Interlude

The battle was finally over. The bounty hunter Stride Orlov and his hirelings would not be back.  Most of them lay dead on the floor and the rest wouldn't be dangerous to anyone for a long time.  The young Jedi were bruised, burned, and bloody - but they were alive.  Silence reigned over the shuttle bay.  Some muttered about getting off the doomed space liner, going to the bright desert planet below or out into the starry dark before the crippled hulk fell into one binary twin or the other.  They also thought of the mysterious foe who had over-powered Ozy and tried to kill them all.  He was somewhere on the ship still.  Right now, however, all was quiet.  The only complication was Dubn, who had collapsed, blood pouring out of the awful wound from the Whiphid's spear.  Shen and Zon were busy over the Sullust, Zon frantically applying pressure and makeshift bandages, Shen probing with the Force, trying to seal blood vessels and attenuate shock.

Their joint ministrations seemed to be working.  Dubn was looking more comfortable when suddenly from behind the ship a remote drone screamed towards them.  It was a glowing blue ball surrounded by delicate metal latticework, maybe twenty centimeters across.  It passed the students before they could raise a saber and augered in on 3gammaZed.

"Treachery!" buzzed the droid, treads rumbling, one saber a spinning blur on a rotating wrist. "  By the Maker, prepare for a lesson!"

But the remote stopped short, just out of the charging droid's range, and detonated.  It exploded with a blue flash and a deep, nearly subsonic thrum that was felt more than heard.  Flickering midnight shadows splashed across the bay and were gone.  The longtime training droid lurched and let out a metallic scream as clinging blue lightning flitted across its scarred skin.  Lightsabers dropped to the floor, a last azure spark spat from its darkened face, and it was still.

Ran had been sitting on a barrel by the wall, now he sprinted over to the stricken droid and ripped off an access panel, cursing.  Gal leaped to the top of their new ship, lightsaber burning, looking for any other hidden attackers.  The pilot was hurriedly rummaging through Zed's innards, muttering to himself, until finally he threw the panel down with an oath.  He stalked away, throwing words back over his shoulder.

"It's no use!  That was a high yield ion pulse!  What isn't completely fried is scrambled.  I don't think there's anything left to fix."  He sat back down on the barrel and put his head in his hands.  Nobody spoke for a long time.  Zed had been one of them, they had all grown up with him and without him they would never have made it this far.  Oz'ymysc felt his eyes fill as a mantra repeated itself over and over in his head - there is no emotion, there is only peace, there is no emotion, there is only peace....

After a while, they got quietly busy preparing to leave.  They pushed the droid up the access ramp onto the ship, and Dubn eased himself into the co-pilot's chair.  Gal and Shen went aft, making sure there was nothing else unexpected lurking in the bounty ship's interior.

"I'm not going with you," declared Ran suddenly.  He stood by the ramp, face grim, Zon and Ozy gazed at him in surprise.

"Don't argue, it won't change my mind. I'm done with this fight, it never really was mine to begin with.  All it got me was nearly killed a half-dozen times over." He started pacing.

"If that's not enough, look what I am now!" He stopped briefly, staring into their uncomprehending eyes.

"I'm a pilot! A good pilot! I don't really need to be more than that! But now, now I don't know what I am.  Now I've got this, gift, you call it, of the Force.  I can shoot a man between the eyes without even looking or thinking about it!  Am I really supposed to feel good about that?  I wasn't born to this, I wasn't raised with it like you.  I don't want it!"  He stopped, and his exhale was almost a deflation, he spoke quietly.

"I can't go on with you. I'm going to stay with this ship and catch a ride down to the planet. Somebody in the spaceport must need a pilot. Besides, all these people need my help."  Zon looked sad, and Ozy's eyes were a little wild.

"But you can't leave now, Ran," said the Twi'lek.  "Like you said you weren't raised with this.  You won't know how to handle it.  You don't know how easy it could be to slip to the dark side.  We can help-"

"No!" said the pilot.  "True or not I'm leaving, and I'll just have to take that chance.  I'm going to try and forget I ever heard of the Force.  Good luck."  Before they could say anything else Ran turned and walked out of the shuttle bay.

"We can't just let him go, Zon!" said Ozy.

"What would you like to do, Oz, drag him along with us against his will?"  There was nothing else to say to that, and the two Jedi turned and went sadly into their new ship.

Shen watched Ran walking away across the docking bay, she placed her hand on the aft window.  Her emotions were beginning to get the better of her when she breathed deeply and whispered, "May the force be with you." 
 
She wondered if he would ever truly know that he was the most important teacher of the world outside the force and he would never be forgotten.
 
I hope the force allows our paths to cross again, she prayed, in her mind.

Ran Jorin hoped Shen could not see the tear as he walked off.  As do I, he answered, as much to his surprise as hers.

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