Just something brief I'm playing about with, all comments welcome!

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Runing his finger over the activation plate of his lightsaber, Jedi Knight Tobin Del-Horno watched with patience as the freighter No Mercy unloaded its cargo. Standing guard at the bottom of the loading ramp, a pair of Rodian's in grey flight suits each sported a wicked looking blaster rifle, held in a guard position. From the shadows at the other side of the landing pad, deepened by over-hanging machinery, he had a clear view of the entire pad all the way to the turbolifts at the far end, also being protected by a similarly armed pair.

Several times one of the Rodian's would glance his way, but a subtle nudge with the Force convinced them that it was a trick of the light, maintaining his cover. They had stood like statues for more than an hour as labour droids meticulously carried nondescript boxes from the cargo hold of the ship and deposited them on an industrial turbolift close to the ship. The battered freighter had come in under the name Fools Gold, but a simple transponder change would fix that. What they had claimed were medical supplies were in fact millitary grade munitions being auctioned off that evening to a ragtag group of smugglers, each vying for a prize they would normally be unable to obtain.

Tobin had been track the group of Rodians that were taking delivery of the munitions from a Galactic Alliance captain, eager to supplement was he felt was a measy wage. When he had managed to forge his third supplies report, Alliance slicers detected his deception. Rather than send Intelligence agents to bring the culprit to justice, the Galactic Alliance Security Council had appealled to the Jedi Order to send a Knight to eliminate the problem from their double crossing agent to the third party selling the goods on his behalf. In the years since the conflict with the Yuuzhan Vong, Tobin had broken several such smuggling rings and brought many corrupt officers to charge on more serious offences.

Three weeks earlier he had picked up the trail of the gang of ten Rodians as they smuggled spice out of Ryloth, and had kept up his observation until three days earlier when they received their latest delivery. As they left Cloud City in Bespin, leaving their partner on shore leave, Tobin had signalled native security forces to arrest the man. The Rodians had left orbit before the captain could send the desperate message that they were being followed. Now the only loose end was bringing the gang to justice before they were able to ship the weapons out of the starport.

Although only four Rodians were in his line of sight, he could sense the remaining six scattered throughout the ship. Three in the cockpit, two in the cargo hold of the ship supervising and one hidden guard behind a landing strut, ready to surprise any smugglers that would perhaps interested in some early negotiations before the auction. From the noises coming from the cargo hold, it was obvious that nearly all of the supply crates were unloaded, meaning that it was nearly time for action.

Jedi Del-Horno had not come alone to the isolated hanger on Ord Mantell. On the contrary, he had taken the oppertunity to use the mission as a training exercise for his apprentice, Valin Horn. Valin's father was influential Jedi Master Corran Horn, and at his request, Tobin had accepted his son as his apprentice, helping the young man complete his final years of training.

Tobin could barely see Valin's outline, hanging like a specter above the hanger on ancient droid machinery that would have been used to move star fighters. Now, however, it was decrepit and had not been used for years. Both Jedi had agreed that a multi-pronged attack was best, Tobin rushing the ship, and the less-experienced Valin taking out the guards beside the turbolift. Once he had dispatched his opponents, he would secure the cargo and take care of any reinforcements that may be lurking while his Master apprehended the rest of the Rodian gang within the ship.

A sense of excitement came through the bond the two shared as Valin spotted before Tobin the gang leader, a much larger Rodian with a greatly expanded stomach; obviously the result of too many years of expensive delicacies and having subordinates to run his errands. Although he looked slow and cumbersome, Tobin knew that the leader, Borda Vardok, was capable of create cruelty and torture, and that he was more than capable of defending himself. Flooding caution into the Force, Tobin edged forward as the Rodian came into his line of sight, flanked by two heavily armed guard. Unlike the previous ones, these were obviously body guards wearing heavy body armour and having bandoliers of concussion grenades criss crossing their chests. In addition to the blasters in their hands, each had a vibroblade and blaster pistol on each hip.

At the back of gang leader came three droids, carrying the remaining crates, and their supervisors. A hushed conversation followed in which orders were clearly given, and as the ramp of the ship began to detract two things became obvious to Tobin: the ship could be remotely accessed, more than likely by Borda alone; and secondly, that the Rodians had no intention of waiting until the evenings auction before leaving their landing pad.

It was with dismay that he realised combat would be coming quicker than expected, and that the two Jedi would have no option but to engage their opponents in the open space of the hanger with no cover. Their orders had been clear from the start: under no circumstances have the munitions to leave this area.

Valin had evidently reached the same conclusion and had crawled his way along the massive arm of the crane he was perched upon until he was directed above the freighter. From his position he could drop onto the top gun turret and have a 360 degree angle of attack. Tobin, on the other hand, would have no choice but to speed his way across the open landing pad and hope to use both the Force to speed his way, and suprise to dull the reactions of the bodyguards, his primary targets.

Knowing the time had come, Tobin thumbed the activation plate of his lightsaber and thumbed it on. The snap hiss of the bronze blade broke the silence, and Tobin charged from cover, bounding across the distance. The time for combat had come...

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