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Chapter Four


Written by Jeff Walters


The blast blew in the bar's windows and peppered it's patrons with glass shards. A large sliver shot across the room an embedded itself in the table right next to Kira's hand. "DOWN!", Max yelled as he tackled his dumbstruck friend to the floor and dragged him under what little shelter the table offered.

Dust filled the bar area and the only sound now was the whimpers of those unfortunates who had been sitting near the windows. The bartender poked his head up over the bar and scanned the room for any source of danger. He'd dealt with many drunks before and more than a few bar fights, but nothing like this. With that in mind, he ducked his head back undercover hoping someone else would have the courage to look outside.

Kira started to get to his feet but was dragged down again by his friend. "What are you doing!", Max hissed at him excitedly.

"What someone has to Max....seeing what happened!", Kira replied as he drew his blaster and rose to a knelling position so he could see over the table. Max reluctantly followed his Kira's example assuming a guarded crouch stance as the two friends nervously scanned the bar. "Stay here", Kira commanded as he slowly rose to a standing position and began edging towards the entrance. "You don't have a weapon.", he added as Max started to protest.

"Yeah, and you've never even fired that damn thing. I was surprised you didn't blow your foot off when you drew it", Max spat back as he ignored his companions order appearing at his side. "I'm coming with you and that's that."


The speeder was ruined. That much was obvious. The normal mid-morning crowd that the street was usually packed with was nowhere to be seen. Kira scanned the vacant windows and doorways all along the street unconsciously clenching his blaster as he did so. "Well.", Max said as he stood up from examing the charred remains of Kira's vehicle. "You just lost a lot of resale value."

Kira's head turned frantically as the knuckles of his blaster hand turned whiter and whiter. Vainly searching for a sign of life. "Something's not right here"

Max followed Kira's eyes trying to determine the source of Kira's worry. "I don't see anything", he said shrugging his shoulders.

"No, you don't. Exactly" Kira spoke excitedly, failing in his attempt to control his shaking voice. "There should be people. Everywhere. Complaining over their damaged windows or oohing and aahing over the wreckage. But there's nothing! No-one!"

Max had been so engrossed in discovering the source of the speeder's explosion that he hadn't even noticed. Up and down the street shops and stalls were abandoned. The windows of every home were darkened, every door shut. There weren't even any low lifes taking the advantage of the oppurtunity to loot unattended shopfronts. "Well this is not exactly a typical occurence here, maybe they're just frightened", Max whispered really trying to convince himself rather than his friend. "Either way I don't think we should be out in the open like....."

As if picked up by an invisible hand, Max was thrown back through the now glass-less windows of the bar. Kira threw himself at the ground and rolled back towards the bar's entrance. Blaster fire dotted the ground inches behind him as he moved. As he neared the doorway, he propelled himself to his feet and fired blindly out into the street before dissappearing inside.

It was no use. Max was dead even before he had been blown back into the bar. The cause of death was plainly obvious to all. Not much remained of Maxes chest and left shoulder. Both areas marred by the burn marks of a high-powered blaster rifle. A young wookie injured from the earlier blast let out a sorrowful cry and crawled away from Kira and his late friend, as if the death could possibly be contagious.

Kira tried to speak, but no words found their way out. Instead he cradled the body in his arms and stared with shocked fasicination at the pool of blood slowly spreading out across the glass covered floor.

As he wept over the dead body of his friend, the distinct whine of a speeder could be heard gunning down the street at great speed. Approaching.

.......to be continued.


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