The Adventures of Dash Rendar

by William Tanner

Here is the untold story of the events that took place in other parts of the galaxy between Star Wars Episodes III and IV: a novel in which the brilliant young pilot, Dash Rendar, battles a powerful villain named Prince Xizor.

4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Jocko lands his freighter, The Intruder, on the spaceport landing platform on Nar Shaddaa. En route Dash counted the money and discovered that there was $500,000 credits in the suitcase, but they decided not to do anything with it right now but put it in another locker at the hanger on Nal Shaddaa and maybe divide it up when they would get back from Old Mantell.

Jocko suggested that Dash take out some of the money for expenses so he took out three individually rapped bundles of the loot which was about a fourth of the money and put it in a nap sack that Jocko handed him. He then broke open one of the bundles and gave Jocko about five thousand credits and told him that was for getting supplies later. Jocko shook his head in agreement and put the money in his pocket.

It's now four-thirty in the morning and the late night journey after several hours of drinking has worn heavily on the three companions. As soon as Jocko shut off the main turbo drive he turned in his seat and announced,' Man, I need some sleep!'

' You said it man!' Lance agreed.

' Come on, You guys can bunk out at my place. There's a spare bedroom and you two can share that if you don't mind. That way you can save the price of another room. It's only for one night anyway and in the morning we can grab some provisions and head out to Ord Mantell.'

' A soft bed sure sounds good right now,' Jocko confessed.

' Yeah, I get the right side!' Lance said quickly, as he glances at Jocko to see his reaction.

' I don't care which side I get, just as long as get one or the other.'

Dash got a locker at the hanger and put the attache case inside, threw the key in his pocket and the three of them headed for Dash's room and the soft beds that awaited them.

The three men dragged their tired weary bodies through the door of Dash's rented accommodations, wonder to their waiting beds and crash down and immediately fall to sleep. Leebo is seated in a chair upright deactivated into a cyber sleep mode. He is hardly noticed by the three men as they all have been around such units most of their lives and pretty much take them for granted in this day and age of high tech.

It is nearly one o'clock when they all woke up with Dash being the last one to his feet as Jocko

had a cup of coffee waiting for him as he entered the living room of the small apartment. ' About time you woke up sleepy head, the day's half over already. I thought you were going to sleep all day so I went out and got us some coffee and doughnuts. Your too late for the doughnuts, but here's some hot coffee for you.'

' Coffee's just fine, thanks! Where's Leebo?'

' He went down to prepare the ship for the trip. He said they finished it yesterday and he thought that he better get it ready before you got there. Your taking it with you aren't you. Anyway, I told him you probably would. You surely wouldn't want to leave it here, after all Jabba has yours and this way you have something of his. If you know what I mean.'

' Yeah, Your right. That's a good idea, just in case I need something to swap. Yeah, and if something happens and I can't get my ship back, at least , I'll have something I can get around in. It's no where near my Outrider, but it's better than nothing.' Dash agreed.

The men finished their coffee and they went down to the office of the boarding house, checked out, and headed down the street toward Shug Ninx' repair shop.

A block later, Jocko and Lance spotted a mercantile store and they decided to pick up the supplies they would need for the trip. Dash continued down the street headed to the shop alone to get the freighter and fly it around to the spaceport where the Intruder was parked and in that way they could save some time.

As Dash continued down the street, he noticed a tall Rodian a block and a half behind him. It seemed that the Rodian was shadowing Dash for every time he stopped to look around, the creature would duck into a door or stop and disappear in the crowd. Dash tried to be tricky trying to get a good look at his shadow, stopping momentarily trying to see his reflection in one of the store's windows. The third attempt paid off as the Rodian's reflection caught him in the clear as he crossed the street a half a block away. It was Greedo. Dash quickly moved down the block until he found a narrow alleyway between two of the buildings that was just wide enough for a walkway to several side doors down the alley.

There he waited for Greedo to reach the opening , standing with his back against the wall ready to pounce on him when he turned the corner. Just then Greedo stepped past the corner and Dash grabs him and throws him against the wall. Instantly, Greedo screams,' Don't kill me! You can have my money.'

Then he realized who it was that grabbed him,' Rendar! It you. Are you going to kill me.'

' What'd mean, kill you. Why were you following me?' Dash demanded.

' Following you, I wasn't following you. What do you mean?'

' It seems everyplace I go on this rock, your always there. I've seen you at the cantina twice and I bump into you last night in the Hound's Tooth. Now you're here on Nar Shaddaa again following me down the street. Did Jabba put you up to this?'

' Up to what?' Greedo asked with a puzzled look on his face.' I haven't done anything.'

' You've been following me all around. If you haven't been following me how can you explain being all those places.'

' Here! You mean why am I here on Nar Shaddaa.'

' Yeah! Why are you here on Nar Shaddaa, and what were you doing on Nal Hutta last night?' Dash asked as he grabbed a tighter hold on Greedo's vest and twisted his grip.

' No, no, no! You don't understand. I live here. It was just an accident us running into each other. I go into the cantina here all the time. I know the owner real well. Sometimes I do little jobs for him, like picking up and hauling supplies for him from Mos Eisley and Evocar. I wasn't following you just now, I've been window shopping. I'm trying to find something for my mate. It's her birth date and I was trying to think of something to purchase for her. No, really. I'm telling you the truth, I wasn't following you.'

' You really live on this rock? What about last night, I suppose you live there too!'

' No, I mean yes, of course. We have a little place in the Corellian District, just about five or six blocks from here. If you don't believe me, come I'll show you, but I don't live on Nal Hutta. I was just there to pick up some supplies for Zukma Raja. He's the owner of the cantina here. When I ran into you I was just leaving after dropping off some stuff at the Hound's Tooth. That's all, I wasn't following you, believe me I wasn't.'

' That's okay,' Dash assured him,' I'll believe you this time. Just don't follow me around no more, even if your not doing it on purpose. Okay, you can get out of here now, and you better be telling me the truth, or else.'

' I am Mr. Rendar. Everything I've told you is the truth. If there is ever a time that I'm getting paid to follow you, you'll know it. I'll make sure you know it. That's how I do it. I don't hide, I come right out and let you know. That's how I do it.'

' Okay! Get lost!' Dash angrily snapped at the now boring Greedo.

Greedo moved away from the side of the wall and quickly disappeared back down the street as Dash stepped out to watch him hurry away.

Dash looked around to see if anyone had noticed the confrontation between him and Greedo. Everybody seemed to be too busy with their own affairs to have noticed the two of them, so he turned and continued his walk to Shug's space barn.

Dash caught a ride in a man-powered rickshaw and headed through the tunnel with the heading Industrial District, above the entrance. He entered the narrow passageway until he got to a foyer with five exit tunnels leading to different locations with one reading Shug Ninx's Space Barn. The rickshaw or any other type of vehicles were not allowed to go further, only pedestrian traffic, so Dash got off, paid the man and went the rest of the way on foot. He entered through the final tunnel and minutes later he arrived at the entrance to Shug's shop and when he got near the open door he could hear a voice saying ' I'm not here for any bounty, I'm only here for the ship.'

As he entered the doorway, Dash could see who was talking, it was the bounty hunter Boba Fett, who was holding a blaster on Shug, Warb and Leebo. There was a tall droid with a laser cannon in place of a head, known as D'harhan, who stood back some ten feet close to the entrance ramp of the freighter as the turbo engines of the ship now started. Inside the ship was yet a third member of the hijackers, another bounty hunter by the name of Bossk, who was warming up the engines, preparing the vessel for air travel while the other two held the three repair men at gun point.

' Over my dead body!' Dash shouted out as he pulled his blaster out of it's holster, but before he could fire, Boba Fett wheeled around and fired a blaster shot just missing Dash as everyone scrambled for cover. Dash jumped back using the side of the entrance for cover and returned Fett's shot with two of his own that just miss their target as Boba found some cover of his own behind some heavy barrels as the droid turned and fired upon Dash taking out a big side of the wall of which he was behind.

In the meantime, Warb and Shug joined in the gun battle from behind their cover firing on the droid and Fett, as the droid moved for cover itself behind yet more barrels. D'harhan, now safely behind some cover, returned fire toward Shug and Warb as Leebo, who was unarmed , went through an open door out of reach of any possible attack. Dash fired a blast at Boba and two shots at the droid while yelling to the two men who were pinned down,' Get out of there!'

As Dash called to his friends, Boba Fett fired upon Dash again causing him to duck back behind the protection of his cover. When he did Boba signaled D'harhan to get in the ship and that he would cover him as Boba fired several shots both at Shug and Warb and then again at Dash as the droid made his way up the ramp and Boba started moving toward the ramp himself.

Dash was having a hard time getting off another shot cause every time he tried to see around his protection a blast would cause him to recede for cover. Shug and Warb too were unable to return fire as Boba fired repeatedly at the three men.

Finally as Boba Fett started up the ramp scurrying past D'harhan, who had stopped on the ramp to cover Fett's ascent, Warb saw an opening to fire on the two hijackers and he raised up to fire, but before he could get off a shot, D'harhan fired his laser cannon and hit Warb in the chest killing him instantly and causing his body to hurl back against the wall violently.

The blast that hit Warb's chest exploded in a huge burst of blood and body parts that jetted out in every direction in an array of bright flashes of light. The impact resounded in a loud boom, hurling his body straight back into the structure behind him causing the wall to quiver with the mighty collision. Blood splattered everywhere in a star- burst pattern on the empty surface as his body lingered momentarily against the wall and then slide down to the floor leaving a wide trail of smudge blood in it's path.

D'harhan and Fett disappeared into the ship as the ramp raised and from inside the freighter Bossk fired the pulse cannons at Dash and Shug as the ship lifted and jettisoned out the portal.

Shug rushed to Warb but he could see that there was nothing he could do and in anguish he told Dash and Leebo, who had now reach the falling comrade, to go and that there was no further use they could do but leave him in his grief. Sadly Dash and Leebo turned and slowly left the shop with their heads hung low headed toward the hanger where Jocko and Lance was to meet them.

When Dash and Leebo reached the hanger they could see that Jocko and Lance along with three other men were loading supplies aboard the Intruder and as Dash approached Jocko he asked,' Hey! What's going on?'

Jocko looked up puzzled and asked Dash,' Where the freighter? I thought you were bringing the freighter with you?

' It's a change of plans!' Dash answered, ' I had a surprise waiting for me when I got to the shop. Boba Fett, a droid and another guy had everybody held at gun point and when they saw me the shooting started. To make a long story short, they hi-jacked the ship and Shug's friend Warb got killed. It was a bad deal all around. They stole the freighter. I have a sneaky hunch that Jabba put them up to it.'

'I picked us up some reinforcements. I hope you don't mind. I figured we could use as many guns as we could get. Don't worry, these guys are alright. I've known them for years. This is Nathan Wilson,' Jocko said as Nathan reached over to shake Dash's hand,' Nice to meet you.'

'Yeah,' Dash responded.

' And those two are Jack and Kyle Sulbaran, they're brothers.' Jocko told Dash pointing toward the two men. ' Yeah, Lance and I ran into these guys when we were getting supplies. We started talking and they said they weren't doing anything so I offered them a job with us. I told them we'd pay them five thousand credits apiece if they'd help us get your ship back. Is that alright?'

' Sure! I hope you told them what we're up against.'

' You mean one of those IG-88's. Don't worry, we're not afraid of no lousy droid.' Nathan announced. ' We'll blow that thing into a million pieces! Won't we boys?' He boasted as the two brothers shook their heads in agreement.

' Alright!' Jocko interrupted ,' Let's get going.' as the seven piled into the freighter and minutes later blasted off and out the spaceport headed for Garos lV and Ord Mantell.

Garos lV was a long way off. Jocko charted the journey on the ship's computer log, put The Intruder in automatic and ordered the freighter to go into hyperspace drive and set back as the ship blasted off in a streak of light that seemed to take hours and hours, as the seven passengers were fast asleep as the freighter continued on it's journey to Garos.

Eventually, the Intruder came out of hyper-drive and Jocko called out to the men, ' Hey guys, we're in! '

Dash woke up and hurried over to the pilots seats. There before him laid Garos lV, the fourth planet in the Garos system that looked much like the planet Earth. A pretty sphere with green forests, mountains and oceans. In the planets background were Garos lV's two vibrant moons glowing beyond it's horizon in shear beauty.

As Dash looked through the forward viewport, he watched as the vessel came into view of the waterfront resort town of Zila. They traveled along the coast sweeping over the high Tahika Cliffs before turning inward toward the capital city of Ariana. There Dash could see the landing platforms of a busy spaceport through his long, narrow window as Jocko leaned towards him and remarked, ' There it is! That's where we land. Lance! Bring her in nice and gentle.'

Dash looked at Jocko with bewilderment not saying anything, but with a puzzled look on his face. Jocko noticed Dash's confused expression and reassured him, ' Lance, is just getting a handle on this ship. I usually do most of the piloting, but he wanted to freshen up on the controls. It's okay, he'll be alright. He's just a little rusty, that's all. Don't worry. I promised him he could pilot the Intruder this trip, he'll be okay. '

' You keep saying that, ' Dash replied uneasily.

Jocko just gave Dash a wide grin that turned into a chuckle and then half-heartily repeated, ' No really, he'll be just fine, don't worry. '

As the vessel repulsed down to the landing platform, the tail swirled around slightly out of control with the wind pushing the ship sideways. Jocko immediately cautioned, ' Hold it steady now. Keep it level. Your giving it too much wrist. '

Lance made an adjustment as Jocko coached him, ' That's it. Yeah, that's it. Now just ease her down slowly. '

The vessel's landing prongs struck the deck on the starboard side of the ship. Jocko cried out, ' Lance, level her out. Set her down gently. That's more like it. Nice and easy, ' and the ship touched on all three prongs, Jocko cried out, ' That's it you got it. Good job! '

All the while, Dash set there with a strained, terrified look on his face watching as Jocko coached Lance. As the vessel settled down on the landing platform, Jocko looked at Dash, who managed to squeeze out a retrained smile peering back at him through the corners of his eyes.

' See, I told you not to worry, ' Jocko reminded him, ' It was a piece of cake, wasn't it Lance? '

Lance just looked at him and then he looked at Dash, who had turned enough to face him. Dash didn't want to criticize the young pilot so he gave Lance a big smile and confronted him, ' Yeah, no problem. That was better than I ever did when I was starting out. Don't sweat it kid, you'll get better. It just takes some getting use to that's all. By the end of this trip, you'll be flying as good as any of us. Isn't that right Jocko? '

' Yeah sure, it just takes time. We've all been there. We've all had to pay our dues, ' Jocko relented, ' I was in the same spot your in. Just like Dash, I had to start from scratch like everyone else. '

Just then, the other three passengers joined the pilots as Nathan patted Lance on the back, ' Alright Lance, great job! '

Kyle and Jack Sulbaran followed suit in congratulating Lance in his landing prose. ' Yeah, we were worried there for awhile, ' Kyle announced. Jack interjected, ' Naw, I wasn't. I knew you had it made. No sweat, right Lance? '

' Yeah, no sweat, ' Lance quipped, ' A piece of cake. '

' Well, now what's the plan Jocko? ' Nathan asked.

' Well, I guess I've got to find someone to sign for this load. I've got to into town to this Tork Winger character. I think he's the one I've got to see. Lance, you come with me. Nathan, Jack and Kyle, you guys unload this shipment. I'll be back later, but whatever you do, don't leave the load unattended.' Jocko instructed the men, ' Dash, I guess you and Leebo are on your own. Why don't you check out the local pub. Yeah, maybe bring us back some brew. '

' Yeah! ' Jack and Kyle cried out in unison.

' I like Galorrian beer if they got it, ' Nathan annouced.

' I don't care what kind they got just as long as it's cold. I don't like none of that fickin' warm shit, ' Jack added.

' Yeah me too, make sure it's cold, okay Dash, ' Kyle agreed.

' Yeah sure, come on Leebo let's go, ' Dash said as he grabbed a backpack and headed down the gang plank.

Jocko and Lance headed through a tunnel marked Corporation Sector, as Dash and Leebo found a tunnel with the heading, Chado's Pub and Downtown Main Street, that led to the left of the three main tunnel openings. The third exit would take you to the Industrial Sector to the far right. As Dash and Leebo reached a larger opening in the tunnel, several transports were waiting for passengers to board. They climbed aboard and was whisked away in a metro-cab that was driven by a C3-R7 multipurpose unit. The cab carried the two patrons at a very high speed through the tunnel much farther than Dash had anticipated and soon exited the tunnel onto a paved street, stopping at an intersection.

' You have arrived sir, ' The droid announced.

Dash looked to the right and saw a neon sign on a quaint decorative building that read, Chado's Pub.

' Oh! We're here. How much do I owe you, cabbie, ' Dash asked.

' One credit, sir, ' The droid answered.

Dash tossed a credit into a funnel marked ' Pay here!' He and Leebo slide out of the cushion seated cab and stepped on the sidewalk just in time as the vehicle shot away in an instance that caught Dash by surprise. ' Whoa! ' Dash exclaimed as the cab pulled away, ' Gee! Leebo, it's a good thing we didn't take too long to get out of that thing. Jesus Christ! What was the hurry, I wonder.'

' Don't worry sir, it had sensors. Once we broke the sensor light beams, we were clear, ' Leebo explained, ' It couldn't move until we were clear. It's all automated, sir. '

' Well, I'm sure glad you knew, ' Dash chuckled, ' It scared me. I felt the vacuum as it jetted off. It nearly took me off my feet. '

' Dash! Dash! Is that you, ' A woman's voice interrupted.

Dash turned around and saw a wildly dressed woman approaching him. He stood there frozen in silence as she stroked her wavy black hair back with her right hand as she got near.

' Oh, come on now, you remember me don't you, ' She questioned, ' It's me, Liddy. Don't you remember? I knew you on Corellia a long time ago. Right after you got out of the service. Don't you remember. '

' Are you sure madame? ' Dash replied puzzled.

' Yeah, Alice Fletcher introduced us, don't you remember, ' Liddy prodded.

' Alice Fletcher! Whoa! There's a name I haven't heard in a while, ' Dash remembered, ' And, you say she introduced us? '

' She sure did, ' Liddy agreed, ' Hey, I think I resent that a little. I mean, we spent several weeks painting the town together. You sure you can't remember me? '

Leebo stood there stunned in amazement, a pattern of lights flashing on his circuit panel, moving very fast like on a chest board until finally he broke his silence, ' Madam, if the captain says he don't remember you, than he doesn't. Please recede! '

' It's alright Leebo, I think maybe I do remember her, ' Dash confessed, ' It was a long time ago. Back when I was drinking pretty heavily. I don't remember too much about that time in my life. I had sunk pretty low in those days. It was right after I left the Academy, my brother was killed and my parents lost everything. It was a dark time for me.'

' Well! Do you remember me now, you bum, ' Liddy bitched, ' If it wasn't for me providing you with a place to stay and some food in your gut, you would be dead. And, all I got for it was a big heart ache when you left without a thank you mam or nothing. That's the the kind of captain your palling around with you bucket of bolts! '

' Madam, I warn you, ' Leebo challenged.

' Never mind Leebo, she's not worth it, ' Dash interrupted, ' I remember now. I was drinking all the time, but I was no dummy. I remember you. Sure, you had me sleeping at your place, but you forget that you were stealing money out of my wallet. Every time I got some cash, it mysteriously disappeared when I was around you. That's why I left, you didn't deserved any notice. '

As Dash said that, Liddy slapped him across the face.

' Oh yeah, I remember you you bitch, ' Dash shot back at her in anger.

Liddy attempted to slap Dash again, but he caught her wrist and held it aloft, ' Now, get the hell away from me before I forget my manners and remember that your no lady! '

As she turned and stormed back down the street, the two companions stood here watching her until finally Leebo broke the silence, ' It's times like these that I'm glad that I'm a droid, sir! '

Dash broke into a big smile and said, ' Hey men to that Leebo! '

It looked as almost Leebo was smiling back at Dash as the captain patted the droid in the arm with his closed fist and nodded, ' Come on, let me buy you a drink.'

As Dash turned and headed for the pub's entrance, he could hear Leebo remark, ' But sir, I don't drink. ' The comment brought a laugh out of the weary captain as Leebo turned and followed him inside the bar.

The bar was crowded as were most pubs in the Outer Rim planets with a larger than most assortment of humanoids as patrons. Dash and Leebo sat at the bar fitting right in with the many partyers. When the bartender came over to them, he gave Leebo a mean look as Dash ordered his usual Rangoon Fizzer. To Dash's amazement, the bartender asked, ' What is your droid having? '

Dash quirked his head and asked, ' What do you have? '

' Well, we have a can of oil for the droid if you want it, ' He said.

' Really! ' Leebo exclaimed.

' Yeah, that sounds good, ' Dash replied, ' Give him a can of your best oil. '

' We only have one kind, ' the man shot back.

' Than I'll have that! ' Leebo excitedly responded.

' Okay, Leebo. I'm limiting you to just one drink, ' Dash kidded, ' I don't want to have to carry your ass out of here. So one and your done, alright? '

' Yes sir captain, one and I'm done, got it. ' Leebo complied.

Dash had downed three drinks when all of a sudden a pair of storm-troppers were standing behind him with their weapons drawn. Dash turned and looked at the two clad soldiers and as he started to speak, one the gunmen asked, ' Are you Dash Rendar? '

' Yeah, who wants to know. '

' You're under arrest, ' One of the soldiers told him, ' You and your droid will have to accompany us to see Prince Xizor. Put your arms out. '

When Dash extended his arms, the other soldier clapped on a pair of hand-cuffs.

' Take their weapons, ' A third soldier ordered as he came up behind the group standing there. Dash looked over the shoulder of the uniformed man who was putting on his handcuffs. Rendar could see that the third soldier was a sargeant by his ranking on the shoulder insignia embossed on his armor plate.

After the private finished cuffing him, he disarmed Dash and Leebo. The other soldier helped Dash off his stool and the three soldiers marched Dash and Leebo out the door and down the block into a building that looked like some kind of headquarters with guards at all the entrances and the many doors inside.

Through several doors, the soldiers prodded their victims as Dash kept asking the three men what was going on, and why he was under arrest. Dash was turned at the waist pleading with his captors when one of the soldiers gave him a big push and a voice from behind him announced, ' That's enough captain! '

Dash turned and there before him behind a desk stood Prince Xizor. The Falleen was an impressive figure as the tall reptilian's green skin glowed in great contrast with his orange-lined, purple colored robes. The way he stood and carried himself instantly conveyed to Dash that he was of great importance. His manner and speech exhibited a cruel disdain for non-Falleens, ' So you are Dash Rendar! '

' That's what they all call me, ' Dash shot back not wanting his captive to get the upper hand on him.

' I take it you already know who I am? ' Xizor inquired.

' Yes! Of course Prince, ' Leebo injected, ' Of course we know who you are sir, you're Prince Xizor. '

' I'm talking to him! ' Xizor shouted out, ' Rendar, tell your droid to be silence. I don't converse with droids, I just have them disassembled. '

' Okay Leebo, I've got this, ' Dash nodded.

A dispirited Leebo stepped closer to Dash as the soldier released his grip on Leebo's arm allowing him to stand shoulder to shoulder with his companion. Dash looked back at the Prince and asked, ' Okay you got us, so what's this all about. Why were we brought here? '

' I have several questions for you captain, ' Xizor began, ' If you cooperate, maybe I'll allow you to live. '

' Make it quick, lizard face. You're interrupting my drinking time, ' Dash interrupted.

' Make no mistake human. If you continue being insolent, I will have you put to death, ' Xizor warned, ' Your life means nothing to me. Answer my questions or else! '

' Then don't waste my time then, get on with it, ' Dash shot back.

' Careful, sir, ' Leebo warned him, ' I think he's serious. '

Xizor chuckled under his breath, ' You should listen to your droid, captain. He is more intelligent than you are in this matter. So, what is your destination, Rendar? '

' Why is that important to you Prince Xizor? Why should you care where an insignificant person like me is going? ' Dash inquired.

' I have my reasons commander, ' Xizor angrily replied, ' You have a bad reputation, captain. I've heard tell that you hate Falleens, and that you think we are weak. I assure you Rendar, I have no use for your kind. Humans are a treacherous and unworthy species. They are the lowest forms of life in the entire galaxy, and they should be exterminated like the cockroaches they are. '

' Yeah, we're just like cockroaches alright, you kill one and a thousand take it's place ' Dash answered belligerently.

Prince Xizor moved from behind the table and approached Dash, stopping right in front of him. Xizor towered over Rendar as he deepened his eyes to look down upon the freighter captain with he's pupils flashing into a dark red and his reptilian body now braced in a tight arch with the ridge on his back spine protruding through his robes.

As Xizor approached Dash, he ordered his guards, ' Hold his arms. '

A guard each grabbed one of Rendar's arms and they held him tight. Dash struggled, twisting his body from side to side trying to loosen their grip on him.

Xizor moved right up against Dash and with a lizard like hiss the reptilian creature extended he's long pointed tongue along side Dash's ear as he drooled onto the captain's shoulder, hissing and licking around he's ears saying, ' Yes, yes, I could bite your throat and tear your jugular vein just that easy. You would bleed to death in a matter of minutes. '

Dash threw his head sideways, slamming into the Falleen's crane. Xizor pulled back to face Rendar and quickly slapped him across the face. He brought he's hand back knocking Dash's face back and then he slapped him again.

' Captain! ' cried Leebo, ' Stop that you bastard! Stop that, let him go! '

Than Xizor told his guards, ' Straighten him up! Now hold him tighter. '

The Prince than started hitting Dash in the stomach and the face, alternating between the two. All the while, Leebo kept pleading with them to stop, ' Stop, stop, your killing him. I beg you, please stop. We'll tell you everything you want, just stop beating him. I beg of you! '

' That should soften you up, ' Xizor stated, ' Are you ready to talk now, captain? '

Dash spit down at the floor, looked up at the Prince and growled back at him, ' Hell no! '

Prince Xizor motioned to the guards, ' Hold him! ' and with that began another beating much in the same manner as the one previous. This time, Xizor finished with a mighty blow to the stomach that bent Rendar over and sent him to the floor as the guards lost they're grip on him. Immediately, they grabbed him again and stood him up, but Xizor was tired of this useless endeavor as he stopped and stepped back away from Dash.

' I don't like to resort to violence, but you gave me no choice, captain, ' Xizor relented.

The two guards steadied Rendar until he was able to regain his statue. He raised his head and looked at the Prince through half closed eyes and mumbled, ' Think nothing of it. I was glad to participate. '

Xizor peered back at the commander perplexed at the man's tenacity. The Falleen turned and walked around the desk thinking to himself, looking down at the floor all the while. The reptilian creature completed his circle coming back before the captain, who was intent to watch in silence his captor's slow journey.

The Falleen lend over Rendar and whispered to him, ' Answer my questions captain and I'll let you go on your way. Make it easy on both of us, commander.'

The sweet smell of the Falleen's pheromones exuded from his body and consumed Dash. As the reptile's skin changed color from the cooler green into the warmer spectrum ending in a dark purple, Dash's manner seemed to soften as he succumbed to the powerful emotional enhancing secretion.

' So tell me captain, your destination, ' Xizor repeated, blowing his breath into Dash's face softly in a circular motion so he could feel the full effects of the reptilian's bodily fumes.

' We're going to Corellia, ' Dash relented, ' I'm going there to see my parents. '

' And, what vessel is taking you there, captain? ' Xizor continued.

' The Intruder, ' Dash offered, ' We're catching a ride from Jocko Nazont.' Dash could feel the sweet scent of the Prince's chemical drug flow over his face and up his nostrils, controlling his emotions and luring him to surrender to the Falleen's questions.

' See, this isn't so hard, captain, ' Xizor told him.

' If you say so, ' Dash muttered, shaking his head to break loose the cobwebs that were gathering in his brain.

' So, you're headed home to visit your family. Wasn't it your family that Emperor Palpatine banished? It was your brother that destroyed the Imperial Museum and brought shame to your parents. Isn't that why your family lost everything? '

Dash felt the influence of the Falleen's pheromonal secretions. He could feel his emotions succumb even more under the pressure as he found himself yielding to the reptile's questions, ' Yes, that's exactly what happened, master. My brother's ship crashed and Palpatine took out his revenge on my family! ' Dash admitted as he drifted deeper in and out of the Falleen's control. Dash struggled with his thoughts, trying to fight the over powering influence he was slowly succumbing to.

' Wasn't it his fault!' Xizor demanded, ' The Emperor had no choice, but to punish those at fault. Do you hold any vengeance in your heart against the Emperor? '

' But, why my family, ' Dash sneered, ' Didn't my brother pay for it with his life? '

' The Emperor had to set an example, ' Xizor screamed, ' Your brother was dead. There was nobody else to take the blame except the parents. Don't you agree, captain? '

' Yeah, I guess your right, master ' Dash could hear himself saying, ' I guess there was no one else except me. ' Dash felt his own words tearing at his guts as he grimaced in pain and anger, helpless in his efforts to fight off Xizor's hold on him.

' Sir! ' Leebo pleaded, ' Fight it, sir. '

' Isn't it your brother's fault that you left the Academy, ' Xizor pressured, ' Wasn't it him that brought disgrace to you so much that you gave up your vocation? ' Xizor smiled faintly as he knew his manipulation of the freighter captain was progressing much better than he expected.

' Yes! No! Yes! No! Yes!Yes! ' Dash wavered back and forth fighting Xizor's influence.

Again, Dash sneered, grabbing his stomach with his hands as the pains from his answer ate at his insides, tearing him up. His eyes squinted in anger at Prince Xizor, but he knew too well not to challenge him in his present situation, peering out of the corner of his eyes at the guards around him who had tighten they're grip on him in anticipation.

' Captain! ' Leebo cried out, ' Captain, get a hold of yourself! '

' Back off droid! ' Xizor demanded as the droid receded from his shout, bending backwards as the Prince leaned forward in his aggressiveness.

Leebo's interruption was just enough to help Dash regain his composure as he changed his answer, ' No, Prince. I do not blame my misfortune on my brother. I answer to no one except myself. The Academy wasn't for me after all. It was my own decision. No one else. '

Xizor, in his attempt to provoke Rendar, found that Dash was too smart to fall for the Prince's scheme to entrap him in such an obvious endeavor. He grew tire of that line of questioning and he returned to his first thought, ' So, Tell me. Why does a captain need a ride to another planet. Where is your ship captain? '

' I lost it, ' Dash cried out, ' Does it matter how. Why would that matter to you? '

' You lost your ship, captain, and that's why you're going to Cerellia? '

Again, the Prince's pheromones exuded from his pores sending another sweet smelling scent flowing all around Rendar's orifices. His eyes went shut and his head rolled around in tiny circles, as he consumed the powerful mood-altering chemical.

' I, ah, ah, ah, lost the ah, ah Outrider in payment to Jabba the Hutt, ' Dash mumbled, ' I lost my shipment of spice and ah, ah Jabba sold my ship to I- '

Just then Leebo reached around and pinched Dash on the back of his arm. It seemed to snap Dash out of his trance, as Dash caught himself, ' I, I a , I a don't know. He sold it because I owed him money, that's all I know. '

Again the Falleen pressured him, ' And, you're headed to Corellia, is that right? '

' I'm ah, ah, ah, ' Dash stumbled again under Xizor's spell, ' I'm headed for ah, ah, ah, ' trying to fight the power that was coming over him.

Leebo again pinched Dash in the arm unbeknownst to the Prince, as Dash answered, ' Yeah, that's right. We're headed for Corellia. How many times do I have to tell you that? We're headed for Corellia. '

Xizor looked agitated as he changed the subject, ' Have you ever been to the planet Ganath, captain? '

' Ganath! ' Dash cried out in puzzlement.

' You know, in the Y'Toab system, ' Xizor persisted, ' In Hutt Space! In the Oktos Nebula just off of Nal Hutta. Have you ever been there? '

' I might of, why, ' Dash evaded him, ' I've traveled throughout Hutt Space. I've carried cargoes throughout the Outer Rim.'

' Have you been there, let's say, ' Xizor paused, ' Well, let's just say, within the last several months? '

' Let's just say, maybe I have and maybe I haven't, ' Dash replied, ' I'd have to check my logs. That's of course, if I had them. They're on board my ship, the Outrider, and as you know, I don't have that anymore. So I guess I can't help you much. Why do you want to know anyway? '

' There was some trouble on Ganath, ' Xizor explained, ' Mageye the Hutt lost some contraband on Ganath and he would like to get it back. He has offered a bounty for any information as to who stole his shipment. '

' I wouldn't know anything about that, Prince, ' Dash conceded, ' I'm a legitimate contractor. I'm not a hijacker, or a theft. Maybe it's those space pirates. The ones that stole my load of spice. Maybe it's them. '

' This was taken off the planet surface, captain, ' Xizor challenged, ' It was rumored you were there. There were no other vessels in the vicinity, only yours and three or four others. The others have been accounted for, captain. '

' That doesn't mean anything, ' Dash replied, ' Another vessel could of sneaked past the sentries at the spaceport. Anything could have happened. '

' You know you have a bounty on your head don't you? ' Xizor told him.

' A bounty! Who put a bounty on my head? ' Dash continued, ' Why would anyone put a bounty on my head. You must be mistaken! '

' You have a Barabel bounty hunter by the name of Shaka-kala here for you, ' Xizor told him, ' I was asked to have my soldiers take you into custody for him. What do you think I should do with you, captain? '

' I have done nothing Prince, ' Dash pleaded, ' Do you answer to bounty hunters, or are you a man of your own. You have no grievance with me now, do you. I'm answering your questions. Surely, your not a puppet of this so called Shaka-kala, are you? '

' I am no one's puppet as you put it, ' Xizor demanded, ' And, I answer to no one. It's true, I have no grievance now with you commander. On the other hand, I've heard rumors about a conspiracy towards me and those who I have dealings with. Have you heard such rumors, Mr. Rendar? '

' I haven't heard any such rumors, ' Dash answered still under Xizor's influence, ' I've been on Nar Shaddaa and I visited Jabba on Nal Hutta here recently. I was getting my freighter repaired from my spice run from Kessel, so I haven't been any place to hear such things. I've been pretty busy here lately. '

' Shouldn't we be getting back, ' pressed Leebo, as he pressed against Dash's back to break his confession. ' Sir, we should be getting back to the ship before Jocko leaves without us. '

Leebo pinches Dash again. Rendar shakes his head to get rid of the cobwebs.

' Yeah! ' Dash remarks, ' Are you done with us? '

' Not yet, captain, ' Xizor pauses, ' I just might turn you over to Skaka-kala and let him sort you out if I don't like your answers young captain. '

' What else is there, Prince? ' Dash wondered, ' Ask me what you will. I have nothing to hide. '

' Mageye the Hutt seems to think you are the bandit that stole from him, ' Xizor revealed, ' That's why he has sent Skaka-kala after you. I have dealings with Mageye and turning you over would improve my standing with him. So, you can see my dilemma. I don't want to have to deal with such trivial business. In doing so distracts me from other more important enterprises. '

Just than, a guard came over to the Prince and whispered in his ear. The Prince raised back up and motioned to his soldiers, ' Keep an eye on him, I'll be right back, ' and with that he turned and exited through a back door.

After the Prince left, the soldiers seemed to relax as they receded away from Dash and Leebo leaving them standing in the middle of the room. Leebo whispered to Dash, ' How did Mageye find out about us? No saw us there, how did he know? '

' I don't know, ' Dash mumbled, trying to regain his composure from Xizor's control of him. He moaned as he bent over holding his head.

' Are you alright sir? ' Leebo inquired.

' Yeah, I think so, ' Dash rubbed his head, ' Sometimes, I hear myself saying too much to him. I can't seem to stop when I'm telling him things that I shouldn't be saying. I know it's wrong, but I can't stop. He's such a wonderful guy... '

' Captain! ' Leebo stops him.

' Gee, there I go again, ' Dash cried out rubbing his head, ' What's the matter with me, Leebo? '

' It's his pheromonal secretions, sir, ' Leebo explains, ' They're like a truth serum captain. You can't resist his influences on you, sir. That's why I've been pinching you. It helps break the spell. '

' Is that what I've been feeling. I thought something felt strange, ' Dash explained, ' I could feel this sharp pain and then I seemed to gain my senses. That was you! '

' Of course, sir, ' Leebo stated.

' Well, keep doing it Leebo. That's sure works, ' Dash said as suddenly the back door opens and a guard enters alone. He walks over to Dash and motions to the other guards, ' Uncuff him, let them go! '

' We're free to go, ' Dash asked.

' For now captain, ' He told him, ' You and your droid can exit through those side doors over there. We have important guest coming and don't want your presents interfering with the Prince's business. So I'll have my men escort you out, ' He looked at the guards, ' Return their weapons. Take them out through the side doors, private. '

The sergeant motioned to his men as one of the took off the handcuffs. He spun Rendar around and gave Dash a little nudge and ordered, ' Come on, let's go. Move it! Move it! '

Dash and Leebo, who was being prodded by one of the other guards, stumbled towards the doors.

' Alright! We're going. There's no need for that! ' Leebo complained, ' We can only move so fast, you know. '

' Come on, get out of here before we change our minds, ' A guard warned, ' You heard the sergeant. '

The guards followed Dash and Leebo out the door into a narrow alley. When the door closed behind them, one of the guards grabbed Dash by the arm and said, ' Your going this way, captain! ' He led Dash through a passageway at a right angle to the way the other two guards led Leebo. They hurried Leebo down the alley in the opposite direction. Leebo started yelling, ' Captain, what's going on. Let me go! I'm suppose to go with him, captain! Captain! '

Dash, who was by now out of the droid's sight, was also crying out, ' Hey! What's going on. You can't do this. Xizor said we could go! '

Just than, Dash saw that he was being led towards a bounty hunter, who was headed his way.

' I see now, you must be Skaka-kala, ' Dash said as the bounty hunter grabbed him and handed the guard a pouch full of credits, saying, ' You can go now, I'll take it from here. '

As the guard turned and disappeared back out of sight, Skala-kala shook Dash with his one handed hold and with it's long sharp reptilian teeth shining in the bright light the creature growled at him. Fluid dripped from it's large open jaws and the huge spiked green scaled vicious predator glared down at Dash through narrow slit pupils, flashing red glowing eyes.

' I have you now, captain, ' He snorted at Dash, ' You are worth a great ransom for me. '

Dash drew his blaster from his holster and before he could raise his weapon, the bounty hunter hit the gun out of his hand with a mighty blow that sent the blaster down the alleyway toward the street. With that, the creature left himself wide open to Rendar's retaliation.

Dash clinched his fist in his dangling free hand and with all of his power, slugged Skaka-kala along side his face sending the creature stumbling back with his grip of Dash's arm bringing the captain along with him.

Dash slammed down across the bounty hunter's arm with a blow that set Rendar free from his grip.

The creature brought his free left arm back, hitting Dash in the chest, sending him into the wall of the alley with a crash as the captain fell over some garbage cans. Dash slide down the wall to the ground, laying there stunned momentarily as the creature came over to him and grabbed him once again.

As he raised Dash, Skaka-kala let out a primal scream, ' I'll take you dead or alive, captain. It doesn't matter to me. '

Dash pushed off of the wall with his foot, lowering his shoulder into the animal's mid-section, pushing the green carnivore back against the wall opposite, breaking himself loose again. Dash reached down and picked up a narrow board on the ground and bashed the monster over the head.

The creature growled once again and rose up hitting Dash as he did. The smack sent Rendar staggering backwards as the bounty hunter now stood and faced off with the commander. Dash jabbed at Skaka-kala several times as they both circled each other. The Barabel kept reaching out at Dash with his sharp claws trying to slash him and each time, Rendar would tab the sharp end of the board at the creature.

' Come on, you ugly lizard, ' Dash streamed, ' You don't this, do you? '

' I'm going to slice you up in a million pieces, human! ' Skaka-kala retorted.

The creature swung at Dash, catching him in the stomach tearing his freighter togs, slicing his skin. Blood oozed through the torn clothing as Dash grabbed his side. The creature stepped towards him with a growl and Dash caught him with the jagged end of the sharp board, stabbing him in the stomach.

' Uh! Got you! ' Dash cried out.

The creature pulled back and grabbed it's wound, screaming in a deafening scream. It pulled out it's pistol from a holster on it's hip, but Dash swung hard knocking the gun out of the creature's three-fingered hand. The gun flew through a window high above the two adversaries.

' Now we're even you lizard, ' Dash challenged him.

' ' I'm tired of this foully, ' Skaka-kala bellowed, ' Now, it's time to die, captain. '

The creature swung at Dash, just missing him as Dash slammed him over the shoulder. Skaka-kala caught Rendar with his back swing sending him against the wall. Dash bounced off the wall and drove the sharp board into the creature's chest pushing it back over the garbage cans behind him. The bounty hunter stumbled over the debris, falling backwards onto it's back.

Dash saw his opening and rushed toward his blaster lying on the ground several meters away. As Dash retrieved his weapon, he turned and saw the creature pulled his rifle from over his shoulder, righting himself to take aim. Rendar beat the creature by a split second as Dash fired a blast that caught the animal flush in the chest along side the board that was still protruding from it's body.

The blast exploded the creature's chest in a great flash of light, blood and tissue that splattered against the walls all around the Barabel, sending the creatures scaled keratin head exploding skyward back down the passageway. The lower body quivered momentarily, severed at the waist, blood blurting out in several directions until it slowly tumbled over backwards. Fumes and smoke lingered there where the mighty animal had stood only moments earlier, as Dash stood in silence stunned by what had just taken place.

Dash was frozen there staring at the devastation, when his trance was broken by the sight of Leebo, hurrying around the corner looking his way.

' Leebo! ' Dash yelled, ' Leebo! Here I am. '

' Captain! ' Leebo cried back, ' It does my heart good to see you again, captain. '

Leebo starting looking around at all the blood and body parts as he made his way toward the commander, ' I thought you were dead, sir. I'm sure glad to see you. I thought I'd never see you again, sir. '

' Come on, you old bucket of bolts, ' Dash cried as he moved towards Leebo, ' Give me a hug.'

The two comrades embraced, ' Gosh! It's good to see you. '

' Come on captain, let's get out of this place, ' Leebo tolded him.

' Yeah, let's get back to the ship and get the hell off this forsaken rock, ' Dash agreed.

The two comrades reached the Intruder as Jocko and the men were just boarding. Nathan saw the two approaching and called out, ' Hey! There they are. You guys have a good time at the pub? '

' Hey! Where's the beer? ' Kyle cried out.

' Sorry, I forgot, ' Dash apologized.

' That's alright, Jocko and I brought the booze, ' Lance announced.

' Yeah, but we could have had twice as much, ' Kyle retorted.

' Don't worry Kyle, ' Jack told him, ' We've got plenty enough for you, you light weight. '

' What you mean, light weight, ' Kyle said, ' I drink plenty of beer. More than you do, buddy. '

' That's what I mean, Kyle, ' Jack said, ' You may out drink me, but three or four beers and you'll be out on your ass. I've seen it happen a million times. Three or four and your out like a light. '

' Alright, alright, ' Kyle agreed, ' But, I can still out drink you! '

All the men moved up the gang plank and into the vessel all the while, Leebo started telling them all about what had just happened to him and Dash. Rendar just listened in silence, too tired to even fill in any the moments that Leebo forgot.

' It was amazing, ' Leebo remarked, ' There I was surrounded by two guards hustling me out of the alley. When we reached the street, I smashed one over the head sending him to the ground unconscious. The other fought with me for several minutes until I caught him with an upper cut to the chin that knocked him head over heals. '

' Really! ' Asked Nathan, ' Then what happened? '

' Well, I'll tell you sir, ' Leebo replied a little perturbed, ' Two more soldiers came at me. I fought those two off, until one of them pulled out a pistol. I drew my blaster out and shot him in the arm making him drop his weapon. When I did that, they got up and ran down the street. I chased them for a block, but they ran too fast.'

' You chased them? ' Kyle added.

' Yeah, but only a block, ' Leebo reminded him, ' I had to get back to save the captain. '

' You saved the captain? ' Kyle asked, ' Is that right Dash? '

' Yeah, sure. That's exactly what happened, uh Leebo, ' Dash agreed.

' Well, I didn't exactly save the captain, ' Leebo relented, ' After all, he helped too you know. '

Dash started laughing, smiling at Leebo and laughing, ' Yeah that's right, if it wasn't for Leebo, I'd be a goner. '

As the men all started laughing, drinking their beer, the Inturder lifted off and flew out of the spaceport on it's way toward Ord Mantell and open space.

The planet Ord Mantell , in the Bright Jewel system, the lawless world where even Imperial starships fear to venture. It's a planet that seems to be a magnet for criminals of all kinds, pirates, thieves and assassin droids that lurk in the industrial junkyards and barren outback.

Along the coastal shores lies the main city of Worlport, with it's numerous casinos and largest concentration of people including every underworld thug, bounty hunter and gun moll in the system. Several criminal kingpins have their fortified compounds in the outlying areas surrounding the city and most residents don't venture beyond the cities limits for fear of instant death if they should wonder into one of the crime lords territories.

As the freighter came out of hyperspace, the change of speed and a voice automated control panel announced to the crew that Old Mantell was within sight. Jocko awoke and looked out to see that they had arrived and that the day was well underway on the planet as he told the vessel to land at the spaceport that was now in sight. The ship put down gently on the landing pad as everyone was by now awake and moving around. Jocko put the ship in manual and moved the vessel into the hanger, guided by a man giving him signals to move the ship to one side into a parking zone.

Jocko came over to Dash and told him it might be best that Leebo, him and the others stay with the ship so Lance and him can go out and get some information about the location of IG-88's sanctuary.' I'll find out IG-88's hideout,' Jocko told Dash,' It's best you don't show your face around here. We don't know who we can trust and who we can't. I'll try to find some information out and we can put together some kind of plan of action. There's plenty of grub and coffee. I'll be back in a couple of hours rather I find out anything or not to report. You guys should probably stay in the ship too until I get back. No use alarming anybody that we're coming, okay?' Jocko told Nathan and the two brothers.

' Okay!' Dash answered,' You two be careful'

As Jocko and Lance went down the boarding ramp, Nathan walked over to a short round dejarik table and sat down calling over to Dash to join him. ' Have you ever played this game, Dash?'

Dash walked over and looked down at the board and said, ' Oh! You mean dejarik. Yeah, I play once in a while with Leebo.'

' Are you any good?' Nathan inquired.

' Well, let's just say I hold my own.' Dash said casually, ' If you want an expect you should play Leebo. He's pretty good at this game. He even beats some of the master champions. Me, I just get by. I mean, you know, I don't like to brag or anything, but I do alright once in a while, you know.'

' Well, come on. Sit down and play me a game. I think your better than your letting on.' Nathan said as he reached underneath and switched on the unit.

Kyle and Jack in hearing their conversation moved over to the bench seat along the back side of the table all smiling and giggling, ' Come on Dash, let's see you beat the pants off of him. Nathan thinks he's pretty sharp on that game just because he beats me most of the time.' Kyle excitedly told him.

' Yeah, I'd like to see you beat him too,' Jack added. ' He thinks he's some hot shot dejarik player.

I think he's just lucky, that's all.'

' Now Jack, remember what I told you guys about luck.' Nathan warned him,' People only say your lucky because they can't live with the fact that your just better than they are, so they have to say your lucky just to appease themselves. Yeah, it's just a way of making themselves feel better, while at the same time putting you down. Saying that your only good at something because of some dumb miracle, or something.'

'Well, enough with the lesson on ethics.'

' Yeah, really! What you trying to do wear me down before the game even begins?' Dash said frowning at Nathan.

Dejarik is a holographic game in much the same vain as the game of chess, except it doesn't use wooden or plastic pieces, but instead uses holographic creatures such as the Mantellian Savrip, which is modeled after a real animal that lives on the planet Ord Mantell. The game is played on an etched gold-green checkered surface that sets atop a holographic generator in a circular housing. When activated, a full colored three-dimensional hologram of playing pieces will wage war with one another, at times devouring the losing piece.

' Okay, who goes first?' Dash asked.

' Go ahead Dash, since I invited you to play, you can go first.' Nathan told him.

' Come on Dash, wax his ass.' Kyle inserted.

' Yeah, come on Dash cream him,' Jack told him as he doubled his fist and shook them at Dash cheering him on.

Nathan made the first kill as he moved his Wampa into the same space as Dash's Lannik as Nathan's piece strangled the horned reptile. Then Dash countered as his Reek charged the Wampa running through the ice creature with it's huge tusk and upper horn killing the creature and flipping it off the board. The violent battle continued as one by one the pieces ravaged the other until there was just remaining pieces left. Nathans previous move had his Rancor devour Dash's Varactyl that left him with his last creature. Dash brought out the Acklay, a six legged gladiatorial beast that resembles a preying mantis. The Acklay came out viciously attacking the Rancor, climbing all over it as the reptile stood on it's hind legs reaching up with it's sharp claws trying to fight off the menacing insect.

' Go Dash! Get him. Tear him apart,' Kyle hollered as he and Jack both squirmed in their seats, all the while giggling and letting out screams as the Rancor seemed to be turning the tables on the huge bug.

' No, no, no!' Jack shouted, and then turned his displeasure into more shouts of joy as the Acklay regain the upper hand, ' Ha! That's it get him. Come on Dash, tear him apart.'

Just then the Rancor grabbed the Acklay's front leg and ripped it apart with it sharp teeth and then upended the insect shoving it back onto it's back. The Rancor then piled onto the bug and devoured it right in front of the on lookers.

Nathan raised his arms and clinched his fist and shook them high in the air, announcing,' The winner and still champion, Nathan Wilson, ha!'

' Bull crap!' Kyle exclaimed, ' You cheated! There's no way you should of won. Dash's Acklay had your Rancor beaten flat. You must of cheated or something.'

' Yeah, come on. Play another one. You can't beat two times in a row. Dash should of won that one. Come on Nathan, play him again.'

' Sorry boys, but going to retire reigning champ. Unbeaten reigning champ. We are the champions, we are the champions.'

' Oh, come on, that's a bunch of bull crap. You can't just quit. There's got to be a rematch.' Jack reasoned.

' Yeah, rematch! Rematch! Rematch! Rematch! We want a rematch.' Kyle yelled.

' Relax, guys. Don't let old Nathan get you guys all shook up. Your just making his day. Don't let him play you like that. Besides, I've had enough. That damn game takes a lot out of you.

Nathan went over and sat on a softer cushioned bench and as Dash joined him he told him , ' Man, you really got these kids all worked up.'

' Oh yeah, it's good for them. Us older guys got to keep those young bucks in their place or they'll try to run all over us. You know what I mean.'

' Yeah, your right. Hey, have ever been on his planet before. I thought I heard Jocko saying that you have been.'

' Yeah, I've been here before, about a year or so ago,' Nathan told him as he leaned back stretching out the kinks in his back.

' Well, what's it like here?' Dash inquired.

' Well, it's the dirtiest, filthiest, most god forsaken place you'll ever see. It's also the ugliest, hottest, windiest, most desolate land this side of the Outer Rim. Any time the wind doesn't blow, then the atmosphere is polluted with foul emissions from the smelter plants and the other fossil fuel burning facilities. The air gets so thick and stinks so bad that the sky turns into a brown haze and when that happens everyone has to stay inside and run their air purifiers round the clock until the wind blows all the smoke away from the city.'

' It's that good, aah!' Dash kidded.'

Just then Leebo announced that Jocko and several men were approaching the ship. Dash jumped up and went to the front window. He saw Jocko, Lance and three other men walking toward the boarding ramp.

As Jocko came up the ramp into the hull of the freighter, with a small but stocky man and two tall and thin younger men following behind him along with Lance, who brought up the rear. ' This is Zack Jurrjens, Ian Scherzer, and Garrett Mueller. They've agreed to be our guides. It's a long complicated journey to where we're headed and Zack knows the area well. Both Ian and Zack used to know the previous owners and they've been there several times. I think we really need their help and expertise.'

' Whatever you think Jocko is fine with me.' Dash conceded.

' Well shoot! It looks like you got enough men, you don't really need me.' Garrett shyly said to the group standing there.

' Don't give me that, Garrett, your staying..' Ian told him,' You've been complaining about not being able to find anyplace where you can make some money. Well here's your chance. Your not backing out of this one.'

' If he don't want to come, maybe you should let him go home or something.' Dash told Ian.

' That's alright, he'll stay. Won't you.' Ian demanded.

' Sure, whatever you say, Ian. Yea, I'll stay if it's alright with you,' Garrett regurgitated.

' Okay, then, that makes nine,' Jocko announced as he paused and then places the back of his hand against Zack's chest as he began telling Dash what he found out.

' Zack says that he's been as close to the compound as anyone would dare these days. He says that getting there by freighter is out of the question. The place is too well fortified. It has automated anti-air insulation that house laser cannons, ion cannons and a fully automated galaxy laser cannon that's nuclear powered. It has several guided missile insulation and mounted turbo lasers of the W-165 caliber.' Jocko told the men as he pulled out a hand made map and began pointing to it as he talked.

' Only way to approach the hideout is on foot. At least the final portion of the assault. We can take the Open-air Monorail most of the way, go through a guarded warehouse until we get to some tunnels that eventually lead to IG-88's hideout. From there, he doesn't know what kind of fortifications we might run into, but he said he'll stay with us all the way. I told them we'll pay them when we get back, twenty thousand credits each,' Jocko told Dash and the other men.

'That's fare!' Dash told them,' How long is it going to take us?'

' Only about three hours. The monorail ride is the longest part of the trip, but the shortest time wise. It'll take us to the warehouse and from there we go through a long maze of tunnels until we get to IG-88's fortifications, and that's pretty much it.' Jocko explained.

' Well, let's pack up and get going,' Dash ordered,' Make sure you guys got everything because there's no coming back until we're done.'

' Leebo, you stay here with the ship. We'll call you if we need you to pick us up somewhere. Here is a copy of the map that Jocko made and when we call you we'll tell you where to meet us.' Dash told the droid as Jocko handed Dash a transmitter,' We'll use band number three on the radio, it's right here on the panel. When we get close I'll call you and check in with you so keep this radio receiver on, okay?'

' I've got it, sir!' Leebo responded.

The nine men headed out of the freighter, through the hanger exit toward the dusty desolate city of Worlport as the gusty winds blew the dust of the wastelands surrounding the city across it's vacated streets.

The city of Worlport was very similar to Mos Eisley as it was a desert city that possessed many of the same kind of thatch houses and stone cover buildings. Only a couple of differences set Worlport apart from it's more well known neighbor. Most of the buildings in the village had sharp pointed roofs jetting toward the sky like religious temples. The city was located within a huge cement wall that almost completely surrounded it's large population with only two wide open exit gates.

On most days the sky was filled with smoke and the persistent brown haze from the many smelters, fossil fuel burning plants and the many other fossil burning industries. It was a bleak, desolate and barren place and not suited for most nature loving inhabitants throughout the Outer Rim part of the galaxy.

Adding to the glow that hung over the metropolis were the flashing, blinking neon lights of the many casino complexes that most visitors preferred to stay at while in the region. Many seldom strayed from the sabacc tables, jubilee wheels and the all-night revues on the waterfront. Only a few would venture into the rocky back country on savip-tracking expeditions or the many desolate plateaus that frame the outer horizon.

Down through the city the men rambled until they reached the Monorail station on the out-shirts of the opposite side of the town. Zack told the men to board one of the cars out of sight of the railway men who run the monorail. Having caught a ride on the monorail several times in the past, Zack knew that only three switch-men worked on the train and that they would be too busy with their duties to notice the stole-ways and besides wouldn't care that much if they saw them anyway.

The men huddled down on the floor, pulled their jackets collars up and lowered their heads to keep the dust out of their eyes as several minutes later the monorail started moving. Slow at first, building up to a fast speed as the open-air car quickly past the remaining buildings of the city into the open fields of the outlying area as the wind now whipped up even harder blowing more dust into the car where the men had gathered.

Dash noticed that Garrett was shaking some because of fear, and Dash asked Ian who was closer to him, ' Is he going to be all right. If he's too scared maybe he shouldn't be on this trip.'

' He'll be alright. It's just his nerves and not knowing what's ahead of us. He's fine, I swear.'

' I hope your right, but if your not he's your responsibility, not mind.' Dash told the kid.

Only the sound of the noisy metal scraping railings could be heard as the empty Open-air Monorail made it's way to the ore factory for which it was headed some forty miles away from the city. The further away from the city the train got through some rolling hills, the winds seemed to die down until the dust that was so bad twenty some minutes before was none existent and the air was still except for the movement of the train itself. Now the men could stand, dust off their clothes, and look around to check their surroundings.

' It looks like we're headed towards a storm,' Dash commented as he pointed up the track towards their destination.

The men all moved up so they could see ahead of them. In the distances they could see dark cumulus clouds and occasional flashes of lightning.

' Man, this is some crazy planet you got here Zack,' Jocko told him. ' First we got a god damn dust storm, now we're going it get drenched in a god damn thunder storm. If it isn't one thing, it's another.'

' That's what usually happens here all the time,' Zack admitted. ' The strong winds of a rain storm causes the loose dust on the plains to kick up and cover the whole place with dirt. Then the rains get here and washes everything down again. But we can't complain too much, at least we're getting moisture. In the summer months, all we get is the dust storms.'

' And you like living here?' Dash turned and asked him.

' Well, I guess you get use to it after awhile. I've been here so long now, that I guess it doesn't even faze me anymore. I remember when I was younger, I hated it. Always getting sand and dirt in my mouth when I was out in it working or something. Now I've got myself a piece of property and I've just got too much to loose if I ever wanted to leave here.'

' Well, you could always sell it,' Dash pressured him.

' You want to buy it?'

' Hell no. You couldn't pay me to live on this desolate sand box!'

' You see, it's not as easy as you think. Nobody in their right mind wants to live here, except those big crime lords who've been moving into the outer reaches. In the rocky canyons to the west. Besides, I'm getting too old to pick up stakes and start over someplace else, anyhow.'

The monorail past through overhanging arches and several platforms on both sides of the track that seemed to be abandoned remains of torn down structures of deserted buildings and deteriorated factories. Unknown to the men, a Mark lV Sentry Droid that was partially hidden recorded their presence and transmitted the information back to it's home base.

This particular unit is a hovering-flying repulse lift engine with optical scanners and it's transmitter is hooked up to the Ulban Arms Warden 10-24 gladiator droid that is the security unit for the Old Mantell Warehouse that the nine men will have to pass through on their way to the tunnels that lead to IG-88's hideout.

Nathan moved over to hear the conversation between the two men. ' Hey! You really think we're going to run into a rain storm. I really hope not, I really didn't dress right for a storm. I left all of my all weather gear back at the ship.'

' I hate to be the barer of bad news, but yeah. We're definitely going to get wet. That's a give me.' Zack told him.

' Shit! I knew I should of wore my other tugs.' Nathan pondered. ' Well, I guess it's too late to cry about it now. Hey, one of you guys got a smoke cause I'm fresh out.'

' Yeah, here,' Zack said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes , handing one to Nathan and offering one to Dash, who shook his head no. Zack also lit up a cigarette as he asked Dash, ' Don't you smoke?'

' I use to but I'm trying to quit,' Dash explained. ' I started that filthy habit when I was in the Academy and ever since I've been trying to quit.'

' You were in the Academy, when?' Zack inquired.

' Sure, so was Jocko. We were there at the same time. Actually, we went in together. We knew each other on Corellia when we were kids and when we turned nineteen we both entered the service,' Dash continued,' They sent us to the Academy on Carida to become officers. I guess they thought we had the right stuff or something. No, actually we got high marks on the entrance exam. That's what happens. You get high marks and they send you to officer training school to become top ranking officials or something. Anyway, in answer to your question. It's been about five or six years now.'

' Oh, that's the connect,' Nathan interrupted, ' You were in the service with Jocko. I was wondering how you two knew each other. He was always telling me about his days in the Academy and he's mentioned you, but I didn't really make the connection. You were both in at the same time. Now I get it.'

' I told you that!' Jocko interrupted. ' Don't you remember? Didn't I say he was a cadet, just like me?'

' Well I remember you bringing up Dash's name, but I guess I didn't realize he was a cadet right along side you. I just thought you meant that he was also a cadet at some other time. Not necessarily the same time.'

As the monorail nears it's destination , Zack spots an automatic blaster on a tripod situated on a platform to the right side of the track a little further ahead. A red light blinks on the mounting and within seconds the gun started firing on the men inside the open-air car as everyone ducked down. The action of the automatic emplacement ended any further conversation that the men were having as they all immediately ducked their heads and peered out over the sides of their rail car to see what was shooting at them.

Jocko and Dash pulled out their blasters and returned fire as the others searched for better cover as the monorail moved closer to the platform. Dash's volley struck the blaster and an explosion silenced the gun with a tremendous explosion that threw simmering hot pieces of metal onto the floor of their car as they passed quickly by the scorched barren platform where the gun had set.

' Well, I guess they know we're here.' Jocko relented.

Dash again noticed Garrett as the young kid was pushing himself hard against the side of the car and shaking even more violently.

Ian saw Dash watching Garrett and he jumped over to him and shook him, screaming at him,' Knock it off you god damn chicken! Come on, get a hold of yourself. You don't want to act like this in front of everybody, now straighten up. Your going through with this or else I'll shoot you myself, understand?'

Garrett shook his head in agreement as he pulled his collar up higher on his neck.

As the monorail came to a stop, the nine men jumped off the car to a platform that was even with the floor of the railway and quickly moved into a huge door before anybody could catch up to them and inquire about what all the shooting was about. In fact, with the loud noise of the monorail it wasn't certain rather anyone even heard the shooting as the main engine was a long way from the open-air car where the men rode and the attack wasn't very long.

The men started along the cement path through the winding stacks of smashed and twisted metal as if it was stacked in a maze like patterned with openings to both sides every so often as it became a guessing game on which way to go. Suddenly, at the end of the trail stood a menacing looking figure. It was the gladiator droid that was guarding the Warehouse, hunched over in an almost sleep mode just standing there, waiting.

As the men approached slowly, the droids eyes seemed to open and glowed a bright red as the mechanical creature started to raise it's head and shoulders and it's arms unfolded from it's chest. The droid pointed it's fingers at the nine men as they started backing up, spreading out with fear now appearing on all of their faces. Just then the droid opened fire on the intruders as the men all turned and started running for cover. Most of them ran around a corner in the walkway out of sight of the huge droid.

Jocko turned and fire back at the droid as he pulled up behind a huge metal shell of a truck. Dash jumped to the other side and joined him shooting repeatedly with little or no effect on the droid that now started toward them slowly. Ian, who was to the far right when the shooting started hid behind some small metal containers on the right side of the walkway pinned down with only open field between him and the escape route back from which they came. He opened fire, but started to panic as the droid moved closer firing repeatedly at the men.

Dash looked back and could see his fear mounting and yelled over to him,' Stay there, don't move!' as Dash turned back to continue firing on the monster. The other men were yelling too. Telling Ian to run towards them as Jocko and Dash fought off the droid. Just as Dash turned to give Ian instructions on when to move, Ian fired at the droid and started moving out from behind his cover to run to the others around the bend. Dash yelled,' Not yet!' but it was too late as the droids' blast hit Ian in the chest and killed him instantly.

Dash turned back and then told Jocko that they had better move back. They both fired on the droid and moved back using the metal junk for cover moving from one to the other, firing at the droid and then moving one at a time until they were in reach where they could both run around the bend in the road that blocked off any clear shot at them.

The eight men ran back further to safety where they could make some kind of plan. They quickly decided to try to move past the creature down another alley way. They headed down a walkway that lead to the left, but again the droid had headed them off firing on them with laser cannons that exploded near them as they again retreated back, out of range.

Then Jack Sulbaran spotted a Mark IV sentry droid watching them from a distance hovering over the top of one of the scrape piles, but before anyone could respond , the droid quickly moved out of sight. ' That's it!' Dash shouted,' That's what is giving away our position. We've got to kill that first and then we can deal with that other monster.'

' Jocko, you keep your gun handy and we'll move over there to pull that thing out. When you see it, blast the shit out of it, okay?'

Jocko found himself a place where he could see over where the sentry droid was last seen and waited as Dash and the men moved out and down another walkway. Just as planned, the droid moved out from behind some piles of junk and Jocko aimed and fired, hitting the droid dead center as the spy droid exploded in mid-air in bright sparks and a loud bang.

Now the men returned and they all decided to divide up into two groups. One would attack the huge droid head on and the other group would circle around behind it and they would get the droid in a cross fire. Dash took the two brothers, Jack and Kyle, and would try to move around behind the monster by taking the alleyway that lead to the left while Jocko and the remaining four men would wait five minutes and then attack the creature head on.

As the time elapsed, Jocko and the men moved out along the right path around the bend into the droids view. Instantly, the droid began firing on the men both with blaster shots and laser cannon volleys as the men returned fire trying to keep the mechanical monster at bay.

Garrett, after just one round of firing now huddled in a bungle like a small child on the ground among a pile of metal quivering in fear. Jocko turned his head back and saw the young kid scared stiff and decided that the rest of them was batter off without his help. Jocko resumed his duties firing on the droid.

Meanwhile, Dash and the two brothers were now in position behind the creature. The brothers moved to the opposite side of some wreckage for cover and the three of them began shooting at the droid. The unit now turned and began shooting at the men behind him. When he did that, Jocko and the others moved closer still firing. The droid now was being hit repeatedly by blaster fire, but without much damage. It turned back toward Jocko while Dash and the Sulbaran brothers moved closer firing as they approached.

The droid seem to scents it's predicament and started moving up the side of one of the piles of trash to the right on the same side where Dash was hidden. As the huge metallic creature climbed the stack Dash noticed the under-belly of the droid that seemed to be a weak spot on the heavy armored unit. He started firing hitting every place that he thought might weaken the monster.

Just then the droid turned it's head and fired three laser cannon blast at the two brothers. The angle from which it fired caught the brothers by surprise as they were now expose to the creature. A gigantic explosion blew the brothers completely into pieces. As their body parts flew high in the air scattering their remains all over the side of the metal pile. It was a horrible site as their blood now dripped down the sides of the many pieces metal along with several pieces of human tissue.

Finally, one on Dash's blast hit the right mark as the huge droid started shaking violently with sparks and small explosions preceding one large explosion that blew the machine in a hundred tiny parts. A gigantic loud burst of flames and ciders shot out in every direction in exquisite array of colors.

As Jocko and three of the men reached Dash, they could see what had happened to the two brothers. Nathan became ill and regurgitate his breakfast on the ground as the rest of the men turned their heads. Dash asked were Garrett was and Jocko told him what he had done. Dash and Jocko went back to where Garrett laid huddled on the ground crying uncontrollably.

Jocko ordered him to get up. At first he didn't, then Jocko kicked him and told him if he didn't get up he was going to shoot him right there on the ground. Slowly, Garrett started getting up wiping the tears from his eyes. Jocko told him in a strong and commanding voice, ' Ian gave his life to this and he wanted to make a man of you. Well, I not going to let Ian's death prevent that from happening. From now on I'm in charge of you and your going to either become a man or die trying. You hear me! Now get your ass off the fucking ground and join the others and for goodness sake man, get a hold of yourself.'

The three men joined the others and they all followed Zack through the rest of the warehouse unmolested until they came to a large opening in the side of the building to the outside. They fought their way through some thick under-brush until they reached the entrance to a long tunnel that went right through the side of the mountain next to the large warehouse..

The entrance of the tunnel was hidden by a huge door that looked like the side of the mountain itself as Zack told the men that it was an escape tunnel put in years before by the original owners of the property. No one else knows of the entrance not even the new resident IG-88. Zack tells them that the reason he knows of it was because he was one of the workers who put it in years ago. Everyone else who might know of the short cut are either dead or long gone off the planet.

The men enter the tunnel pulling the door closed behind them, turning on some lanterns that Zack brought along and headed down the long dimly lit passageway . Nearly a hundred yards down the narrow tube the tunnel came to a dead end into another tunnel. As they approached the tee in the tunnel, they stopped in the intersection as Zack began to tell them, 'There's a metal door down here that we'll have to open so we can continue through the tunnel.'

Lance turned to kid Garrett,' Hey Garrett, it's pretty creepy in here isn't it?'

Garrett stood with his back to the right side behind the group of men. Just then Lance noticed a huge white pattern of tread like material behind him.

' Hey! What's that?' Lance asked pointing toward Garrett. All the men turned and raised their lanterns so they could see down the dark passageway.

' Why it looks like a huge spiders web.' Nathan announced as Garrett began turning to look at what everyone was looking at. Just then a gigantic spider came crawling down the web and was almost upon him. It was nearly a foot tall, and was white with black streaks and big red blotches across it's back.

' Garrett lookout!' Lance screamed as the spider reached out for Garrett. Garrett screamed and jumped forward away from the gruesome hairless arachnid.

' Jesus Christ! Kill it!' Dash hollered as he was behind most of the men and was unable to get a clear shot at the creature.

Nathan quickly drew his laser blaster and fired on the large spider that was just inches away from Garrett's head. As the blast hit the creature dead center it burst as fluid spurt out in every direction getting all over Garrett.

' Oh, my god. Couldn't you of waited just a little bit longer, so I could of got out of the way?' Garrett asked as he begin to wipe the slime from his face and body.

' What's that?' Jocko asked stepping over closer to the web shining his light down the tunnel. As his light lit the tunnel, the men could see hundreds of more spiders down the tunnel crawling all over one another headed in their direction.

' Oh shit! Look at them. There must be millions of them. Let's get the fuck out of here.' Lance screamed.

Jocko and Nathan begin firing at the spiders as they started quickly crawling towards them.

Zack yelled,' Dash! Come with me, help me get that door open,' He pointed down the tunnel to the left where their exit was blocked some twelve meters away by a metal door. Dash and Garrett, who had quickly moved to the other side of the group, followed Zack running to the door.

As they tried to open the rusty door, Jocko and the other two men continued firing at the charging spiders. Jocko and Nathan hurled a couple of concussion grenades down the tunnel and the explosion lit up the tunnel killing a massive amount of spiders and started a fire that prevented a horde of many more arachnids from coming down the tunnel. The noise from the explosion was deafening in the confined space of the tunnel as the men covered their ears as they tried to continue shooting at the still numerous amount of spiders that was still coming towards them.

Dash and Zack were having trouble breaking loose the rusted door as they both were straining to turn a round handle to screw open the hatch. Just then, Garrett remember that he had a small laser wrench in his back pocket and he got it out and handed it to Dash, ' Here try this, maybe you can melt some of the rust off with this.'

Dash grabbed the wrench and begin torching around the seal of the door. As he continued torching the door, Jocko and the two men were approaching, walking backwards still firing at the spiders killing the closest ones first as they were getting closer and closer.

' Hurry up Dash! We can't hold them off too much longer, there's just too many of them.' Jocko called out.

' You too help them, I'm almost done,' Dash told Zack and Garrett, as they both turned and begin firing at the spiders.

' Alright! I got it,' Dash said, as he dropped the wrench and tried to open the hatch. ' Zack! Come here, give me a hand.'

Zack returned and the two men begin cranking on the wheel. They begin straining once more.

' Hurry up. Dash , you've got to hurry, please!' Jocko screamed.

Just then the handle broke loose, and the two men started spinning it. ' We got it!' Dash yelled as they finished spinning the wheel and pulled open the door. ' Come on!' Dash yelled as they all begin going throw the door. Jocko was the last to exit as he tossed another grenade into the tunnel as they closed the door behind them and cranked it closed locking it back up.

' Oh my god! I thought we were goners that time,' Jocko gasped,' I thought you were never going to get that door open.'

' It's a good thing Garrett had that wrench, or we never would of.' Dash admitted.

' Where is my wrench?' Garrett asked.

' Sorry, in all the excitement I must of dropped it, sorry about that.'

' That's alright, it was worth it I guess.' Garrett reasoned.

Zack directed them down the tunnel until they came to another turn that went right. As they continued down the long stretch of darken tunnel they came to an intersection with openings that lead in three different directions. The men approached the area with caution fearing the worst. As they near, Lance blurted out,' What's that noise?'

' Oh shit! Not again I hope,' Jocko remarked.

' Be careful guys!' Dash cautioned, as Jocko and Nathan crept towards the opening to the right where the noise eluded. They raised their lanterns and illuminated the tunnel.

' Oh my god!' Jocko exclaimed disgustingly.

' What is it! More spiders!' Garrett screeched.

' No, just a bunch of rats. Millions of them.' Nathan said, ' Let's get out of here.'

As the rest of the men walked by the opening, they all looked down the tunnel and saw thousands and thousands of rats climbing over each other quickly evading the intruders. It was a disgusting site as the men grimaced as they came into view of the unfortunate scene.

' This way guys,' Zack called out.

' Hey Zack! You told us that you've been down here before. That you use to come down here all the time,' Dash inquired. 'Than you knew about all these rats, and what about the spiders, you knew about them too.'

' Well, no. I knew that there'd be rats down here. I didn't know anything about spiders.' Zack elucidated. ' It's been over a year and a half since me and my brother has been down here. We use to come all the time, but he died last year so I stop coming. We use to go hunting together all the time.'

' Oh yeah, what did you hunt?' Nathan interrupted.

' Oh, all kinds of things. Mostly Shaak, Savrips, Reeks sometimes, Nerfs, just about anything. Sometimes we'd go out on the prairie and shoot womp rats and prairie dogs just for fun. We even went hunting for Dactillions, and Varactyls, but that got too dangerous and we had to stop that. Oh yeah, when we were really bored, we come down these tunnels and shoot those rats we just seen.'

' A regular hunters paradise, ah!' Nathan added.

' Yeah, it sure is. That's about the only good thing this planet has going for it. Then all these crime lords and fugitives started moving in and took over all the good hunting areas with their fortified compounds and laser fenced off acreage. They just took over the countryside and now it's practically too dangerous to venture outside the city limits.'

' I've heard of that happening on some planets. Some crime bosses came in and ran off the natural inhabitants. So that's happening here too, ah?'

' Yeah, just within about the last four years or so. It wasn't too bad at first, cause they bring in new business. But before you realize anything, it starts turning real bad. I wish they would just leave.'

' Well, maybe with any luck, we'll get rid of one of them for you today. Isn't that right boys?' Dash promised as the others shook their heads in agreement.

The men continued further coming to more intersections and as they did they noticed that the farther they descended into the tunnel the more small rodents they came upon. At times, they had to wade throw water that was dripping down the walls and from the roof of the eerie filthy place.

As they approached another puddle of water on the floor, Zack called out throwing his arm out to stop the men behind, ' Stop! I thought I saw something moving in the water.'

Nathan, who had been talking to him and who just behind him, raised his lantern to light up the tunnel ahead. ' There it is! It's a snake. Here, hold the lantern while I get a shot at it.' Nathan instructed.

He raised his blaster and shot the reptile as the creature wiggled and squirmed. Then he blasted it again as the snake made one last violent swipe as the water the snake was in rippled and splashed against the side of the wall.'

' You get?' asked Lance as he approached Nathan looking around him as his head rubbed against him.

' Yeah, you better believe I did,' Nathan told him as he walked over and raised the snake out of the water with the barrel of his blaster. ' See! Deader than a door nail.'

' Yeah, a real big hunter shooting a helpless creature on the ground. Your mother must be real proud of you.' Dash quirked.

' Yeah, to tell you the truth, she is! I'm her little hunter, didn't I ever tell you?' Nathan said whimsically.

The men came to another intersection that had a white mark on it and Zack told them to go into the left tunnel and then a little further down that tunnel they turned right. Several more zigzags later, the men came to a closed door. Laying next to the door was an iron bar and on the door was a white cross painted on. It was a mark that Zack had painted on years before and was now barely visible.

Zack had to use a bar that was resting against the wall next to the door to turn a lever that enabled the door to slowly squeak open. Jocko and Nathan put their shoulders to the metal door and helped Zack. They pushed the heavy rusty metal door completely open so the men could enter a large dark room of which the door was partially hidden by large heavy metal drums and stacks of heavy boxes. The men had to squeeze between the large containers and dark dirty stacks in what was a large storage room until they reached a door that opened to a long wide corridor.

Zack lead the men down the corridor again zigzagging until they came to an elevator. They entered the elevator and went up three floors until it came to a stop for which they all exited. Down another long hallway the men followed Zack, until they came to a huge room that had a large AT-ST standing in solitude in the middle of a wide open arena motionless in a silent mode.

The men nearly walked into the spacious room that housed the tall walker when they suddenly spotted the formidable combatant and jumped back for cover behind the solid wall structure. Zack peered around the corner slowly for a second and turned back to face the others.

' I've never seen that before. That must be new.' Zack told the men. ' I'll tell you what's beyond this. On the other side of this room is a shuttle that will take you across the canyon to a platform that will lead us to IG-88's fortress. It's the only way from here, so we're going to have to get by this machine.'

' We can get by this can't we Jocko!' Dash said,' Remember, back at the Academy. They told us the weak spots on AT-ST. That was part of our training.'

' Yeah, this should be a piece of cake,' Jocko agreed.

' The weak spot and safest way to attack an AT-ST is from underneath. Get between it's legs and it can't shoot at you and then blast it's underbelly until it either explodes or starts to wobble and then get out of there before it falls on you or explodes and takes you with it.' Dash informed the others.

' Well, you want to do the honors or should I?' Dash asked Jocko who was smiling at him, grinning from ear to ear. ' Are you kidding, this is the kind of excitement I came for, Dash.' Jocko told him.

' Oh yeah, this baby is mind. You got the last one, now it's my turn.' Jocko answered.' You didn't think I was going to let you have all the fun, did you?'

' She's all yours, buddy. Go get her!' Dash replied.

' We'll give you cover. There's another entrance over there. We'll keep it busy until you get underneath it and then we'll keep drawing it's fire until you blast the hell out of it. Good luck!' Dash told him.' Give us a signal when you're ready.'

' Will do!' Jocko said as he moved over to the other door some thirty feet to the right.

Nathan and Lance moved to the other side of the opening so all four men could fire at the same time as Zack stood above Dash who was crotched at the bottom of the door with Nathan and Lance taking similar positions opposite. Dash told Garrett to just relax and hide against the side of the wall while they took care of this droid. Jocko gave them the signal and the four men began shooting at the walker.

The machine responded raising up to it's full height, turning toward the men as a red glowing light came on and the machine started blasting away at the men just as planned. As it closed in on the four men the loud metal sound of the machine's steel three toed feet resounded off the humongous facility. The noise was tremendous as the clinking and clanking of the metal rubbing against metal of it's joints compounded with the stomping of it's feet.

Jocko saw his opening and started through the door. Just as he did the machine's red light started blinking and the machine instantly turned toward Jocko and started firing at him. He quickly ducked back behind the door barely escaping the barrage that the AT-ST was delivering at him.

The men started blasting away at the menacing machine to cover Jocko's retreat. Dash yelled to Nathan to throw him a couple concussion grenades. As Nathan did, the huge AT-ST begin firing upon them, walking in their direction.

' Nathan, get ready with a couple grenades. When I throw mind, you throw yours, ready?' Dash said as Nathan knotted his head,' Now!'

They both threw two grenades apiece, that exploded at the feet of the 'chicken walker' causing it to wobble from side to side as it stopped to regain it's balance. Once it did, the giant metal machine turned to it's left and walked back into the center of the room out of range from an accurate toss of any more grenades. It then turned back facing the opening and begin firing massive amount of cannon volleys.

The men pulled back against the wall, but to their dismay the machines begin blasting holes in the wall. The first two nearly took off Dash's head as he threw himself face down on the floor as wall material started being blasted across the hallway as a stream of holes were shot in the structure above the heads of the men as they all now hugged the floor covering their heads as debris fell all over them.

Then the men finally rose and placed their blasters in the newly made holes and returned the mechanical monsters fire. The room literally became a glittering mass of bright flashes of laser light as the blaster battle continued for several minutes. Their shots ricocheted off the machine's metal frame and struck the wall behind it and off to the side causing wall and ceiling material to come crashing to the floor.

Jocko also joined the volley of laser fire, as the AT-ST would turn towards him and deliver a barrage of cannon fire riddling his protective barrier with numerous holes. Each time it turned it's attention on him, Jocko would fire a couple shots and then hug the floor until the machine found another target.

' Well, this isn't getting us any place,' Dash told the men as he stopped firing. ' Hey! Hold your fire. Let's draw back and come up with a different plan. When they stopped firing at the machine, it followed suit.

' Whoa!' Dash exclaimed, as he signaled Jocko to stop shooting,' There's something wrong here. That thing shouldn't be that fast.'

' You know Dash. I think that thing is automatic. It turned on Jocko as soon as he moved. I think it's motion sensitive.' Nathan said.

' You may be right. There's one way to find out.' Dash told him as he reached in his nap sack and pulled out his thermos. He wheeled around and tossed it in the opposite direction that the machine was shooting, as it was still shooting at Jocko.

Instantly, the huge 'chicken' walker turned and blasted the thermos into pieces before it could even hit the floor.

Then Dash grabbed Zack's cap and said, ' Let's try this.'

He moved it pass the corner of the wall and as he did, the machine fired at the cap just as it cleared the wall blasting a hole right through the middle.

' You're right!' Dash agreed.' Pretty good shot too.' He admitted as he gave Zack back his cap with a sheepish grin.

'Your right though.' Dash added, 'That thing is fully automated, and quick too!'

Dash motioned for Jocko to come back. They needed to make a better plan. While Jocko made his way over to the men, Dash peered through one of the holes that the machine had made in the wall with a laser blast and noticed that the machine had begun to lower it's head and recede back into it's rest position.

When Jocko arrived, Dash and the men moved further back down the hall out of range and more importantly out of sight of the machine.

As the men gathered around him, Dash told them, 'We need a better plan. That thing is fully automated and one man can't rush it undetected. Maybe all five of us can rush it but someone isn't going to make it. I really don't want to do that. That's how they trained us at the Academy. Sacrifice a few to save the many, but I never really agreed with that philosophy. Did you, Jocko?'

' Hell no!' Jocko exclaimed. ' Probably because I was considered one of the few.'

' You and me both.' Dash agreed,' So I guess that's out, unless you guys want try it.'

Dash looked around as everyone shook their heads no. ' Well, does anyone have a better idea, because that's definitely out, we all agree, right?'

The men pondered a minute and then Nathan said,' Hey, what if we could distract it by throwing objects in several directions and then maybe that would give someone a chance to get underneath it. We've got some smoke grenades that might help. We'll get it so it can't see and then Jocko can rush it like before. That is if your still up to it. I don't know maybe, you might want to change your mind. You can if you want. Don't let any of us pressure you into it, Jocko. You don't have to prove yourself to us.'

' No that's not it at all. I'm still willing to try it. Just as long as I've got a fifty-fifty chance. Hell, I'll just about try anything once, within reason that is.' Jocko explained.

' Actually, that idea sounds pretty good. What you think, Jocko?'

' Sounds good to me. What the hell, I said I'd try anything. Hell! Let's try it.' Jocko agreed, ' But what are you guys going to threw? There isn't really anything here, except that box over there.'

Just then Garrett yelled over to them, ' Here's some stuff!' He said picking some ball bearings up that he found in a large crate that laid against the wall across the hallway.

The men all rushed over to Garrett to see how many of those ball bearing were in the crate. Dash got there first, he looked in and then grabbed a handful and turned and said, ' These will do. There's a lot of them and they'd be easy to throw.

' Alright, Garrett. We can use all these, They're perfect,' Dash remarked as he went over and looked inside the box. ' I have a feeling that these metal objects will draw the droid's sensor beams towards them, rather than a human subject that it can't see. It's sensor capabilities are pretty much like that on a star ship. Anything made of metal will cause the computer inside to override anything made of flesh. We also learned that at the Academy, didn't we Jocko?'

' Yeah, that's right. We learned that our very first year. I guess some of that training will come in handy at that, after all these years. Who would of thought, right Dash?'

' Yeah really,' Dash complied, ' Garrett, come on over and help us distract this thing so Jocko can kill it. You can help us throw some of these ball bearings. Remember though, we've got to throw them to the machines right side. Don't throw any the other way, we don't old Jocko to slip and fall on his butt when he comes running out. Nathan, you throw the smoke grenades, but throw more toward Jocko's side so it can't see him, okay. Well men, let's load some of these up and get in position. Jocko, let us know when your going to rush it so we can throw more ball bearings.'

They filled their nap sacks with as many ball bearings that they could carry and headed back to the wall that was disturbingly quit. When they first reached the holes in the wall, Dash checked on the positioning of the AT-ST and found that it hadn't moved from the spot where it had come to rest several minutes before. That the machine was still in it's fetal position waiting to activate.

The men got back into position and four of them started throwing several of the ball bearings that Garrett had found, toward the right side of the machine. Nathan begin hurling several smoke bombs in front of the AT-ST, but many more to it's left toward the side that Jocko was on, and where he was going to make his suicide charge.

The machine came out of it's deactivated state and instantly was busy shooting at all of the objects the four men were throwing. Nathan was throwing one smoke grenade after another until the room became filled with smoke. So smoky in fact that the only thing the six men could see were the glare of the many laser blasts that the machine was firing towards the round metal balls. All of a sudden they could hear blasters shots coming from beneath the huge machine and they could barely see flashes of light where the machine should be standing.

' Keep throwing!' Dash yelled as the four men continued throwing their objects.

Just then a huge explosion appeared through the smoke and then complete silence. A moment later, a figure appeared coming out of the smoke. A loud metal sound came towards them. The same sound they heard moments earlier when the AT-ST was walking on the cement flooring. That same clinking, clanking of the metal and the pounding on the cement floor.

The men grabbed their blasters and aimed them at the figure coming toward them. The sound of metal on the cement got louder and louder as the figure approached.

' Steady men, steady, steady!' Dash commanded them as he held out his arm so they wouldn't fire too soon.' Wait until we see it.'

Seconds later as the figure got closer and closer and as the smoke inside the room started to thin out the men started to grimmest in fear. Suddenly the five the men could see the figure that was now upon them,' Wait! Don't shoot!' Dash shouted, ' It's Jocko! It's Jocko!'

Jocko casually strolled out into the clearing with a big smile on his face. He was walking with a big piece of metal in his hand, using it as a walking stick. It was a part of one of the AT-ST's legs, and he was making the same noise as the machine made every time he hit the floor with it.

' I told you it was going to be a piece of cake. Didn't I?' Jocko reminded them.

All the men breathe a sigh of relief as they slumped to the floor to rest from all of the tension. Jocko, still gleaming from all of the excitement, was pacing around like a rooster in a hen house looking down at the men and smiling at each one.

' You know Jocko. We almost shot you just a minute ago,' Dash told him.

' What you mean, you almost shot me?' He asked.' Didn't you see me kill that thing?'

' Hell no! Through all that smoke, we couldn't see a thing.'

' Yeah, but you must of known that I killed it? All of that racket and everything. Come on you must of known. What you think when I came walking out of their, didn't you hear me coming?'

' I'm afraid not. We were sure what happened.' Dash explained, ' Then when you came walking out of their with that damn piece of metal in your hand pounding on the floor. I'm telling you, it sounded just like that thing walking toward us. Man, you don't know how close you came.'

' Hey! He's not lying to you either,' Lance added, ' We almost blasted you.

' For real man! You were almost toast,' Garrett agreed.' You mean you didn't realize it. I thought maybe you were pounding that thing on the floor as a joke. You mean, you real didn't know.'

' Gee! Thanks guys. I'm feeling a little funny now.' Jocko said and then he took a deep breathe and started pounding his chest with his right arm as if to shake the feeling loose as he walked in a circle around the room.

' Alright! That's better. Alright, I'm okay,' Jocko told himself out loud as he glanced down at the men each time he rounded his small circle.

' You guys going to set there all day. Man, I'm ready for some more action.' Jocko boasted, ' I haven't felt this good in years. Man, let's do it!'

The air by this time had cleared in the room and the men could see the smoldering pieces of the AT-ST scattered throughout the room as they proceeded across it through an opening on the other side to a waiting shuttle. They all climbed into it and as they did Dash questioned Zack, ' You don't have to come with us if you don't want to. You got us here, your job is done. This could be the most dangerous part of the job. You don't have to risk your life anymore. I'll call and tell Leebo to give you your part of the money.'

' If it's alright with you Dash, I'd like to come along,' Zack told him. ' The money wasn't the only reason I wanted to come along. Eighteen months ago, IG-88 killed my brother. We were out tracking prairie dogs one day and we accidentally venture into some of his territory. He shot and killed my brother and I barely got away. So you see. I have a debt to repay.'

' Well, we're glad to have you.' Dash said.

Then Dash called Leebo back at the Intruder and told him what had happened. That they were now down to six men and that they were just about to reach IG-88's fortress. He told Leebo he would contact him again within the next two hours and to have the ship ready just in case he would have to rescue them. If he didn't get a call back within that time then the worse had happened. He should wait a day or two and then return to Nar Shaddaa without him.