help but think she was pretty, and he could feel a blush rising up his cheeks.

“You look so much like your mother did when she was your age, young one.” She told him with a chuckle, and he smiled politely back. A tiny part of him was relieved he looked like Allana, and not the father who had left them. Then Tumise’s eyes turned back upwards to meet Allana’s, a question clear in them. “Gredun?”

Allana shook her head. “Gone, back to his Mandalorians.” She said, sorrow tinting the edges of her voice. Edges that only sharpened with her next words. “And he’s forgotten us, I made sure of it.” Tumise nodded in understanding, her shoulders slumping sadly.

“I’m sorry Allana.” She said earnestly. Allana’s hand gently ran across Drejek’s shoulders as she shook her head.

“Thank you. But I have all I need, right here.” She responded and Drejek leaned into her slightly, hugging her, trying to pass on to her that he felt the same way about her. Then Allana straightened up, regarding Tumise again. “You said you weren’t here to find us, that you weren’t even supposed to be on Manaan. But here you are, so I have to wonder why? Why are you here? How did you find us?”

Tumise sat back in her chair, turning her head to the ocean and looking out over it. “I was plotting my route back to republic space when I had a vision. Sent to me through the Force.” She turned her head back to Allana, her face serious. Allana’s arm fell from Drejek’s shoulders as she leaned forwards, both arms on the table, listening intently to Tumise’s story.

“I saw water, lots of water. An ocean but also a storm. I saw your lightsaber blade, and fire. I heard you scream, saw the water churning and twisting. You called out my name and then…” Tumise glanced briefly at Drejek, who was just as enraptured as his mother, before turning a worried, questioning glance to Allana.

“Drejek has seen a lot for a youngling.” Allana replied, her voice edged with both sadness and a tiny hint of pride. “He’s strong enough to hear what you saw.”

Tumise regarded Drejek for a moment, then nodded and continued. “I saw blood in the water, and a thousand teeth through it. The vision ended and my hand was over Manaan on my navicomputer.” She looked into Allana’s eyes again, worry clear on her face. “I think that you are in danger, or about to be. And I think the Force brought me here to help.”

Drejek looked from Tumise to his mother. He didn’t understand exactly what Tumise meant, he’d never had the Force give him a vision, much less anything as frightening as what Tumise was describing. Allana, for her part, seemed to be thinking about what Tumise had said, her head turned slightly as she looked out across Manaan’s ocean. Finally, she sighed.

“It’s possible you’re right. You’ve always been better at reading the Force than I have. But I haven’t sensed any danger recently. In fact, the most of anything above the usual background feelings that I’ve felt in weeks is you here across from me, besides when I’m training Drejek.” She folded her arms across her chest and closed her eyes. Drejek could feel her probing the Force next to him, seeking her own version of the warning that Tumise was speaking of. “I still don’t sense anything. And you can’t wait here for something to happen, the Jedi will come looking for you.”

Tumise clicked her tongue in annoyance, seeing the truth in her friend’s words, as annoying as it was. She nodded, conceding the point.

“Well, I’ll be here for a couple of days, I need a refuel, and a rest after my mission. The council won’t miss me immediately. I’ll leave after that. And hopefully the Force just brought me here to warn you, that that will be enough.” She told Allana, the firmness in her voice telling that there was no argument about her staying that she would entertain.

Allana nodded and stood. “Give me your comlink frequency, so I can get hold of you while you’re here.” She said, placing her comlink on the table so that Tumise could key in her frequency. Once she had, the other woman stood as well, holding the comlink out to Allana.

“I hope you don’t have to. And I promise I’ll lose the frequency as soon as I leave Manaan.” She reassured Allana, that kind smile returning to her features. Drejek stood, still staying close behind his mother as Allana reached forwards and wrapped her arms around Tumise’s shoulders in a tight hug.

“Thank you Tumise, for everything. It’s good to see you.” She said, her voice slightly muffled as she buried her head into Tumise’s shoulder, tension seeming to visibly release from her. Tumise too, seemed to relax and she returned the hug.

“You too. It’s a good look on you, being here, being a mother.” Tumise replied, pulling back to put her jacket back on.

Allana chuckled in response. “Don’t you start flirting with me too, I get enough of that from my local trader in the market.” Tumise laughed and shrugged slightly, before crouching down in front of Allana, putting herself to Drejek’s eye level and reaching forward to place her hand on his shoulder. This time, Allana didn’t stop the movement. Her touch was gentler than Drejek was expecting, he’d be waiting for a heavy hand, like his father had had. But it never came. He offered her a shy smile.

“It was very nice to have met you Drejek. I hope it won’t be the last time.” She said, smiling at him, her forest green eyes were much kinder up close. And here he could tell she even smelled like the forest, like sweet flowers and wood. “I know you’ll look after your mom like a proper soldier, but even still, can I perhaps have my lightsaber back?” She asked him, holding her hand out towards the weapon he still clutched tightly.

Drejek looked up at his mother, who nodded with a reassuring smile. He turned the tube back around towards Tumise, handing her the leather wrapped hilt first. Her hand closed around it and she lifted it from his grasp. Then she straightened back up, giving him one last smile, her hand lingering on his shoulder for a moment. As she tucked the saber back into the holster beneath her jacket she turned to face Allana.

“Stay safe Allana, please. If you need me, just call.” She said one last time and Allana nodded. Then Tumise gave her one last smile and a nod, before turning quickly around and walking back towards the stairs down into the cantina and out to Ahto city itself.

Once she was gone Drejek looked up at his mother, one hand slipping into hers, his touch seeming to pull her out of her thoughts. “What did she mean mom? Are we in trouble again?” He asked her, still confused.

Allana hummed. “It’s hard to say. The Force showed her the way here, after that vision of hers.” A shudder ran from Allana, down her arm to Drejek. “Remember what I told you? About the ways the Force works?”

Drejek nodded enthusiastically, eager to show he had been paying attention to her lessons. “The Force can show us things, but sometimes the things it shows aren’t real, just like people can get things wrong, the Force can too. We have to trust our own selves too.” He said, repeating her exact words back to her. Allana nodded with a smile.

“Exactly, well done sweetheart. So, the Force showed Tumise that we might be in danger, but we’re not sensing any danger ourselves. So, we must be careful of this vision.” She looked down at Drejek, her face serious. “All the same, we need to keep a look out for a little while, just in case.”

***

It was a day later that the storm came in over Ahto. Cracks of thunder sounding as loud as ship engines. Lightning that lit up the rolling grey ocean with flashes of bright white. The waves splashed up the side of the city, threatening to flood the streets if it hadn’t been for the city’s storm shields, causing the waves to crash across translucent barriers that kept the city dry.

Drejek had seen a few storms come in while he had been on Manaan, but none of them had been quite as ferocious as this one. This one seemed almost violent in the way it battered the planet. He watched it rolling the ocean from the window of his room, fascinated by it. He imagined being a craft pilot out there, working hard to keep his craft from being tossed about by the waves. Struggling to keep the controls steady. The few lessons Drejek had had with his mother in their waterspeeder had already given him an appreciation for how heavy the controls were, and how much they pulled of their own accord. He could only imagine the stress of trying to fight the storm as well.

Closing his eyes, he reached out with the Force, feeling out towards the rolling ocean. He wanted to see if he could get close, test himself against its fury and see if the power it displayed could be controlled. He could sense the storm, rolling and twisting through the Force, sense the lives of creatures beneath the seas, hiding from it. He could sense the primal fear it engaged in the beings caught up in it. Focusing, causing his head to pound slightly with a fast forming headache, Drejek opened himself further to the Force, allowing the flurry of life the storm was affecting to flow through him. It rushed through him, twisting and turning, he could feel his hair starting to blow gently with it.

He could feel something. Like the storm had balled itself into a tangible form, a form that was just out of his reach. It twisted and turned violently. He reached out to it, even physically lifting his arm as if it guided the Force through him, stretching ever forwards until he could just about feel the focused point ahead.

And then it rushed at him. Washing over Drejek in a flurry of sounds and feelings, so fast and overwhelming that he fell to the floor with a cry of surprise and shock. Something about it had felt wrong, very wrong.

Suddenly there was a crash from downstairs in his home. It wasn’t the thunder of the storm, Drejek knew, but something actually coming in. Whatever he had just felt had come for him. He heard his mother call his name, calling him to her. Then he heard her lightsaber’s signature hiss as it ignited from the hilt. But he didn’t move. It was the storm coming for him, for trying to control it. She couldn’t fight the storm itself, could she?

But then the sound of his mother’s saber was joined by a new sound. The snapping bark of blaster fire, and he shook himself from his stupor. A storm wouldn’t use a blaster. Something else had come, and his mother needed his help.

Grabbing his blaster pistol from beneath his pillow he stood and hurried to the door, keying it open before sliding out behind the low banister that marked the edge of the upstairs landing, moving from cover to cover as he had been taught as he surveyed the scene below.

Five figures had entered the home, blaster rifles at the ready. They were clad in completely dark bodysuits that even lifted to a wide hood over their heads, many of the parts of this suit, including the face, were armoured with deep blue armouring. The mask over the face was expressionless, with only a T shaped visor marking any sort of viewing method through it. Solid, faceless monsters, they moved around the central space of the home, surrounding their target without getting too close.

Allana stood at the ready in the centre of the space, the body of one of the figures already lying at her feet, killed by a single cut below the faceplate of its armour. She held her saber at eye level, pointed towards the central figure, her left hand stretched out before her, ready to call upon the Force to strike or defend as needed.

Suddenly one of the monsters dropped low and charged Allana, tossing aside his rifle for a long-bladed knife worn at his belt. He came in high with a stabbing blow and Allana twisted, her saber whirling with an arc of green light, parrying aside his arm at the wrist. The was a high-pitched whine as the figure’s arm bounced off the blade of the lightsaber and he stumbled past Allana as she spun around him, placing a well-aimed kick at the back of his knee that caused him to stumble. He grunted as Allana took the advantage and brought her blade back around in a thrust that passed between the armour plates at his armpit. With barely a sound, the man fell from the lightsaber blade, dead.

Drejek knew he should be relieved that Allana had defeated one of the invaders. But instead, he was only further worried. It should not have taken the second attack, the first should have severed his arm at the wrist with ease, but his armour had resisted it, caused her blade to bounce away. Drejek knew of only one type of armour that could do that. Beskar.

They’re Mandalorians. He thought to himself. The armour is different to how Dad’s was, but still, it’s made from Beskar. He needed to help, and fast.

Allana barely had any time to recover from her first kill when another Mandalorian struck, firing a quick burst of blaster fire that she had to roll to avoid. They scored long burns into the ground behind her as she came up, lashing out with the Force to throw a broken piece of table into the warrior. They stumbled backwards, struggling to adjust their aim, backing up to just below Drejek’s position on the landing.

Now was his chance.

Lifting his arm over the balcony and taking careful aim, Drejek squeezed the trigger on his blaster and felt it kick in response. The scarlet red bolt streaked downwards and struck perfectly onto the crown of the warrior’s head. Clearly only the mask was Beskar as the bolt burned straight through, causing the Mandalorian to go rigid, then, after a second of standing still, they slumped to the side.

The sudden loss of their companion seemed to do little to faze the Mandalorians as one barked a quick order to another in Mando’a, causing that figure to turn that expressionless face plate towards Drejek, then nod once.

Fear gripped Drejek’s chest as the warrior then vaulted the sofa towards him, firing off a burst of blaster bolts that streaked over his head. Drejek cried out in fear and threw himself to the ground out of the warrior’s sight. He crawled backwards a short way before slowly rising again, he needed to see where the enemy was. He could barely hear his father’s voice echoing, Keep the target in your eyesight, if you lose them, you lose the fight.

The Mandalorian warrior was at the bottom of the stairs now and beginning to climb them towards Drejek. He cried out in fear again and began to fire the blaster wildly. One shot streaked past, another, then another. None found any purchase on Drejek’s intended target. He just kept coming.

Downstairs, Allana faced the remaining two Mandalorians. These two were more experienced, clearly. They watched her warily and circled her slowly, one left, one right. Neither of them recklessly hurrying to get a quick glory kill on the Jedi foe like the other two she had killed had done. The one on her right, the one that had called out the order earlier, dropped his blaster rifle and reached back over his shoulder, his hand gripping the hilt of a long, Beskar forged, sword. He spun it once, still watching Allana carefully, planning his attack.

Then his companion fired their blaster rifle and Allana twisted to briefly redirect the bolts, sending them spinning into the ceiling. The second that her focus changed the sword wielder was on her, his blade coming down towards her shoulder, a blow she barely managed to move fast enough to parry. Lightsaber met Beskar with that same whining pitch and the combatants circled each other quickly, exchanging a quick but brutal series of blows. High, low, across, down, Allana had to move faster than she had in a long time to match his blows, trying to find an opening to counterattack. But he was skilled, very skilled, and not giving her any chance to find that opening. That combined with having to block away blaster bolts from the other warrior in the fight any time they found an opening left Allana with no room for mistakes. Unless she found a way to change the fight, the relentless assault would eventually break through, tire her out or force her to make a mistake, and from there it would be all over.

Back upstairs, Drejek scrambled backwards, firing another panicked series of bolts as his pursuer reached the landing. These ones hit centre mass of the massive framed warrior, but that was exactly what Beskar armour was designed for. The bolts reflected off the blue painted metal in a shower of sparks that lit the space with flashes like the lightning outside had arrived in the home. One even streaked back towards Drejek, grazing across his shoulder.

He screamed in surprise and pain and rolled away, back into his room. Even at such a passing blow to the boy, it burned like no pain he had ever felt before and he could already feel tears streaking down his cheeks. But he gritted his teeth against it and forced himself to his feet, slamming his hand against his door controls, causing it to slide closed just as the big Mandalorian got to the other side. Quickly Drejek flipped the switch to lock the door and backed up, aiming his pistol at the door, his arm shaking.

Drejek’s scream of pain had given the Mandalorians downstairs the mistake they had waited for as Allana’s head had whipped around at the sound, searching immediately for her son. And they wasted no time in capitalising on it. The sword wielding opponent twisted around their locked blades and hooked the hand guard of his sword onto her lightsaber before whipping his hand downwards causing the saber to spin from her grip, the emerald blade already retracting.

Then he slammed his forehead into Allana’s, the heavy metal faceplate rocketing her head back and splitting the skin above her eyebrow, leaving a stream of crimson red running down past her eye. Then he drove his knee into Allana’s right leg, the same one she had injured when Gredun caused her to drop her lightsaber years earlier, a wound that had never fully healed. The weak limb buckled and Allana dropped with a groan of pain.

Kneeling, her head spinning, she tried to focus on her saber where it had fallen. Attempting to will the Force to draw it back to her hand, but with the blow to her head, she couldn’t clear her thoughts long enough to reach out.

The blaster wielding Mandalorian took the opportunity to take aim at Allana and squeezed the trigger. With a warbling sound the shot rang out, and the former Jedi fell limp onto the floor of her home.

The silence that fell over Drejek, alone in his room, was awful. He felt as if he were made of metal, his limbs barely responded to him. He wept silently, fear gripping every part of him and causing him to shake violently, as if he really were caught in the storm. Many people he had met before had said he seemed much older than he really was, but right here and now, he felt who he really was. A child, just eight years old, alone in his bedroom with monsters outside his door.

When the door opened, he wanted to scream. But he didn’t. He wanted to shoot and fight. But he didn’t. Even when the big Mandalorian shot his blaster pistol from his hand, leaving it a smoking pile of broken metal on the ground, he still just held his shaking arm out in front of him, frozen rigid. He could only look into the horrible, expressionless face as the blaster was raised at him. “Well fought kid.” Came the terrible voice, like the scraping of a great stone sarcophagus. And then the blaster fired. Drejek had just enough time to register the expanding blue ring of a stun bolt coming towards him, before it all went black.