558. Black Phoenix - Raezyr

Trychon backed up and began hurling a barrage of large rocks back down the corridor. Splinters flew as they were pulverized by the force of the blow against the cave wall, forcing the attackers to keep under cover and out of sight.

Knowing he would run out of ammunition sooner or later, the Sith looked around in the dim light and spotted several cracks in the ceiling. Diverting his attention he sent the Force out, and felt it seep into the cracks, felt the cracks fill and yet he still forced the Dark Side into the tiny gaps.

The salvo of boulders ended, the bounty hunters emerged from their cover, firing as they did. The loud grinding sound above them sent them back down the tunnel just as a large load of debris fell from the ceiling.

It wasn't nearly as much as the cyborg's guardian had wished for, but it was enough to slow them down and give Haley and him time to get out of the cave where, with a little luck, he'd find a boulder large enough to close off the cave and end pursuit. Turning, he trotted toward the light.

As he got closer to the entrance, Haley stepped out from behind a small boulder she had been hiding behind. The tears on her face were something he expected. The horrified look was something that wasn't. He stopped in his tracks, sensing the dread she was feeling. "What's wrong Haley?"

"Please don't let them take me alive, Trych," Haley said through sobs. "Many people view cyborgs as nothing but property, and there's no telling what they may do to me if they capture me."

"They aren't going to capture us," the Sith said, taking a moment to wrap his arms around the sobbing woman, trying to reassure her. "We're out now. It's going to be okay."

She started crying even worse at this. "We're not out. Look," she sobbed and sank out of his grasp into a sitting position on the sandy floor of the tunnel.

For the first time, Trychon really looked at the scenery outside the cave. He could tell that they were pretty high up in elevation, and his heart began to sink as he approached the edge of the cave.

His shoulders slumped as he peered down at the 150 meter drop below the lip of the cave. He surveyed the sheer canyon wall all around the opening and his shoulders slumped further. Unless they sprouted wings, this was the end of the line.

A slow burning fire began to build in Trychon. He hadn't gone through all the training and hardships just to die at the hands of a few lousy bounty hunters. No, he was going to at least give them a chance. Maybe they'd over whelm him, but he'd take as many of them as he could before they did. They'd pay a heavy price.

Something else was building in the Sith, and just as he was beginning to notice it a voice sounded in his head. We're above you. Hang tight for a bit. Have to get rid of these Hutt fighters.

Trychon replied immediately, Hurry. Bounty hunters have us cornered at the entrance.

Be there ASAP.

Haley must have noticed something on Trychon's face. "What is it?"

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Trychon grinned. "Raez is here."

A confused look crossed Haley's face. "Where?" she asked, but there was no time for an answer. Blaster bolts began splashing all around them.

The Sith warrior shoved the cyborg to the ground behind the boulder and snapped on his lightsaber in the same movement. A renewed strength flowed through him and somehow his reaction time seemed even quicker and his deflections more accurate. He assumed the difference was simply the presence of his half-brother, but he had no time to dwell on it.

Trychon let a few bolts go by when he could, knowing the bright red and green lasers would be seen from the air and making their position even more obvious to his brother, but for the most part he sent everything he could back down the tunnel.

Two of the Hutt's mercenaries went down, but there were still a couple dozen more, as far as Trychon could tell, and they were still advancing. Despite the reinforcement from his younger brother, he knew it wouldn't be long before the Bounty Hunters were on him. He just hoped Raezyr shook them soon.

Get down.

The familiar voice echoed in his head and he didn't question it, throwing himself to behind the boulder with Haley as the loud screams of the rescue shuttle's repulsor lifts filled the cave.

As soon as the blaster cannons were level with the opening, they loosed several shots into the depths of the cave. No blaster fire returned from the depths, but the older Sith could sense only a few had died. They had a minute or two tops. Trychon looked over and saw his Raezyr standing on the lowered loading ramp of the shuttle, hovering just out side of the cave opening.

"JUMP!" The blue armored figure yelled over the screaming repulsor lifs, extending his arms as if to catch.

Trychon assessed the distance. Aided with the Force, he thought he barely had a chance of making it to the loading ramp, but with the condition Haley was in, there was no way she'd make it on her own. If they had had time, they could have used something on the ship to rig a safety line, but as it was...

Raezyr must have sensed his concern for Haley. "Throw her!" He yelled.

They had used the Force to move beings before, but before it had always been violently and with no concern as to where they might land. This time he would have to push someone he cared about out over 150 meters of thin air and hope his brother pulled her the rest of the way to him, with out knocking them both off the ramp.

But there was no other way. He looked over at Haley, who had gone pale hearing Raezyr's suggestion, and was violently shaking her head "no." "I'm sorry," was all he said, wrapping the Force around her and shoving her out over the canyon floor. He felt the pull as the other Sith grasped her and brought the cyborg quickly to him.

Trychon breathed a sigh of relief, but that relief was short lived. Blaster bolts erupted once again from the depths of the cave at the nearly the same time bolts began lancing down from the skies above. He wished he had been able to get a running start, but there was no time.

"RAEZ!" the Sith shouted as he leaped, using the Force to propel him as far out over open space as he could, stretching his hand out and hoping his brother could catch him.

Raezyr had shoved Haley up the ramp and had barely turned around when he heard his brother shout his name. He gripped the the support strut of the loading ramp and leaned out, stretching as far as he could. If he had had time to get ready, he would have had plenty of time to pull his brother safely to him, and maybe someday when he was a powerful Sith Lord, this kind of thing might be second nature, but as it was all he was able to do was lend a feeble pull on the leaping Sith.

It was enough. The pilot of the shuttle, watching from the cockpit launched a proton torpedo into the cave as soon as Trychon was clear. The shuttle spun and sped away, with a fighter bearing down it, two Sith dangling from the loading ramp, and just as a gout of flame erupted from the mouth of tunnel.