Tactical Withdrawal2002 short story by Mark Newbold and Paul Squire Thirty-eight
years after Episode IV – A New Hope Jan Lomona stood alone just beyond the ornate and imposing courtyard
of the Bank of Zelon, a grin of anticipation etched deeply into his face,
hands jammed deep into his pockets.
In the distance he could hear violent rumbles and blasts from the
attacking Ki-Ki forces as they forged their way deeper and deeper into the
Chancai Trade Centre, but experience told him they would have a long way to
go before they got past the stubborn Setnin resistance forces and up to Level
15, his current location. He didn’t turn as Ryath Centaur, leader of the Iron Claws, made his
way effortlessly across the plaza from the Northside entrance, through shattered
rubble and debris to stand by his side in silence. Lomona had been expecting his mercenary friend and son-in-law
to arrive, and in turn Centaur expected Lomona to be waiting. The two men
glanced at each other, remembering a vow they’d made decades before in
wilder, less complicated times.
Neither could resist a broad smile. “You sure you want to do
this?” asked Centaur, looking up at the impressive cladding and stonework of
Setnin’s foremost banking institution.
Jan opened his eyes wide and sucked in a sharp breath. “Of course. Who hasn’t dreamed of breaking into the
Bank of Zelon? “Dreamed, yes, but this is the
bank of banks. You know its
reputation. Impregnable, impossible
to break into, and harder to break out of.
It’s got tighter security than any garrison I’ve ever seen.” Centaur shook his head as he remembered
the reports he’d seen around Zelon’s most prestigious bank. Even Imperial Intelligence hadn’t gleaned
the details of the most secure bank in the Sector, if not the galaxy. All he’d seen in his days as Chancai’s
garrison commander had been so much speculation and rumour. “You know we’ll probably end up dead?” Jan took a long hard look
around the deserted plaza, and thought about all the carnage and mayhem
behind them. “There’ll never be a
better time.” “Agreed. Let’s do it” After a few moments they began to walk towards the elaborate gates,
still locked and secured despite the no doubt hasty exit the bank’s workers
would have made as they’d fled from the Ki-Ki’s surprise attack on the city. The plaza behind them was practically empty, cleared of all but a
handful of confused droids, turning in circles, deserted by their masters and
abandoned by their programming. Jan
watched them closely as he and Centaur walked up to the main gates that
separated the Bank of Zelon from the main thoroughfare of the Financial
District. He expected some alarm to
sound, perhaps a wailing of a siren or a click of security guns, but there
was nothing. “Try the panel,” suggested
Jan with a shrug. Ryath gave him a ‘that
would be too easy’ look, but still outstretched his hand and pushed the
control panel’s admittance button. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, and then just as Ryath was
raising a ‘told you so’ eyebrow at his smuggler friend, there was a
clunk as the main gates unlocked and swung gracefully open. Jan Lomona turned his grin up a notch, flipped a cockon into his
mouth, and strode purposefully through the still opening gates. “You coming?” he shouted as
a surprised Ryath Centaur shrugged, and then followed his friend through and
into the Bank of Zelon’s main courtyard. “I’ve got a bad feeling
about this,” he muttered aloud, only half serious, and returned Lomona’s
cocky grin. “Just keep that old
Lomona sixth sense tuned up.” “Always bro’. Nothing’s gonna catch us unawares.” Electronic eyes watched as the two men entered the Bank’s grounds and
approached the imposing archway and ornate doors of the main entrance. A complex array of sensor devices detailed
the men’s height, weight, physical attributes and so forth that allowed the
courtyard’s impressive collection of repeating blasters to not just track the
two targets, but calculate where they could be moments before they were. All this was fed into threat analysis
scenarios and assured the Bank’s computer that its two targets could be
swiftly and efficiently neutralised. Power was diverted to the weapons, and targeting systems locked on
before the computer ran down its final checklist before switching fire control
authority over to the individual weapon points…and then it stood down. The Bank’s records indicated that, despite the absence of staff and
customers, today was a normal working day.
It was still open for business for another forty-five minutes. “Welcome, gentle beings, to
the Bank of Zelon – the mid rim’s most prestigious Financial Institue...”
babbled a soft electronic voice as Jan and Ryath stepped through the
gracefully opening main doors and into the deserted lobby. Ryath’s blaster rifle stayed steady as he cautiously swept his eyes
across the open area, but Jan moved his hand away from his holster, raised
his collar and brushed passed Ryath and into the foyer, “No-one home,” commented
the A-desandian, and he shot his friend one of his cockiest grins. Ryath frowned, the concern etched all to clearly on his weathered
face. “As far as you know,” he
added, a hint of reticence apparent in his voice. “You have a problem with
this?” asked Jan stretching his arms wide at the lack of people, droids or
any sign of security, the relief on his face shining brightly. Ryath frowned at Lomona. “So, we just stroll right
in then?” Jan shrugged his shoulders, unsure as to what Centaur was
implying. Ryath continued. “This is the most heavily guarded and
secure bank in the Mid-Rim, maybe the entire galaxy. And here we are, three hours after a Ki-Ki
attack and there’s not a soul in sight.” Jan almost laughed out loud as he moved purposefully across the
mosaic floor. “And that’s a
problem?” Jan leaned over a massive
entrance desk, and hit a key on its main keyboard. “Hey. We’re here to rob
the Bank of Zelon.” He smiled again
as a concealed door grooved into a wall slid smoothly open. It almost looked like an embossed pattern
in the metalwork, and Centaur raised an eyebrow at Jan. “It doesn’t get much bigger
than this.” Centaur paused, years of combat, patiently planned strategies and
ambushes hardwired into his system, and waited for alarms and security
systems to sound. But as earlier,
there was nothing. He followed Jan
through the doorway, his blaster rifle held low by his hip, finger ready at
the trigger. He didn’t mind admitting
he was apprehensive, and despite the A-desandians apparent bravado he knew
Jan well enough to know that it was merely a façade and that he was equally
nervous, if not more so. Each man
has his way of coping with nerves.
Mine is caution, thought Ryath to himself. Jan’s is humour. Bad humour “The entry to the vaults is
through here, passed the staff room,” motioned Jan as Ryath looked at him
incongruously. The smuggler just
shrugged, and Ryath knew there was no point pressing his friend. How Lomona knew so much would become
apparent eventually. Centaur entered the room first, rifle scanning the area like a hungry
krayt, eager for a target to nullify.
Lomona followed, blaster held high, ready for action. The staff floor was tidy and orderly, but
in an eerie way. Almost as if the
workers of the most secure establishment in the Setnin Sector had simply been
spirited away by hands unseen, leaving their work unfinished. Cups of chav still steamed in their
self-heating mugs, flims lay on desks, cleaner droids scuttled between desks
and chairs. But no screens flickered,
no communication channels buzzed. The
Zelon Wave Exchange had been destroyed and local communications were
down. The Ki-Ki had blanketed the
Mutumbarr Lake region in a transmissions block, rendering contact with the
outside world impossible. And the
power generators on top of the trade centre and beneath the Tuca Mountains
had been hammered offline. Very
little of what powered Chancai remained in operation, and that which did was
powering the sparse technologies that attempted to extinguish fires and floods. Ryath surveyed the scene in the dim glow
of the emergency lights and sighed.
Indeed, Chancai had fallen, and far. Lomona moved through the staff floor towards the rear, and Centaur
followed in silence, pushing chairs aside as he cautiously tailed the free
trader towards another door, this time larger and more apparent. Jan waited for Ryath, turning as he
approached. “Okay bro, this is it.” Jan
took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders and blew out a long
breath. Ryath watched Jan closely as
he delved into his jean pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening it, he slid out a piece of flim
that had been deceptively folded a multitude of times and spread it open on a
nearby desk. Centaur eyed the flim
closely, not certain but reasonably sure of what he was looking at. “Jan,” he said slowly. “Is that what I think it is?” “Ry, you are looking at one
of only four copies known to exist of the floor plans to the security vault
of the Bank of Zelon.” A knowing looked passed between the men, and after a
second or two Ryath nodded. He knew
that in Jan’s own way, he was as much a professional as Centaur, and took a
particular pride in his own line of work. Jan continued to explain in hushed tones as he smoothed the flim. “One is owned by the
original designer, a second is housed within the vault itself. The third is with the Bank of Zelon’s
insurance agents on Coruscant and this is the fourth one right here.” He smiled as he gazed at the flim, the
amazed stare of Centaur burning into the side of his face. Jan shook his head. “Don’t even ask, you wouldn’t believe me
if I told you. Let’s just say it was
a down payment on an agreement I made with somebody a while back.” Centaur shook his head, but was far too used to his friend surprising
him to take that amazement any further.
He leaned in and inspected the flim. “It looks like we’ll have
our hands full. It says here that
this door has a triple redundant locking system. Every time there is an unsuccessful attempt made to decode the
door, a second and third locking mechanism is activated.” “And that’s not all,”
interjected Jan as he too leaned in towards the flim. “They’re set on a rotating cycle, so you
can never guess which lock will activate.
And each lock has over seventy thousand combinations.” Ryath leaned back and glared down at Jan, the familiar cocky, teenage
smile still evident on his six-decade-old features. “Pardon me for pointing
this out to a gambling man such as yourself, but those odds are a trifle
rich, even for you.” He frowned and
placed his rifle on the desk. “How
the hell do you expect us to crack the lock?” Jan Lomona stood and faced the door, all traces of humour suddenly
flushed from his face. “I don’t know. But we have to try, we simply have too.” The W-2 Carrion Class Dropship slipped into whisper mode and
descended down the still smoking shaft of the Chancai Trade Centre. Like an armoured bird of prey it dropped
and circled, rotating in a 360° arc as it scanned for possible threats. But none were forthcoming. The Ki-Ki victory had been complete and devastating. Huge Killships, massive weapons platforms
designed for planetary attack, had swooped into the system and pummelled the
surface. Ground assault had taken the
city, aerial bombardment had shattered the trade centre and laid waste to Fringe-Mall
and Sub City. Hundreds of thousands
had perished, many more had been injured, and of the fifteen million
inhabitants of the greater Mutumbarr Lake region known to the rest of the
galaxy simply as Chancai, fourteen and three quarter million remained,
running for their lives through the jungles, hidden in Sanctuary or camped
out by the lakeside. But the Chancai
Trade Centre itself was largely deserted.
For those who remained, a new, harsher life was just beginning. The Carrion Class was amongst the first vessels in the second assault
wave on Chancai. The first wave had
been huge and powerful - hammer Chancai into submission, take their leader
Ocern Gabe as a political prisoner and claim the capital of the Setnin Sector
as their own. The second wave was a
much more focussed and tactical insertion.
Locate and secure key strategic locations throughout the trade
centre. Already the Setnin Defence
Force Headquarters had been claimed, although the majority of its file
systems and information had been rendered useless by a final act of sabotage
by S.D.F leader Tannis Rixx. The City
Halls had been taken, as had many major financial institutions. But this Carrion Class Dropship and its
team of twenty Ki-Ki warriors had the task of claiming the undisputed jewel
in the crown – the Bank of Zelon.
Physical location of Setnins wealth, the federal reserve of the
sector. And as the dropship reached
the access tunnel leading to the Bank’s private docking bays on Level 15,
that goal drew closer and closer. “Ready?” “No.” “You think this will work?” “Couldn’t make it any
worse.” “Right – like you’re a
locksmith!” The final set of numbers was entered, and Lomona tried the door. There was a click, a pause in which both
men didn’t even dare breath, and then… “Tertiary locks now
activated,” chimed a happy electronic voice. “Great! Just frecking great,” complained Lomona as
he turned away from the giant cylindrical door in disgust. “A simple triple redundant locking system
and we can’t even break through that.” “Simple!?” “Like we haven’t broken
through worse,” spat the smuggler bitterly, then added with the hint of a
smile. “Not that we’ve actually
broken into any banks before.” He shrugged, walked over to a water dispenser and helped himself to a
cup. “Hell, I wouldn’t mind so
much, but this is supposed to be the easy part.” Ryath inclined his head in solemn agreement. This was only the first of eight sets of
doors that, according to the flim Jan had conjured up, led to a labyrinthine
maze of corridors that would wind their way towards the main vault, and the
wealth of the Setnin Sector. Of
course there was a series of death traps and the inevitable phalanx of
weapons emplacements set to blast, burn, crush or dissolve any would be bank
robber out of existence. From the
plans it looked liked the designer had been particularly cunning, as some of
the obstacles they’d face may just let them through only to annihilate them
in some fiendishly designed dead-end. “You’d be disappointed if
it was too easy,” he commented dryly, but Jan just arched his eyebrows. “No,” he said quite
deliberately. “I wouldn’t.” The two men gave the solid, and so far impenetrable door a hard look,
and then Jan drew his blaster. “Ah – freck it,” he growled
and loosed off a volley of shots at the locking mechanism, leaving it
smouldering as droplets of molten metal ran down to the floor. Centaur frowned, moved over to the giant handles, and gingerly gave
them a wrench. He stopped and looked
at the smuggler in surprise. “I don’t believe it!”
whispered Ryath. “What!” exclaimed Lomona.
“It’s open?” “Course it’s not frellin’
open!” Ryath’s cold eyes bore into
his friends, and Lomona held his gaze before the two men smirked, and then
simultaneously cracked open wide grins. “However,” added the
mercenary as he took something out of his utility holster, “We could use
this?” “You still carry that …?” “Hey,” frowned
Centaur. “I’m may be part of the
command staff here, but some of your precious Setnin buddies still don’t
trust me –“ “What with you being a
mercenary and all,” added Jan sarcastically. “Let’s just say that they
don’t like me carrying a blaster around the more exclusive parts of Chancai.” Jan looked pointedly at the
Comp-Act assault blaster rifle resting on a nearby desk and frowned at
Centaur. “I said they didn’t like it
– not that I don’t have one!” “Still,” snorted Jan,
“haven’t seen you use that for a few years.”
He looked at the Lightsabre held in the mercenary’s hands, and
remembered the mission he and Centaur had carried out for Glann Cipple that
had ended with both men getting more than they bargained for. The Lightsabre was part of that story. “If your blaster can singe
this thing,” Ryath said slowly, “then maybe…” Both men’s faces were illuminated by the glow of the blade, as
Centaur started to slowly carve through the vault door. The dropship’s repulsors set it quietly down in the eerily empty
landing bay. Even before it’s clawed
landing gears had settled on the bay floor two squads of Ki-Ki troops were on
the ground and sprinting to the Bank’s secured rear doors. Electronic eyes watched impassively as the soldiers set about
re-wiring the doors to gain access to the main building. After all, the Bank was still trading for
another ten minutes, and wouldn’t the Head of Security have activated the
defence systems if anything had been untoward about this visit? Sweating profusely from the heat of the molten metal, Ryath Centaur
stood back and deactivated his sabre.
Even before he’d taken a sip from the cup Jan had handed him, the
smuggler had ducked through the doorway and disappeared out of sight. “Jan, wait!” rasped
Centaur, all too aware of the dangers awaiting them beyond. He moved to the doorway to follow Jan, but all he heard was the sound
of laughter. Raucous, heavy
laughter. Laughing gas? He
thought to himself, instantly realising the ludicrousness of the
thought. There was nothing on the
flim about gas – and surely the designers would have used nerve gas
anyway? The sight that greeted his eyes was almost beyond belief. There was no short corridor; ending in another elaborately locked
door, no scatter lasers, no dead smuggler - no anything… Except a simple boxed room, white steel, twenty meters by twenty
meters, stacked three meters high with pallets loaded with credit boxes. Ryath’s brain kicked into overdrive. There must be half the wealth of the
Setnin Sector here. Each of those
boxes must hold hundreds of millions of credits… And then reality struck home and for the second time in as many
minutes he was stunned speechless. They’d broken into the main vault of the Bank of Zelon… His brain backtracked a few steps as his jaw dropped. Now hold on a second… The flim? The reports? All those rumours? This is the most heavily secured and guarded bank in the galaxy. All we did was open one simple door! What gives? Lomona was literally dancing around the room, slapping walls and
cases with his bare hands and singing an old A-desandian traders song in such
a tuneless fashion that Centaur considered switching his rifle to stun just
to end the pain. Jan grabbed Ryath in
a huge hug, lifting him off his feet, his singing still assaulting his ears. Ryath broke out of his shock for long
enough to persuade Jan to put him down and began looking around the vault in
amazement. Jan ended his pitiful dirge and dance as Ryath flicked open a credit
box as Lomona continued to chuckle. “The sly little
buggers. I can’t believe this was all
there was to it. It’s the Setnin Way
you know.” “What is?” asked Ryath,
still having trouble getting to grips with their success. “The security on this
place. All rumour and no
substance. All those stories of how
impossible this place was to break in to, of the fates of those who’ve tried…
All of it, just one big smoke screen, and one that conned the whole of the
Sector. Hell, don’t think even Glann
had balls that big.” He chuckled to
himself again, and stopped short as another thought struck him. “The insurance! They’d have made a killing on the
insurance rates too.” Jan shook his head in disbelief, and gave the room an appraising
once-over. “I was expecting enough
boxes to fill a space cruiser. Hell,
I could get this lot on the Sunrise – if she was still here” Centaur lifted a credit coin out for closer inspection. As he did so,
his eyes opened wide in wonder. “Jan, look at these
denominations.” Lomona took a coin
and inspected it. Centaur
continued. “This one’s a million
Donalees. That’s impossible.” Jan just grinned at him. “Guess it makes it quicker
for the Bank to count its wealth. Our
wealth,” he added happily. “But Donalees…?” “Setnin currency. Stops outsiders from trading in on our
money. And thanks to the Galactic
Alliance propping up the Setnin economy, the current exchange rate is one to
one. You’re holding a million credits
there Ry.” Jan paused. “Of course, now the Ki-Ki own
Setnin, I guess this is officially all theirs.” “Kind of makes you feel bad
about depriving them of their new found fortune.” “You know if I smile any
harder my face is gonna fall off,” said Lomona as he opened another box. “Question is, how the stang do we get it
all out of here before the Ki-Ki arrive?” Ryath Centaur stared around the room, the fulfilment of a personal
desire warming him inside. But Jan’s
words echoed through his mind. Now
the Ki-Ki own Setnin, I guess this is officially all theirs. “Through that?” he said,
pointing out a floor hatch that logic dictated must lead to a loading
bay. “It’s got a one way lock
control, so one of us will have to stay here till the room’s cleared.” “As long as we’re long gone
before the Ki-Ki arrive,” began Jan, but was cut short by a faint electronic
voice that sent a shiver through him.
“Welcome, gentle beings, to
the Bank of Zelon – the mid rim’s most prestigious Financial Institute…” The two men stared at each other. “Looks like we’ve just run
out of time,” said Ryath. Eighteen Ki-Ki warriors entered the main lobby, their purple armour
balefully glowing in the emergency lighting.
They had formed into a search pattern and moved carefully through the
open area, senses alert for any signs of danger. So far all they’d come across were a handful of cleaning and
serving droids, but this was a war zone and they knew better than to assume
no one was around. It didn’t take them long to see the still open doorway that Jan had
found in the lobby, and the squad leader smiled to himself. This may just be a simple sweep and
clean op after all, he thought. He motioned for his two widest flanking men to go forward, leaving
himself and his second-in-command at the centre of the pack, whilst the other
warriors spread out behind to the left and right. If anyone comes through that door they wouldn’t last two heartbeats. He cast
another glance around the lobby before signalling his men forward. Somewhere in the background a computer voice warned ‘the bank will
be closing in one minute. Will all
customers kindly vacate the premises’ but he paid it little heed. There was a fortune here to secure, and
he’d been entrusted by Command to secure it. The obscure hatchway opened with a whoosh, and Ryath Centaur
gambolled out. Before he’d finished
his roll the two Ki-Ki soldiers lay dead at the base of the ramp to the
Carrion Class Dropship. Pausing for a
second, the mercenary made sure that no one else was around, and then his
eyes returned to the thirty-metre long Carrion Class. Ryath surveyed its lines and noted its large cargo capacity. More than enough to carry the vaults
bounty, he thought with a twinge of humour. He still found it crazy to think that the wealth of the sector
could be housed in a twenty-metre by twenty-metre room. But then, who would have guessed that the
Bank of Zelon’s idea of a red-hot security system was telling people that the
Bank of Zelon had a red-hot security system?
And not much more than that. He checked the docking bay and his eyes fell on exactly what he was
hoping to find, a large flatbed load lifter.
He didn’t know how much time he and Jan had, but whatever they could
extricate from the vault would be a valuable haul indeed. He still hadn’t calculated how many boxes
were stacked up in the vault, or how many million credit coins sat in each
container, but it hurt just trying to figure it out, so he stopped. Suffice it to say it was a lot. Moving back to the hatch he saw Lomona looking down at him from the
vault. “Well?” “Looks like the Ki-Ki are
going to give us a hand,” smiled Centaur.
“You ready with those boxes?” “Am I?” exclaimed the
smuggler with a broad grin, and hit the button to bring the lift the short
journey back up to the vault. Between them, the two men started to shift the crates down to the
docking bay, but the hair’s on the back of Jan’s neck were starting to get
prickly, and he knew trouble was just moments away. A few more seconds, he
prayed as he hauled yet another box over to the lift. Just a few more seconds. The Bank’s computer watched impassively as the seconds ticked away down
to zero, before announcing that the Bank was now closed for business. It felt a certain pride in proclaiming
that the Bank of Zelon was the bank of banks, and thanking the traders
for their custom. It was puzzled why there were still non-staff members remaining in
the main building, and counted down the moments, waiting for the override
from the Head of Security. The Head of Security never activated the override command, and so,
shortly after deciding what light music to play to any of the Bank’s staff
still on-site, the Computer passed fire control authority over to the
individual weapon points dotted throughout the building. The Ki-Ki team moved silently through the staff area. If anyone was still here, thought
the team leader, then this is where they’ll be. He shifted the weight of the blaster in
his hands and was about to signal two of his men forward when concealed
panels slide back and repeating blasters brought the war to the resplendent
corridors of the sector’s finest financial institute. It was a blood bath. Jan and Ryath heard the sounds of blaster fire, and the screams, and
doubled their efforts. “Last one,” breathed
Lomona, sweat making his forehead gleam. “Well, c’mon then,” urged
Centaur as he loaded the final box onto the flatbed. “We don’t have…” he stopped as the gunfire
fell silent, and the two men exchanged worried looks. “Hang on,” said Lomona with
a flourish, and then disappeared from sight. “Jan,” growled Ryath as
loudly as he dared, but it still took a few very long seconds for his friend
to reappear. The tall A-desandian hit the vault’s floor panel, and jumped the
shaft and rolled through the hatchway before it closed behind him. “What you hanging about for
Ry?” It took mere moments for the two men to steer the load lifter into
the cargo area of the dropship. Jan
killed the grav emitters and hopped off as the flatbed lowered to the floor,
then slapped the panel to close the ramp as he and Ryath made their way
through the large ship to the cockpit.
Ryath seated himself behind Jan, the Ki-Ki location for co-pilot and
gunner, and fired the engines. The
ship was still running hot and ready for action and after a brief moment
familiarising himself with the controls Lomona pulled back on the sticks and
lifted the heavy vessel into the air, aware that she berthed a cargo far in
excess of anything he had ever dare dream carry. He swung the Carrion Class into the tunnel that would lead to the
eastern shaft, away from the massive central shaft and the eyes of other
Ki-Ki ships. Holding until a Ki-Ki
patrol vessel moved through their line of sight, Lomona pushed the vessel
forward and tucked into the shaft before another vessel moved into view. Jan gunned the smart engine, swiftly
taking her down towards the lower levels.
Centaur leaned forward and frowned. “Aren’t we supposed to be
leaving? Why are you taking us down?” Lomona grinned and looked over his shoulder. “Two reasons. One, we can get out through the Shipyards
of Zelon and into the jungle.” He
watched his speed as they hit a patch of oily smoke, and denied the luxury of
scanner sweeps while under a transmissions block, carefully edged around the
still hovering wreck of a freighter, repulsors still activated. “And two, I want to take the scenic
route.” Ryath sat back and checked the view out of the cockpit window, his
ship scanners a flat line of red. As
Jan swung the ship into the enormous bay of the shipyard he could see in the
distance Ki-Ki troops massing near the base of the trade centre, just outside
and shrouded by the shadow of the enormous building. Unsure of what Lomona planned to do he
waited, and watched as the Carrion Class swooped low over their heads, and to
his amazement he looked on as in unison they saluted the dropship as it
powered away, low over the tree tops and down the Mutumbarr Valley, around
the Tuca Mountains and into clear country.
The irony, thought Ryath as Jan brought the ship up into the
higher reaches of the atmosphere, the smoking hulk of Chancai clearly visible
from space, and into orbit. “Anywhere you want to go?”
enquired Lomona as he put some distance between them and Zelon. Ryath thought for a moment, unsure of where they could go with a hold
full of more money than he’d ever dreamed of possessing, especially now that
Setnin had fallen to the Ki-Ki. No,
he corrected himself, there may be no Setnin Council on Benesk, but there was
still a Setnin council of sorts.
“Tannis Rixx gave me orders to assemble the Iron Claws at Histai. Mando Kerreet’s still there. Maybe Rixx
had time to tell others to fall back there too.” He didn’t sound convincing, and he could see that Jan’s reflection on
the cockpit window showed his friend wasn’t convinced either. “Hey Lomona,” he said after
a few more minutes of silence. “You
do realise that we’ve actually robbed the Bank of Zelon…and gotten away with
the money.” This time the smuggler smiled a broad grin. “When you and me work
together, the whole galaxy’d better watch out.” There was another moments silence, and the Ryath spoke again. “What took you so long in
the vault?” “Just paying my respects,
Ry. Nothing much.” The Ki-Ki captain watched impassively as the last body was carried
away from the bank vault, and looked around at the damage caused by his
bitter fight against the bank’s defence system. They’d managed to stop those damned repeating blasters popping
up, but only by using gunships to blow half the building up, and its computer
with it. He cursed to himself. They’d
never know what happened here now, but that wouldn’t stop his superiors
looking for a scapegoat. “Find anything at all?” he
growled at his sergeant. “Just this, sir.” The Ki-Ki captain frowned, as the sergeant dropped a small metallic
disk in his hand. “A five cred coin,” he
whispered. “All this for a handful of
credits.” Tactical Withdrawal2002 short story by Mark Newbold and Paul Squire Thirty-eight
years after Episode IV – A New Hope Histories – A story that has been talked about since the NHP
audio days of 1986, and right through the
RPG sessions of the late
80’s/early 90’s, Tactical Withdrawal is the result of a phone conversation between Paul and Mark, wondering what could possibly come after the huge events of Chancai
Falls. Both being on the same story wavelength, Mark drafted a first
run through the story and Paul then did his pass. Faithful to both the New Underworld Age plots, and to the stories that precede it, this
is also a tip of the hat to the many characters and stories that had
previously mentioned robbing the Bank of Zelon. Cast of
Characters Ryath Centaur Jan Lomona |