Star Wars - Episode I Adventures 004 - Jedi Emergency Page 2

  “No, Master Qui-Gon,” Obi-Wan boldly interjected. Turning to face Yoda and Mace Windu, he declared, “The responsibility is mine. I left Coruscant with Qui-Gon Jinn because I wanted to help. I’m sorry I disobeyed you, Master Windu.”

  Mace Windu’s unblinking eyes did not waver as he replied, “From what Adi Gallia has just told me, it was fortunate you stayed at your Master’s side. According to her, if you had not pursued the Bartokk freighter from Esseles, at least twenty-five droid starfighters might have reached Corulag Academy.”

  Obi-Wan was speechless. Filled with admiration and gratitude, he looked to Adi Gallia and bowed his head.

  Yoda sighed. “The time for reprimands, this is not. Most serious is our presence here. Reports we have received of an infant on Corulag. Told we are, she is strong with the Force.”

  Mace Windu nodded. “If the reports are true, it is our duty to bring her to the Temple on Coruscant.”

  Qui-Gon looked from Mace Windu to Yoda, then stated, “But someone has protested the child being delivered to the Temple. Otherwise, neither of you would be here.”

  “You are correct, Qui-Gon,” Mace Windu acknowledged. “The Academy’s Chief Scientist discovered the infant’s high level of midi-chlorians while running a test in the Science Service nursery. The Chief Scientist notified the Jedi Council, but now insists the girl should remain at the Science Service tower for further study.”

  “And already six months old, the infant is! If to be a Jedi is her destiny, remain on Corulag she cannot,” Yoda said.

  “So we’re here to persuade the scientist to release the child?” Qui-Gon assessed.

  Yoda’s tapered ears bent back as he nodded. “Strong are the Jedi, but rare are we too. At the Temple, the girl must be raised, or else lost to us she is.”

  Just then, Mace Windu saw Bama Vook and Leeper emerge from the Metron Burner and walk down the landing ramp. “Acquaintances of yours, Qui-Gon?” asked the Senior Jedi Master.

  “Friends,” Qui-Gon answered, “and I’d like to invite them to accompany us to the Science Service tower.”

  “Always friends, we can use,” Yoda said as he turned to the repulsorlift transport. “Never enough can we have.”

  Obi-Wan wasn’t certain, but he thought there was a sense of sadness in Yoda’s tone.

  Night had fallen, and stars sparkled like diamonds in Corulag’s clear sky. The Academy’s Science Service tower was a four-sided pyramidal skyscraper of plastoid and transparisteel. The tower’s first-floor base encompassed six city blocks, and its uppermost point was two hundred stories high. Bordered by older campus buildings, the tower dominated the skyline like an artificial mountain.

  The northwest corner of the tower’s seventh floor contained administrative offices and a large nursery for the children of Science Service scholars and employees. Managed by small Model E baby-sitting droids, the nursery featured a central indoor playground and a gyroscopic carousel. The carousel was decorated with molded seats shaped like smiling alien beasts, all of which rotated in a dizzying manner that delighted the young riders.

  Mace Windu, Yoda, and Adi Gallia stepped out of a seventh-floor conference room and into a brightly lit main lobby. They walked past a lift tube checkpoint where a security droid prevented unauthorized visitors from entering Level 7.

  Just off the lobby, a dozen small droids played with a group of thirty toddlers in the playground. As the three Jedi Masters walked by the playground, the sight of Yoda nearly caused two excited youngsters to tumble from their repulsorlift scooters. The children had no idea of Yoda’s great power, but they were fascinated by his short, elderly form.

  The three Jedi Masters found the others waiting near a wide floor-to-ceiling picture window that looked out over the roofs of the tower’s neighboring buildings.

  As Yoda, Mace Windu, and Adi Gallia approached, Qui-Gon knew from their grave expressions that the conference with the Chief Scientist had not gone well.

  “What happened?” Qui-Gon asked.

  “The situation is complicated," Mace Windu answered. “The Force-sensitive infant’s name is Teela Panjarra. Her parents were Academy scholars who perished in an accident during a dig. According to Chief Scientist Frexton, Teela is now in a private nursery here at the tower.”

  Adi Gallia added, “Frexton said he will consider the girl’s release to the Jedi Temple, but not until the Academy has conducted a series of physical and neurological tests.”

  In a hushed tone, Yoda said, “Lying, Frexton is. More extreme tests in mind, we sense he has.”

  “Then we must stop him,” Qui-Gon proclaimed. “Even if Teela Panjarra is Force-sensitive, she is still a child. The Academy is treating her like a lab experiment.”

  Yoda shook his head. “Unfortunately, authorized the Academy is.”

  “It seems the Chief Scientist has some influential friends in the Galactic Senate,” Adi Gallia said. “The Academy won’t even allow us to see Teela. It’s doubtful the Senate will hear our appeal before she is too old to enter the Temple.”

  “Where is Frexton now?” Qui-Gon asked.

  “Left our meeting in a hurry, did he,” Yoda answered. “Went to see the Panjarra child, we imagine.”

  As the Jedi pondered their next move, Leeper sighted two droids entering Level 7 from the emergency stairwell doorway. In unison, they crossed the lobby to the security checkpoint. Leeper quickly recognized the pair as X10-D draft droids, remote-control-operated units designed for the reptilian Trandoshans. As soon as Leeper saw the X10-Ds, his processors began to overheat. He turned his metal head to Qui-Gon and said, “Excuse me, sir, but I believe there’s something you should know.”

  “What is it?” Qui-Gon asked.

  “The two droids near the security checkpoint are X10-Ds.”

  Bama Vook scowled and whacked Leeper in the shoulder. Speaking through his vocabulator, the Talz berated, “Knock it off, Leeper. These Jedi are about as interested in your knowledge of droids as they are in your ability to recognize starships.”

  "It’s okay, Bama,” Qui-Gon spoke calmly. “Is there something wrong with the droids, Leeper?”

  “X10-Ds can only be controlled by a remote signal,” Leeper said as he scanned the lobby and the nearby indoor playground. “I see children and Model E baby-sitting droids, but there isn’t any sign of the X10-Ds’ operators. X10-D draft droids have a control radius of four hundred meters, so the operators might be outside the building, or on another floor. What’s most bothersome is that X10-Ds are manufactured to perform maintenance work and freight-loading for Trandoshans.”

  “Trandoshans?” Qui-Gon said, making the connection immediately. “You think those two droids have something to do with the space yacht we saw, the one that was built for the Trandoshan trader?”

  “It seems highly likely, sir. But as you said, we’re a long way from Trandosha.”

  “What’s this all about, Master?” Obi-Wan asked.

  “Keep your eyes on the droids by the checkpoint, Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon said as he looked out the picture window, searching the surrounding buildings for any suspicious activity. Although it was night, the city lights illuminated the rooftops, and Qui-Gon did not have any difficulty spotting the mysterious SoroSuub space yacht. It was parked on a roof across the street from the Science Service tower, partially obscured by a conical ventilation chimney. Qui-Gon’s attention was diverted by two insectoid shadows that shifted across the surface of the chimney itself.

  “Bartokks,” Qui-Gon uttered, almost in disbelief.

  A loud crash sounded at the other end of the lobby. Qui-Gon and the others turned to see the Academy security droid lying sprawled on the floor near the lift tube. Near the checkpoint, a frightened child cried out, then ran to the protective arms of a Model E unit. The two X10-Ds jumped away from the fallen security droid and entered the lift tube.

  The alert Obi-Wan raced to the security checkpoint. But before Obi-Wan could reach the X10-Ds, the lift tube doors sealed with a hiss.

>   Obi-Wan pressed the lift control panel. “The lift won’t return," he said in frustration. “The controls are jammed.”

  “Would someone please explain what's going on?” Mace Windu asked as he and the others ran to the checkpoint.

  “It’s the Bartokks,” Qui-Gon replied. “They came to Corulag on a stolen space yacht and they’re using remote-controlled droids to carry out their assignment, just as they did at the factory on Esseles.”

  If the statement had been made by anyone else, Mace Windu and Yoda would have questioned its veracity. But they knew Qui-Gon well enough to trust his judgment.

  “Most deadly are the Bartokks,” Yoda said as he glanced back at the window. “At least fifteen of them, there always are.”

  “And they may be using as many X10-Ds,” Obi-Wan added.

  “Do you have any idea who might be the Bartokks’ target?” Vel Ardox asked.

  “No,” Qui-Gon answered. “All we know is the Bartokks intended to bring the Trade Federation droid starfighters to Corulag. Since that effort failed, they seem to be trying a different plan.” Leeper propped the fallen Academy security droid up to a seated position against the checkpoint kiosk and asked, “Are you okay?”

  “My legs are damaged,” the security droid answered. “I tried to prevent the X10-Ds from entering the lift.” The droid raised a hand to his broadband antennae. “I’m transmitting to other security droids... evacuate all cadets from building. Stop X10-Ds. Bomb threat.”

  “What do you mean, bomb threat?” Leeper asked.

  The security droid pointed to the checkpoint computer console. “Security X-ray sensors indicated one of the X10-Ds contained a concealed plasma bomb.”

  “A plasma bomb?” echoed an alarmed Noro Zak. “That could level an entire quadrant of Curamelle.”

  “The Bartokks might be attempting to plant the bomb in the tower,” Qui-Gon surmised. He ran back to the high window and peered down at the building across the street. The SoroSuub space yacht remained parked behind a broad chimney, but the two Bartokks were not in view. “No sign of the assassins, but their ship is still there. Since the Bartokks have taken the precaution of using the droids, I doubt they’re on a suicide mission. They must be planning to make a getaway so they won’t be killed when they detonate the plasma bomb.”

  Suddenly, the lights went off and the entire corridor was thrown into darkness. A number of smaller children began to whimper, and Adi Gallia gently urged them to remain calm.

  The disabled security droid rattled against the kiosk. “I managed to transmit the evacuation order, but something is jamming the security communications system."

  “The X10-Ds or the Bartokks must have severed a power terminal,” Obi-Wan commented.

  “An obstacle, the darkness is not,” Yoda professed. “Many lives at stake here, there are. Save all the children. Stop the Bartokks and their droids, we must!”

  A creaking sound caused the Jedi and their allies to look in the direction of the emergency stairwell. Standing in the stairwell’s pitch-black doorway, two new droids were illuminated by the lights of their own infrared photoreceptors.

  Both droids were X10-Ds.

  At this point, you must decide whether to continue reading this adventure, or to play your own adventure in the Star Wars Adventures Jedi Emergency 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!

  The two X10-Ds advanced toward the central indoor playground. Their infrared photoreceptors glowed with menace in the gloomy lobby.

  “Those droids aren’t authorized to be on this level!” said the damaged security droid, unable to move.

  Yoda slipped away from the other Jedi and drew close to the X10-Ds. The Jedi Master knew the Bartokks might be using optical gear to allow themselves to see whatever was within visual range of the remote-controlled X10-Ds’ photoreceptors. Yoda was determined not to allow the X10-Ds to harm anyone in the nursery, but he also didn’t want to alert the Bartokks to the Jedi presence within the Science Service tower. Instead of openly attacking the X10-Ds, Yoda decided to make the Bartokks think the X10-Ds had an accident.

  Yoda moved to the nearest X10-D and extended his gimer stick cane under its rising foot. The droid stumbled and crashed into the other X10-D. With both droids thrown off balance, Yoda reached for his lightsaber and thumbed the activator. As the X10-Ds fell, the lightsaber’s glowing blade disabled both droids.

  The other Jedi were not surprised by Yoda’s action. Despite Yoda’s age, they all knew him to be a resourceful fighter. Bama Vook and Leeper, however, were amazed by Yoda’s victory over the two draft droids. If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they would have had difficulty imagining that Yoda could move with such power.

  While the X10-Ds’ heads rolled down the corridor floor, Yoda stepped cautiously between the two fallen droids and reached to their armored chest panels. Taking great care, he slid both panels back.

  The X10-D on his left contained a plasma bomb. Qui-Gon bent down beside Yoda and said, “The Bartokks always have a backup plan, so it makes sense that they’d have more than one bomb. They won’t dare to trigger the bombs until they’re safely away from the city. But now that these two X10-Ds are down, the Bartokks who were controlling them might come looking for them here.”

  “All children and adults must be removed from the building at once,” Adi Gallia stated.

  Yoda turned to his allies and proclaimed, “To safety, you will take them. Deactivate the bomb, I will. And find Teela Panjarra.”

  “Obi-Wan and I can search for the girl, Master Yoda,” Qui-Gon suggested.

  “Guard and protect these young ones, you will,” Yoda said, gesturing to the children in the nursery. “My responsibility, Teela Panjarra is. Knew her parents, I did. Friends we were. Go now, you will.”

  Qui-Gon and Adi Gallia exchanged concerned glances, then looked to Mace Windu. The senior Jedi Master appeared unfazed by Yoda’s words. “We will see you soon, old friend,” he said. “May the Force be with you.”

  The assembled Jedi, Bama, Leeper, and the Model E units quickly rounded up the children and escorted them to the emergency stairwell, leaving Yoda to examine the plasma bomb. Shaped like a geodesic sphere, the compact bomb was magnetically clamped within the X10-D’s chest cavity. A primitive radio transmitter was affixed to the trigger mechanism. Yoda glanced around the indoor playground and noticed a child’s sculpture resting on a nearby table.

  The Jedi Master went to the table and pried a piece from the child’s statue. He wedged it over the plasma bomb’s trigger mechanism, preventing the Bartokks from activating the bomb by remote.

  With his small, green fingers, Yoda removed the bomb from the droid’s torso. Even though the bomb was deactivated, Yoda knew it had to be destroyed. If the Bartokks recovered the bomb intact, they would most certainly attempt to reset it.

  And Yoda had a feeling the Bartokks would come soon.

  “Good work,” praised the damaged Academy security droid, still propped up against the checkpoint kiosk. “Sorry I wasn’t any help.”

  “Here,” Yoda said to the droid as he handed him the plasma bomb. “Disassemble this, you can.”

  As the security droid took the bomb, Yoda heard a hissing sound from the doorway to the emergency stairwell. He turned just in time to see the shadowy forms of two Bartokk assassins slip out of the doorway. The Bartokks dropped their X10-D remote-control devices and leaped at Yoda from across the lobby. Both Bartokks wielded deadly vibro-axes.

  Although Yoda was not violent by nature, he realized there wasn’t any use in negotiating with the Bartokks. They were cold-blooded killers who would stop at nothing to destroy anyone they perceived as an enemy. Furthermore, they saw the plasma bomb in the security droid’s hands. Yoda would not allow the Bartokks to get their claws on the bomb.

  Yoda raised one hand and the two Bartokk
s appeared to slam into an invisible wall. The Jedi Master flung his hand back, and the insectoids launched straight up at the high ceiling. Their bulbous heads crashed into the ceiling, then both figures fell back to the corridor floor.

  The Bartokks had underestimated the power of the Force.

  The two assassins lay motionless on the floor near the fallen X10-D draft droids. Yoda realized there might be more Bartokks or X10-Ds in the emergency stairwell, so he removed his comlink from his belt and contacted Qui-Gon. “Attacked from the emergency stairwell by two Bartokks, I was. Defeated the two are, but watch for more.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” Qui-Gon replied. “The children and Academy cadets are out of the tower, but we haven’t seen Chief Scientist Frexton or any sign of Teela Panjarra. It’s possible they’re both still inside the —”

  A loud burst of static came from Yoda’s comlink. Something was interfering with his signal. Yoda suspected the Bartokks were jamming transmissions from the tower.

  He was on his own.

  “What’s happening?” asked the damaged security droid.

  “With the communications frequencies the Bartokks are interfering, I think,” Yoda replied. “Comlinks the Bartokks need not. Communicate telepathically, they do.” He pointed to the fallen assassins and added, “If warned their hive these two did about what happened here, already on their way more Bartokks may be.”

  “I’m afraid I’m not in much condition to defend Level seven anymore,” admitted the security droid, looking at his useless legs. He set to the task of taking apart the plasma bomb.

  Yoda’s thoughts turned to Teela Panjarra. According to Chief Scientist Frexton, the Force-sensitive six-month-old child was in a private nursery within the Science Service tower. There were still two X10-D draft droids in the tower, one of which was carrying a plasma bomb.

  While the damaged Academy security droid disassembled the first bomb, Yoda studied the checkpoint’s deactivated computer console. He suspected either the X10-Ds or the Bartokks were responsible for severing a power terminal and causing both the lobby to black out and the computer to shut down. Because of the darkness, it was difficult to see the console.