The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 116 - A difficult Rescue

It was a long and arduous journey because Nomi, Jan and Dash had to go around large swampy areas, which cost them valuable time. But then they finally reached their destination.
Ahead of them loomed a bunker, undoubtedly of Imperial design.
"What do you think, Nomi, is Katarn in there?" Dash whispered in his wife's ear.
Nomi jumped because she hadn't noticed his approach.
"Hey, darling, what's wrong with you?"
The Jedi turned her head and looked at her husband with a pained expression.
"I have lost access to the Force, Dash. It's like I'm blind," she said, her voice shaking. "It's a terrible feeling."
Dash frowned at her.
"It seems the odds are against us, but giving up isn't an option. We have always fought successfully, even before you were aware of your abilities and trained by Luke."
Jan had now joined them again after exploring the area. When she saw Nomi's pale face, she looked at her questioningly.
"Is something wrong, Nomi?"
"My wife has lost access to the Force, Jan," Dash answered in the Jedi's place.
Nomi had expected dismay, but instead the other woman smiled.
"Then Kyle is here. A Jedi can only be held if he is prevented from accessing the Force."
Dash nodded thoughtfully.
"Maybe they have a Jedi cage."
"No, Dash," Jan Ors shook her head. "The effect of the Jedi cage wouldn't extend to Nomi. It has to be something else with the same effect."
Dash shrugged.
"I can't imagine what..."

Rendar couldn't finish the sentence because the bunker door opened and stormtroopers led out a prisoner.
Nomi grabbed her macrobinoculars to take a closer look. The man was tied hand and foot. He moved forward with difficulty. The Imps must have tortured him, because his clothes were in tatters and he was bleeding from numerous wounds on his body. Jan tapped her on the shoulder.
"What do you see, Nomi?"
Without a word, the Jedi handed her the macrobinoculars. With great difficulty, Jan suppressed a scream when she saw what was happening.
"It's Kyle. What did they do to him?"
"The usual," Dash murmured quietly. "It's a miracle the man is still alive. Nine times out of ten, the Imps make short work of rebels. I wonder where they will take Katarn."
"We'll follow them to find out," his wife said.
It wasn't difficult to follow the stormtroopers with their prisoner, although the three had to be careful not to be spotted by the enemies. Katarn was very weak from the torture and could barely stand, let alone walk. He fell again and again and had to struggle to get back up again under the punches and kicks of his guards.
Nomi glanced at Jan. The young woman's face had a hard expression.
"They'll pay for this," she muttered through gritted teeth.

During the march, the Jedi looked into the treetops. There she saw strange-looking animals that she didn't recognize. She nudged Dash and pointed to the animals in the treetops. Her husband looked up and turned pale.
"You know these animals, Dash?"
The former mercenary nodded and swallowed hard.
"Yes, we heard about them at the Imperial Academy on Carida. Actually they only exist on the planet Myrkr. They're called Ysalamiri," he began."I'm slowly starting to understand what's going on here. It's said that they can create a void in the Force. These animals only need ten minutes of sleep and only in this short period of time will the negative effect on the Force be reversed. Let's hope their sleeping time comes soon, because I'm afraid we'll be in dire need of your skills, Nomi."
His wife nodded, knowing that without access to the Force it would be difficult, if not impossible, to save Kyle Katarn.

It was a long, tiring march, but then the troopers and their prisoner appeared to have reached their destination. Ahead of them, Nomi, Dash and Jan saw a large clearing with a large, deep mud hole. In the middle of the mud hole was a very small island with a durasteel rod on it. The group moved towards the shore where there was a small skiff on the edge.
Just before reaching the shore, Katarn fell to his knees again. The stormtroopers flanking him picked him up and dragged him to the edge of the mud hole.
Finally the two stormtroopers, followed by their commander, dragged him onto the skiff.
The rest of the stormtroopers remained on the shore. The skiff's engines roared, it rose on its repulsors and steered towards the pole. Once there, the engines were switched off.
In the hideout not far away, the rescue team witnessed what happened next. The commander pulled the half-conscious Katarn up and dragged him to the pole. Finally he chained him there.
It was dead quiet so they could hear a few words as the stormtrooper commander stood in front of Katarn and spoke to him.
"Now we'll see what your Jedi skills are worth, rebel scum."
Kyle answered, but even with their best efforts they couldn't understand his words. Laughing, the commander turned away from the prisoner.
"We'll see if the Makana will leave anything of you," he said as he entered the skiff.
The skiff then took off and approached the shore at high speed. When they reached the shore, the commander jumped from the boat and turned to one of the stormtroopers there. Because of the engine noise, it was impossible to understand what was being said. Whatever was said, the stormtroopers took up marching formation and soon followed the commander towards the bunker, leaving two guards behind.
This was the moment to act. They silently crept up to the guards, who, contrary to regulations, were talking about the latest shock ball tournament. Nomi and Dash pulled out their vibro knives and attacked the troopers, who had no chance of putting up any significant resistance.
After Nomi cleaned and sheathed her knife, she looked over at the small island. Kyle Katarn appeared to have lost consciousness. Suddenly she noticed bubbles on the surface, quickly approaching the island, with the Jedi chained to the pole. Jan Ors also noticed the bubbles and looked at them in horror.
"What is that?" She asked, her voice trembling.
Instead of answering, Dash pulled out his blaster and fired towards the bubbles. The reaction was an angry roar.
The speed at which the bubbles approached the island doubled. Jan looked desperately at Nomi.
"Do something, Nomi," the young woman pleaded. "What's coming will kill Kyle if you don't do something."
Meanwhile, Dash continued to fire his blaster. But the approaching creature couldn't be stopped. On the contrary, it got faster and faster. Nomi knew it wouldn't be long before it reached the island and Katarn.
"Dammit, Dash, stop it. Do you want the Imps to become aware of us? They can hear that."
Her husband looked at her and holstered his blaster.
"I'm sorry Nomi, I hadn't thought of that."
Nomi nodded and frantically thought about what they could do. Then her eyes fell on the skiff lying on the shore. But considering the noise the engine would make, that wasn't an option. Time was running out, but she still had no access to the Force.

The Jedi looked at Jan, who was standing on the shore, watching desperately as the bubbles inexorably approached the island, when she suddenly felt the Force. Could it really be that the Ysalamiri have fallen asleep? She knew that she had to act quickly now, because she only had 10 minutes to reach the small island, free Katarn and bring him to safety.
If she wanted to do it, she couldn't hesitate a moment longer. The young woman tapped into the Force and smiled slightly as she felt the familiar sensation. She had noticed small rocks sticking out of the mud, but they were very far apart. But with the Force as an ally, it would be possible to use them as stepping stones and thus reach the island. The Jedi took a deep breath and Force leaped onto the first rock. She continued leaping from rock to rock without losing her footing because she was fully focused on and trusting the Force.
The oncoming bubbles had almost reached Katarn.
"Nomi, hurry up! You only have a short time left!" She heard her husband calling from a distance.
When she made the final Force leap that brought her to the small island, the Makana had reached it too. From the murky waters of the swamp emerged groping tentacles and a large, eyeless head covered in scales. Now time was of the essence.
Determined, she activated her lightsaber and cut the chains. Kyle fell to the ground as she focused on the hungry swamp creature and put the idea in its mind that there was better prey some distance away.
Even though she had only recently learned this Jedi technique from Luke, it worked. The Makana turned around and moved in the opposite direction at high speed.
"There's only two minutes left, Nomi!"

The Jedi picked up Katarn and Force leaped from rock to rock to the shore where Dash and Jan were waiting. They only had a few meters left to reach their destination when Nomi lost access to the Force mid-jump and fell into the swamp. The Ysalamiri were awake.
"No!" Jan Ors screamed when she saw this.
Still holding Kyle Katarn tightly in her arms, the Jedi sank deeper and deeper into the swamp.
"Don't move, darling," Dash said before running towards the edge of the forest.
A few minutes later he returned with a long branch.
Meanwhile, Nomi and the still unconscious Kyle were up to their necks in swampy water, even though the young woman hadn't moved.
Jan took a long rope from her backpack and wrapped it around Dash's waist to secure him. With careful movements, the former mercenary approached the place where his wife and Katarn were slowly sinking into the swamp. Finally he was only two meters away and pushed the branch towards Nomi.
"Hold on tight, honey."
Nomi grabbed the branch with one hand while still clutching Katarn with the other. Dash pulled with all his might and with a smacking sound the swamp let them go.
After a few minutes they finally reached the shore. Jan immediately rushed to them and took the unconscious Katarn from Nomi's arms. She gently lowered him to the ground and knelt next to him.
Dash hugged his wife, who was covered in mud, and gave her a kiss.
"I think it's time we got out of here," he said, switching on his comlink. "Leebo, do you read me?"
"Yes, Major Rendar," they heard the droid's familiar voice.
"Take the Outrider to the following coordinates..."

Nomi didn't hear what else was said because she turned away and went to Jan and Katarn. The latter had now regained consciousness.
"Thank you for what you did, Nomi," Jan smiled at the mud-covered woman. "Thanks to your help, my child won't have to grow up without a father."
Only then did the Jedi see the small bulge, which was an unmistakable sign of pregnancy. Jan noticed her look and laughed.
"It's a boy."
Despite the pain he was in, Katarn smiled at his pregnant girlfriend, then looked at Nomi.
"I have to thank you too," he said with some effort. "Without your help I would be dead right now."
In the distance they heard the Outrider's distinctive engine noise. Leebo had managed to fly the YT-2400 to the specified coordinates without incident because he flew just above the treetops and avoided getting close to the bunker. Shortly afterwards, the droid landed the freighter in the clearing.
The access ramp lowered and the hatch opened.
Dash walked over to Katarn, helped him stand up and board the freighter, followed by Nomi and Jan. As soon as everyone was on board, Leebo closed the hatch and retracted the ramp. Dash's trusty droid knew that every minute counted and took off.
He returned the way he came and landed the Outrider next to the Moldy Crow a few minutes later. After saying goodbye, Jan Ors and Kyle Katarn boarded their own ship and set off.

Dash Rendar went into the cockpit to take command, and minutes later the Outrider was airborne and on the way too.
After breaking the atmosphere, they made their way to the jump point, still unnoticed by Imperial patrols. Dash breathed a sigh of relief as he pushed the lever forward and the stars dissolved into the streaks and swirls of hyperspace. Then he stood up, left the cockpit and went to where his wife was busy washing off the mud as he also needed to clean himself.