“Dublin! Don’t let them take Mallory!” the fierce woman demanded as she gripped her hilt tighter. “Activate Battle Mode!”
“Of course, Master Jasper!” The droid’s eyes narrowed and turned from orange to red, his head slid to one side, and a small laser cannon extended from his shoulder. He held his hands up and the palms began to glow red as well. “I shall defend Master Mallory!”
“You foul wench! You hacked my droid!” Kader spat.
“And now I’m about to hack your head off as well! K’caelnu Draestori!” she called out as she lunged at him, that last phrase triggering previously invisible runes on her blade to ignite bright violet. It then grew to become a massive weapon reminiscent of something from a Japanese roleplaying game. Kader yelped out as Jasper moved into a tornado spin aimed right at him, handling the larger sword as if it was light as a feather.
She slid to a halt where he had just been standing a moment prior, then pivoted and charged again in the direction he had dodged. Kader summoned an energy shield from his arm bracer to intercept the blade coming down from above, then whipped out a blaster pistol from the holster and fired a round of green plasma bolts at Jasper’s legs.
The bolts ricocheted off her metal greaves, leaving slight char marks. As the two continued their back and forth, the other guys split into groups, one to help Kader and one to capture Mallory.
“Stay behind me,” Dublin told the teen as their attackers stepped closer, cautiously. They were holding a variety of knives, swords, axes, and firearms, though they knew hurting the kid too badly would earn the wrath of their clients.
“Hand the brat over else you’ll wind up in the scrap heap!” one demanded, staring at the droid.
“One more step and it will be time for kaboom!” Dublin warned. They scoffed and continued forward. The little bot shrugged and narrowed his eyes further, glaring intently at the encroaching men. Suddenly all their advanced guns and demolitions began exploding, painting the ground red as several of the hog-men were ripped apart in the blasts. Severed limbs and heads shot up in the air and landed back down with loud splats, and Mallory stared in shock as warm blood splashed across his face.
“I hacked your weapons and made them self-destruct!” the droid explained happily. “You have one more chance to walk away!”
“You killed my mates! Arrrggh!” Kader screamed, livid. He then summoned his holo screen and began typing away frantically. “Say hello to our little friends!”
“Boss, no!” one of the surviving men screamed. “We were told not to use them!”
“It’s too late for that now!” the leader snapped back. A moment later, another portal opened in the sky above them as dozens of egg-shaped pods rocketed out and towards the ground.
“Bloody hell! You’re gonna bring half the damn Commonwealth on our heads!” Jasper exclaimed.
“You summoned them all?” one of the hog-guys cried, looking around in horror. “That’s it - death or prison. Those are our options now!”
“Shut up!” Kader screamed. “I meant to call like two or three! Not the whole damn lot! Curse this bloody broken tech!”
As the pods slammed into the ground one after another, they began opening like blooming onions, each holding a massive lizard monster at least eight feet tall. The beasts looked like humanoid black dragons with tusk-like horns on their heads, wide shoulders, thick muscles, and long tails whipping around. Their scarlet eyes narrowed as their fang-lined mouths shrieked a brutal, animalistic roar.
“Forget the boy! We need to scram! Abort mission! Abort mission!” the leader called out, and the surviving hog-men began fleeing into the jungle.
“This is not good!” Jasper growled as she rejoined Mallory and Dublin.
“You said you have a ship, right?” the boy asked frantically. “Any chance we can make it there?”
“Not with those dungheaps around,” she shook her head. “We don’t have the privilege of being their masters like the Prowlers. They’ll be on us before we can make it out of this clearin’.”
“If the Prowlers control them, why did they run away?” the teen wondered.
“They’re not scared of these wankers,” she gestured to the monsters who seemed to be standing around waiting for orders. “They just don’t want the attention this is gonna bring. A hyperjump with this many objects is bound to draw the gaze of the authorities.”
“So, like, space cops?” Mallory asked. Jasper nodded.
“I’d rather not tangle with them either,” she clarified. “My record isn’t exactly clean. But no way in Hell we can get to my ship without settin’ these buggers off. If we give them a reason to chase us, they will. We just have to… Aw crap!”
“Hello new friends!” Dublin called out to the beasts. Jasper and Mallory hadn’t noticed that the little droid deactivated Battle Mode and rolled over to the nearest monster. He placed a tiny metal hand on one’s arm. “Best friends!”
The creature shrieked once more, grabbed Dublin, and flung him across the clearing. “Okay we’re not friends after aaaaaaaaaaallllll!” he angrily shouted as he flew through the air. All the dragon beasts then snarled and began rushing towards Jasper and Mallory.
“Crap! Crap! Crap!” she grunted as she stood in front of the teen, giant sword at the ready. “Do you know any magic, kid? Have you been to an Academy yet?”
“What Academy?” he asked, confused.
“Crap!” she cried again.
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