With a sigh he stepped back onto the porch; the old man had not moved, other than the rhythmic rocking of his chair. He often sat outside to watch the sunset or the rain fall, oft in silence. He always wanted company but his wife was getting too old to like the cold night air anymore. Raztlain had spent each evening for the better part of two months standing just off the edge of the porch staring out into the black while his host rocked steadily though the hours. They rarely spoke, and when they did it was usually in short sentences; the elderly fellow was not much for communication, but he always seemed to have good advice.

“On the move again?” He questioned as Alies stepped out of the rain.

The Jedi nodded. “He’s out there, and he’s scared.” He sighed again and shook his head. “I’ve tried everything I know short of capturing him and…well…”

“That’d prove his suspicions, least make him think he was right,” the old man observed.

He was intelligent, that was for sure. “I think he may be leaving; I feel…it’s like urgency.”

“Scared,” the man confirmed solemnly. “Can’t blame ‘im, what with that machine about killin’ as he will.” He nodded to himself satisfactorily, pleased with his assessment. He shrugged. “Don’t much understand you folk, but I reckon if I were lookin’ to find friends as was scared of me I’d probably search out 'is transport, tag it and let ‘im leave; easy enough to catch later. Least if you got somethin' faster...might work better that way…might.”

“Might,” Alies agreed. Here was the hard part. “Look sir, I think I have put a target on you and yours for long enough, its past time for me to move on. As close as I am getting to this…youth I guess you might say, they’re getting close to me…I can feel it.” Perhaps that was even what was scaring the other Jedi.

The old man nodded again in time with the creaking of his chair. “Figured as much, you been thinking on it for a week now. Thing is, well, me and the wife, we’re gettin’ up in age…seen a lot in my time. Been shot at ‘fore too,” he said with a sly grin as he patted the rifle leaned against his wall beside the chair. “These Short-troops, or Cloaks…whatever you talk about…ain’t gonna scare me, and the wife’s pretty hearty too.”

Alies chuckled before he could stop himself. “Stormtroopers, and Clones. But still, its time. If there is anything I can do before I go, some way to pay you for your kindnesses please allow me.”

He shook his head. “Ain’t nothin’ no one else wouldn’t-a-done. You wanna pay me back? Find this other Jedi and then stop the Empire ‘fore it takes everyone’s sons away.”

Raztlain only nodded as he turned back towards the rain and lost his thoughts in the rhythmic rocking of his host.

Added (02 Nov 2010, 6:41 PM)
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It couldn’t be put off after his announcement last night so, after he had eaten breakfast (the couple insisted) and paid them with what few coins were not already spoken for, he said his goodbyes and made his way to the local spaceport. He paid his docking fees, with the coins he had left over, secured his release forms and walked to his ship, but instead of boarding his vessel he passed it and began walking though the lot laying his hand on each ship as he passed.

Within the first fifteen vessels he had found it, and though it was not an exact science he felt the urgency like a residue and knew it to be the same that he’d felt all the way from the farm; this, he though, had to be the one. Digging into his robe he found the small transmitter and affixed it to the back side of the landing strut. The youth was scared, that much was true, and with the presence of another Jedi closing in he would likely miss checking for such a mundane thing before skipping the planet.

Finally Alies turned back towards his ship, confident that he’d found what, or rather who, he’d been searching for. It seemed the old man’s advice would pay off once again. He had gone all of three steps when he heard the unmistakable click of a safety. Perhaps it had been the strange feeling associated with Clones, perhaps it had been the Jedi’s devoted attention to finding the ship, regardless Alies cursed himself for neglecting his full abilities. Slowly he turned and came face to face with the wrong end of a carbine.

“Twitch your hand and you get a new hole.” The cold mechanical voice said. “Then again, you’re dead anyway…just one thing first.” As he said this eleven more stormtroopers stood in a semi-circle. “Cover him,” the metallic voice said, and if it could be cocky it was. “I want to get a good look at a so called Jedi face before I disfigure it.” And with that the soldier lowered his weapon and stripped off his helmet.

The face shocked Raztlain so much that he gasped. This cold soldier was no more than twenty, probably less. Of course, clones were bred for war but Alies simply could not grasp the malice that had to be fed to the youths for them to be such stone hard killers. He had known this day would come, he had resigned himself to it, prepared for it, and finally he knew what it was to look into the eyes of a man ordered to kill him nine years ago.

The terrible blast sounded and Raztlain tensed as he prepared for the pain that would precede his imminent death, (it was unlikely that he could absorb a bolt at this close range) but with the echo of the shot he noticed that the youthful face had gone slack; then the body dropped out of his line of sight to reveal the other soldiers covered faces looking about to see their assailant. They were good though and even now several were bringing their weapons back to bear on Alies.

The Jedi, however, was good too and he took advantage of their momentary lapse as they had done him. His lightsaber was a blur in his hands before the first shots range out. So long as they stayed relatively in front of him they were little threat, he’d easily block most of their shots and what few penetrated his defenses would be absorbed into his body as a reserve tap for energy. They knew that as well and begun spreading out but another shot rang out and another trooper on Raztlain’s right fell. Alies sidestepped to the left and stopped the advance that side, but it got him close enough to time his ricochets so that a third soldier dropped.

In minutes the twelve stormtroopers were dispatched and Raztlain drew a slow breath as he walked towards the place where the last shot had erupted. A smile split his face as Klev, the old man with whom he had stayed, stepped out from behind an old battered bulk cruiser.

“Ain’t sayin’ its right, but sometimes a bit o’ revenge just feels good,” he said as he patted his rifle.

“You saved my life,” Alies said stating the obvious.

Klev shrugged. “You Jedi folk always figure a way out, was only a matter of time. Course they killed my boy,” he shrugged again. “Figure it was only fair. ‘sides, looks like all that twirlin’ you was doin’ attracted some attention. Figure he can’t say you’re on their side now huh?”

Raztlain looked towards the front of the lot and sure enough there stood a shrouded figure. Alies smiled as he turned back to the old man. “Thanks again, for everything. You should probably move along before the authorities arrive.”

“Nope,” he said stubbornly. “You best be on your way, they got nothin’ on me, you’re a Jedi. You go along, out there,” he gestured towards space. “I’ll see that he follows along as he can; can’t have the both of you blasting outta here right after this.” He said indicating the bodies.

Right again Raztlain figured, but he certainly hated to let the other Jedi out of his sight now. He nodded, Klev’s advice had paid off more than once, perhaps it was time for the Jedi to learn to trust others again.

“Right,” he said as he grasped hands with the fellow one last time. He turned back towards his ship and boarded. Moments later he lifted off and cautiously made his way to the stars.

Klev watched him go until he could no longer see him then muttered. “Thank you, for the first time in years I feel...hope. May the Force be with you laddie…” With that he sighed and turned towards the other one who was still watching warily.

Added (13 Nov 2010, 12:19 PM)
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He sighed heavily as he surveyed the carnage surrounding him. The authorities would arrive soon, something like a firefight in broad daylight was bound to attract attention. More likely more Imperial troops would show first; it was unlikely that one of these fellows had not gotten a message off before he died.

Imperial: the word even tasted sour when he simply thought it. They had destroyed his home, burned his crops, and murdered his child, and for what? Because he’d localized a small resistance to their regime. He kept a special place in his heart for the hatred he felt for them, a small fire burning, eternally fueled by the memory of that horrific night; that and the garrison of clones that had been stationed on planet in the aftermath.

Part of him regretted it, the resistance, part did not. The part that did was the one who saw the lonliness in his wife’s eyes every time they sat down to dinner. The part that didn’t was the part that saw the injustices forced on non-humans and women by the so called New Order. Something had needed done, and the neighbors had begged his help, told him of things to come, convinced him that he, and he alone, could make the difference. Then, when the time came for retribution, they fled and left him to bear the burden.

Part of him hated them for that, for their cowardice, and that part would never go either. He had barely restrained himself from ending his onetime best friends life the last time he had seen him; that being shortly after the murder. One look in Klev’s eyes was all it took for the other to be sure that he was no longer welcome. Klev had seen none of them again. He figure that they got their own eventually. For himself he’d been content to carve out a small piece of calm where he could live out the rest of his life in peace; he’d succeeded too.

He’d succeeded too, until the Jedi came seeking refuge. How could a man like Klev turn him down? He’d done what he always did, opened his home, turned up the spare bed, made sure there was food aplenty, and loaded his guns. There wass something about the Jedi though, a romanticism, a boldness that one could feel. There was good there, a common heart, a person who fought for justice in every case, no matter what. A person who would not shrink from his duty when it came time to pay the cost. A man, in short, that Klev could admire.

A commotion had started on the far side of the arena, raised voices and scuffling, and coming nearer. “Time to go,” Klev said gruffly. He shouldered his weapon and looked back up to where the Jedi potential had been standing; unsurprisingly the youth was not to be seen but Klev figured he’d be near. He used the ships for support as he stepped gingerly around the bodies and started up the hill with a heavy limp; a product of old age coupled with a final ‘warning’ on that day.

When he reached the top he looked around but there was nothing to be seen, which again did not surprise him, but he did feel like he was being watched. It was not a menace that he felt, or feared, but more like a curiosity. Slowly he removed his rifle from his shoulder and lowered it to the ground butt first. He leaned it against the nearest ship and took one unsteady step away.

“Look son, I ain’t here to hurt you, an’ neither was that other one. He’s lookin’ to find others like you, gather em up an’ help em learn what it is to be a Jedi,” he said to the air, his aged voice sounded kind but gritty from years of use. He sighed. “Come on out son, I can tell you how to find ‘im, ‘fore they find you.”