“Who are you?” Jinius asked. He and the Sith stared at one another. Well, Jinius stared; the other man had more of a brooding glare. The dark robed man stood in front of Jinius and unlike Jinius his hands were empty. He simply stood, intimidating, preventing his forward advance to the next platform.
The once inhabited, likely hand-built, the platform they stood on had seen better days. Gaping holes, spindling cracks, and the slight bend of warping marred the platform revealing the brown and green forest floor stories below. Where the platform had not succumbed to age, moss and lichen had overtaken like a slick, dense green and seafoam carpet under their feet.
Around them, the discarded relics of ancient wars fought among Kashyyyk’s trees decorated the platform. Dozens of sundered droid chassis covered in scaly rust laid alongside the leviathan skeletons of Wookiees. It all spoke of a great discourse, a great story etched on the memory of the planet — the Clone Wars.
Jinius was there for one, simple reason. To collect data. Specifically, he found himself on Kashyyyk to collect data on the conflict and days leading up to the rise of the Empire. With the ascent of the Emperor and the end of the Clone Wars, little information regarding the final days and hours of the Clone Wars existed. For some odd reason, leadership thought it prudent for Jinius to gather some data. Perhaps it was to help against the Collective. Jinius wasn’t really sure.
Jinius had sensed awesome the power that dwelled within planet the moment his feet touched the wooden platform. Somewhere through the decaying wood of the platform, the presence of the Force lingered in the air. He’d sensed the tainting of darkness, some from the ancient war, some from the Sith whom he now stood against. Problem was, Jinius hadn’t figured out the later part until it was too late. He had become distracted by his work and failed to recognize the hate that was creeping up on him until it was too late.
“It doesn’t matter who I am,” Andrelious answered.
Jinius had not expected that reply. Who didn’t want to brag about who they are? Sith loved bragging. Creation, I even like bragging! Jinius thought.
Andrelious stared down the hunter. He hadn’t bothered to ask who the man was, why he was here, or what he intended to do on the planet. That was all irrelevant. What was relevant was the stranger nearly stumbled upon the dig site. What they had found had to be kept secret. Andrelious reached out to the force, pooling the power at his fingertips. The energy flowed through him, coursing down his arms. Andrelious could feel the raw savagery, the intensity of pure, distilled hate. He played with it among his fingers.
In response to the aggressive stance of the Sith, Jinius ignited his blade and held it out in front of him. He tipped the blade slightly towards his opponent before adjusting his grip for a secure hold. Jinius saw lightning flicker among the man’s fingers. Why in creation were they fighting?!
“I disagree,” Jinius started. He was hoping conversation would diffuse things. “I think I’m entitled to…”
The Sith growled. Waves of anger and violence washed off the man as he outstretched his hands.
Ribbons of violet lighting leaped through the air. The air exploded as the charged hate-plasma surged towards Jinius. He held his lightsaber firm catching the concentrated hate with his lightsaber, grounding it out. The lightsaber shook, its near-weightlessness becoming heavy and draining as the energy clung to the cerulean beam. The air burned with the almost metallic smell of ozone; the very air cried out in pain from the intensity of the dark side. Heat followed, driving the already hot, humid air to intensity. Jinius held his grip and gritted his teeth through the series of electrics bursts. It took all he had not to drop to the floor.
Andrelious had been in his share of battles. He had a knack for picking up on skill. This boy would not be much of a challenge. Hell, Andrelious wouldn’t even rate him as proficient. Andrelious pressed his obvious advantage. Ending his assault of lightning, the Warlord punched the air sending a strong burst of thick telekinetic force towards the hunter.
Sensing the attack a moment before he would have been thrown back from the impact, Jinius countered the telekinetic strike with his own. The air between them flashed as the two strikes pushed the air together releasing energy as light. Unfortunately for Jinius, the blast pushed him back several feet, he was already worn down some from the fighting. The Sith fared better and hardly moved.
“Why are you here?” Andrelious demanded through angry, clenched teeth. Beads of sweat began to break on his brow.
Jinius grunted in reply, stepping toward Sith. “Droid parts.”
Droid parts? Andrelious had not expected that response. He stepped back a step. Why was it everyone felt as if they were witty and coy these days? Where were the good old days of mutual combat with a few good taunts? The witty humor was almost boring. How witty would the little hunter be when he found himself run through by a lightsaber?
Droid parts? Jinius asked himself. That sounded entirely disingenuous. Now the Sith will think I’m some sort of sarcastic youth hoping to prove his intelligence with a well thought, unprepared retort.
“I am Hunter Jinius Lu’Kar Griffin of Clan Naga Sadow!” Jinius exclaimed proudly. He wasn’t sure how that would help, but it was a start.
“Of course, Clan Naga Sadow,” Andrelious said with a laugh. “That explains it all. Your Clan is a bunch of fossils, relics of the past.” Andrelious raised his hand again. He had plenty more where that had come from and he wanted to finish this. “You’re not going to leave here.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Jinius replied genuinely. He knew that the clans were allied, but mostly through tradition and convention and less because of shared ideals or unity. For Sith, relationships were about pragmatism. Jinius could respect at least that part of their nature.
“I’d still like to know your name. A little talk and I’m certain we would have this whole thing sorted out and I could get back to work.” The hunter forced a smile. It felt unnatural to him. He didn't like smiling. He didn't like fighting either. To Jinius, fighting was impractical. Why waste good talent cutting each other down? It never solved anything. Not like this, at least.
Andrelious spat. The damned hunter would not stop and just kept jabbering on. He didn’t like his time wasted. He had work to do. Andrelious snarled and raised his arms. Thin, purple lines of electricity leaped from the Sith’s fingertips and reached out towards the hunter.
Sensing the attack, feeling the humming deep within as the energy within the Force seemed to pool around them both, Jinius threw up a barrier. The violet tendrils slammed into the barrier. The lightning clawed at the translucent blue like claws against a window pane. Some of the lighnting reflected off the barrier to shoot into the trees, booming like ominous thunder overhead. The barrier had come up just in time. This time the lightning persisted. Thus far, the Sith’s attacks had fleeting bursts of energy followed by, at least, momentary pauses. This attack was sustained and kept flowing openly from the man’s hands. In all of his training, Jinius had never encountered lightning that persisted like this man’s. Jinius could feel the energy leaching away from the barrier; it would not hold up long to this.
The desperation swelled within Jinius. He could feel cracks forming in his protection. He hoped there was enough strength left in the barrier for one more lunatic move. Jinius glanced around. The translucent wall’s resolve was waning. Strangely, what frustrated the gray Jedi more was the fact he still had no idea who this man attacking was! Nonetheless, he had to make a move. If he stayed, he died.
Jinius threw himself backward and away from the man, falling into a tumble that carried him around the huge trunk of the tree breaking the line of sight. As he rolled, Jinius could hear the electric arcs tearing into the wood platform. It was a scraping sound, not too different from the sound made when planing soft wood, only it was backed by the shrill, energetic sound of the lightning. Almost as if the Sith had lost control, the lightning continued past where Jinius hid to crash into the railing that comprised the perimeter of the platform.
The lighting arced away from the platform railing crashing into the chassis of an ancient droid. The distinct sound of a power core overloading filled the air, a high-pitched banshee-like scream before exploding. The giant, hundred-meter tree seemed to jump from the explosion sending a cascade of leaves and twigs raining down on the platform. Yellow and orange flames quickly began crawling their way along the side of the platform. Old wood liked to burn. It would not be long before the whole platform was ablaze.
During the chaos, Jinius activated his commlink. The hollow tone of SA-TRN93, the droid that had been assigned to him, came over the channel, “Hello, Hunter Jinius.”
“Can you tell me anything about the man I’m fighting?” Jinius asked quickly. It was a droid, there was no need for formalities. Flames quickly spread along the railing of the platform. The moss that covered much of the platform did little to slow the hunger of the flames.
“I can tell you he’s a man based on the description I’ve received so far,” the droid answered back matter-of-factly.
“He’s about one-and-a-half meters tall. Short brown hair with the beginnings of silver. Black robe. Personality fit for a Hutt.” Jinius huddled down. He tried half focusing to obscure his profile in the Force. He imagined it wouldn’t be the best since he couldn’t devote his full attention, but alas he’d try.
“Once again Hunter Jinius, your descriptive skills are staggering.” There was a slight pause while the droid searched. “Assuming he’s Sith or a known enemy, that narrows the search down to several thousand individuals. Mind giving me a little more to go off? Or is this a game?”
Jinius knew he didn’t have long until the flames or his opponent found him. His time was short.
“Datapad. Enable image capture mode,” Jinius said calmly. It was a fake calm. He felt anything but calm. The datapad chimed in agreement. “Droid, prepare to receive information over the holonet.”
“Are you taking his pic…”
Jinius tapped to disable audio output on his commlink and stepped out from around the tree. The flames were roaring; they’d become an inferno and at least half the platform consumed with fire.
Coming around the structure, the hunter saw the Sith awaiting him. The man held a cocked, arrogant smirk on his face that immediately transformed into a snarl another volley of lightning reached towards Jinius. Instinctively, Jinius brought up his blade and caught the lightning. He intended to pull it aside and channel it into the ground. What he hadn’t expected was the follow up telekinetic punch. The unseen boulder of energy connected with Jinius stomach. The wind left his lungs and as his stomach muscles spasmed. Another telekinetic punch sent Jinius flying, spinning in the air until he crashed down on the bridge, sprawled out to lay prone. The datapad had skittered just slightly out of Jinius’ reach where it stuck between two boards. Flames had already found their way onto the bridge and were running along the ropes burning the fibers that held the bridge up.
In a flash of motion, Jinius spun around to lay on his back while sliding towards the datapad. He quickly snapped a picture of the Sith as the ropes on the bridge snapped. Boards and rubble crashed into the ground causing some of the lively plants that coated the planet’s surface pulled back from the falling debris.
Jinius had gotten lucky. Sensing the fall a split second before it happened. He’d pressed off the bridge fueling his awkward leap from laying to flying with a surge of his own telekinetic energy. It was enough to carry him up and near the edge of the next platform. Jinius reached out and caught the edge. He hung for what felt like seconds trying to compose himself.
Kashyyyk was definitely now on Jinius’ list of places to visit and spend more time if the opportunity presented itself.
“Ah. That brooding, squat man is Warlord Andrelious J. Mimosa-Inahj. He is a well decorated Taldryan. Why are you two fighting?” the empty voice of the droid called over the intercom as Jinius pulled himself up into the adjacent platform and immediately took off running. Flames had already spread to that platform.
Andrelious watched as the glowing red spread around him and that stupid Sadowan grey Jedi fled. Andrelious did not have the luxury of letting the hunter go. The gray Jedi surely detected the vergence. It was everywhere. It was the reason that Kashyyyk was the way it was. The Warlord could not allow that silly, chatty hunter to get away with that knowledge.
Taking a second to compose himself, Andrelious charged forward in a Force-aided dash and threw himself across the gap. He landed gracefully on the other side and falling immediately into a charge to close the distance between the two of them. Jinius Lu’Kar Griffin would not be allowed to simply get away.
