FICTION

The Adventures Of Jolee Bindo

Fan-fiction based on the character, Jolee Bindo, from the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game

Islene sensed the jagged tendrils of Dark Side energy creeping nearby as she boarded the large transport ship. She frowned, glanced around, and continued to follow Master Jolee Bindo onto the vessel headed to Coruscant. In low tones, she said, “Master Jolee, there’s a dark presence somewhere around here, but I can’t locate it.”

“Did you sleep through the youngling classes on locating the Dark side energy, Islene?” Jolee asked. The older man secured his gear bag under his seat. His lightsaber stayed clipped to his belt, covered discreetly by folds of his simple brown robe. He scanned the large passenger cabin.

“Very funny. I went to school or worked as a servant in the Onderon court while other younglings were studying all that,” Islene said as she set her bag down. “I learned a lot from Master Vandar, but there’s still plenty to work on.”

Jolee snorted as he sat down in his seat. “All you really missed was the indoctrination. ‘Don’t stray to the dark side. It’ll suck you in and then the monsters will come out and eat you.’ Really, if they’d let the little ones play outside sometimes instead of pounding lessons into their heads from the day they’re weaned, the Jedi would be a lot more normal.”

“You’re one of them, you know.” Islene smiled as she took the seat next to him.

“I spent a few decades recovering on Kashyyyk. I’m all better now. Good thing I rescued you from the Jedi Council and took you as a Padawan last month.” He leaned over and whispered, “Keep focused, use your senses, and feel the Force currents. You’ll find the culprits soon.”

She nodded and reached out mentally to trace the wisps of dark energy back to the source. “I wasn’t expecting problems before I’ve gone on a single mission.”

“Welcome to life.” Jolee stroked his hand over his dark graying beard. “While we’re waiting for the problem to show itself, I’ll tell you the story about my first mission.”

“Is it a long or short story?”

“Of course it’s a long story. I’m old and entitled to ramble on now and then. When I was a Padawan myself, I was assigned to work with a Jedi named Elorri’ani. The Sith War had just started, and we were sent to the moon above Yavin IV to look for Exar Kun’s temples. The Sith used the Dark side to keep the buildings hidden from Republic equipment. So the Council sent us in to find the temples and mark them for the Republic.”

“Then the Republic fleet targeted the beacons you placed to destroy the temples, I take it,” Islene said. She felt the darkness strengthening and looked again at the fellow passengers.

Jolee scanned the cabin as well. “Yes, but that wasn’t how we took out the Sith Lord. Elorri’ani had the most amazing skill at stealth against anything sentient. I lost him a few times on that moon myself. However, he had the worst luck with any of the animals. I don’t know if they thought he smelled like a gourmet meal or what, but the poor man got attacked by creatures about every other minute.”

“What do animal attacks have to do with the temples?” She tilted her head toward one side of the transport and reached for her lightsaber. Her heart raced, and she took a few calming breaths to suppress her jitters.

Jolee glanced in the same direction. He looked back at her and gave a subtle hand signal for her to stay put. “I haven’t gotten to that point yet, so hush.

“We snuck past the temple guards easily. They were convinced the buildings couldn’t be found by the Republic, so they weren’t too observant. We made it all the way to the center of the temple before we were spotted by this Sith, who just oozed Dark side power.”

Islene sensed the apprehension and excitement rise in several people. “They’re getting ready to attack,” she murmured.

“We’ll let them show their hands first,” he said quietly.

“So, this Sith sauntered towards us, looked us up and down like we were sand fleas, and said ‘Today is a good day to die for you’ or something equally inane. I’ll never understand why the Sith can’t get more creative with their threats. Anyway, he attacked and we battled him for several minutes, lightsabers flashing around furiously. He was strong, and Elorri’ani and I had trouble holding our own. The best we could do was wear him down and hope to get an opening in his defenses. Then he decided to try his Force lightning power. These huge arcs of electricity started flying all over the place.”

“That skill can kill in an instant.”

“Yes, it can. I had my shield up, and that absorbed most of the energy. It still threw me back about 10 feet. Fortunately for Elorri’ani, he bounced the lightning straight up off his lightsaber in this magnificent display of light and power. Unfortunately, the lightning bounced off a large hive of Yavin bees attached to one of the eaves of the temple roof. Did you know Yavin bees make some of the finest honey in the galaxy? We should pick up some the next time we’re out that way.”

“He hit bees?”

He nodded. “Let’s just say that bees, in general, don’t take kindly to having their home fried. They flew out in this huge, angry cloud. Elorri’ani looked up briefly, saw the swarm coming, got this ‘oh no, not again’ look on his face and went back to fighting. That Sith was so arrogant that he didn’t bother to glance up. Elorri’ani and I shielded ourselves as the bees dove down and started stinging everything in sight—the guards, the Sith, maybe a droid or two. When the rest of the hive fell on top of the Sith’s head, the bees really got unhappy. It would have been hilarious if we weren’t worried about dying. There that Sith was, covered in honey and dancing around trying to get the bees out from under his robes.”

“Did you attack him then?”

“No.”

“You let him get away?” Islene’s eyes widened with surprise.

“We didn’t have to. He started wheezing and choking, then dropped dead right in front of us. Turns out the mighty Sith Lord wannabe was horribly allergic to bees. He never even had time to heal himself.”

Islene rubbed her forehead in disbelief. “You’re telling me he died of anaphylaxis?”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” One section of the passenger cabin caught his attention.

Islene followed his gaze. The dark energy was strengthening. She sensed the heightened tension in two passengers. Her palms became sweaty as she fingered her lightsaber button. She rolled her shoulders to loosen the tightening muscles.

Jolee laid a calming hand on her forearm. “We set the last beacon and dashed past all the guards while they were busy swatting bees. The Republic hit the temple in a pinpoint strike and obliterated it. They gave us medals for ‘maximum utilization of available resources’. If you ask me, the bees should have gotten a medal. That earned us the attention of General Motani, but I’ll save that story for another day.

“Those two men over there are about to attack. I smell their adrenaline rush all the way over here.”

Islene nodded. “Do you have anything specific you want me to do?”

He stood up and made sure nothing was in the way of his weapon. “Play along. I’m going forward. We might be able to stop whatever they have planned before it starts. And don’t die.”

Jolee hunched his shoulders and shuffled up the aisle toward the two heavily muscled men as they left their seats. He looked up at one of the battle-hardened men. “Hey, Sonny, can you tell me where the refresher is on this boat? A man my age can’t wait too long, you know. Are you two going to go talk to the pilots? I might do that, too. Was a pilot myself back in the war.”

Islene took that as her cue. She strode to the front of the plane. “Jolee? Where did you go?” She felt the curious stares from everyone on the transport, except the thugs and a small family. She took a surreptitious look at them. There were two Bothan guards, parents, and a small child. The guards’ attention were on the men and Jolee. The father tensed up while the mother put an arm around her daughter and whispered into her ear.

“Eh? What did you say, lass?” Jolee asked, cupping a hand to his ear.

“Come back to your seat. We don’t want to disturb any of the nice beings here.” Islene put herself between the thugs and the family.

One of the men slipped his hand under his jacket to make sure the butt of his blaster could be seen by Jolee and Islene. “You both ought to go back to your seats. Now.”

Jolee looked up at the man as if oblivious to the blaster. The Jedi’s slap on the man’s back made him cough.“I came to see if one of these fine pilots flew in the same squadron I did.”

The other thug finished unlocking the cockpit door and looked at Jolee with dead eyes. He pressed the button and the door slid open. “Old man, I think you better listen to my friend before I decide to shoot you. These flyboys already decided not to let me in here, and I really didn’t like that.” He held up his blaster and shot the pilots. The captain slumped and the transport lurched out of control. The twi’lek co-pilot doubled over, gasping as his hands reached frantically for the instrument board. Passengers screamed and howled.

Islene sensed the overwhelming fear of death smothering her power. She blocked out the shouts and focused on the two men. The waves of fear receded.

The assassin with the empty eyes took a few steps aft toward the passengers and snarled. “The second pilot will die if anyone stops us. The ‘nice beings’ will be next.”

One of the Bothans by the family jumped to his feet with his blaster in hand. “Everyone down!” He trained his sight on the killer. Screams erupted as some of the beings dove to the floor. Others sat paralyzed in their seats, eyes wide with terror.

The shooter looked at his partner. “The family’s not coming quietly. Kill them.”

Both of the family guards squeezed off shots from their blasters. The larger thug ducked for cover in the cockpit while the shorter one dodged the blaster fire.

Jolee and Islene ignited their lightsabers. He said to her, “Deflect those blaster bolts into the floor so they don’t hit anyone. I’ve got Ugly up front. Get the other one.” He jumped towards the cockpit.

The gunman shot at Jolee, and the Jedi deflected the bolt with an effortless flick of the blade.

Islene caught the storm of emotions in the smaller hijacker as he lifted his blaster towards the family with the little girl. She made a tiny hand motion and said to him. “Stop. You don’t want to hurt the youngling.”

His hand shook, and he began to sweat. “I don’t want to hurt the youngling.”

One of the Bothans shot at him. The bolt of light energy smashed into the man’s shield. The thug blinked, grimaced, and returned fire. The mother screamed and tried to shield the girl with her body.

Islene leaped into the air to deflect the blaster fire away from the girl. The glowing red bolts ricocheted off her lightsaber and slammed against the floor and ceiling. She flipped and landed on the other side of the shooter. She parried another flurry of bolts flying through the cabin. The fighter turned his blaster to fire on Islene. She brought her blade down and sliced through the man’s wrist.

His hand and blaster fell to the floor as he howled in agony. He collapsed at her feet. His weapon fired as it hit the ground, and the blaster bolt struck Islene in the leg. She cried out as the energy crackled past her shield and seared her thigh.

Jolee pressed in on the taller killer, deflecting sizzling streams of blaster bolts off of the glowing lightsaber. He drove the assassin back down the aisle.

The man ducked and rolled to evade the deadly blade. He grinned up at Jolee and then pointed his blaster at the family. He squeezed the trigger. Jolee brought his lightsaber down on the killer’s arm and swept the blade back up, slicing through his chest. The man fell to the ground in three pieces. Jolee kicked the gun away from his hand.

Jolee kept his lightsaber in the guard position and roared, “Hold fire!”

The blaster fire stopped. The guards held their blasters in the ready position, looked around for other threats a moment, then nodded at the Jedi and holstered them. They both moved to help the family. The frightened screeches died out as the other passengers recovered from their panic. The older Jedi took one more look around the passenger area for any other dangers and then extinguished his lightsaber.

Islene followed Jolee’s lead and deactivated her blade. She looked down at her enemy. He was pale and motionless, but he was breathing. She reached out with her Force-enhanced senses, but found no other dangers around her.

“Are you hurt bad?” Jolee asked as he jogged up to her.

Islene grit her teeth as the pain broke through the mind barrier she had set up. “I got hit when his blaster discharged after it hit the ground. I wasn’t expecting it.”

He pulled some burned pieces of cloth away from her leg and assessed the wound quickly. “No Padawans ever expect it. That’s why they’re Padawans. Looks like it’ll stay sealed long enough to get to the medical droids on Coruscant. Get a medpac and check on the others. I’m going to the cockpit to get the ship under control and send for help. If I’m lucky, I might just be able to save the twi’lek that schutta shot.”

She found a medpac in the tiny alcove set aside for the flight crew and checked on the other passengers. The passengers’ fear washed over her in huge waves, but she sensed no other serious injuries except the man she’d fought.

Islene looked down at the man and saw his face was turning blue. He choked and gasped. Blood frothed in his mouth. She kneeled next to him, grunting when another sharp pain knifed through her wounded leg. She logrolled the man and found the large hole in his back from the blaster fire. She pulled the stims out of the medpac and injected him to stabilize his breathing. His choking eased for a few minutes, but then his breathing worsened. He started convulsing. Islene put her hand on the man’s forehead and reached out with her Force energy to treat the worst of his injuries. She found the internal bleeding inside his chest and fought through the haze of her own pain to seal the large vein by his lung. It burst as soon as she released her hold, and she applied her energy to close it again.

Something trickled down the side of her injured leg. She looked down and saw her own injury had broken open. Blood was running down in thin red streams. All of the stims in the medpac were used up, so she pulled out the field dressing and quickly tied it in place around her leg, clenching her teeth together as she tightened it. The man hemorrhaged again and she fought with the rest of her Force powers to close off the blood vessel. Islene breathed in and out deeply to relax, slowing down the metabolism of both the man and her. She hoped a stasis field might keep him alive long enough to make it to Coruscant. She closed her eyes and let herself sink deeply into the Force surrounding her.

The sounds around her softened to faint whispers. Her vision dimmed, the images and colors clouding into vague shadows. Years passed between her heartbeats as she sat on her knees in the warm tranquility. Millennia lapsed before she felt the subtle vibrations of something docking with the transport. Two voices broke through the barrier and interrupted the calm.

“There’s a lot of blood on the floor, Jolee. It’s not all his, either. Islene, come back out of stasis to us.” His voice seemed like it was echoing through a long tunnel.

“I saw that, Talin. I’m not blind, you know. Islene, let go of the man. The medics need to move him,” Jolee said.

She released the stasis field. Loud sounds crashed through the room and the bright lights blinded her. Islene sensed the strong Force signature surrounding the man who had spoken to her.

The tall, dark-haired Jedi helped Jolee lift the wounded man onto a floating gurney. The medics rapidly applied stims and monitors to the man before they rushed him off the ship.

“The vein to his lung ripped open. The surgeons have to close it,” Islene told Jolee as she wiped sweat away from her eyes.

The old man laid a hand on her shoulder. “The medics know that. You did some fine work there. Talin here only had to put a tiny patch on what you’d done to keep him alive.”

She managed a wan smile up at her mentor. “There’s a flicker of good in him. Not much, but it’s there. I couldn’t let him go. We also need to know why he attacked--” Her world swirled into a blur. The two Jedi grabbed her as she slumped forward.

Published: May 24th, 2016   |  6,061 Reads

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Jae Onasi
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