|
A Chance Taken 2000 short story by Louis Turfrey and
Mark Newbold Under a year after Episode IV - A New
Hope Blake De'Athe landed his ship onto the docking pad thirty of
Amagad's port, and sighed with relief. It had taken time to ease himself of
the guilt he felt over the death of the female Jedi Maya Desand. A long hard
month of meditation and soul searching. He still wasn't sure of how he felt
and he needed something to distract him from his confusion. A quick trip to
Chancai, and then a talk with some gossip-filled bartenders had led him to
Amagad. Amagad was a port of scum and lies, a place of death for those
without the wherewithal to know the ways of the streetwise, and De'Athe knew
this. But he needed to keep himself
busy, on his toes. He needed to feel
he was doing something right for a change. Soon he felt like he was starting to carve a niche for himself -
as the guy that ran away from fights. Blake De'Athe was afraid. Afraid that if he used his force
abilities it would mark him out as a Jedi. And he would have kept running
hard if it hadn't been for a bounty hunter called Tarr Ranth. Blake was sitting in Zythlies when he noticed the decibel level
of the bar drop and felt a slight chill enter the air. He looked up to see a
tall armoured man standing by the bar. When the man ordered a beverage the
room relaxed and he nonchalantly flicked up the lower portion of his
faceplate to drink. Blake immediately felt a kinship for this man, like none
he'd felt before. He noticed the slump in the mans shoulders and could feel
the tiredness emanate from him. That was strange...almost as if I felt his
weariness myself. He quickly realised
that he was feeling the thoughts of the other, broadcast for anybody with the
talents to hear. This man was force sensitive. Blake felt the immediate urge
to run, but he noticed that several armoured sentries blocked the entrance.
One of them, a Duros, was looking directly at the man at the bar. "Ranth, you
cowardly nerfherder! At last I run into you.
My brother's killer!" The Duros and his cronies drew weapons
simultaneously. Ranth didn't flinch. He placed his drink on the bar and turned
around slowly, allowing his faceplate to close automatically. He spoke, his
voice amplified by the speakers in his armour. The bar went deathly quiet. "Nedrith Tael. I
have a warrant for your arrest. Give up yourself up to me quietly and I may
let you live." Blake scanned the mans mind. No fear, no emotion, nothing. The
Duros called Tael simply laughed. Blake noticed him press a button on his
belt and watched as an energy field sprang up around him. His compatriots
followed his lead. Blake felt the annoyance and loathing from Tarr Ranth. This
action had caught him off guard. Blake fingered his lightsabre, feeling the
itch to enter battle. He calmed his nerves. Bar staff and guests were exiting through the rear of the
building. This wasn't going to be pretty. And then it happened - Tarr Ranth
looked directly at De'Athe, ignoring the others. He could feel steel cold
eyes boring into him and had the sudden sensation that he was in immediate
danger. He turned towards Tarr Ranth and saw the small round orb palmed in
his right hand. A miniature thermal detonator. Blake stood to exit but drew
the unwelcome attention of the Duros and his men. "You! Sit down!" The Duros
pointed his blaster towards Blake. De'Athe calmed his nerves, relaxing into
the force, and probed the Duros's' mind. The shock nearly caused him to
collapse. This creature had a developed a strong defence to mind probes.
Blake steadied his nerves and stood straight again. The Duros spoke. "A telepath?
You'll fetch a good price at the slave markets. Come here." Blake stood
firm, which caused the Duros to get even more annoyed. "Come here!" Blake spoke. Calmly, quietly and using all the force energy he
could place into one word. "No." The Duros called Tael looked stunned, but quickly recovered
himself. "So be it. You'll die with the bounty
hunter." He turned to his
men. "Kill them both." Tarr Ranths armour protected him from the assault as he managed
to find shelter behind the bar. Blake's Jedi reflexes catapulted him
backwards over the bar, landing steadily next to Ranth. He noticed that the mans armour was
glowing and he seemed to be catching his breath. Blake introduced himself. "Blake
De'Athe. Pleased to meet you
Ranth." Ranth grunted and nodded in the direction of his belt. "You don't carry
a weapon?" He seemed incredulous. Blake grinned, reaching into a couple of
hidden pockets within his dark tunic. He brought out his Krill and the
Lightsabre. Ranth nodded. The blaster fire stopped. Blake heard Ranth mutter
to him. "I wish I'd known
you had those earlier." Ranth uncoupled his blaster, adding a scope to
it from an attached pouch on his thigh. Then Blake realised why Ranth hadn't taken these men out
quicker. There were still innocent
bystanders in the room. Taels voice
echoed across Zythlies. "Ranth you
coward. Have you no decency? Die like the dog you are." Blake edged towards the end of the bar, preparing his lightsabre
and attached the Krill to his belt. He reached into himself and let the force
flow through him. Then he projected his mind outward, searching for the
energy fields surrounding the bounty hunters quarry. It took only a matter of
a few seconds for him to find the switches. He popped his head around the
corner of the bar and nearly got it shot off for his troubles, but he now had
an exact bearing on each of the seven men. He crawled back to Ranth. "Three in the
middle, including Tael, two either side trying to outflank us." Ranth nodded and whispered back. "If we can take
down their shields, it'll be a fair fight. Any ideas?" Blake grinned like a school child about to perform his party
piece to his parents. "Consider it
done." Ranth handed him a smoke grenade. "Throw yours over
the end of the bar. I'll provide cover." As soon as the smoke grenades flew over, blaster fire returned.
Thirty seconds of intense fire emanated from Tarr Ranths pistol, throwing
sparks as it hit the energy shields. Their assailants returned five times as
much. Blake took the shields down, and could hear the screams as each shot
hit its mark. "Hold your
fire!" It was Tael. "Let's get out of here." Blake heard the
men exiting through the front door, and without thinking, jumped over the bar
to follow them. He heard Tarr Ranth swear under his breath as he fought to
keep Blake in sight. Blake De'Athe exited the smoke outside of Zythlies and was
almost mown down by blaster fire. The gang had taken refuge in cover outside
the building and obviously didn't want to leave. Blake dived under the blaster fire and rolled into a nearby
side road. Looking around him he realised that night had fallen whilst he was
inside the bar. He was just starting to wonder where Tarr Ranth was when
there was a touch on his shoulder. He nearly leapt out of his skin. Tarr Ranth stood just behind him. "This is a dead
end and they know it. I've got to get you out of here." Blake shook his head. "I've been
running away from fights for a week. This one's mine as well." Ranth sighed. "Are you sure you
can handle that thing?" He pointed towards the lightsabre on Blake's
belt. Blake nodded, calling it into his hand and igniting it
simultaneously. He felt the energy coursing through him, cold and without
life. He was shocked. He had inadvertently called upon the dark side? But why? He was momentarily confused but suddenly realised his error.
Relaxing, letting out his anxiety and his fear, he called upon the light side
if the force. It came, slowly at first, but with growing surety. Ranth threw
out another couple of smoke grenades and the pair of them walked out
together. The crimson glow of Blake's blade preceded the pair. He felt a
twitch in the force and angled his blade to meet the attack. It deflected the
bolt harmlessly away. At the same time Ranth fired a salvo of high-energy
shots back in the direction of their assailant. He heard a satisfied grunt.
More blaster bolts ploughed towards them, each one being directly parried or
dodged by Blake and provoking retaliation from Tarr Ranth. Eventually, there
was no one left to fire. The two men stood together, side-by-side, smoke
clearing around them. From the distance Blake could hear the growing noise of
one of the local police vehicles and looked towards Ranth. Ranth reached into
his belt and produced a card with a com number on it. A crowd was starting to
gather. Blake took the card in one hand, and extinguished the lightsabre with
his other. Ranth nodded to him, Blake nodded back, and then De'Athe was gone.
Ranth smiled to himself as he watched the young Jedi take a
ten-metre leap onto the top of one of the nearby buildings. He opened his com
and reported to his employer. Blake De'Athe returned to his ship by the longest route
possible. When he arrived, he unlocked the main hatchway and jumped up into
the entranceway. He was about to get some food when he noticed the record
button on his com unit flashing. He flicked a switch on the board and read
the incoming mail message. From: Glann
Cipple - Governor of Amagad City To: Blake
De'Athe Message: Greetings
Mister De'Athe. You are invited to
attend an audience with the Governor at his home, tomorrow morning at eight -
local time. Mister Cipple would like
to discuss the possibility of your employment on an add-hoc basis. Please
respond at your earliest opportunity. Blake had heard about Glann Cipple. He was a crime lord of some
renown in these parts. Blake felt uneasy about the invitation, but his money
was on the verge of running out. He responded to the message and hoped that
in the long run he wouldn't be making a mistake. He smiled as he thought of the last time he'd made a similar
snap decision. A Chance Taken 2000 short story by Louis Turfrey and
Mark Newbold Under a year after Episode IV - A New
Hope Histories - The first meeting between Louis Turfrey's two
major characters - Tarr Ranth and Blake De'Athe. Although the two were in RPG
sessions together and appeared in 1998's Dark Star Rising,
this is their chronological debut together.
Cast of Characters Blake De'Athe Tarr Ranth Nedrith Tael |