Publishing Date: 2009.03.11
Disclaimer: Don't own a single cred's worth, and I've got nothing to scrounge for either, so I'll just have to hope for the grace of Lucas.
Era: EU
Characters: New Republic Fighter Pilots
Rating: T for Teen
Summary: Cmdr. Ked Bazzok takes on a dangerous mission along with the rest of the Screaming Tauntauns.
A/N: Started off as a simple birthday fic for my favorite man in orange, and has now turned into an adventure fic starring a bunch of my orange buddies. I hope you enjoy it!
Typically, sitting in a spaceport tapcaf nursing an ale was one of his favorite ways to watch a set of suns rising. But this was not one of those times. Commander Kedex Bazzok was about five drams of dust and grime away from looking like a wing commander in the New Republic Starfighter Command as he feigned another sip from the battered scrap metal mug in front of him.
When Captain Mannison came in with the mission assignment for the Screaming Tauntauns he was excited. It was thrilling to finally have a real blood and guts, nitty gritty mission of importance for his squadron. They were finally getting to exercise some of those covert intelligence skills they had been developing since becoming part of a New Republic, instead of acting like a bunch of rag tag rebels. He was excited and thrilled, but that was before he got to spend five days in Mos Espa carousing through the various houses of ill repute, trying to locate a contact within the Karazak Slaver's Coopertive.
The Red Moons had done a pretty good job of putting the KSC on the run ever since their attack on the group's Gabredor base. So, when New Republic Intelligence started getting reports out of Tatooine regarding their movements through Mos Espa, it became their mission to track them down. The only problem they had was that most of the commando units were very well known on nearly every planet touched by the suns in the Tatoo System. And that's where the Screaming Tauntauns came in. Ked, being Ked, was selected to go planetside, incognito, to nerf out a contact while the rest of the squadron remained masked in the dark gaseous shadow of the brightly burning Tatoo II.
The last thing he heard from the other members of his squadron was that if they found him with even the slightest hint of a vacation tan, he would never hear the end of it. And when Lieutenant Reerick Waalsciki held something over a person's head, they knew it.
The only bright spot to the mission so far had been meeting up with their old friend Chym Rrawkstr. Chym was very familiar with the various contingents operating in the Tatoo System, and a trusted source among their squadron members.
As Chym slipped in behind the table with Ked, the man chuffed, "You really don't like this place do you?"
Ked wiped his hand over his face, smearing more dust and grime in the process. "I don't mind the heat, but I feel like I'm being roasted alive over an open spit in this blasted desert air."
Chym scrunched up his face and asked, "You'd rather be steamed and boiled alive?"
"Sure…" Ked shrugged before throwing back the last swallow of his cheap ale. "At least then I could enjoy a decent drink without feeling like someone just threw a trickle of water on a frying pan."
Holding up his hands in defeat, Chym offered, "Sorry about that… I forgot it's all about the Grakkyn with you."
"Better believe it, buddy." Ked signaled the bartender for another round and nudged his questionable friend in the direction of the even more questionable Rodian slinking into tapcaf through the backdoor.
Both men watched as the Rodian made his way to a secluded booth in the back of bar. He wasn't long in the shadows before slipping through the back door once more. As Ked watched the anemic looking non-human slither away, Chym's eyes never left that dark corner.
When a lone figure emerged from the shadows, Chym nudged his companion and said, "That's not where the action is, old pal."
Following his gaze, Ked focused in on the stoic figure crossing the room. He squinted for a moment, trying to hone in on the face of the man. There was something vaguely familiar about him that Ked just couldn't seem to put a finger on. And then the man slowly changed the course of his direction and passed by their table. Catching a ray of light, Ked was just able to make out the glint of the coin before it was plunked down on the center of the table.
The man had flipped the coin at them, and before he could examine it closer, Chym scooped it up and stood, laying a few creds on the table top and slamming down the last of his ale. "We gotta move."
Not saying another word, Ked grabbed up his tankard, slugged back the ale and followed Chym out the side door. It was obvious something was going on, and he just needed to keep up and stay alert. A quick slide of his hand to his hip and his weapon was in perfect range. He released the snap atop his holster and prepared for the worst.
Out in the harsh light of a Tatooine morning, Ked and Chym were thrust. Immediately, Ked lifted his shades up to cover his eyes, and to get readings from the heads up display showing behind the dark plasteel. Scanning the few passersby in the street, Ked was able to quickly eliminate them as the man from the tapcaf.
As they rounded a corner, Chym slipped the coin to Ked and whispered. "That's a helluva calling card." The moment Ked's fingers touched the coin he recognized it and he ripped the shades from his face to stare Chym dead in the eye. "That's right… Even a spacer like me knows one of Cracken's Crew Coins when I see 'em."
Ked searched his own databanks to try and recall who, if anyone, other than Cracken, had survived their service during the Galactic Civil War. And then the name hit him like a ton of durasteel. "But that could only be-"
The man came out from the shadows of the alley and caught them both unaware, forcing them to draw their weapons. "Is that anyway to greet an old friend, Bazzok?"
"Pike Angeles?" His blaster still raised and at the ready, Ked finally exclaimed, "I thought you were dead!"
"You aren't the first person to tell me that." The man motioned for them to follow him further into the alley. "And I'm starting to take it personal."
Holstering his gun, Ked offered, "Then maybe you oughta tell your boss to stop having funerals for you." And they quickly stole away through a hidden entrance.
"Only if I wanted people to figure out I was still out here." Closing the door, Pike turned back to them with a broad grin. "And that would pretty much ruin two standard years of work infiltrating the KSC."
With a look of complete astonishment, Ked asked, "You-…You got in on the inside?!"
"Why don't you say it a little louder, you laser-brained space jockey? I don't think the Trandoshans over in Mos Eisley heard you." Pike motioned them to the chairs, "Have a seat and I'll get you both up to speed."