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The
De’Athe Cargo 1997/2000 short story by Louis Turfrey and Mark
Newbold Two years after Episode IV - A New Hope Blake De-Athe was blocked from safety by a cordon of
twenty Imperial Stormtroopers. This left him only two options - either
surrender, not a palatable option, or
fight his way out. He decided to attempt the latter. It provided a greater
chance for survival and was certainly more fun. The Stormtroopers were
neither prepared nor eager to try and stop him, especially when he ignited
his Lightsabre and boldly started walking towards them. He got to within ten
metres before they decided to open fire, but by then it was too late - he’d
already primed and thrown a thermal detonator and was dashing towards the
hanger service door. Jan Lomona, captain of the Stock Heavy Freighter Berone Sunrise, was busy cleaning out
his current co-pilot of his next months wages when there was an urgent
hammering at the lower service ramp.
Jan sat impassively, seemingly ignorant of the frantic sound, as he
concentrated on the hand he’d been dealt. The Wookie sitting opposite looked
enquiringly at Jan, and growled a throaty question. “He’s got us in
trouble again, I know it.” Lomona
smiled wickedly to himself. “ Let him
stew for a minute,” Jan grinned again. “Full House.” Roarkasha the Wookie groaned inwardly as he saw the hand
laid out before him. For a second he considered tearing Jan’s arm off, and
then wearily placed his cards onto the table. At this point, Jan opened the
hatch and Blake walked up the service ramp, straight past Jan and into the
cockpit. Outside the Sunrise, a cordon of Stormtroopers
filed into the docking bay, followed by a black suited INTEL officer. He
shouted orders to the leading group as they started placing an E-WEB heavy
blaster onto its tripod. “Don’t open fire
unless I give the order. Anybody who
disobeys will be executed. Lord Vader wants De’Athe alive!” At the mention of the Dark Lords name, the men visibly
stiffened. It wasn’t often that Vader considered personal involvement a necessity
this far out into the Mid-Rim, but the mere thought of having to face him
made the men much more alert. Jan’s initial annoyance had turned into anger, but
De’Athe didn’t seem at all perturbed. Jan remembered why he hated force users. “Okay pal, so
you think you can just walk in here and announce that we have to get off
planet because you’ve got an
Imperial bounty on you’re head?” Jan
shook his head in annoyance as his face reddened a shade. Not a good sign. “There aren’t any Imperial bases for five
parsecs. Who’re you trying to kid?” “Look out the
window and tell me I’m wrong.” Blake pronounced calmly. Lomona gave Blake the benefit of the doubt and shifted
his gaze to the cockpit window. As
quickly as he’d been angered he calmed. Moving swiftly he dropped into the
chair next to Blake and started priming systems. Fending off the urge to
blast the Sunrise straight up, he
yelled in to the secondary control area. “Roark , get the
main repulsors online and prime the canon.
I need you on shield and fire control. This’ll be rough!” The INTEL officer heard the whine as the Sunrise started its engines, the throb
of the Advanced Quadex Power Core filling the docking area. He pressed a
button on the remote unit in his hand, activating the Ion Shield above the
freighter. He smiled inwardly at the same time as he motioned for his troops
to open fire with the E-WEB. Blasts of energy bounced of the shields of the
ship before of him, heating the air to near boiling point. However, there was
no discernible damage and this worried him. No simple smugglers freighter
should have shields that powerful. “Good job
Romanoe managed to get me a power plant off an Assault Shuttle. Any luck with the Ion shield?” Jan looked towards Blake, who appeared to be
in a trance like state. Blake’s eyes opened slowly. “I have it
now. Opening a doorway. Go straight up
at ninety, and don’t make a mistake.” Jan pulled at the controls as the Ion shield opened
before him, and shot up on full burners. The shield snapped shut blocking off
the blaster fire from below. Blake turned towards Jan and the look of relief
on his face was palpable. He looked slightly older, a little greyer. “You didn’t do
what I think you just did, did you ?” Jan’s worried tone said it all. “It was the only way. The Light side would have been too
slow. Besides, you know I can handle
it.” Blake’s voice was harder, less emotional, and very
cold. Jan kept his concerns to himself
and concentrated on piloting the Berone
Sunrise out of Tatooine’s atmosphere. He put the Sunrise into a retrograde spin and levelled off as the scanners
went wild. “Blake, get to
the canon and buckle your self down.
We’ve got two minutes before those Star Destroyers cut us off. I’ll calculate the jump to Hyperspace, you
try to shoot straight. ” Blake raised an eyebrow.
Jan Lomona’s voice could be just as cold as his own when he chose. Admiral Dekar watched the holo image of the Berone Sunrise as it shot out of
Tatooine’s planetary orbit. He ordered
the captains of his fleet to form a multilevel ring and to prime Ion canon
only. Whoever this man was, Lord Vader wanted him alive – and all the more
maleable when he interrogated him. That small fact spoke volumes. An ensign approached, disturbing Dekars
musings. “Admiral, all
ships report that the web is complete.
Tractor beams can be activated remotely at your command.” Dekar nodded and walked towards the command chair of the
Imperial Star Destroyer Fear and
touched a button as he sat. “Now hear this. All ships are to wait until the quarry are
within five kilometres. Then activate
the tractor beams. I want them driven
into the Ion beams, not torn apart.
Anybody who makes this mistake will be terminated. Dekar out.” Jan, using all of his wild skill, was still having
trouble avoiding both the tractor beams and the Ion canon. As quickly as he threw the ship one way it
was thrown another. “Blake, are you
able to take out any of their
canons!” Jan shouted into the comm on
his head unit. “Only if you
keep the ship still long enough for me to get a clear shot.” came the angry
reply. Roark looked at Jan quizzically and gave a small growl.
Jan nodded and reached toward the automatic torpedo loaders. Proton torpedoes
were expensive, but so was a confiscated ship. “Blake, change
of plan. Get up here and man the
proton launchers.” shouted Jan. As he said this Blake walked calmly into the
cockpit area and seated himself at the Proton controls. Jan decided that he didn’t hate Blake so
badly after all. The freighter was evading his gunners expertly, Dekar was
impressed. He was just about to bring the secondary guns to bear when he
noticed several small objects eject from the rear of the small craft. They
shot directly towards the Tractors of the nearest Star Destroyer, the ISD Abolisher, and were
ensnared by the beams. Realisation hit
like a rock. “Abolisher, turn off all tractors, this
is a priority one order, now!” Dekar shouted. Too late. Jan looked on in amazement as one by one all nine of his
torpedoes found their targets. It never ceased to amaze him how destructive
one of those compact missiles could be. He levelled the ship out, riding the
shock wave from the nearest explosion, and coasted out past the stricken
Imperial Destroyer. Placing thrusters on full burn he used the gap created by
the loss of the vessel and powered into clear space. Blake smiled as he viewed the aftermath of the protons
wrath. The wegiht of using the dark
side weighed heavily upon his shoulders, but somehow he felt more pwerful
every time he brushed with it.
Frowning to himself, he made a vow to reject its powers and use only
the light side – despite the fact that the dark side brought more immediate
and tangiable results. As the Sunrise
entered hyperspace, Admiral Dekar was collapsing on the floor in front of a
recently activated Holo Projector. “Let this be a
reminder Admiral. Next time you shall
not be handed such lenience.” Darth Vader’s image dissapeared, leaving the Admiral
choking for breath. He raised himself to his feet, dusted himself down and
exited the chamber. It was almost a comfort to see the looks of shock on his
senior officers faces. Few survived such an audience with the Dark Lord,
especially after such a failure. Dekar noted each and every face. He had every intention to watch his back
now. He vowed he would not fail again
his Lord or his Empire again. “Is the long
range tracker secure within the crate?”
Dekars’ voice was edged with steel as he addressed one of his
captains. “Yes sir. Your plan is set. Our spies have also located Colonel
Centaur. Should we intercept him?” “No,” replied
Dekar. “Let De’Athe and his friends
think they’re safe for now. But set
course for the Colonels location.
We’ll surprise them.” Ryath Centaur sat outside the Skid Side Bar and looked
out over Toshie Landing Platform. He wasn’t used to waiting and his whole
body yearned for action. He’d spent the last week hunting Garmon Bats in the
jungles below and felt as fit as he had in months. Toshie used to be the
largest port on the Vorathie Peninsular - now it was the only port. Supported
two thousand metres above the planets surface by Garmon Trees, it reminded
him of Kashyyyk, the Wookie home world. It was also the only place that
served good Duarga on planet. Centaur glanced skywards as he heard the
familiar strains of a Stock Heavy Freighters engines and watched the Berone Sunrise as it glided in to a
perfect three point landing. Finishing his drink and checking his equipment,
Ryath left the small run down bar. Leon Annuli watched Centaur leave the Skid Side and walk
towards the ship that had just landed.
He was intrigued by Centaurs mood of late. His blue tongue licked his
lips in anticipation. It could be very profitable to find out what had made
the ex-Imperial mercenary so jumpy over the last two days. “Do you mind
explaining what happened on Tatooine?”
Centaurs voice had the hard edged sound of a combat
veteran. His eyes followed Blake around the lounge of the Sunrise, trying to weigh up what had
changed about the man. Then he noticed the greying of his hair, and the
slight stoop in his shoulders. “I stole
something from the Imperials, and they want it back. These…” He pulled a hand out of his pocket and
threw something at Centaur. Ryath caught it with the practised ease of a
soldier and examined it closely. It was a small crystal, an eighth of an inch
across. It seemed to generate its own light. “What is it, a
power crystal?” Centaurs voice was
puzzled. Blake reached behind his back
and brought out his lightsabre. “No, but they do
channel force energy. They also make
up the primary control circuit of this lightsabre. Someone was hoping to use
a similar design for his ‘Disciples’, probably Darth Vader. I didn’t agree with his point of view. They
also allow someone who is trained properly, to do this...” The lightsabre flew out of Blakes hand and hung in mid
air before the group. The blade seemed to ignite under its own power and
extended upwards, throwing its blue aura onto the faces of the silenced
onlookers. Then without warning the blade extended again, growing another
three feet in length. Lomona and
Roarkasha gasped as the blade cycled through the colour spectrum, finally
collapsing back on its self. The unit glided back to Blake. “You see, this
weapon could be deadly in the hands of someone skilled in its use. Even an
initiate would have no problems learning to use it. The crystals can channel
Dark Force energy into the weapon, making it easier to use. This gives the
user more skill and that makes them much more dangerous. I’ve stowed a crate full in Jan’s
hold. It contains over three hundred
of these.” Blake paused. “Enough to make one hundred lightsabres.” Blake walked towards Centaur, coming face to face. “Now do you see?” “I see
perfectly.” said Centaur. “It means someone is preparing to mass an
army of warriors. They’d present an
enormous threat to the Empire or the Rebellion, depending on who they were
used against.” Blake De’Athe nodded and re-attatched the lightsabre to
his belt. “So now you
understand why I need your assistance.” Jan gave Centaur a long, meaningful stare. The risk was great but the price of
failiure was unimaginable. Even a
sceptic like Lomona could see that. “You’ve got us convinced
Blake. So what do we do now?” Blake De’Athe gazed through the small window of the Sunrise’s
cargo hold to the jungle surrounding the Toshie Landing Platform and sighed. “Trust in the force.” The De’Athe Cargo 1997/2000 short story by Louis Turfrey and Mark
Newbold Two years after Episode IV – A New Hope Histories – Written in partially completed form during 1997,
the De’Athe Cargo is another
addition to the Star Wars cannon
by the writer Louis Turfrey. Having already added such names as Tarr Ranth and Roarkasha to the roster of characters, Louis also gave us Blake De’Athe, son of the famed Jedi Notami De’Athe. Taking place between Episodes IV and V, the De’Athe Cargo
travels to Tatooine and across the
Setnin Sector, unravelling a story
of Jedi laced intrigue and deception involving lightsabres, gullible Moffs and sneaky deceiving
smugglers. Boasting brief appearances
by such characters as Jan Lomona
and Ryath Centaur, the story is a
deft addition to the stable of stories. Cast
of Characters
Blake
De’Athe Jan
Lomona Ryath
Centaur Roarkasha Leon
Annuli Admiral
Dekar Lord Darth Vader
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