The Delusions of Dreamers

Three

"No!" Obi-Wan screamed, and thrust his hand out.  The blast stopped in midair, right in front of Satine's nose, illuminating the fear in her eyes with a red glow.  It seemed like everything else stopped, too.  All eyes were on Obi-Wan now, but his eyes darted around every which way.  Where had the blast come from?

With a grunt, the Padawan forced the blast into the wall of the pub, where it left a singeing, black hole.  Then he whipped out his lightsaber and forced his way over to the duchess, Qui-Gon close behind.

"Everyone stay back!" his Master warned, slowly waving his green lightsaber around.  The people were momentarily surprised, but it wouldn't be long before their animosity took over again.

Obi-Wan reached the duchess and put a hand on her shoulder.  "When I tell you to run towards the nearest exit," he whispered in her ear.  "run." 

She nodded with a gulp.  If they weren't about to die, Obi-Wan might have laughed.  The mighty duchess was finally at a loss for words.

Then a lanky, green man with horns stepped into view, wielding a blaster.  "Jedi scum." He spat at their feet.

"Watch yourself," Qui-Gon growled, pointing his saber at the man.

"What is it you want?" Obi-Wan asked politely.  He had come to find that manners could go a long way in a sticky situation.

"I want the duchess," the alien snarled, a crease forming between his beady eyes.  "I come all this way to kidnap her for a bounty, an' of course this is my luck." He threw his hands up in the air.  "Two Jedi try an' stop me."

"Try?" Obi-Wan questioned.  Sometimes he couldn't help but be sarcastic.  "I believe we already have stopped you."

The bounty hunter chortled.  "That's what you think." And then he raised his blaster.

"Now, Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon shouted, and the two Jedi pushed out their hands, sending everyone flying.

"Run, Satine!" the Padawan hissed as he took out a little ball from his pocket.  The duchess darted for the exit, and Obi-Wan hurled the ball into the crowd, some of them already getting back on their feet.

As the Jedi made their way to the exit, the room exploded with smoke.  Obi-Wan's eyes started watering, and he could barely see, but the two eventually crashed though the door.  He gasped in the fresh air, his lungs burning.

"We have to get to the speeder—" he started, but Satine had already pulled up in the machine.

"Come on!" she yelled.  

Obi-Wan and his Master clambered onto the contraption, but before they could leave, the bounty hunter emerged from the pub.

"I'll find you!" he snarled, and bent over coughing.  Then other people came stumbling out of the bar, and none of them were happy.

"Get them!" one woman in Old Mandalorian armour shouted, pointing at their speeder.

"Duchess, I'd like to leave now," Obi-Wan said through clenched teeth.

"Shut up and let me concentrate.  I'm still learning how to use this—WOAH!" the speeder lurched forward and they zoomed through the streets.  Everyone in their path howled, diving out of the way.

"Slow down!" Qui-Gon roared, holding on for dear life.

"I can't!" Satine screamed.  "That Old Mandalorian is gaining on us!" Obi-Wan looked back, and she wasn't wrong.  The woman was using her jet-pack, and was less than a click away.  Oh, how he hated speeders.  And ships.  And running away from people. 

"I've got it," Obi-Wan sighed, and stood in position at the back of the speeder.  He ignited his lightsaber just in time to deflect the Mandalorian's first blaster shot.  Then she pulled out another gun.

Wonderful.

The Padawan swung his lightsaber from right to left, up and down while his Master scanned the area for more threats.

"We need to get somewhere safe before we run over someone," Qui-Gon said.

"I'm trying!" Satine insisted, right after demolishing a crate of meilooruns.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.  This was going to be an agonizing adventure.  Then one of the blasts got past him, almost hitting the duchess.

"Haha!" the Old Mandalorian cheered, advancing on the speeder.  Obi-Wan furrowed his brows and brought her to him with the Force.  Before she could fire another blast, he slashed through her jet-pack with his lightsaber.  

"Very funny, indeed!" he shouted to her as she yelped, crashing to the ground.  He turned off his saber and dusted off his hands.  "All taken care of."

"Um," Qui-Gon started.  "I don't think so, Padawan.  I think we attracted some attention. "

Obi-Wan turned around to find not one, but three Mandalorians hovering at the end of the street, blasters at the ready.  Damn it.

"Turn, Satine!" the two Jedi ordered at the same time, and the duchess yanked the handle hard.  The speeder almost tipped over as they turned hard to the right.  Right into an alleyway with a dead end.

All of their eyes grew as wide as saucers.  "Jump! Jump! Jump!" Obi-Wan yelled.  The three of them leaped from the speeder and splatted to the ground.  Satine landed on him with a loud grunt as Qui-Gon rolled into a dumpster.

And then the speeder collided with the wall at the end of the alleyway.  There was a deafening boom as the machine exploded, causing hot shrapnel to fly everywhere. 

"Watch out!" Obi-Wan coughed, and quickly rolled on top of Satine, shielding her from the debris.  He hissed as a couple of metal pieces dug into his back, then he fell over, exhausted.

"Obi-Wan?" she asked hesitantly.  She nudged him with her foot.  "Are you alright?"

He laughed weakly.  "Well, you're actually being nice to me, so I must be dead because the real Satine would never ask about my well-being."

"Oh, be silent," she said, but there was no anger in her blue eyes.

"Are you two okay?" Qui-Gon grumbled.  He was farther away from the explosion, so the shrapnel hadn't quite reached him.  Must be nice, Obi-Wan thought, grimacing when he felt the bite of the metal in his back.

"Never been better, Master," he groaned, and spit his Padawan braid out of his mouth.

"Shit," Qui-Gon cursed, seeing Obi-Wan.  "I'm afraid we'll have to fix you up later.  Those Old Mandalorians will be here any second."  With one hand clutching his side, he stumbled over and pulled Obi-Wan to his feet.  "Let's go."

"Where?" asked Obi-Wan.

"There's an old mechanic shop right here," Satine said, pointing to an iron door nearby.  She shoved it open to reveal a dimly lit room filled with ships, tables, and spare parts.

Qui-Gon helped Obi-Wan get inside, and then they all slumped to the ground.

"What fun," the Padawan sighed, right before everything went black.