Captured!

Narmu was in trouble and he knew it was deep. His right eye was crusted shut, he felt his lekku had blood still dripping down onto a rather alarming puddle. The bloodied Twi'lek was not aware how long he had been in this position, his wrists were numb from the vibro shackles that held him suspended, the tips of his feet sliding across the all too familiar Tatooine sand. The edge of his vision was once again turning black, he knew that soon he would once again slip unconsciousness. Narmu tried his best to stay awake, vainly trying to call out in protest to his predicament. All that came out of his mouth was more blood. Had he had a voice he would have cried out in agony, at least 3 ribs were cracked on his left side, and he felt that maybe one or two were broken on his right. Breathing was no becoming harder and harder as Narmu tensed up. "Relax." he told himself, if not he was going to be done for sure! The pain however was lighting up every single nerve ending on his body, he tried to focus on what had happend to him before, and how he got himself in this bind, but it was too late...he slipped back into darkness, just before though he had heard a slight muffle from behind him...

Hours passed, or were they minutes? Could have been days, Narmu did not know. What he did know was that he was still being held in vibro shackles and still probably going to die very soon. This time he quickly tried to review what had brought him up to this point. Narmu had taken a job for Jabba the Hutt that had pulled him away from his new friends on Talus. A smuggler that for the moment seemed to be in Jabba’s good graces had been taken by a bounty hunter and was being held captive only to be freed by the highest bidder. This smuggler knew many of Jabba’s contracts within the Outer Rim; this knowledge could be used against Jabba in many ways. Lady Valarian, Jabba’s chief rival on Tatooine always looking for an opportunity to gain the upper hand in their struggle had shown great interest in gaining the services of this smuggler. Narmu’s head spun as he remembered Bib Fortuna’s briefing. The mark’s name was Jafee Kyn, a Rodian notorious for double crossing. Narmu had never met him, but he remembered Fett talking about him. The poor smuggler who Bib really didn’t care if he lived or died went by the name of Kitster.

Narmu had left Jabba’s Palace late in the afternoon. He usually liked to reach his mark just as the suns set. He had deployed a seeker droid shortly after he spoke with Bib and had set off to have a drink in Wayfar when he received a beep on his comlink, the droid had found the mark. Checking his datapad’s world map he saw that he indeed had quite a trek ahead of him. East past the Dune Sea and with Jabba not having any skiffs available he would have to run the deep desert at night. Cursing his bad fortune and desperately wishing he was back on Talus running patrol with Kava. He had become so used to his new home that the harsh condition of his homeworld had still bothered him. Still though, he did admire the twin suns as they set, wishing he could have been with someone to share this moment with. After running for almost an hour he was tired, luckily he did not have to traverse the mountains that bordered the Dune Sea, still, fatigue was starting to set in. He decided to set up camp. Once he got the fire going he sat down and pulled out some field rations. His mind as usual drifted into deep thought as he looked up to the stars, trying to find Talus. How the small moon has become so close to him is such a small amount of time. The Trading Company had taken him in as one of theirs. Narmu had participated in many activities, most recently the wedding of Utherr and Aady. A smile came to his face as he remembered the wonderful time he had, dancing with Khethria and… talking with Kava…

The winds shifted just then and he picked up an odd sensation as it blew the camp’s terminal over, he was not alone. Quickly he extinguished the fire, wondering if he was foolish for lighting it in the first place. He drew his Scatter Pistol and left the camp, heading out cautiously towards a dune not to far off from his position. Narmu had almost forgotten that there was not much to take cover in the desert, but it did not matter. As he took as his electro-binoculars he scanned the area. Soon enough he found what had disturbed his rest. A group of Tusken Raiders were approaching from the south. Narmu saw two by the looks of it, one riding a Bantha while the other seemed to be scouting ahead. They seemed to be speeding their pace towards him, probably saw his fire and ensuing smoke. If there was one thing Narmu had learned about Tusken Raiders it was that the best defense against them was to avoid them all together. It would make this trek longer, but he would have to do it…

Setting off from his hiding spot he decided to walk around the two Tuskens and come back around his original path once he felt he was safely away from them. After a few minutes he felt confident he had succeeded, he would soon find out he was far, far from the truth. An ear piercing screech followed by a loud thud threw Narmu to the ground. “A shock grenade?” Narmu thought. These things are so dangerously unpredictable that even the Empire banned their use. Nevertheless this banned weapon had just been used and judging by another screech it was going to be used again. Another slap and the sonic shock wave rolled him back a meter from where he had already fallen down hard. He vainly fired off quick shots towards where the screeches originated from. Now he heard something worse than a screech. A Tusken war cry. Looking up he saw five Raiders charging him from every angle. “I don’t know where you all came from, but I know some of you will regret it.” Narmu said as he stood up to run, firing at the Tusken nearest him, nailing squarely in the leg. He went down in pain but the other pressed on. Escape was not an option, and death would be welcoming him in its embrace in seconds. To his surprise though he found that something else was at work here, he heard someone shouting commands in Basic! It wasn’t even the hoarse voice of a Tusken, it sounded like…a Rodian! A gaderffi stick swept him down to the ground and soon enough the Tuskens were on him, crushing his hand until he dropped his Scatter Pistol. The last thing he saw before blackness took him again was the Rodian bounty hunter looking down on him, his snout twisted in an evil snicker..

A splash of cold water made Narmu return to the land of the living, or better off dead considering his predicament. Narmu was able to open both eyes now, and he saw the benefactor of his awakening. A sweaty old human. "Kitster, I presume..." Narmu coughed out. Breathing still hurt, his ribs were still broken. "Yeah, the one and only, I take it Jabba sent you to rescue me." he replied. *COUGH COUGH* "Not exactly, where the frell am I?" Narmu asked as Kitster poured water into his mouth. The warm water was the best he had ever drank!

"Tusken Camp, they beat ya up pretty bad too, seem to me they knew who ya were." the old smuggler said. Narmu chuckled, after years of leading raids against Fort Tusken he was sure that even the nomadic tribes of the Sand People could remember those who had fallen to him. "Where is Jafee?" he asked. "Looks like he is in co-hoots with them Raiders, not sure how they took him into their fold, but they follow his lead, albeit reluctantly at times.

Just then the door to their grimy cell opened up and two Tuskens came in holding rifles. Jafee pushed his way through them both, Narmu noted their disdain and desire to take the Rodian and tear him apart. He would definatly find a way to exploit that the first opportunity he saw. "Aaah, poor foolish Jabba, sending such a novice into the face of danger." Jafee began. "Tell me Twi'lek, whats your name?" "Whats it matter to you Jafee, I would prefer keeping the one advantage I have over you at the moment." Narmu replied with a confident smile. "Really? Well then, I guess it doesn't matter, you'll be dead before the day is done anyways. Seems like some of my friends." he motioned towards the two Tuskens in the room. "Have some vendetta against you." "As long as they allow me to get my hands on your slimy ass I wont go to my grave upset." Narmu saw that the Tuskens understood what they said, question is, would they give him his last wish.

"As for you Kitster, looks like Lady Val is gonna want to meet with you, of coarse I've got your datapads anyways, so she is still debating which she wants more. Lucky for you the datapad's price tag is higher." Jafee laughed turning back to Narmu. "Dont feel so bad Twi'lek, Fett would'nt have lasted any longer against these Tuskens than you anyways." He walked back behind the two Tuskens and commanded them to release Narmu. One of them came up to him and nailed him in the gut with the butt of his rifle, sending blood back out of Narmu's mouth. He did his best to try and breathe from his nose, but it was so full of crusted blood he nearly turned blue. With a loud thud he dropped to the moist clay, and on Tatooine moist anything on the ground wasn't really something to appealing. "Rest up there Twi'lek, I am sure the Tuskens will be here by tonight with your verdict. You should be honored, for once I see that these warriors are using some kinda code with the likes of you." With that Jafee and the two Tuskens left. Kitster helped Narmu up into a sitting position and leaned him up against the wall.

Blood began circulating back into his hands, a small comfort compared to the wave after wave of pain he felt on his ribs. "Thanks Kitster, for what its worth, I would have tried to get you outta this mess." Narmu said vainly showing hope. The old goat laughed and brought the downed bounty hunter some more water. "Right, you would have been shot down trying to wait for my old legs to keep up with ya."

The two sat in silence for what seemed like hours, Narmu could feel by the coolness in the cell that night had already fallen outside. "I wonder what's keeping them." he asked outloud. Almost as if in answer the ground shook violently. Sand falling down in streams from the cieling. Once, twice and three more times they felt the same strong tremor. "A sand quake???" Kitster asked in disbelief. Narmu knew better, in all his years of training with the Rebel Alliance he could tell what a shockwave from a thermal detonator felt like. "Help me up Kitster, this is no sand quake." Narmu said trying to lift himself up, the pain so strong his vision was almost fading to black again. "What is it? Whats going on?" the old man asked. "Two things, either our ticket out of here, or its our transport to the great beyond, one way or another, we are leaving this place soon!" Narmu said as he could already here blaster fire and Tusken rifle fire above and beyond the cell...

Explosions continued to rock the cell, while blaster fire increased. A full on battle was waging outside. To Narmu it didn't matter who it was that was attacking, the only thing that mattered was this was going to be his only chance of escaping. Kitster stood next to him, ready to support him if he fell. Adreneline was pumping through the Twi'lek's body, temporarily suspending the agonizing pain with just an occasional pinch of cracked bone to skin. "What are we going to do?" Kitster asked again more urgently. Shouts and war cries becoming louder, the situation was getting grim Narmu knew, and he did not want to be stuck in cell when he could be out there paying back Jafee for his hospitality. "We will have to wait for whatever happens out there to get closer and then we'll act!" Narmu replied, while honeslty not knowing what to do, a plan slowly trying to form in his head.

Another explosion, this one from inside the compound nearly toppled the two prisioners. When the smoke and sand cleared Narmu grinned widly. The Force was with them at this moment. The shabby door could not withstand the impact of the continuing blasts and neatly fell off it's hinges. "It won't get much closer than this, stay behind me." Narmu said making for the door cautiously. There were no Tuskens in sight. Whatever was happening topside, he knew it had taken away any nearby guards. Walking was by a sheer act of will, painful and almost unbearable, his mind focused to his task...escape! "Kitster, stay close, things are going to get real nasty any minute now."

They made their way down a long corridor, sand leaking in by the pound now, whatever this structure was, it would not fair well in the end. Once the two fugitives made it to the end of it, they saw a decent size hall. Oval shaped Narmu noticed that it was littered with various articles. Field rations, bones, torn cloth, junk, and other unmentionables. "This place reaks!" Kitster said appalled. Narmu laughed and thanked the Force his nose was still stuffed. "Look, there is another tunnel that way. Lets hurry." Narmu said. Just before they made it to the entrance Narmu picked up a gaderffi stick that was lying on the ground. Gripping it tightly. "Something is something." he thought to himself.

The battle began getting louder and louder as they walked up this other tunnel. They could see dust and smoke mixing at the exit ahead. Through that came a Tusken Raider, armed with a rifle. Narmu pushed Kitster to the side behind a pair of barrels, while he tried to screen out the pain he was feeling from his ribs. The Raider saw him and started to cry out, just as Narmu's gaderffi stick nailed it squarly in the jaw. To his detriment Narmu understood why the weapon had been discarded on the flooer. While stunning the surprised Tusken, it only threw it back a little off balance, while the stick had broken in two. "That can't be good..." Narmu said tossing the broken weapon to the ground. The Tusken no longer worried about calling for help aimed his rifle at Narmu, who ducked away in time before the projectiles could find their mark. A whip of pain had stung Narmu's body as he rolled and stood up again. His head spinning as he charged the Tusken. Narmu tackled him hard, lifting his shoulders up into the Tusken's chest hard. The two fell to the ground, immiedetly struggling for control of the rifle. The Raider pinned to the ground with both hands holding the rifle horizontally, while Narmu also had both hands on the rifle, doing his best to bring it down to the Raider's neck. Once, twice the Tusken was able to smack the weapon on the side of Narmu's head. Blood tricking down behind his ear, but the pain from that had already fallen below the one he was feeling from his ribs. He would deal with it later, survival was all that mattered now.

The Tusken now tried to roll out of his posistion, but Narmu had already locked his legs in place, leaving no hope for him to roll, or escape. Snorts and curses were flying from the Tusken's mask, knowing that it was slowly slipping towards defeat. Blaster fire could be heard now even closer, a few stray shots making its way into the tunnel. A couple looked like Ion blasts as well. Narmu pushed down harder, deciding that this moment it was all or nothing, if he was going to die, it was going to be here and now, in battle. His mind briefly, and only briefly drifted back to Talus, to those he hadn't said goodbye to, and those he would never meet if he lost this day. "Nooooooooooo.....not today!!!!!!" he cried, as he thrust finally the rifle underneath the Tusken's chin. He pushed all of his weight on the weapon now, feeling it press hard on the throat of the Tusken Raider. His azure eyes igniting in battle fury as his insticts told him he was close to a kill. The doomed Tuskens legs began to kick out in protest as blood and oxygen stopped flowing into the primitive brain of this man-beast. "Fall! Fall!" Narmu pleaded with him. And true to the laws of the universe, the Tusken snorted one last time and fell silent and very still.

Narmu was breathing heavy, and full of pain. He rolled off the dead Tusken, keeping a hold of the rifle which was now being cradled to his chest. Kitster came to him now, offering a hand to lift him back on his feet. For a second Narmu debated on just laying there and let the unconciousness that was bekoning him to return take over, but he still had to get out of here! Coughing he accepted the hand and stood up. "Thanks, lets move out, its getting a little quiet out there, and I don't like that." Narmu said. True enough when they stepped outside, the fighting was still going on, but not as fierce. Narmu and probably Kitster's jaw nearly hit the floor when they realized who had attacked, and apparently won the battle. Jawas! A Jawa raiding party had ambushed this Tusken encampment! Narmu had many dealings with the small elusive tribes of junk collectors. He respected their society with great admiration.

Tuskens were retreating and heading for the deep desert. Narmu, still gripping his newly aquired rifle scanned the area. He did not get hired to kill Tuskens, that he did for pleasure. Narmu wanted to kill, and he wanted to kill Rodian! "JAFEEE!!!! Come out of your hole!" he cried out. Jawas continued on their business, not taking any importance of the two who had just emerged, on the contrary, one or two had even waved at them happily. Kitster was busy already trying to bargain for transport back to Wayfar when Narmu heard the hum and swoosh of a swoop bike igniting. He turned towards the noise and saw a wounded Rodian slumping on the swoop. The pain that was slowly returning to his body was buried again as he ran towards him. "Not this time bub!" he smirked. Taking aim with the Tusken Rifle that he was very familar with he shot out two kick shots at the power converter on the bike. Sparks flew and it came to an abrupt stop, tossing Jafee off. Narmu approached slowly. His aim never leaving the downed bounty hunter. Sure enough the Rodian stood up and fired off a couple of shots towards his approaching doom. Narmu fired once, blasting a hole through his hand, the blaster falling to the ground as Jafee cried out in pain.

Narmu came to him, and saw that he was in pretty bad shape, by the looks of it, he had pushed his luck one too many times with the Sand People. "I guess your friends got tired of you." Narmu said chuckling earnestly. "E chu ta!" came the reply with a spit. "Looks like the only one thats going to be doing any dying tonight is you." he began, tossing the rifle a bit in the air, twisting so the chamber landed in his hands. He swung the butt and nailed the Rodian on the snout. "A job's a job, and you of all people know how it goes." Narmu said, dropping the rifle, and walking around the fallen Rodian, locking his head between his arms tightly. "Your pain is over." he whispered. With a snap, Narmu spun Jafee's head 180 degrees. Checking the corpse for the datapads Jabba wanted he smiled as he found them broken.

Kitster came to him then as he tossed the corpse onto the burning pyre the Jawas started with the remains of the Tuskens. "They will take us to the outskirts of Wayfar. And they will do it for a "fair price"." Kitster said with a laugh. "Good to know, where is the warlord that lead this assault, I wish to also help support his fight against the Sand People." Narmu asked, his ribs now reminding him again they were broken, and going to be that way unless he found time to jump into a bacta tank. "He is already heading back to the Sandcrawler, a bit disapointed there was not much to scavenge here." Kitster said solemly. Narmu laughed, some things never changed he thought. "Come on old man, lets get moving, I'm gonna have to see if they can find me some bacta patches, if not I'll be passing out again." "Want some help?" the old smuggler asked concerned.

"No, I'll be fine, lets go, the sooner I am off this rock, the sooner I will feel better." Narmu said, surprised that he would speak this way of his homeworld. Yet so much had changed since he left, and so much remained to be expierianced....

FIN

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