Evening was falling… All the survivors had set up an impromptu camp around the krayt dragon's carcass. Haul such a giant somewhere? There were only two ships: mine and the one belonging to the surviving pirates. According to one of them, their crew no longer even had enough sentients to properly "do their usual work on this tub," which resembled a heavily modified Consular-class cruiser… The ship was battered, many elements were warped and rusted. How did they even fly it? In any case, neither of the two ships was suitable for transporting it. So it was decided to butcher the dragon's carcass right here… The job promised to be long, so the survivors, splitting into "interest groups," set up camp around the dead dragon.
Naturally, they decided to start almost immediately… They just helped each other out. Given that we'd shed blood together killing it, help was given regardless of squad affiliation.
"Let's begin," Jacob announced. Even during butchering, the Mandalorians didn't take off their constant armor.
The dragon was massive. It had to be divided into three parts: the head, the torso, and the rear. So we also split into three teams. Each team got its part to butcher. The Tuskens were content with the head, the pirates got the rear section — with the hind legs and tail. And we got the largest part of the body: the torso. The problem, though, was that even cutting the designated parts apart from each other was difficult, practically impossible. The dragon held up too well against attacks. Sure, we had "vibro-tools that worked on a special frequency"… But even with those, there was a tiiiiiny problem. Cutting required a huge amount of energy and was also very slow.
"By the way," I turned to Hori, then nodded at the Tuskens, "what are they gesturing and pointing at me for?"
"They're complaining," the Mandalorian said. "With your last attack, you essentially fried its brain. Their droid examined the dragon's insides. The blow hit the palate and set almost everything in its head on fire."
"So that's why it croaked," Vanda said.
"One attack on a vulnerable spot can decide a lot," Jacob replied calmly.
"To hell with attacks on vulnerable spots! Give me a couple of grenade bundles and I'll capture the Senate!" Bombur declared.
"More likely you'd destroy yourself, at best," Hori noted. "Even so, aren't we getting distracted?"
The cutting rig was essentially a huge beam, about ten meters long. The beam resembled a sword in shape, with one exception — where the "hilt" would be, there was something like a power supply with wires coming off it. We decided to connect the wires to the pirate ship's power system. They'd already claimed they couldn't haul it out of here properly with just their crew anyway. And the sound the tool made when running — it was like dragging a fork across glass… It gave you a sharp urge to take whoever was dragging that fork across glass and shove it into the insolent bastard's eye… But here we had to put up with all of it.
"By the way," I said, practically shouting to be heard, "how do we aim it at specific body parts?"
"The manual said this rig should be installed in a workshop…"
"Stop!" I cut the pirate off. "So you bought it…"
"We stole it! We raided a starship salvage yard and just took everything that wasn't bolted down. And this thing," he nodded at the operating machine, beside which the Tuskens were currently doing something — or rather, judging by their active gesturing, genuinely puzzled about how to work a rig weighing a couple of tons — "we took with us. It was bolted to a machine, actually… But the Captain liked its feature so much he ordered it unbolted along with the power cables."
"What archaic factory did you find?" Vanda asked. "Lasers similar to lightsabers have been used for cutting for ages!"
"Vibro-tools have their advantage too," Hori explained. "Would you turn it off already — we still haven't figured out how to lift it! This rig is used for opening armor. Industrial-type laser beams have a power limit compared to a lightsaber. A lightsaber can't cut through certain materials. Phrik, beskar, neuranium, ultrachrome, and cortosis. And industrial lasers don't have all the properties of a lightsaber. But there's a wonderful thing called vibration frequency. Essentially, with the right frequency, you can cut any material. Only… You clearly stole it without the frequency adjustment panel, right?"
"Well…"
"It's clear enough with you," Hori sighed heavily.
"Is there a way to find the right frequency for dragon scales?" Jacob asked.
"No," Hori shook his head. "I don't even know what level this tool is currently set to."
"So what do we do?" asked one of the pirates. "First — we can't even lift it."
"Well, we can lift it," I said, mentally preparing for another telekinesis workout. "But whether this thing will work on dragon scales or not — the Will of the Force, nothing more. Either it works, or it doesn't. The alternative is to haul it to a settlement — in principle, we could manage that, but there we'd have to defend it, not to mention…"
"Not to mention that's unacceptable to the Tuskens," Hori said. "And we agreed to respect each other, after all the sacrifices we've made."
"How long until it rots?" asked a pirate.
"That option is unacceptable," the Mandalorians replied in chorus.
"Alright, alright," he raised his hands. "I get it, you're in a hurry somewhere."
"It's not that," Vanda shook her head. "Maybe you're used to wallowing in filth and the stench of a decomposing corpse is like air from the best Naboo resort to you, but for us, it's unacceptable. No matter how — we'll butcher it."
"Light," Jacob turned to me, "go ahead, use your Force. And you," he turned to the pirates, "start up the tool. Try cutting off its tail first."
"Tch…" I spat, stepping aside and closing my eyes. That unpleasant sound started again, like a fork on glass… The machine was running. The main thing was that the cables were long enough. Opening my eyes sharply, I pointed my hand at the tool. A strange sound rang out… When they'd unloaded the pirate corvette, they'd literally dropped it next to the beast's carcass… Good thing they hadn't thought to drop it on the beast itself.
Weight… What difference does it make how much something weighs? I've been using telekinesis for so many years that I've come to understand the following: weight really doesn't exist. Because kilograms, tons… It's all just conventions of our minds, to measure something, to characterize it. But it's truly unimportant. No matter how much something weighs — it's nothing compared to the power of the Force.
Of course, I'll feel the exhaustion, but before that, I'll do everything necessary… At the edge of my consciousness, I felt all the sentients watching with surprise as the tool rose. One meter… Two… Three… Five meters. Now move it to the base of the tail. A couple of moments, and the tool touched the tail with that grating sound… A rattling noise came — I blocked out my hearing with the Force, concentrating only on keeping the blade's edge in contact with the tail… Incredible! It could actually cut through what even my lightsaber couldn't. I carefully lowered the machine onto the tail section… Cutting through this carcass. Sweat beaded on my forehead — it got very hot… The thing was, even after seeing that our assumption had worked, I didn't let go of the blade cutting through the tail. The whole contraption looked too fragile. And I had no desire to break it completely. Better to control every centimeter than to drop it and break something.
Out of the corner of my ear, I heard cheering from everyone present. Little by little, the tail separated from the body. When it was done, I sat down on the sand from the strain. Damn — there's no weight, but exhaustion isn't canceled by that. Directing the Force with such precision is hard for me. After all, I'm more of a fighter than a skilled Consular. Simply put — I have considerable potential, yes, but fine techniques are a real pain. It's easier to just hit harder and with feeling.
"Excellent!" Vanda exclaimed. "Now one more round! The head from the torso!"
"You're a cruel woman," Hori's voice came. "Look at him. He's barely breathing…"
"Difficulties temper you," Jacob said in a calm voice. "Right now, say, you can't lift a twenty-kilogram weight — so what? Should you stop because of that? Move forward, try to surpass yourself, and the day will come when thirty is easy for you. Isn't it the same with your Force?" he turned to me.
"T… Thack," I said. "Though I can't say I'm particularly worn out. I've had experience… interacting with heavy objects, much heavier than this one. It's just that here I also focused on precision. After all — we only have one vibro-weapon. And one reactor to power it. I don't want to give up my ship's reactor, and I won't. I'd rather drag it to Mos Espa."
My hand pointed at the tool again; the cloud of sand dust around it had settled. It rose into the air again, and this time, carefully, I moved toward the neck, which was harder to cut. It required surgical precision not to hack into unnecessary body parts. Carefully… Lower it… Damn! I cut a bit crooked — the cut came out angled, which might upset the Tuskens since I'd sliced off part of their share… No. They were happy even with such a — to me — failed result. The Desert Terror's innards spilled copiously onto the sand, triggering my gag reflex. Sure, I'd cut people in half with a lightsaber before… but a lightsaber cuts and cauterizes, and in the heat of battle you simply don't have time to pay attention to that… But now everyone saw the guts spilling out. And its body was so huge it felt like a cave. Sentients could almost walk inside and take what was needed — just gut it. Which is what we did… gutted it. Without even discussing it, they allocated the stomach to me, because that was where I felt something strange, something familiar and warm. Jumping onto part of the esophagus, I thanked the Force…
It's good, after all, to be able to block out your senses. Of course, I'm far from a master of that technique. But my knowledge was enough to keep from vomiting from the smell. This body part would have seemed like a cave — secret, dark… but in the distance I saw a glimmer. And I felt it. However, to reach it, I'd have to either pull out the lungs and heart, or go in from the back and fully extract the spilled intestines. Weighing the options, I decided to work from the lung side. But where was all that? I'm not a biologist, I've never been involved in autopsies.
Author's note — but the author has. Not pleasant, I'll tell you. But you have to start somewhere.
I jumped down to the base…
"You always have to start somewhere," Hori said. "Had a look?" he asked me. "Here, I found the anatomy of krayt dragons. Three-chambered heart, like reptiles, ventricle…"
"Shove it up your ass," Bombur cut him off rudely. "You'd better tell us how to get everything out of it completely. It all looks so monumental…"
"No blowing anything up," Hori interrupted him. "Every organ in a living organism's body is mainly attached to elements of the musculoskeletal system…"
"What?"
"In short, it's all like ropes with things hanging off them," Vanda said.
"Almost," Hori touched his visor. "Almost… We need to destroy those elements, and then Light can pull the organs out."
"Why can't I just pull them out all at once, relying on the Force?"
"High chance something will get damaged. Look at the brain you fried. Its internal organs aren't as tough. Yes, maybe you only need the crystals from the stomach, and they're definitely not fragile. But we'd like to get all its organs more or less intact. There are plenty of people who'll pay a good price for them. Destroying those elements is our job. Yours — to use the Force and pull out what we 'detach' from it."
In the end, we worked even through the night. Nobody felt like sleeping then, despite the incredibly hard day. Everyone was so engrossed in the butchering that no one noticed how the whole night passed. Difficulties arose almost immediately, even with "cutting off the right parts." The organs were hard to reach because they were literally lying on top of each other. By morning, though I wasn't in the freshest shape, the krayt dragon's stomach lay before me… And inside it were the very crystals many Jedi had sought. And I'd found them. I'd sliced the stomach open with my lightsaber, and the crystals lay before me. There were a great many of them, shimmering in different colors. But two crystals stood out, glowing with a green light… Not the green my lightsaber glowed. No… It was a slightly darker version of green — harsh, I'd say. There they were… I felt the warmth emanating from them. Pointing my hand toward them, I pulled the crystals to me.
"Are these them?" Vanda's voice came. "Your share?"
"I'll also take some scales," I answered the Mandalorian woman. "They'll come in handy when I make my armor. Not all of them…"
"It doesn't matter," Jacob said, walking up close. "As I understand it, you want to finish your business quickly, Light Flyingstar, Padawan. You've earned a trophy — more than most, even. So don't make excuses. Take as much as you want."
"Right," Hori said. "And maybe you shouldn't rush to leave? After every job, our company likes to celebrate. We'll have a good time, I promise you."
"Stay for the evening. Uncle Bombur will teach you how to drink," the last Mandalorian said.
"You don't even know how yourself," Hori said.
"Shut up!" Bombur exclaimed. "Don't embarrass me in front of the kids!"
"So?" Jacob asked.
"Well… I wouldn't say no to some rest. After all this," I swept my gaze across the area.
* * *
"Ugh!" I groaned, getting up and brushing myself off. I fell asleep in my clothes? Where? In the middle of the Tatooine desert. "What the hell?!" My head was splitting. It wasn't that we'd had much of a blowout. We just decided to drink and celebrate the final butchering of the carcass.
At first we celebrated using my ship's not-so-generous food supplies, then the pirates came over and offered their services — or rather, to raid their Captain's Bar on their ship. Everyone whistled at the sight of what the head pirate kept in his Bar — even me, the guy whose knowledge of alcohol from a Galaxy Far, Far Away mostly revolved around Corellian whiskey. But what did we end up with? Corellian whiskey, Chandrilian vodka, rye vodka, numerous types of liqueurs and brandies… And the cruelest of all — a tincture produced by the Wookiees. They make it from some kind of leaves, according to Hori. And from what I heard, even the furballs themselves get drunk on it. And if Wookiees — with their build, strength, and endurance — get drunk on this tincture, what would it do to other sentients?
"This tincture… KHAH!" one of the pirates to my right coughed. A second later, he parted ways with his meal in an unconventional manner. "The last thing I ever drink from their planet! Gods! The Force! What did I do to deserve this?!"
"In the name of Mandalore — don't yell," came Bombur's voice. I turned and saw Hori carrying Bombur on his shoulder. "I feel like a heavy turbolaser hit me."
"I told you you didn't know how to drink," Hori noted. What the hell? He downed a whole bottle of that Wookiee tincture! And from the looks of it, he was fine. "Actually, I liked that minty taste."
"Where are Vanda and Jacob?" I asked Hori.
"Hmm… How do I put this, kid?" Bombur said. "They… They're… Well, they decided to celebrate together, a bit apart from the rest…"
"I get it…"
"You get it?" Hori asked. "Interesting. I've seen pairs of Jedi, about thirty years old, who've only heard about sex…"
"I've done it," I said flatly. "Don't you believe me?"
"Why not?" Bombur asked. "Even droids would react to your cute face."
"I'm not giving my master to anyone!" BB blared loudly.
"Blare a little less, tin can," Bombur said. "Mmm… Hori! I need to pee! Help!"
"Hutt," Hori expressed. "Alright. Rest, Light."
Sure, now… I need water. Exactly…
"BB, you…" I looked at the droid.
He simply and unpretentiously pulled a bottle of liquid glinting in the light of Tatooine's two suns from inside his body. Gods… This was… so… So…
"Master?"
"BB. I'll be honest with you… Maybe I'll find many more women in this galaxy. Wounds heal, and Mila wouldn't want me to grieve over her and ruin my life — but truly love, I can only love you…" I snatched the bottle from the droid's manipulator, instantly opened it, and greedily put it to my lips. The Force, how wonderful, magnificent, divine!
My mood after the drinking session wouldn't improve much from this. But at least it was something…
"I hope confessing your love to a droid for a liter of water isn't all you can do right now?" a mocking voice asked from behind.
"Master," I spun around sharply. "You're here too…"
"I don't hear any joy," the part of An'ya Kuro's face I could see twisted into a smile. "You did good work. And got a worthy reward for your labor."
"Yes, though it was hard. And now I have two crystals that resonate with my Force."
"Two?" An'ya Kuro asked. "That gives you two options. First — you can become an adept of Jar'Kai. That's the most convenient option. You're fast and agile — that style suits you perfectly. Second — you can create a full-fledged lightstaff. Such a weapon isn't popular among Jedi, but it has its advantages."
"And you recommend Jar'Kai?"
"As an adept of Soresu, you studied the Center of Being, as well as the philosophy of the storm's center," Kuro said importantly. "As an adept of Ataru, you are incredibly fast and agile. All of this can be useful to an adept of Jar'Kai. Moving quickly and striking from different sides, you can defeat many opponents. And the ability to 'remain in the storm's center,' as an adept of Soresu, will help you fight back even in the most difficult situations. Of course, I'm only finishing your training. How to proceed — that decision is entirely yours."
"I don't think there's anything to decide here," I said with a sigh. "Learning the staff would take time. But switching to Jar'Kai — that won't take time. I need to develop my left hand," since I'm right-handed and usually fight with a sword in my right hand, even when using Ataru, which has many two-handed attacks.
"Excellent," Kuro clapped her hands. "I'll select some materials on Jar'Kai for you. You can also consult the instructors who teach the younglings. They all have immense knowledge of Jedi fencing."
"Thank you."
"And one more thing," Kuro said. "You'll have to process the crystals. Or didn't you understand? They don't come out of the stomach ready to be installed in a sword. You'll have to process the crystals... And the slightest mistake in that process could be the last one of your life!"
"I know..."
The Star Trek from Tatooine, even after we finished our business, didn't leave. I acquired not only crystals, but also scale elements, which I would integrate into my bracers and armor. I also got several fangs and claws, from which I intended to make hooks for the grappling hook. Mos Espa was buzzing... Rumors were going around the city about those who had gone up against the ancient krayt dragon... They said it even breathed fire and lightning, that it could even fly. And none of us were in a hurry to dispel the rumors... Let them believe whatever they want — reputation, after all.
"The time has come to say goodbye," Jacob said seriously, in the spaceport. Behind me stood the Star Trek, inside which the mentor and BB had already settled, the latter having started warming up the engines. "You helped us a lot, even though I was skeptical of you."
"Especially Vanda," Bombur inserted, for which he received a cuff on the head from the aforementioned person. Though he probably didn't feel it.
"If there's good work, Jedi," Jacob said, "you have my contacts," though I doubted I'd need them. Still, swearing off anything is the last thing to do in the Galaxy Far, Far Away.
"We'll see each other again," Hori promised. "All the best..."
"Yes. Goodbye," I said, heading toward my ship. A long journey still awaited me.
The Star Path shuddered, launched from the spaceport, and headed into the sky.
"Where are we flying now, mentor?" I asked the woman.
"The Council gave me a mission. After it, I'll make a decision regarding you," the woman said, not taking her eyes off the stars. "First, you'll have to sort out your new lightsaber."
"And what about Jar'Kai training?" I asked.
"I don't use that style, but we'll stop by Coruscant on the way and get all the information you need. After that, you're on your own. You're almost a Knight now, and you should acquire your own skills and abilities, study what you need. I'm not your nanny. We have two weeks to fly to that planet. Sernpidal is our next destination. So — take us into Hyperspace and get to work."
"And what's there, on Sernpidal?"
"A lot of sentients have disappeared, of various ages. It seems like a matter for the local police, but the Council believes a Dark Sider has been active there. That's why they're sending us. Based on the results of this mission, I'll make a final decision regarding you."