Star Wars - Kenobi

“What if he’s unarmed?”
    “We’ll say we saw him draw on us,” Orrin said. He glared at his daughter. “Are you that worried about him? You do want to continue living it up on my money, don’t you?”
    “I don’t care,” she said, spitting on the ground. “One less beggar in the desert. I just wanted to know what you were gonna say.”
    “Just follow my lead, as usual.” Orrin reached inside the vehicle for the loudhailer. Turning, he walked into the middle of the gathering. Under the noon suns, the stone formations gave Orrin the impression of standing within a giant, natural coliseum. The place had fallen silent except for the click-clack s of blaster rifles being adjusted. Armed settlers crouched behind hovering repulsorcraft. Any eyes that weren’t on the gaps were on Orrin.
    Orrin shouted into the amplifier. “Come on out, Kenobi!”
    His voice echoed all around. But no response came.
    Watching from cover, Ulbreck looked back, warily. “Don’t like this.”
    “Don’t worry,” Orrin said, gesturing toward a group of settlers in the rear. “Send up the smoke charges.” The mortars were one of the Fund’s earlier investments, and they’d never had occasion to use them. But they were designed for exactly this: flushing out the opposition. A few parabolic shots up into the crags and Ben would have nowhere to—
    “Ayooooo-eh-EH-EHH!”
    Orrin froze. The screech came again from the hills. A krayt dragon call: just like the Settlers’ Call siren, only more natural sounding. Rising and trilling, the noise reached every listener in the would-be arena.
    Orrin looked back at the others, a canny grin on his face. “Don’t be fooled, folks. That’s our trick.”
    Some of the settlers shifted nervously, but they all stayed in position. Orrin walked back to his landspeeder and brought the loudhailer to his mouth. “You’d better cut that out, Kenobi, or you’ll scare your friends.” He waved back to the settlers setting up the mortars. It was time.
    Then it happened. The Zeltron, Leelee’s husband, noticed it first. “Listen!” Waller Pace said. “Do you feel it?”
    Orrin didn’t have time for empathic Zeltrons and their feelings. “Stay focused,” he said. But now Orrin felt it, too, and heard it. A low rumble, rising slowly to a crescendo. Pebbles on the ground began to roll. Dust rose.
    “Groundquake!” Veeka yelled.
    Orrin shook his head. No, that wasn’t it. It was something else, thundering downward, through the gaps from the Jundland Wastes. And now he saw what it was.
    Banthas!
    One after another, the enormous beasts charged down the stone chute Ben had ridden his speeder bike up. And not just from there! Several broad pathways wound down from the mountains—and now they were filled, too, disgorging banthas of all sizes. Right at the settlers.
    “Stampede!” Ulbreck yelled, ducking under his hovering vehicle. The hairy mass coursed across the desert floor like water from a broken dam, sending settlers diving in all directions.
    The loudhailer fell from Orrin’s hand into the open cab of his landspeeder. He tried to use his vehicle for cover, too, but a giant bantha struck it first, ramming the hovercraft’s hood into his midsection. A heartbeat later a second bantha struck the USV-5, sending both Orrin and the vehicle spinning.
    All around, the scene repeated. The charging animals smashed into landspeeders and sent them careening like toys. Settlers dived and fell in desperation. In the rear, the beasts upset the mortars, resulting in smoke rounds shrieking over the vigilantes’ heads. Two struck the wall of the rift with an ear-shattering clang—and in the next instant smoke filled the air.
    Orrin clung to his landspeeder until it bounced into a boulder, knocking him to the dust. Dazed and dizzy, he spent long moments lost in the smoke. Somewhere, a blaster went off. A farmer screamed. Orrin didn’t move.
    In the fog, a voice came from nearby. It was Ben’s.
    “Turn back now.”
    Orrin blinked. Before, he had heard the words only in Jabe’s voice, and then later when Mullen had said them. Hearing them now, from Ben himself, he realized the message wasn’t a demand. Instead, Ben’s voice was calm and consoling, as if giving advice to a friend.
    Orrin reached for his blaster, which was still secure in his holster, but there was nowhere to point it.
    Finally, as the yellowish smoke settled, he coughed and rubbed his eyes. The landspeeders had been thrown around