Star Wars - Episode I Adventures 002 - The Bartokk Assassins Read online

  “Well, don’t just stand there,” Haako commanded. “Start running!”

  Docking Bays 25-30 were not far from the Ion Sandbox, and the Jedi’s landspeeder made the short journey in less than three minutes. Each docking bay was a four-story structure that resembled a giant tire lying on its side; the circular architecture wrapped around and protected the sunken bay from view, but the open central area allowed immediate access for launches and landings. The streets that bordered the docking bays resembled a series of interlocking roundabouts.

  “The docking bays are larger than I imagined,” Qui-Gon commented. “But then they’d have to be large to accommodate a Bartokk freighter.” Turning his head slightly, he addressed Bama Vook. “You mentioned your own ship, the Metron Burner. What’s its make and model?”

  “The Metron Burner is a Corellian YT-1300 Transport,” Bama replied via his vocabulator.

  “The latest model?” Obi-Wan asked with some disbelief. Obi-Wan knew the sizable YT-1300 freighters were fairly expensive.

  “Not the latest, but still in good shape,” Bama answered. “It was a good deal. Leeper, Chup-Chup, and I have also been remodeling a Z-95 Headhunter, making it suitable for space travel. We’ve expanded its cockpit to hold two pilots.”

  As Obi-Wan slowed the speeder near Docking Bay 28, Bama removed a comlink from his weapons belt. “Drive around to the north side,” Bama instructed. “There’s a lift tube just around this curve.”

  The lift tube was an industrial open-doored booth design built into the side of the ring-shaped structure. Obi-Wan slowed the speeder to a stop next to a stack of empty cargo containers. Across the street, in front of Docking Bay 27, a large chemical waste storage tank rested on a rusted gravsled outside.

  “What a horrid stench,” Bama said, pointing to the tank. “My neighbor better call a droid sanitation crew to tow that gravsled or I’ll report him to the authorities.”

  The street was strangely silent and absent of any traffic. As Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Bama, and Trinkatta climbed out of the speeder, both Jedi cast cautious glances at the surrounding buildings.

  “Something wrong?” Trinkatta asked.

  Without any elaboration, Qui-Gon replied, “A disturbance in the Force.”

  On Docking Bay 27’s roof, a quick movement and flash of insectoid armor caught Obi-Wan’s attention. “Bartokks!” he said. He turned to Trinkatta and Bama. “They’re above us. Take cover.”

  Trinkatta followed the Jedi’s gaze. “I don’t see anyone up —” he began. Before the Kloodavian could complete his sentence, Qui-Gon’s arm lashed out and yanked him aside. A split-second later, a long, sharp spear flew down from above and plunged deep into the ground where Trinkatta had just been standing.

  Qui-Gon shoved Trinkatta under the parked landspeeder and ordered, “Keep out of sight!” Three more spears raced down through the air, all aimed at the Jedi Master. Qui-Gon moved so fast he became a barely visible blur. As the spears drove into the ground, Qui-Gon rematerialized against the wall to the right of the lift tube booth. From this position, he was just out of the Bartokks’ range of fire. On the other side of the booth, Obi-Wan and Bama ducked behind the stack of empty cargo crates.

  “Judging from those spears, there are at least three Bartokks up there,” Obi-Wan observed.

  “How did they find us!?” Trinkatta yelped.

  “Bartokks communicate telepathically,” Qui-Gon replied as he scanned the rooflines for any sign of movement. “Before the two Bartokks were killed at your factory, they might have mentally transmitted a warning to the other thirteen members of their hive, alerting them to our presence on Esseles.”

  “Then it’s possible we led them right here to Docking Bay 28,” Obi-Wan realized with some frustration.

  A pneumatic hiss indicated the lift was rising within the tube. As the lift reached the street level, the hiss ceased and a LE-PR navigator droid stumbled out through the booth’s open doors. A nasty-looking dent was visible on the droid’s metal forehead.

  “Leeper!” Bama exclaimed. In a swift movement, Bama reached out and pulled the droid away from the booth and behind the empty cargo crates. Bama was barely behind the crate when a dozen poisoned-tipped arrows whizzed down from the roof. The arrows produced a rippling, staccato noise as they slammed into the wall near the booth, mere centimeters from Bama’s head.

  “What happened?” Bama asked the droid. “Where’s Chup-Chup?”

  “Sorry, Bama,” Leeper answered in a deep synthetic voice. “Chup-Chup and I were watching the freighter when aliens jumped us. Insectoids with four arms. The freighter’s owners, I suspect.” The droid pointed to his dented forehead. “They took me by complete surprise. They pinned my arms and threw me into the lift tube before I could activate my blaster.” Although it was an unauthorized modification, a retractable blaster was concealed within Leeper’s right arm. “Just before the lift ascended, I saw them take Chup-Chup onto the freighter.”

  “What?” Bama gasped in disbelief. “Oh, I didn’t mean to steal a Bartokk freighter!”

  Twelve more arrows zinged down and struck deep into the protective cargo crate. Obi-Wan quickly studied the arrows’ angle of impact. “Don’t let the number of arrows fool you,” he warned the Talz and the droid. “Each Bartokk is firing four arrows at a time.”

  Leeper glanced at Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, then nudged Bama and asked, “Who are these guys?”

  “We’re Jedi,” Qui-Gon informed the droid. “Tell us — is the Bartokks’ freighter equipped with a hyperdrive engine?”

  “No,” Leeper replied. “I inspected the ship. Despite its cargo, the freighter itself only has a sublight engine. The Bartokks won’t be making a fast getaway. Just wait until I get my manipulators on them!”

  Another volley of arrows showered down around the heroes. Qui-Gon looked to Obi-Wan and said, “We must get past these snipers and board that freighter.”

  “Why not just destroy the freighter and all its contents?” Obi-Wan asked. Seeing Qui-Gon’s reprimanding gaze and sensing Bama’s outrage, Obi-Wan quickly added, “I mean, why not destroy it after we rescue Bama Vook’s son?”

  “Bartokks always have a backup plan in case something goes wrong,” Qui-Gon informed his apprentice. “Destroying the freighter won’t necessarily prevent another team of assassins from completing the Bartokks’ assignment.”

  Obi-Wan considered Qui-Gon’s assessment, then added, “If we can access the freighter’s nav computer and learn the Bartokks’ destination, we could figure out the identity of the Bartokks’ target. Then we could warn the intended victim.”

  Qui-Gon nodded. “Now you’re thinking, Padawan. We should also retrieve the Neimoidian prototype engine. The Council will want to have a look at —”

  Before Qui-Gon could finish, three Bartokks sprang down from the roof of Docking Bay 27. Despite the weight of their gleaming black body armor, the assassins barely made a sound as they landed on the street.

  Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan stood ready — but did not draw their lightsabers. The Bartokks waited, slightly hunched, braced on their segmented legs in an assault position. Each assassin wielded two twin-shaft crossbows, and they all aimed for Bama Vook’s heart. Under the parked landspeeder, the cringing Kloodavian let out a gasp.

  “Smart, you are, Jedi,” the nearest Bartokk muttered in a digitized voice. Like Bama, the Bartokk wore a vocabulator that translated his native language into Basic. “Despite your speed, you know it is unlikely you could prevent all twelve arrows from reaching their mark. You will allow the freighter to leave Esseles, or the Talz and his hostage son will die.”

  “What assurance do we have that Bama’s son is still alive?” Qui-Gon asked.

  With one of his free arms, the Bartokk extended a comlink. He pressed a switch, and the frightened cry of the captured Chup-Chup was broadcast from the comlink’s speaker.

  With a flick of his claw, the Bartokk switched off the comm. “As you could hear, our hostage is still breathing.”

 
Bama snarled as he reached for his holstered blaster, but Obi-Wan grabbed the Talz’s wrist. “Careful,” Obi-Wan whispered. “It’s not just their arrows you should be worried about. The Bartokks’ intelligence is distributed through nerve centers throughout their bodies. Even if you shoot off a head, the other parts of the body would continue to attack.”

  Suddenly, the nearly deafening roar of large repulsorlift engines filled the air. “That’s the freighter!” Bama realized. “They’re preparing for liftoff!”

  Qui-Gon’s voice was calm as he addressed the Bartokks. “You won’t get away with this.”

  “What are you hotshots waiting for?” Trinkatta whimpered to the Jedi from beneath the landspeeder. “Do something!”

  At this point, you must decide whether to continue reading this adventure, or to play your own adventure in the The Bartokk Assassins Game Book.

  To play your own adventure, turn to the first page of the Game Book and follow the directions you find there.

  To continue reading this Jedi adventure, turn the page!

  It’s not the Talz’s fault, Obi-Wan thought to himself. If only Qui-Gon hadn’t allied himself with such vulnerable riffraff.

  Cornered near the lift tube at Docking Bay 28, Obi-Wan was confounded by the present situation. Although he was confident that he and Qui-Gon could survive an encounter with the Bartokks, Obi-Wan wasn’t so certain they’d be able to prevent the assassins from firing their arrows at Bama Vook.

  From his position next to the cargo crates, Obi-Wan heard the rumble of the Bartokk freighter’s engine within the docking bay. He didn’t know much about Bartokk assassins, but he knew they did not have a reputation for letting hostages survive. He doubted the assassins had any intention of releasing Bama’s son, Chup-Chup.

  As Obi-Wan’s eyes remained on the three assassins, his peripheral vision picked up a flickering movement: a shadow gliding across the outer wall of the docking bay across the street. The shadow was cast by something directly above him, and he looked up in time to see a wide stun net dropping from the roof. In that instant, Obi-Wan realized the three Bartokks on the ground were a mere distraction for a fourth assassin to spring a trap.

  In the same instant, the young Padawan knew there wasn’t any time to warn his Master, the Talz, or the droid. Obi-Wan’s reflexes kicked in almost before he realized what he was doing. Faster than the eye could follow, he dove through the air and rolled under the landspeeder. His hand flew over Trinkatta’s beak, preventing the Kloodavian from shouting in fright.

  As soon as the stun net landed on Qui-Gon, Bama, and Leeper, it released a massive electric charge. The net’s duracord strands glowed bright white-blue as the shock was unleashed. The Jedi Master and Talz were immediately knocked unconscious and the droid’s circuits were shorted. The shock ended with a sick, fizzling sound. Trapped within the net, the three figures collapsed in a heap on the ground.

  From under the landspeeder, Obi-Wan watched the three assassins on the street. He couldn’t see the one on the roof, but it seemed the Bartokks had not witnessed his escape from the trap.

  Obi-Wan waited to strike. He didn’t enjoy the idea of harming any living creature, but he was more than prepared to give the ruthless Bartokks a fight they wouldn’t soon forget. Trinkatta released a muffled groan, and Obi-Wan eased his hand from the Kloodavian’s dry beak.

  At the same time, the three Bartokks relaxed their grips on their crossbows and stepped closer to the stun net. Their movements were identical. With their hive mind, the insectoid creatures moved in the same fashion, like puppets controlled by a single brain.

  Obi-Wan’s mind raced. He wondered if the Bartokks realized yet that one of their targets had escaped the stun net. Would they leave for the freighter or search for him? Would he be able to board their freighter without anyone getting killed?

  Before Obi-Wan could wonder anymore, each of the three Bartokks reached to his backpack and retrieved a spear. Then they raised the spears and prepared to bring the sharp points down on the defenseless bodies within the stun net.

  Obi-Wan knew it was time to make his move.

  The Padawan rolled fast out from under the landspeeder and came up with his lightsaber. His body blurred into invisibility as he surged toward the three Bartokks like a hostile wind. He activated the lightsaber. The Bartokks never saw him coming.

  Obi-Wan materialized near the docking bay lift tube booth. His illuminated lightsaber was still clasped in his hands as he heard the sound of body parts hitting the ground. He had cut off the Bartokks’ arms. All twelve of them.

  If the Bartokks were in any way startled, they did not reveal it. While the emotionless assassins turned their bulbous-eyed heads to face Obi-Wan, their severed arms skittered on the ground, trying to pick up the fallen weapons.

  Hoping to draw the Bartokks away from Qui-Gon and the others, Obi-Wan ran across the street and stood near a chemical waste storage container. Two of the armless Bartokks jumped at Obi-Wan. He dodged them, vanishing as they landed next to the storage container. As the Bartokks’ arms skittered toward their respective bodies, Obi-Wan reappeared and drove his glowing blade through the container, then leaped aside to safety. The ruptured tank sprayed chemical waste onto the two Bartokks and their twitching limbs, effectively liquefying them in a toxic shower.

  As the two Bartokks melted, Obi-Wan caught sight of their accomplice near the stun net. The surviving armless Bartokk raised a powerful leg, preparing to stomp the unconscious figures within the stun net. Obi-Wan again moved with incredible speed, and the Bartokk was suddenly minus both of its legs as well.

  The Bartokk hissed and wobbled forward, moving like a massive, armored worm in an effort to use its mandibles to take a bite out of Obi-Wan. The Padawan raised a hand at the Bartokk and concentrated, using the Force to push the murderous monster back. The dismembered assassin slid quickly across the ground, leaving a slick trail in its wake until it reached its final destination in the chemical spill.

  An ear-piercing shriek sounded from above. Obi-Wan glanced up in time to see a single Bartokk perched at the curved edge of Docking Bay 28’s roof. Although all Bartokks were nearly identical, Obi-Wan was fairly certain it was the same Bartokk who threw the stun net. He imagined the Bartokk was furious for what had happened to the other assassins.

  The Bartokk pulled a broad-bladed gutting knife from his weapons belt and sprang out into the air, descending headfirst toward Obi-Wan.

  Obi-Wan jumped aside, and the Bartokk reacted by coiling its insectoid body in midair. The assassin hit the ground in a perfect dive-forward roll and came up standing.

  Before Obi-Wan could attack, the Bartokk’s upper right arm snapped forward and aimed a crossbow at the figures in the stun net. With another claw, the Bartokk motioned for Obi-Wan to drop his lightsaber.

  The Padawan knew if he were to deactivate his lightsaber and drop it on the ground, the Bartokk would probably shoot at the net anyway. Impatient for Obi-Wan’s response, the alien gnashed its mandibles and hissed.

  Obi-Wan threw his lightsaber in a tight spiral at the loathsome assassin. The lightsaber’s blade sliced through the Bartokk’s right shoulder and severed the crossbow-wielding arm. As the arm struck the ground, its claw tightened on the crossbow trigger and released two arrows directly into the assassin. The Bartokk’s legs buckled, then the creature toppled face first onto the ground.

  The spiraling lightsaber looped back through the air and returned toward Obi-Wan. The Padawan had used the Force to control his weapon’s every move. He snatched the lightsaber from the air and thumbed the switch to deactivate its lethal blade.

  Obi-Wan went to the fallen Bartokk and removed the alien’s vocabulator. Although he doubted the Bartokks would want to negotiate their surrender, Obi-Wan thought he might need the translating device to communicate with the assassins. On the Bartokk’s weapon belt, Obi-Wan noticed what appeared to be a remote control unit for the stun net. He grabbed the control unit and ran to his unconscious allies. />
  Suddenly, the nearly deafening roar of a large repulsorlift engine filled the air again. Obi-Wan looked up and saw the spike-covered Bartokk freighter as it rose up and away from Docking Bay 28.

  The Bartokk freighter was a massive vessel, nearly seventy meters long and twenty-five meters wide. To Obi-Wan, it resembled a bloated, barb-encrusted sea creature. Even the large, triangular sensor dish that jutted out from one side of the vessel seemed more like a fin than a technical extension. On the freighter’s other side, a sixwinged Bartokk starfighter was moored to the outer hull. Secured to the freighter, the starfighter looked like a mutant offspring clinging to its gargantuan mother.

  Obi-Wan guessed that the Bartokks had delayed their liftoff in anticipation of an easy victory on Esseles. The freighter’s sudden departure indicated they had given up this round.

  It would take several minutes for the freighter to reach the upper stratosphere of Esseles and enter space. Although Qui-Gon might have criticized Obi-Wan for his decision, the Padawan took the time to free his unconscious friends from the stun net. He would give chase to the freighter as soon as possible.

  The stun net no longer released any electric power, but its duracord strands were locked tightly around Qui-Gon, Bama, and Leeper. Obi-Wan examined the Bartokk-designed remote control unit, then pressed a switch to release the stun net.

  The net glowed suddenly, and Obi-Wan quickly threw the switch off. He realized he had accidentally pressed the wrong switch and caused another shock to pass through Qui-Gon, Bama, and Leeper. Although it had been a mild shock and Qui-Gon and the others were already unconscious, Obi-Wan felt horrible for having caused them any more discomfort. Furthermore, they were still trapped within the net.

  As Obi-Wan examined the remote control unit more carefully, Trinkatta slithered out from under the parked landspeeder. “Is it over?” asked the Kloodavian. “Are our friends all right?”