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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 Amagads 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 the
two major Louis Turfrey 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 |