In a swift motion that surprised even himself, Chell Raddus had darted forward. The hunter pursuing him had climbed on top of the stone that had served as his hiding spot only seconds before he made his move.
He heard the distinctive, high pitched squeal a blaster makes when firing the stun setting. She was still trying to take him alive.
He could now sense blue rings of energy whizzing past him. He heard their distinctive crackle, smelled them burning the air around his head, and knew if one even so much as grazed his body, his nervous system would overload and he would wake up a Separatist prisoner of war.
Chell could also sense a tall stone ahead of him as he recalled his Master’s modicum of advice.
“No matter what you do, use your movements to determine your surroundings, don’t only let your surroundings determine your movement.”
He leapt up and over the boulder, using it as temporary cover while he plotted his next movement. He was at a serious disadvantage, and he needed to find some way to even the playing field.
“Small rocks, small rocks, small rocks…”
He was now muttering to himself as he simultaneously searched for a smaller stone as well as the precise location of the hunter.
“You don’t have a lightsaber, do you?” he heard the hunter exclaim as she cackled quite unnervingly.
So that’s why she had been playing it so cautiously earlier.
“That makes my job a whole lot easier,” he heard her call out in excitement, taunting him.
Chell furrowed his hairless brow as he painfully extended his mental reach, scanning as much of the surrounding area as possible. His head began to throb, but he was quickly rewarded with answers to both of his questions. About three rocks to his right was one that was the perfect size, and his assailant was clearly no longer playing it safe. He felt her rapidly approaching his position, although he still could not pinpoint exactly where she was in relation to himself.
“I am one with the Force and the Force is with me!” he exhaled as he leapt from his hiding place and dashed for the next rock.
He felt the bounty hunter shift directions and heard the discharge of her blaster once again. He leapt and tumbled behind his new makeshift cover. These frequent stops were necessary, but also allowed her to quickly gain on him at an unbelievably quick pace.
“I am one with the Force and the Force is with me!”
He dove head first behind the second rock, this one much smaller than the last. He heard a different noise now and realized a plume of flame was now engulfing his cover. The grass around him quickly shriveled and caught ablaze, an image not hard to imagine given the sudden smell of sweet smoke and potent gasses. It was time to move again.
The last rock was further away than the others. He estimated that he would be exposed for at least 10 seconds. He would just need to outrun the flames. Chell remembered back to one of his first aptitude tests when he had been instructed to increase his speed by applying the Force to his movements. A test he had most readily failed…
Now is different. Just breathe.
Chell took note of where his final destination was in front of him, burning the distance, angle, elevation, and location in his memory with as much precision as he could muster. With every ounce of concentration he had left, Chell redirected the flow of the Force from an external sensory stream to an internal boiling geyser, centralizing all of it in his lower body and legs.
“I am one with the Force and the Force is with me!”
In what felt like a completely out of body experience, Chell exploded forward, feeling his body glide towards the spot where he knew the rock would be. He was moving completely blind, and yet he had never been more confident about reaching a destination in his life.
He was almost there. He just needed to dive close enough to the small rock to be shielded, but far enough away as not to collide with it.
His concentration was suddenly broken as he felt something strike, or more accurately “wrap,” around his leg. He instantly knew it was a weapon that he had seen before in class; two steel balls attached to either end of a rope. If he recalled correctly, they were called a Bolas or Bolo or at least something along those lines. The name was inconsequential now. They were cheap tools used by duplicitous mercenaries. Much like the one that was about to secure him as their next mark.
Fortunately, while this primitive weapon was intended to trip and trap a quarry by wrapping around both ankles, only one of his legs had been struck while he was mid-bound, saving him from being fully immobilized. Still, the weight of the impact had sent him into a premature tumble and he was very nearly struck by yet another circular stun round.
Chell hit the ground with a hard thud, and rolled behind where he knew the rock to be. His energy was almost spent and his leg was now in immense pain, but he was still able to redirect his flow once again and scan only the area directly in front of him. Exactly as he had hoped, he was facing the small rock with the assailant directly on the opposite side and nearly upon him, close enough that he could hear her breath.
Perfect.
“Use your movements to determine your surroundings.”
“I hope this is what you meant, Master,” Chell grunt, gathering every bit of his strength he had remaining, both in body and mind, as he used the Force to uproot the rock and propel it at his opponent.
He could sense her limber movements as she flipped out of the way, but that was all he needed, the victor had been decided.
Going on the offensive, Chell rushed the bounty hunter, knowing it was finally time to turn the tide.
Swinging his arm in a motion reminiscent of a wide, open-handed uppercut, he used the Force to grasp the loose dirt and grass surrounding him, splashing it in the face of his attacker. She recoiled as her eyes, nose, and mouth were caked with freshly deracinated soil.
In an instant, Chell was at her side, clearly catching her off guard. He sensed the energy emanating from her organic body parts and struck a blow right above where her bionic arm was melded to her flesh. There was a loud cracking noise as she yelled out in pain and disgust.
He ducked under her swing as he landed a flurry of blows into her stomach, feeling a spray of either saliva or blood splatter down onto the top of his head. Frenks usually had no excess fat, so every blow that connected struck muscle and bone.
He directed another short jab straight at her other arm, a moment later hearing the metallic clatter of the woman’s blaster pistol hitting a rock far off to the right. All of this had happened in the span of a few seconds, giving his once assailant next to no time to react.
Chell quickly maneuvered around her, and struck her in the spine, sending her tumbling forward in a not so graceful manner. She screamed in anger as she rolled and regained her poise, bracing her metal arm with her other hand as she pointed it directly at Chell.
His strike had pushed her further away than he had anticipated, and there was no longer any cover for him to duck behind. The anger she now exuded swirled like a cloud around her, and he expected she just might be flustered enough to shoot with the intent to kill this time.
Chell had never used the Force this much in his life, and he knew he had already been pushed well past the brink of his physical and mental limit. He also knew he had no chance of reaching the bounty hunter before she opened fire with any number of her assorted bionic armaments. However, this was no time for him to go on the defensive. Not anymore.
He needed to end this now.
Chell extended his own webbed hand, his stance mirroring hers.
And for the briefest of moments he felt the Frenk’s anger transform into fear. She knew what was coming.
Eyes still closed, Chell felt his lips curl into the ever so slightest smirk.
Then he clenched his fist.
How he wished he could have seen what followed.
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