[I made 12 different versions of this and none feel right but i cant keep holding this one off. Also as a game of monster hunter wilds, Digimon and marvel rivals, this is a interesting week.]
The moment I woke up I saw Father had his hand on his saber, my mouth felt dry. A knock came, and the door opened as two Nikto came in. A Weequay behind them with a datapad.
"Port papers," he said like that was kindness. " Will be done after Breakfast."
Father stood. "We won't need breakfast."
They didn't move and i felt nervous, i wish i had something i could sure to defend myself.... Father lifted his cup, drank the last of the water then set it down I could see him thinking things over eyeing the guards, probably weighingif he could get us out of here without one of us getting hurt. "Let us say our thanks to your master, and we will be on our way."
We stayed close, Miss Skywalker in the middle. The corridors went on and turned when I thought they wouldn't, this play was much weirder then what I had seen in the movies.The hum of some big machine in the bone of the place. It smelled like odd, I didnt know how to describe it.
They brought us into the big hall again. Fewer people than last night, but far more guards. Jabba sat where he'd sat the gross slug.
The Twi'lek turned and smiled "Port master is late," he said. "We're very sorry. A small delay."
Father didn't answer. He didn't even sigh. We stood where they put us, I was stood close on a square of floor that didn't match the rest. "Huh thats odd," I whispered to myself.
The Twi'lek smiled at Father. "While we wait, my master thought—" The square opened and the world went out from under me and I tried to reach for anything. My fingers caught air and then bone and then nothing. I fell hard enough that all the sound left me in a grunt that hurt my ribs. Stone dust in my teeth. The impact bright-shocked my vision. A scrape on my forearm burned. I tasted blood.
I rolled. Bones clacked under my hands. Real bones, big ones, small ones. I swallowed hard and looked around.
Above, the light was a white square. I could hear them now, the way voices travel when there's a hole made for it.
"Ho ho ho!" Jabba's laugh dropped like rocks.
"Bo shuda," someone snorted. A few people clapped. I hated them for that.
"Stay where you are!" Father's voice snapped from the edge above. I heard his saber light up.
"Jee otoh," Jabba rumbled, amused.
"The Lord offers a deal," the Twi'lek said. He sounded bored. "He appreciates… cooperation."
A grate at the far side of the pit moaned up. Chains. Metal on stone. Something big behind it, I saw the claw come out first.
A Rancor ducked in, too big for the space and somehow fitting anyway. It smelled like old meat and wet rock. It blinked at the change of light, wide flat face, little eyes that kinda reminded me of a pug.
"Back!" Father shouted from above. .Blaster bolts hissed and the sound of the saber connecting with it reached my ear. The crowd made that noise people make when things gets serious.
The Rancor saw me try to stand and decided that was its problem to solve. It moved quick for something that size. I went the other way, boots sliding in dust and old things. I slipped once and almost fell. It swiped where my head had been.
I went for the corner where the wall met the gate. I threw a bone at it because that was the only thing around. It bounced off its arm and the Rancor looked annoyed.
Above: "Jeeska," the Twi'lek said in that lazy tone. "My master enjoys resolve."
"Get her out of there," Father said, cold. "Now."
"Boska," Jabba replied.
The Rancor came again. I tried a shove. I didn't think about it. I just threw my hands out and pushed with the force, but it didnt want to listen or move the way i wanted it too...
It staggered. Not by much and still It came after me. I ran along the wall and tripped over a skull just as a claw clipped my shoulder. Had i not fallen it would have killed me. Pain flashed, sharp, and hot. I sucked air and as I ended up feeling tears fall down my face.
I hit the end of the wall. Nowhere else to go. The gate was locked and i couldnt fit through it. The Rancor filled my horizon and something ugly woke up in my chest.
I shoved again and felt it like hitting a tree. The thing moved an inch and then all that mass came back. I got a look at its mouth. I couldnt focus on using the force right.
I reached anyway but this time differently. For the place behind its eyes. I focused on its mind.
Stop.
I pushed the order harder. I could feel my hands shaking and my jaw clamped so tight it hurt.
Down.
A sound came out of me I didn't know I could make. Listen to me. The Rancor went still for half a heartbeat. Above, the court stilled too. I could hear someone say a word I didn't catch as i was to focusing on the beast in front of me. Someone screamed and the smell of burnt leather came down the hole and vanished.
The Rancor moved its head, slow. It had stopped and had a bit of a blank stare. I made it understand.
Up.
It turned from me. It went at the handler gate like a battering ram. Took it on the shoulder and the arm and shoved. Chains screamed and the Iron protested. Three hits and the latch tore free with a sound that hurt my ears.
"Stop!" someone shouted above. The Rancor poured itself through the hole it had made. I went after it because there wasn't time to consider another door appearing just for me so i had to climb. I got scraped on the rock twice as I tried to climb and tasted dust in my mouth.
Above, the crowd started screaming for real now. The Rancor didn't fit, so it made itself fit. Stone cracked like dry bread. A light burst ahead, then shadows jerked and voices crashed. I came up behind the Rancor as it forced itself into the hall. "Ho—" Jabba started, and didn't finish the laugh.
The Rancor roared. Bounty hunters who'd been circling Father turned at once. Priorities change when a wall decides it's meat. Blasters came up. Someone fired and ended up hitting another man's shoulder. They started shouting at each other.
Father moved He had Miss Skywalker behind him, one hand on her arm, his saber in the other had that sliced the bounty hunter that came after them.
"Here!" he called, seeing me come out of the hole in the ground, Not surprise but relived. Though he did seem taken aback by something as he looked at me. I sent the Rancor into the bounty hunters **KILL**
I shouted in its mind as I looked at the bounty hunters and that slug. Not delicate. It took two Nikto at once grabbing them and bringing them to its mouth, the Nikto went down and i heard a crunch. I didn't look to see... fully what happened....
A chain on a winch above the dais snapped. The hook whipped and took a Weequay full in the face.... i felt the blood spray across my face and body..... Jabba, He'd slid back, big body moving far faster then i had ever expected someone of his size too. His guards closed around him. I felt him looking at me, not at Father. I lifted my hand as I stared at him and felt the force grip around him as it made a choking noise.
"Move," Father said called me out of my trance as my focus was broken Jabba weezed ad he started breathing. Father grabbed my arm and pulled me.
He dragged me into the service hall. Two Gamorreans saw us and braced. Father didn't slow. His saber went low then up, and both were done. I didn't think about it. Miss Skywalker didn't look. She breathed like each breath was a job.
Alarms started. A red strip light woke and then another and now the hall had a pulse. We hit a junction and two bounty men came in from the left, fast. One shot at my chest and missed by an inchs cause father forced pushed me out of the way. The bolt hit the wall. The second man reached for Shmi but thankfully Father's saber was there. He made a small sound as Father sliced him in two down the middle.
As we ran my shoulder ached and my knee complained and my head throbbed in time with the alarms. I could hear the Rancor tearing things behind us, turning Jabba's hall into a new map. Someone blew a charge and the boom shivered the hall under my boots. Causing Dust to fall.
A metal grate slammed in front of us. Father put his saber through the lock and dragged. Sparks jumped, while the grate slowly opened a hand's width and then an Father forced it open fully, with the force.
We pushed through. The smell of fuel and sand. Two Trandoshans rounded the bend and they just started shooting. Father shoved me and Miss Skywalker into a shallow alcove and the bolts burned past where my head had been. He stepped out and blocked or reflected the shots. One Trandoshan dropped, chest smoking. The other flinched before he lost his head.
"Keep moving," Father said. Shmi nodded and pulled me with her...
We hit a ramp and climbed. The ramp opened to a hangar lip that looked out on dunes. The suns made everything too bright. Rows of speeders, A control tower blinked and a siren cut the air sharp. Two guards by the closest bike turned and froze for just long enough to be dead as Father forced pushed a metal disk at them at a speed that allowed it to keep going after cutting through them.
"Take that one," he said. The nearest double-seater with a canvas bag on the back and scuffed paint that said it had been used.
"On dear we havent much time," he said to Shmi, She climbed up, hands clumsy as she held his waist and I held hers. Thankfully this one was the one those guards were at. So it was on.
"Hold on," he said.
Blaster fire cracked from the tower. The speeder bucked as Father gunned it. Heat blew across my face.
We shot off the lip and down the service ramp. Sirens blared. Guards spilled out of a side door and too many of them had the same idea at once. Father pitched us left and many bolts flew past where we would have been.
"Down," Father said. We tucked and the next shot went over.
The ramp dropped to open sand. The suns hit like a door opening in my face. Wind in my eyes. I looked back. Three more chacing after us.