//------------------------------// // Chapter 43: Bounty Hunters // Story: Star Wars: The Great War // by ShootingStar25 //------------------------------// Courage makes heroes, but trust builds friendship. Recap: The death toll rises! As the battles intensify and threaten a growing number of Republic worlds, planets are left to survive on their own while the Jedi struggle to fight a war on many fronts. A series of medical stations have been established as a lifeline for those in need, but the facilities are easy prey for Separatist attacks. After losing contact with the medical station orbiting Felucia, Obi-wan Kenobi, Storm, Twilight Sparkle, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano are sent to investigate. A Jedi shuttle emerged from hyperspace carrying our heroes. They were returning to Felucia to discover what happened with the missing station. Their ship was currently heading towards the planet as Anakin was driving them. "That's Felucia, dead ahead," said Skywalker. "So this is where you guys had to retreat, and Ahsoka got in trouble," stated Storm. "You know you don't have to bring that up," said the Padawan as she didn't like being reminded of being punished by her friend's masters for her incident of not listening to her superiors. "But where's the medical station?" asked Twilight as the princess didn't see it. "I don't see anything on my scanners," confirmed Ahsoka. "Wait, there's something." The girl noticed a small red dot beeping on the scanner. Turns out it was an orbital Vulture droid deployer that was in front of them. It was orbiting the planet to scout and take out any foes that might arrive. It opened up as vulture droids began to pop out and head for the shuttle. "Vulture droids," scowled Ahsoka. "Hang on!" shouted Anakin as he began to do so evasive maneuvers. The droids were now chasing after the shuttle as Anakin was using his pilot skills to dodge and weave the shots being fired at them. "I guess we know what happened to the medical station," said Obi-wan looking out the window. Their ship was then hit as a small explosion was shown. It hit the engines as the shuttle was now going down towards the planet. "That's not good," shouted Obi-wan as the whole ship was rocking. "So much for relying on Anakin's pilot skills!" shouted Storm as his friend glared at him for making that insult. "They took out the plasma conduit," informed Ahsoka. The shuttle entered the planet's orbit as it was descending past the clouds above and heading straight for the ground. "You thinkin' what I'm thinking?" shouted Anakin to his pals. "Almost certainly not!" shouted Obi-wan to his friend. "That you suck at flying!!" responded Storm. "That I agree to!" said Kenobi as he agreed with his pal on that statement about his student. "Shut up!" said Anakin as he and everybody else put on their oxygen masks as alarms went off. "Looks like we're doing this the hard way. Starting ejection sequence." "You know Storm's right. How come every time you fly, we crash?" asked Ahsoka to her teacher. "It's not my fault. It's the ship!!" shouted Anakin as he didn't like that everyone was against him saying it was his fault for always having crash landings. "Ready to eject," said Twilight as everybody had their hands on the side handle of their chairs as they were seconds from colliding with a rock. "Wait..." said Anakin as they had to time it just right, "now!" Everyone pulled their handle as the ship opened up its top. All of them were ejected from their seats as they then transformed into survival pods. Their shuttle crashed into the tall rock formation as the pods began to fall and bounce between the trees. "He always... blames... the ship..." said Ahsoka in between bounces. Soon the bouncing came to a stop as all five pods landed on the ground within a few meters of each other. They opened up as all of them let out a small cough. "Ah. You all right there, Master?" "I'm fine, Anakin," said Kenobi as he glared at his student. "Where on Felucia do you think we are?" asked Ahsoka as she emerged from her pod. "I'm not sure," said Obi-wan as they were walking and looking at their surroundings but couldn't determine their location. As the five Jedi walked along a path, a growling noise was heard. "What was that noise?!" asked Twilight, a bit frightened. "Oh. I don't like the sound of that," said Ahsoka. "And I don't like the look of that," stated Anakin as he pointed in front of them. Walking in front of the group were huge monsters that were walking bipedal style as they looked around. "What the hell are those things?" asked Storm. "They're jungle rancor. An enormous subspecies of the reptilian, semi-sentient rancor species native to the planet Felucia. They defined shells and proportions resembling that of a turtle, with larger heads relative to the rest of their bodies." said Twilight as she informed her partner and the group about them from the books she read in the archives. "We don't want to scare 'em," said Anakin as everyone stood still as they passed by. "We can't just wander around aimlessly. We need a plan," said Obi-wan as the creature left. "You always taught me to go on instinct, and my instincts tell me to go that way," said Anakin as he pointed in a direction. "No, that-- that doesn't seem right," said Obi-wan to his student as he stroked his beard. "He's right. Cause we go in the direction where there are the most resources. That way there's bound to be someone who lives there and can help us. So we go this way." shouted Storm as pointed in another direction. "That would work, Storm. If Luna was here, but she's not. So we go this way." argued Anakin to his plan. "And the day you actually input Obi-wan teachings in the field is the day, I leave the Jedi Order. So I'm right. We go this way!" countered the boy as he glared at his friend. "You're both wrong. Besides, I think we should go this way," said Obi-wan in a calm voice as he pointed in a different direction altogether than his friends. "I don't know why I even bother asking for you two's opinions? You guys never do things my way!" shouted Anakin. "Cause your way gets us in more shit than we already are!" yelled Storm. "We crashed the ship your way," said Kenobi to drive home the point made by Storm. "Very funny. I see your sense of humor survived the landing," said Anakin with a glare at his master. "That's about the only thing," snickered the Jedi Master. At that moment, all three lost it as they began to shout and scream over each other trying to see who was right. Since they first started to yell, the girls had been watching this argument between the trio. Eventually, the shouting got loud as the girls covered their ears with Twilight doing a facepalm. "Boys," groaned Twilight at how immature the three of them were acting. "Uh, if you three are done arguing, I think there's some smoke on the horizon," said Ahsoka as she pointed in the direction that she and Twilight noticed while the boys were fighting. "Which means people-- and a way to get off this planet." The girls then walked in between the boys as they looked at each other before following them. The group was now following the path that would lead in the direction of the smoke as they hoped it could give them something to get potentially leave. It wasn't long as soon the five saw something. "Looks there's a village," stated Twilight ahead of them. "Maybe they have a ship we can... borrow," said Anakin. "You mean steal," corrected Storm with a smile. "Same thing," said Anakin returning the gesture of his pal. The quintet came to the village entrance as they passed the overhead. They walked in, and upon first glance, it was a nysillin spice farm. "Hmm. They're growing healing herbs," said Ahsoka. "Not exactly," said Twilight as she knew what the crops were, but was too busy jotting down notes in her personal notebook to inform the group what they were. "Nysillin, I believe, one of the most valuable crops in the galaxy," stated Obi-wan. "I can only imagine how much these would fetch," said Storm as he looked at the crops. "This place looks deserted," said Ahsoka. "I don't believe it is," said Kenobi as they all stopped to ponder. "The crops are ready to be harvested. Tools are lying about. No, something's amiss." "Well, there's one thing I learned where I grew up. If you want to know what a farmer's up to, look in their barn," said Anakin as they all walked to where the building was located. The Jedi Knight pushed a button as the garage door opened. It revealed a ship inside, however, it wasn't a ship that typically farmers would have or use. "This is an odd ship for farmers," said Storm looking at the vehicle. "Perhaps someone's here to pick up the sillim," said Obi-wan. "I still don't get it. Where is everyone?" asked Ahsoka. The five of them then continued to check out the village. They soon split with Ahsoka going with Anakin, Twilight with Storm, and Obi-wan going by himself. The Jedi Knight and Padawan climbed small stairs to enter a home as they took in the small living furniture that was inside. They had their lightsabers in their hands, on standby. The pair looked around as Anakin heard a sound. He noticed a small cellar hatch on the floor as he bent down and opened it. Inside were Felucian farmers and their families who saw the Jedi and were up against the wall as they were scared of them. "Mystery solved," said the Jedi Knight. "They're terrified," said Ahsoka with sympathy in their voices. "It's okay. We won't hurt you." Behind the girl there was a blaster pointed at her head. "Kindly drop your weapons, Jedi," said a bounty hunter as she was accompanied by three others. The bounty hunter who had her blaster pointed at the Padawan was a female Zabrak bounty hunter. Another was a Kyuzo male bounty hunter. the third one was a female Frenk. And the last bounty hunter appeared wearing a suit of armor. "Take it easy, Snips," said Anakin trying to get Ahsoka to not jump into action. "We don't want any trouble." The Kyuzo male bounty hunter heard the Jedi Knight's response as he spoke in an alien language. "It's not always about the numbers," said Anakin as he understood what the bounty hunter said. "Four on one is hardly a fair fight, even for a Jedi," said the female Frenk. "Wait a minute. Four on one? You mean four on two." corrected Ahsoka with a smile. "We don't count you, knee-high," said the suit of armor. "Do you count us?" asked Obi-wan as he along with Twilight and Storm appeared, climbing the stairway with their lightsabers turned on. "Four on four, seems fair," said Storm. "You mean five on four," said Ahsoka. "Sorry, Ahsoka. You don't count. You're still a Padawan." stated Storm. "I never get respect," mumbled the girl to herself before turning her lightsaber on as did the others. The bounty hunters now all pointed their weapons at our heroes as both sides were standing their ground. Each side waiting to see who would make the first move. The tension was high as it could be cut with a butter knife. Soon a voice was heard. "Stop! Don't harm them!" shouted a male Felucian who was the leader of the village. He rushed up the stairs as he saw the conflict between the two sides. "Can't you see these are Jedi? We are saved!" "Saved?" said Ahsoka to the male Felucian with a confused tone. "What do you mean?" stated Twilight hoping for some clarification. "Need I remind you, Casiss, you already made a deal with us?" said the female Zabrak bounty hunter to the village leader. "But with the Jedi's help--" "Excuse me," said Ahsoka cutting off Casiss, "but help you with what?" "Pirates," said Casiss. It was nighttime as the homes of the Felucian were lit up. Inside one of the homes were our heroes and the bounty hunters. After a brief introduction, the two groups sat at a table and listened. Anakin was leaning against a wall away with his arms crossed as he was away from the table. One of the bounty hunters also was nearby the Jedi Knight as it stood up watching the conversation go down. "Simply stated, if we don't give the pirates a portion of our crop, they will destroy our homes, with us in them," said Casiss to Obi-wan. "Hm. I see your dilemma," said the Jedi Master. "Sillim farming is a merger trade. Without our herbs to sell, we will have no money for food, fuel, or equipment," said Casiss. "And yet you can afford to pay mercenaries?" stated Obi-wan trying to prove a point. "These bounty hunters drive a far more reasonable bargain than the pirates," responded the village leader. "Why not just fight them yourselves?" stated Anakin. "Easy for you, perhaps. But look at us. We are farmers, not warriors. Even with the bounty hunters' help, I had feared the worst. But now there-- there are nine of you!" said Casiss as he looked at our heroes and bounty hunters. "What do you want, Jedi?" asked the female Zabrak bounty hunter named Sugi. "We need a ship. Ours is beyond repair, I'm afraid," said Obi-wan. "The one in the barn, that'll do," stated Storm as the boy was sitting on the opposite wall with his arm resting on his knee. "That's our ride," scoffed the bounty hunter, "it doesn't go anywhere without us. And right now, we're busy." "Busy extorting farmers?" countered Kenobi. "I don't hear you offering help," countered Sugi. "Unfortunately, we couldn't help even if we wanted to," responded the Jedi Master while looking at the village leader. "What?!" said Ahsoka as she was shocked to hear that answer. The five Jedi were outside as they were discussing. "Master, these farmers are in trouble. Why can't we help them?" said Ahsoka as her back was turned to the boys, and she had a scowl on her face with her arms crossed. "Believe me, Ahsoka, I would like nothing more. However, we need to report that the medical station has been destroyed. If we stay too long, the Separatists will show up looking for us here." said the Jedi Master. "But--" said the girl. "Better they get robbed by pirates than attract the interest of General Grievous and his horde," stated Kenobi to the Padawan. "As messed up as it sounds, Obi-wan's right, Ahsoka," said Storm. "Twilight?" asked the padawan to her friend for some backup. "Sorry," said the princess as he saw the logic of Master Kenobi. "Pirates! Pirates! Pirates!" shouted a voice that got the attention of our heroes. "The pirates are coming back!" shouted a kid. The bounty hunters emerged from the house behind the Jedi. Coming over the hill and down the path were some speeders. They soon entered the village, and they stopped in front of the fire as our heroes saw them. The identities of the pirates were Weequay males. The thing is they looked familiar to the three boys as they could only belong to one person. "That's far enough. I speak for the people of this village. State your name and business." spoke Sugi. "My name is my own business," replied one of the pirates. "And my business is taking what's ours." "There is nothing here that's yours unless you're here to buy it." said the bounty hunter. "Buy it?" spoke a voice as it was followed by a laugh. The person approaching them was the pirate leader. "You got to be shitting me!!" shouted Storm as he saw who the leader was. "Kenobi, Skywalker, Storm, I can't believe you came all the way to see me." "Hondo," said all three boys giving a glance at each other. "You know each other?" asked the bounty hunter to the Jedi males. "Of course we do!" stated Hondo with glee. "Tell them how far back we go, Kenobi." "Too far, I'm afraid," stated the Jedi Master. "Ha ha! And here I thought we were friends," said the pirate leader putting his hand on his shoulder. "We are not friends!" shouted Storm as the pirate looked at him. Hondo looked at Storm as he was reminded of the teen and the rebellious nature that he admired. He looked to the boy's side as standing there was Twilight. For the pirate leader was expecting the Jedi Knight to have Sunset by his side but was shocked to see another girl present as he smiled. "If you're truly interested in friendship, Hondo, might I suggest you stop threatening these farmers?" stated Kenobi as he removed Hondo's hand from his shoulder. "Threatening them? Oh! Please tell me you have not been listening to this bounty-hunting scum." said Hondo. "Scum? We're just here to help them protect what's theirs," said the female bounty hunter. "Oh, come, come, my dear. How much are they paying you? Bup, bup, bup! Does not matter. Whatever it is, I will double it, and all you have to do to earn it is... step aside." said Hondo. "We. Don't. Break. Deals." said the bounty hunter putting her hands on Hondo. That got Hondo's crew to pull out their guns as did the rest of the bounty hunters. Both sides were now having a standoff waiting for the slight moment to fire. "Steady, everyone," said Obi-wan putting his arms out to calm everyone. "What is your stake anyway, Kenobi?" asked Hondo. "All we want is a ride to the nearest Republic outpost, and I'm willing to pay you handsomely for it, twice what you could make selling this crop." "Well, um, how do you plan to pay me?" asked the pirate. "A funds transfer when we arrive," said the Jedi Master. "Republic credit? We've been over this before, Kenobi. My associates don't accept that currency." said Hondo. "Then how about something else?" stated Storm as he got the attention of the pirate. "If you don't want credit, then about a gem?" "Gem? And where do you plan to get one?" asked the pirate. "Well... it so happens my partner here is a princess. Which you know what that means." "Storm?!!!" yelled Twilight. "Why did you say that?!!" "Cause you're filthy rich, Sparky! So how about tossing us a bone here and helping the farmers!" shouted the boy. "A princess? I see you're moving up in the galaxy by having a princess as your girlfriend instead of the evil Sith girl," said Hondo. "She's not my girlfriend!/I'm not his girlfriend!" shouted both teens in unison to the pirate leader. "Anyways, fork it over, your highness." "What makes you think I got some?" asked Twilight. "You still got that pouch stashed away on you?" "How... How do you know that?" said Twilight as the piece of info she didn't tell her partner. "You don't want to know. So... cough it up," demanded Storm. "Never!" said Twilight turning her head and crossing her arms. She then looked at Storm as the boy was approaching her. "No! No! Storm... get away..." "Come here, princess!" shouted the boy as he pounced on his partner. The pair created a struggle cloud as their heads popped in and out every few seconds. The struggle cloud rolled back and forth as everyone was seeing the two teens wrestle for the small bag that the princess had. "Storm! Let me go! Watch where you're putting your hands!" said the girl as she screamed. The cloud soon ended as Storm had the small bag in his hand as Twilight was on the ground. "Alright, let's see what you got." The boy opened it up as he began to dig into the contents of his partner's personal belongings. Safe to say, Storm could feel the credits that Twilight had in case of emergency, but he was looking for something else. He then found something as he pulled out a sapphire stone. "This'll work," smiled the Jedi Knight. For Twilight, that was the most prized gem that was given to her by her family when she left her homeworld to start her Jedi training. So seeing that it would be given to pirates made the girl anxious. "No! Not that one!" shouted Twilight trying to reach for the gem as Storm had his hand on her face as he held her off from an arm's distance. "Shut up, Sparky! This is for the greater good," said the boy as he turned to Hondo. "Tempting. Tempting. However, no dice." said Hondo as it took all his willpower to say no to such a nice and flawless gem. But he had his priorities straight as he was determined to get the crop he desired. "Oh, come on!" yelled Storm. Twilight then snatched the gem from her partner's hand and her small bag. She had an angry look on her face as she glared at the boy. She then put the gem back inside her Jedi robes before addressing him once more. "Don't you ever do that again! Let alone put your hands on me!" growled Twilight. "Then you should've just handed it over to me, instead of being stubborn, your highness," mocked Storm as he was butting heads with his partner. "Make sure the Sith girl isn't jealous for cheating on her," said Hondo. "Shut the hell up!!!" yelled both Twilight and Storm in unison as they glared at the pirate leader for making that comment. "I'm offering a deal that benefits us all, Hondo," said Kenobi getting everybody back on track and trying once more to get the pirate to accept his deal. "Don't let your greed blind you to that fact." "You know I like you, Kenobi, as well as the boy and his complicated love life." "Alright, what's stopping me from kicking your ass!?!!" shouted Storm as he didn't like that the pirate leader kept making those comments. "But, um, no one leaves this planet until I get my sillim." "Then I hope you enjoy it here because you'll be staying a long time, parasite!" said the female bounty hunter to Hondo. "You know, this crop has not been harvested. You better hurry, old man, before things start to, uh, die on you?" mocked Hondo to Casiss. The pirate leader then turned to leave as he looked at our heroes and the bounty hunters. They soon left as the whole situation got a whole lot worst. Sometime later, the Jedi and bounty hunters were gathered in one of the homes to discuss what went down. "When the attack comes, it will come from two fronts-- the forest to the south and the ridge to the north," said Obi-wan as he pointed to a hologram map of the village and terrain. "Whatever you do, you must defend from both sides." "But there are only four of them. How can four bounty hunters defend against so many?" said a male Felucian wearing goggles. The Kyuzo male bounty hunter spoke in his alien tongue. "The farmers are right. These bounty hunters don't stand a chance." "We've been over this, Anakin," said Kenobi to his student in a soft tone. "You seem to lack confidence in our abilities, young Jedi," spoke Sugi. "I'm sure you're good at what you do, but you are in way too deep," spoke Anakin. "Said the peacekeeper who fails to keep the peace," snickered the bounty hunter while looking at all five Jedi. "At least we're trying to restore order, which is more than you're doing other than sitting on your ass all day long," said Storm as he took offense to anybody who blamed the Jedi for the war starting in the first place. "Settle down, Storm," said the Jedi Master before turning to address the bounty hunter. "The rift in the galaxy is not our fault. If more worlds would stand up for themselves against the Separatists, this war would have been over long ago." "That's it! We'll just train the villages to defend themselves," said Anakin as he got an idea. "But we are just simple farmers. Why are we paying bounty hunters to defend us if we are just going to end up doing it ourselves?" asked the male Felucian from before. "Hush, Dilanni," said Casiss to his friend. "Trust me. We'll have you ready," stated Anakin. The group soon disbursed for the night as they had tons of things to do in the morning. Storm had taken a step out of the temporary room he was staying in as he needed some fresh air. He took a deep breath as he gazed up at the night sky. "Storm?" said a voice. The boy turned to see it belonged to Twilight as the princess had noticed him leave. "Sorry, to wake you, Sparky. I just... wanted to clear my head before we get to work in the morning." "You really believe in Anakin's plan to train the farmers to defend themselves?" asked the girl. "It's the only hope we have left. And you know our duty as Jedi, we can't let millions of innocents die on our watch," said the boy. "We can only hope that what we teach them will be enough for them to survive," said Twilight as she too looked out to the sky as a small breeze picked up and blew the girl's hair as it fluttered a bit. "Say... you remember during the whole Blue Shadow Virus incident. And how I asked you if you found my journal when you guys retrieved us?" "Yeah, what about it?" said the boy with a raised eyebrow. "Remember how you answered that you didn't read it. Did you?" "Of course not, Sparky. Why? What I suppose to?!!" "No... I just... wanted to confirm my suspicions is all," said the princess before looking away. The morning came as the sun rose over Felucia. The farmers were hard at work as they had gotten up early to harvest the crops. They were now moving the stuff into the barn as Obi-wan and the leader of the bounty hunters were directing the villagers. "Put it in the barn, every bushel," said Sugi directing traffic. Some of the farmers now gathered near an area where Anakin and Storm were waiting. Behind them leaning against a pillar was the Kyuzo male bounty hunter as he was looking to see what the Jedi would do. "All right, everyone, form up," said Anakin. The villagers all stood there in confusion as they didn't know what the Jedi Knight meant. "Divide into rows of five," clarified Storm. Even then, the farmers were still a bit confused as they did what was asked. Both friends shook their heads at how unorganized the villagers were. "I told you, we are not soldiers. We don't even have weapons," said Dilanni. "May I?" asked Anakin, approaching one of the villagers as he extended his hand out for the spear in its hand. The villager gave the Jedi Knight the spear as Anakin held it. He stepped back as he began to toss it between his hands. He then started to spin it around with ease, around his body, and lunged forward before pulling back and taking a pose. "Yup, these'll do," smiled the Jedi Knight. "No kidding," said Storm. He too grabbed another spear as he began to show off his moves using the weapon. He now added some extra stuff as he managed to outdo Anakin as he planted his spear into the ground and leaped onto the end of it while balancing with one foot. A little applause was earned for the boy as the villagers were impressed. Anakin merely knocked the stick as Storm fell hard to the ground. The boy sat up to look at his friend as he smirked. Soon Storm grabbed his spear and swept his pal off his feet as payback. Eventually, the two began to spar with one another as a small fight broke out. With Obi-wan, he was walking and talking with the female bounty hunter. "What happens if you need the barn as a fall-back position?" asked the Jedi Master. "With all the sillim here, it'll be difficult to squeeze the farmers in." "There's room," said Sugi without hesitation. "I worry that you care more about the safety of the sillim than you do for the safety of the villagers," said Kenobi. "You think I'm only worried about my profit, is that it?" said the bounty hunter. "The thought had crossed my mind." "So in your mind, I'm just like any other pirate." "Am I wrong?" asked Obi-wan. "Not entirely," chuckled the bounty hunter. "But it is easier to protect the villages and the sillim if they're both in the same place." "Then might I suggest--" "You might suggest anything you like, General Kenobi, but I know what I'm doing, and I will keep these people safe-- my way." Sugi then left as Obi-wan held a look. With the girls, they were a few meters out of the village along with a few of the villagers. They had some slingshots in their hands as they were teaching them how to use them. While the girls were instructing the small group, the armored bounty hunter was nearby as he pulled out a buzzsaw in its arm. He was starting to cut a fungus as it leaned, and he began to hold it up. "Seripas! It's too heavy!" shouted Ahsoka as the girls noticed the danger the bounty hunter was in. Just as he was about to be crushed, both girls ran and tackled the armored bounty hunter out of the way as the fungus fell. The girls were getting to their feet as they noticed the suit of armor starting to squeak. Soon a hiss of air was heard. "Seripas?" said Twilight as she and Ahsoka nervously approached the bounty hunter. The head of the suit of armor popped open as a creature was shown which he quickly hide back in. "Don't look," said the creature. Turns out the bounty hunter was a diminutive Ssori male who was rather small. "I-I'm having a suit malfunction," said Seripas in a nervous tone as he began to quickly get his suit back on its feet and avoid further embarrassment in front of the girls. The suit managed to sit up as the creature looked at the Jedi. "Not very intimidating, am I?" sighed Seripas. "You don't have to look tough to be tough," said Ahsoka bending to a knee. "True courage comes from within, not some suit. You just got to find it and believe in it," said Twilight as the princess smiled. Seripas smiled at the girls as he made his suit stand up. The helmet came down and closed the hatch as the suit came back online. "I thank you both for your help," said Seripas in a robotic voice. He then left as the girls smiled and returned to teaching the group. With the boys, they were still training the villages with spears as they would make any adjustments to some of their stances while keeping up the routine. Both Jedi Knights did a thrust forward as the villagers copied them. One of them let go of their spear when they did the stance as both Jedi moved to the side. The spear kept on flying as it was grabbed by the male Kyuzo bounty hunter. Another villager fell when he did the stance as the bounty hunter laughed and spoke. "The bounty hunter is right. Every minute you two waste teaching us to twirl these stupid poles is time you could've spent beating those pirates yourself," said Dilanni as he kicked his spear. "And what good would that do you?!" shouted Obi-wan as he made his presence known. "Another band of brigands would inevitably come along. Or do you intend to give away part of your crop every harvest season?" "If you make us do this, there won't be another harvest season!" stated Dilanni as he walked away. The rest of the villagers just looked at each other after seeing one of them take off. "All right, everyone, get back in position," said Anakin. "Let's continue," said Storm as he began to run through the exercises once more. Sometime later, the villagers had improved from the training they were receiving from the male Jedi. Obi-wan walked in between the lines to get a closer look as they kept on doing the stances. One of the villagers was a bit wobbling as the Jedi Master approached him and adjusted his stance as he now had a better time. "Well, what have we here?" said a voice as it belonged to a scout sent by Hondo to spy on the village. "Getting ready for a fight, are we?" The female bounty hunter noticed a shine out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw the scout lying on the ridge as he too saw that she noticed him. He then quickly got up as he looked to escape. "There, a scout!" shouted Sugi as that got the attention of everyone. "Embo!" The Kyuzo bounty hunter now leaped into action as he began to chase after the scout. The pirate had made it to his speeder as he was starting it up when Embo was running towards him as he fired his weapon. His shot hit the engine of the speeder as the pirate quickly got off as an explosion occurred. The scout was on the floor reaching for his blaster and stood up to fire at Embo. The bounty hunter dodged the shots as he lowered his head so that his hat took the shots while he charged forward. Embo leaped into the air as the shots continued to hit his hat as he spun and landed. He then charged forward as he grabbed the weapon of the scout. He kicked the scout away as he tossed the weapon away. The pirate went for a punch to which Embo grabbed his arm and then proceeded to lock him into a chokehold as the scout struggled to get out, gasping for air. Soon a snapping sound was heard as the pirate fell to the floor. At that moment, our heroes and bounty hunter all caught up with Embo. "Quick work," said Anakin as he was impressed. Embo turned and spoke to the group. "Yes, but when this scout fails to report to Hondo, he'll be coming-- soon," said Obi-wan. In another part of the forest, the pirates and Hondo were all relaxing. The pirate leader was currently playing a game when one of his men approached him. "The scout has not checked in from the village. He's long overdue." "Well, well, well. So it looks like the Jedi are getting involved, doesn't it? Or at least we now know we can't take these villagers for granted." said Hondo as he stood up and waved his hand to signal. "But you know what I always say-- speak softly and drive a big tank." said the pirate as he had his tank appeared next to him. At that moment, our heroes and the bounty hunters were getting the last preparations as the fight was moments away. "The farmers are in position," said Anakin. "Well, the ones that stuck around, at least," clarified Storm. "Very well, Storm. Anakin, turn on the fence," instructed Obi-wan. The Jedi Knight had a remote device in his hand as he pushed a button and a field of lasers appeared behind them. It surrounded the whole village as at that second, the pirates appeared on top of the hill. "Battle positions, everyone!" shouted Sugi. The Jedi turned on their lightsabers as the villagers picked up their spears. Embo and the female bounty hunter raced forward as the pirates entered the village. Embo managed to run to the speeders as he kicked one of them off his ride and hijacked another one. He aimed and took out the pirate in front of him before his weapon was shot out of his hand by the others behind him. He then lead some of them around a hut as another wave went the opposite way. The pirates that went the opposite direction were attacked by the farmers as they took them off their bikes. With Embo, he tossed the rider he was holding into the fence as he began to ride the bike. He was leading them to the outskirts of the village where the girls, Seripas, and the farmers with slingshots were positioned. The girls were on the road as they were deflecting blasts while running. Seripas cut down a fungus as they fell and took out the pirates riding on the bikes as they collided and exploded. The pirate that avoided the fungus turned around and began to fire at Seripas as the shots were going through his armor. He soon ejected from the suit as it was destroyed and landed on the pirate's head. He began to hit him with his own weapon on the head as he then slammed on the brakes. The bike stopped, and the pirate went flying and crashed into another fungus tree. Embo had jumped up from his bike and tossed his hat as it hit the riders behind them. On top of a ridge, there were shots heard. It was none other than Hondo who was operating his tank as he began to rain down on the village as he laughed. He fired a shot as Embo saw it heading for him. He ran and barely missed the shot as he was thrown onto the ground. "Embo!" shouted Anakin. "Embo, can you hear me?" said the bounty hunter leader. He merely gave a painful moan. "You'll be alright. We'll get you inside." Another shot was fired as it landed near the Jedi and the bounty hunters. "Everyone, fall back to the barn!" shouted Obi-wan to the farmers. "That tank is going to tear the villagers apart," said Sugi. The villages were following the Jedi Master's orders as Anakin and Storm provided them some cover by distracting the tank as targets. "Get him inside. We'll hold them off as long as he can," said Sugi to a farmer as she handed Embo to him to look after. "Die, Jedi scum!" shouted Hondo. Anakin had leaped high into the air as he landed on the tank the pirate was operating. The tank moved a bit as Hondo grabbed an electrostaff as he began to duel with the Jedi Knight. While the pirate and the Jedi duked it out, Hondo's little pet got in the driver seat and began to operate the tank. It moved the cannon and fired as it hit one of the homes as Anakin saw it. The Jedi Knight stabbed his lightsaber downwards as the creature moved out of the way from fear. He then quickly blocked some swings from Hondo as they went back to fighting. On top of a roof was the female Frenk bounty hunter sniping at the foes. She used her IQA-11 sniper rifle to take out a passing bounty hunter as she shot him. He fell to the ground as the farmers nearby began to beat up the pirate unaware he was already taken care of. Anakin and Hondo were still dueling each other as the pirate was surprisingly holding his own against the highly skilled Jedi Knight. Hondo's pet got back in the seat as he saw where the cannon was pointed and clicked the button with his foot. The cannon shot and it was heading to the Frenk bounty hunter. She saw this as she looked to get out of the way but was too late. She fell to the ground as she didn't move. "No!" shouted Sugi seeing her comrade be taken out. "Sugi, watch your flank!" shouted Obi-wan. He and Storm managed to deflect a wide array of shots that were aimed at her. The two Jedi spun their lightsabers quickly in a circle as the rate they were spinning created a small shield to form. A bike was heading to the trio as Obi-wan blocked a blast and then put his hand out as he managed to use the Force to flip them over their heads. The pirates landed as they rubbed their heads to which they saw Sugi standing above them before she shot them without mercy. With Anakin, he was still trying to subdue Hondo. It didn't help that Hondo's creature was moving the tank about as it made the Jedi Knight be off-balance not having a stable ground under him. Hondo took advantage of this as he swept the Jedi Knight as Anakin fell. He looked to attack the boy as the Jedi Knight used his foot to hold the staff in place and shove the pirate back. He immediately flipped back as Hondo quickly went for a downward slash. Hondo's little creature snuck out of the driver seat as it crawled near the feet of the two fighters. It bit Anakin in the leg as he blocked an attack from Hondo. The Jedi Knight felt the pain as he was losing control of the fight. He pushed back the electrostaff as he then tried to flick the creature off his leg. "Get off of me," said Anakin as he managed to send the creature flying as it sailed past Hondo's head as the pirate stepped to the side to avoid getting hit. He went for another wide attack as Anakin flipped back and landed on the ground. "Your situation is hopeless, Skywalker," said Hondo. His little creature appeared once more as it ran and latched itself on the Jedi Knight's face as he couldn't see. Down in the village below, Storm, Obi-wan, and Sugi were holding off the pirates that were shooting at them. A bike was zooming behind the trio as they were unaware that the pirates were seconds from firing their blasters. Out of nowhere, there was a spear that hit the driver of the bike as it flung him and his partner onto the ground near the Jedi's feet as they saw them. All three then saw the person grab the spear as it was none other than Dilanni. "Welcome back, Dilanni," smiled Storm to the farmer for finding the courage to fight back and stand up. "Are you all right?" asked Kenobi. "Fine," said the farmer. Anakin was still dealing with Hondo and his little creature. It bit him again as he had enough of it. He grabbed the creature by its throat and tossed it into the air. The Jedi Knight looked to slice the thing in half as it was coming down. He would have done that if Hondo didn't intercept the attack with his electrostaff as he managed to save his pet. Once more, the two engaged as Anakin soon did a double leg takedown using his back as he charged. Hondo tumbled as he was now hanging onto the ledge with Anakin standing over him. His crew who were still dealing with the rest of Anakin's pals saw their captain dangling for his life. "The captain! Let's go!" shouted a pirate as he got the attention of the rest of the men. They all rushed to help their leader as they left the village in retreat. "The day is won!" said Casiss as he and the villagers began to cheer for their victory. "Help me!" said Hondo to Anakin. Anakin merely glared at the pirate as the tank's cannon was slowly being commanded by the pirate's pet. It managed to get it behind the Jedi Knight as he was unaware of it. "Skywalker... let me call off my men," said Hondo extending his hand out. Anakin turned off his lightsaber and bent down to help the pirate up. Once he was safely up, Hondo shoved the Jedi Knight as Anakin turned around to see the cannon in his face. The creature fired the button as the Jedi leaped out of its way. He flipped backward and tucked into a ball as he landed down to where his pals were as they all looked up. "This effort... is no longer... profitable!" shouted Hondo as he turned to get away. His ship was shown behind him hovering as he soon got on and zoomed away. Sometime later, the Jedi and bounty hunters were all gathered together. They were watching Casiss address his people. "There are crops to harvest, fields to till, huts to rebuild. Now let's get to work," said Casiss. The farmers then left to begin their tasks as Casiss turned around to address the group. "How can I ever thank you for saving our village?" "We didn't save your village, Casiss. Your people did," replied Anakin. "For the first time in my memory, my people don't have to be afraid. We will never forget you," said Casiss as he bowed to show respect and thanks to the group before he left. "I seem to find myself light on company. Still need that ride back to the Republic outpost?" smirked Sugi to Kenobi. "If it wouldn't be any inconvenience," responded the Jedi Master. "On the contrary, it would be my pleasure," replied the bounty hunter. The whole group turned as they began to board the ship.