Haunting Melody

Wind whistled through the tall grasses of Batuu as a group of poachers gathered around a flickering flame. The glow from the control boards of cages twinkled in the night as the beasts inside rattled the doors, saddened and panicked by their capture. 

"This Braga bear will fetch a nice price on the market" One of the men laughed, kicking the cage. "Shut it in there!" 

The others laughed along but one was stoic and had a look of worry as he incessantly scanned the darkness.

"What'sa matter wiff you, eh?" 

"No-nothing, Gob." 

"Out with it, you should be happy we got all these critters. Think'a the piles of credits!"

"I can't think about that right now when my kind is elsewhere." He added

"Whaddaya mean, boyo?"

"I take it you've never heard the legend. The Ghost of the Plains, then?"

"Ghost of the plains." Gob laughed out loud. "That's rubbish, I ain't no kid!" 

"It's said that there's a phantom guarding the wilds of Batuu and they wi-""

"What was that?" Gob jumped as a ghostly whistle was seemingly carried on the wind. 

"Shh, listen, shut up and listen!" Gob smacked his rowdy companions on the shoulders and they all stopped, mouths agape. 

The whistle was a soft melancholy tone that cried throughout the grasslands. It came from one direction and when the group honed in on it, it came from another. Their heads were on swivels as they all stood up.

"Who's out there!!" Gob shouted, shaking his fist. "Come into this camp and I'll break your karkin' face you Gutter dwelling ho-" 

As Gob shouted profanities and threats, he was instantly cut off as a flask sitting on a stump next to him leapt straight up before a loud crack rumbled through the Plains. The four men jumped, two of them slipped behind Spires for cover and drew their blasters.

"Come out ya coward!" Gob pointed into the direction of the last whistle but when he did. His kneecap exploded with red mist and he buckled to the ground. There was another crack.

"Run!" one of the other three shouted, turning from the Spire to bolt into the darkness. Unwise. 

The Rodian entered a full sprint but it wasn't enough as  while he ran, a second later his chest cavity exploded and his lifeless body rolled into the grass. 

Gob spit from the agony and curled up behind a log as he tried applying pressure to his leg. 

"We have to get out of he-" Cried the second soul as he peeked out from the adjacent spire. "I'm gonna make a run for it Gob!" 

"No stay where you ar-" 

Crack, another round sliced through the veil, striking the man between the eyes. 

"Idiots!" Gob shouted, grabbing the storyteller by the arm. "we move and we're dead!" 

All was quiet except for that damned tune that haunted them. A whistle where death soon followed.

"Fight like a man!" Gob shouted and cursed some more, huffing and puffing in pain as he peaked out from cover. He saw nothing and time seemed to slow as the anxiety reached sickening levels of worry. 

"I-is it gone?!" 

"I-I don't know, I can't see anything!" The flames grew higher behind them and the yellow eyes of the bear in the cage never left the poachers, its snout sniffing the blood in the air. 

Just then, the lock on the cage exploded and sparks sprinkled the grass prior to another resounding gun shot. The cage door slid open and Gob and his storyteller quickly shifted focus. They reached for their guns but it was too late as the bear charged. 

—------

"Whats done is done, Cisco." A rugged man wearing a wide brimmed hat and duster leaned in and rested his head against the head of his Orbak as he patted its thick fur and slid his cycler rifle into the saddle holster. He pulled himself up to mount his trusted friend and gave a "Yip!" that made the Orbak spin and jaunt forward. The screams in the distance died down at the sound of a roaring bear and as Colton Kreed slipped into the darkness, what was left was a whistle.