• Chapter 5
    Escaping the Inevitable

    Mattimew cursed silently and pushed aside some of the thicket in the hopes of getting a clearer view of the clone troopers landing zone. He and Patima had been traveling for several hours through the strange forest that was tinted blue from the evanescent moonlight. They were both crouching behind two large bushes on the edge of a clearing in which sat a half dozen black clad clones and a medium sized military transport ship which was also painted black. The six clones had set up a makeshift encampment at the nose of the ship with utility boxes set up in a small semi circle. A small screen was propped up on one of the boxes with a used rations container. The two talking figures on the screen were holding the rapt attention of four of the troopers whom sat staring at the monitor. The duo was looking down on the clones encampment from a slight incline that rose about ten meters in the air. A small beetle zipped past Mattimew’s ear which he lazily waved away.
    “I can see six. Though you never know, there may be more.”
    “Can’t you feel them through the force or something?”
    Mattimew looked uncertain for a moment. He had not noticed it until now but his senses felt oddly numb. Reaching with his mind towards the clones he felt a presence dampen his senses. He withdrew quickly and turned to Patima.
    “No… I can’t.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Something is blocking my abilities. Are there any animals on this planet which nullify the force?”
    Patima thought about this for a moment holding up a solitary hand to her pointed chin.
    “Not that I know of, but then again I guess I really wouldn’t be the person to ask.”
    Mattimew peered through the brush once more.
    “Have you ever handled a lightsaber?” He asked her.
    “Well, when I was younger my father would sometimes let me play with the training sabers, though I haven’t really used one in a long time.”
    Mattimew nodded his head in acknowledgment.
    “In that case just stay back, let me handle this there doesn’t seem to be too many of them.”
    Patima sighed and sat back leaning her weight against a nearby tree. She picked up a small purple fruit from the ground and inspected it for a moment before tossing it aside.
    “Alright if you say so, I doubt I would be any good without a weapon anyway.”
    Mattimew turned once more towards the clearing pushing aside the bush as he did so. Two more clones had now joined the half dozen sitting around the encampment. Mattimew drew in a deep breath to steady his breathing before headed off towards his right through the forest pushing aside bushes and shrubbery to clear his path. All the clones were grouped around the front of the spaceship conversing. Mattimew found it eerie watching them as he saw their emotionless helmets moving whilst their hands gestured in synch with whatever topic they had chosen to talk about. Mattimew crept through another thicket of bushes trying to stay low and quiet as he drew nearer. He felt almost naked without the familiar feelings of the living creatures around him. He had secretly hoped that the farther he moved away from Patima the more likely he would be out of range of whatever was blocking his senses; unfortunately nothing of the sort was happening. As Mattimew circled the clearing he estimated that he had traveled roughly 100 meters around and away from Patima, he kept his eyes on the clones sitting on the utility boxes as he continued through the brush.
    “What are you doin-“
    Mattimew’s head snapped forwards at the crackling speech and he immediately ignited his lightsaber and thrust it forward. There was a sizzling sound followed by a pop as his lightsaber made contact with the clones chest armor.
    “Jedi!”
    Mattimew looked to his right withdrawing his lightsaber and severing the impaled clones left clavicle in the process. Another trooper stood to his right and was in the midst of raising his blaster to fire. Mattimew raised his lightsaber in time to deflect the first bolt of laser fire that erupted from the clones blaster sending it shooting off into a nearby tree, three more shots followed and each was deflected sending one into each of the clones shoulders and the last into his helmet creating a sickening sucking sounds as it penetrated his skull. A tree exploded next to him and he turned towards the clearing to see the eight clones had their own guns raised and were firing haphazardly at him. Mattimew dived forward as plasma melted the ground behind him and rolled un-igniting his lightsaber as he came to a halt crouching behind a particularly thick tree. As he waited behind the trunk he began to inch his way around towards the edge of the clearing. He could feel the heat from the lasers from the splintered trees and blackened rocks that now littered the area around him. Shrugging off his cloak he quickly unclipped the three other lightsabers he kept tucked away.
    “Give yourself up Jedi, there is no where for you to run. We have every clone in the universe searching for you throwaways.”
    Mattimew patiently watched as the clone troopers walked ever closer to his position. He spied a small rock about twenty meters to his left, lifting a finger caused the rock to rise a few inches above the ground which Mew then sent hurtling across the clearing towards the grounded ship. The speed of the rock created a small ping pong sized hole as it shot through a bush whistling as the air caressed its jagged edges. The men looked up in surprise at the sound, and then turned briefly as it struck their ship leaving a large dent and echoing the sound of rock on metal across the entire clearing. Jumping up Mattimew grasped two lightsabers in each hand as he bounded over a smoldering bush. He threw the two sabers in his left and one in his right into the air in front of him as he picked up speed over the now unobstructed terrain. Focusing he ignited the three air born lightsabers directing them stay in front of him forming a defensive perimeter as he approached the first clone. Mattimew noted the formation they had chosen, the eight men were arranged in two lines, five in the front with three in the back spaced in between each other. Mattimew had burst out of the shrubbery midway down the line and hacked down the soldier in the middle of their battle formation. Mattimew instinctively ducked as a soldier on his right raised his rifle and fired. The bolt passed harmlessly over Mattimew’s head and into the arm of the clone behind him. The clone, surprised to have missed, fell to the ground on his back as Mew sweep kicked his legs out from under him. The moment their comrades went down the other men turned on a dime and began firing at him. Throwing his weight towards the three clones on his left flank Mew rolled as four blasters shot the same spot on the ground. Igniting his own personal lightsaber in mid run he deflected a laser into the ground. Beads of sweat started to collect on his forehead as Mattimew ran. He knew the toll of using sabers in this fashion. He had to be quick; and that meant he had to be merciless. Mattimew’s hands whipped left and right in a flurry as he deflected potentially dangerous shots away from his body, he managed to reflect a laser towards the first clone trooper in front of him and was delighted to see the man drop his gun as the laser bore into the clone’s shin. Without fear the man drew a vibro blade from his back and blocked certain death as Mattimew’s saber cleaved downwards. The resistant trooper fell on his back and kicked at Mattimew with his one good foot. Without a seconds pause Mattimew flicked his wrist severing the man’s foot at the ankle. Mattimew could hear the muffled scream through the mask of the clone trooper as his leg fell rolled to a stop a few feet away. In a fit of rage the man threw his vibro blade at Mattimew yelling out curses stifled through his mask. Surprised at such an unorthodox action Mattimew tried to twist out of the way, the knife whizzed past his face as it scored a deep impression across his cheek and took a chunk out of his ear. A red fog clouded his mind as Mattimew felt the blood dripping down his neck and seeping into his robes. He kicked the clone’s helmet and held out his left hand as he used the force to crush the man’s wind pipe; he left the man to choke on his own blood as he turned to find his next victim. Without a second glance at the trooper clawing at his throat, Mattimew threw out his hand punching the first clone’s helmet stunning him briefly. Crouching, Mattimew swept his right leg around and kicked the clone’s legs out from under him. As the prone figure tried to sit up Mattimew tossed his saber lightly in his hands repositioning his handling so that the blade was now facing down. He jumped and fell on the clone with his knees bent as his hand came down plunging the saber into the man’s helmet cracking his hilt against the clone’s visor as he did so. Ripping his blade from the ground as he stood up a small stream of vapor ascended upwards towards the heavens leaving a wispy trail in its wake. Mattimew’s three lightsabers hovered unabated around him as he considered his next move. The ground behind him was melting and covered with burn holes from the dozens of shots the clones had been firing at Mattimew as he executed the first three clones. The third clone trooper was all that remained of the left flank now. Mattimew didn’t wait for the man to make the first move and instead charged at him. The clone raised his gun and fired four shots as Mattimew which were quickly deflected. Dropping his gun the clone kicked it sending it sailing towards Mattimew. Without thinking of the consequences Mattimew raised his saber to deflect the weapon. As his lightsaber halved the gun Mattimew was sent shooting backwards as the gun exploded without warning. He sailed through knocking through two of the four clone troopers behind him and skidding on his side and landing on his back twenty meters away in a whirlwind of dust and packed earth. Mattimew felt his head swimming as he tried to figure out what went wrong. He managed to raise his head slightly to survey the situation and saw that of the five clones that were left only four were still able to still fight. He allowed his head to fall back onto the ground raising a small puff of dust. He had really blown it now. Not only had he failed the Grandmaster, but now he had failed Patima. Patima, the thought crossed his mind once again. What would happen to her if he died? Mattimew struggled to raise himself, focusing all his energies onto propping himself on his elbows. He gave an audible sigh as he managed to finally gain a decent position but was promptly pushed back down by the heel of a boot. Above Mattimew stood the four remaining troopers holding their weapons with their barrels pointed at Mattimew.
    “You had your chance Jedi, and look what it got you. You may have killed six of my brothers, and who knows how many more all over the universe, but your time ends here.”
    Mattimew could imagine the smirk the clone was wearing within his helmet. The clone bent down nearer Mattimew inspecting something on his person.
    “Well, well, what are you going to do with all this junk inside your leg?” As he spoke the clone reached and jerked something on Mattimew’s leg causing his back to spasm as pain rocked up his leg and along his spine. Lowering his view Mattimew managed to see what was causing him so much pain. Embedded within his hamstring was the lower half of the blaster he had cut in half a few minutes before. Blood was trickling down his leg and soaking into his clothing. The clones twisting of the weapon within his leg has caused more blood to seep from the wound. Mattimew felt angry but he couldn’t draw strength from it nor as he strong enough to revitalize himself through the force. He could feel his leg growing numb as every second passed and more blood flowed out of him. The four soldiers were watching Mattimew intent on witnessing the life slowly bleed from his body. Mattimew turned away from the clones and looked up past them into the sky waiting for his self to be released into the force. The sound of a single laser pierced the eerie silence. Mattimew watched a single red bolt fly past his vision passing harmlessly through the small entourage of soldiers. The sound was quickly followed by a high pitched.
    “s**t!”
    The lead clone trooper raised his head and turned towards the forest behind him.
    “What was th-“Three more laser blasts followed quickly silencing the soldier’s words mid sentence. The first two caught the lead clone trooper in the side and neck sending him rolling dead to the ground. The third hit the top of the foot of the soldier to Mattimew’s right causing him to grasp at the hole in his smoldering boot. The two troopers who were still unharmed turned to find the source of the laser fire. Mattimew felt an opening present itself which spurred him into action. He grasped blindly around him feeling for his lightsaber hilt. He felt useless, almost naked without any way to defend himself against whatever was happening. Four more laser bolts shrieked from the tree line slamming into the remaining two troopers leaving holes where vital organs should have been. Mattimew heard silence for a few moments before he heard footsteps on the far side of the clearing. His mind was growing weary, and he felt the loss of blood affecting his thinking. Mattimew’s vision was becoming increasingly fuzzy as less blood became available throughout his body. Struggling to keep his eyes open and to still stay alert Mattimew succumbed to the intense feeling of drowsiness cursing his inability to protect those around him.