speed. As soon as Obi-Wan saw the six-winged starfighter waver, he seized his
opportunity and hit the Headhunter's intertial dampers. The Headhunter
appeared to flip and roll, but it was a controlled maneuver that brought the
Bartokk starfighter into Obi-Wan*s sights. He fired the Headhunter's laser
cannons and drilled the Bartokk starfighter. The Bartokk tail - gunner trained
his cannons on the Headhunter and ~ fired back. Obi-Wan felt his ship's
shields buckle - as he targeted the tailgunner's viewport and released a
concussion missile. The missile streaked away from the Headhunter and smashed
through the Bartokk starfighter's cockpit, then detonated. The explosion sent
starfighter fragments in all directions. Obi-Wan angled back toward the
Bartokk freighter. During his battle with the six-winged starfighter, the
freighter had neared the edge of an asteroid belt. Many of the asteroids were
relatively small chunks of planetary debris, but some were much larger than
the Headhunter. As Obi-Wan approached the spike-covered freighter, he saw a
hatch open at the main cargo hold. From out of the hatch, three objects were
realeased into space. At first, Obi-Wan thought the freighter was jettisoning
a few long pieces of metal scrap. This wouldn't have surprised him, since
unethical pilots routinely dumped their junk in space to lighten their load
and increase speed. But when the released objects extended dartlike wings and
began to move toward the Headhunter, Obi-Wan realized the Bartokks had
deployed some - thing far more hazardous than space junk. The three objects
were droid starfighters. The droid starfighters had been clearly programmed to
attack Obi-Wan's ship, and would do so without fear or remorse. The three
fighters assumed a triangulated assault formation and zoomed in for the kill.
Obi-Wan knew his deflector shields would not hold for long against the three
fighters. He yanked the controls to the side and aimed the Headhunter for the
nearby asteroid belt. With one droid starfighter leading their forma - tion,
all three fighters followed the Headhunter. The field of asteroids became
increasingly dense and difficult to navigate, but Obi-Wan poured on the speed.
The lead droid starfighter fired, unleashing a steady stream of red energy
bolts after Obi-Wan. The Headhunter's shields absorbed the blasts, but Obi-Wan
saw a warning light flash on his console. His ship wouldn't be able to take
much more. Obi-Wan drove the keadhunter into a sickening dive toward a wide,
gray asteroid. The droid starfighters pursued him without a trace of
hesitation. When the gray asteroid was so close that it nearly filled Obi-
Wan's range of vision, he pulled out of the dive. The trailing droid fighters
broke away from the dive, but the lead fighter was not able to pull out in
time. It smashed into the asteroid like a glass ornament striking a stone
wall. For a moment, Obi-Wan thought he had also managed to lose the other two
droid starfighters. Then he saw them soaring after him. They were gaining fast
when he saw two oblong meteoroids suspended close to one another in space.
Obi-Wan aimed his ship at the space between the meteoroids, as a hail of
energy bolts pounded at his shields from behind. As Obi-Wan passed be - tween
the two meteoroids, he flared his engines and pulled back on the controls. The
backdraft from his engines caused the meteoroids to rotate on their axes and
draw closer to one another. The nearest droid fighter was about to fire again
at the Headhunter when it was crushed between the con - verging meteoroids.
The remaining droid starfighter kept a safe distance behind Obi-Wan, and
unleashed a barrage of firepower on the Headhunter's deflector shields. Obi-
Wan flew fast and hard, but no matter what he did, he couldn't seem to shake
the last fighter. Outside and beyond the asteroid field, Obi-Wan caught sight
of the Bartokk freighter. Right then, he remembered an important fact about
droid starfighters: instead of having individual electronic brains, each
starfighter responded to commands transmitted by a remote central droid
control unit. In this case, the control unit was probably located somewhere
within the Bartokk freighter. Obi-Wan punched a series of commands into the
Headhunter's communications system. If he could isolate the droid
starfighter's operating frequency, he could jam its signal. And if he jammed
the signal, the fighter would be defenseless. Despite his efforts, Obi-Wan
could not manage to find the starfighter's operating frequency. However, he
did not abandon the idea of knocking out the fighter's signal. He just decided
to execute the idea in a more destructive manner. Obi-Wan steered the
Headhunter out of the asteroid field and flew after the Bartokk freighter. It
was a dangerous tactic, since he was now out in the open and no longer
surrounded by the protective cover of so many meteoroids. The droid
starfighter followed him out of the field and increased speed. The Bartokk
freighter's outer hull was protected by the long metal spikes that protruded
from its hull. Each spike was capable of releasing concentrated charges of
energy. As the Headhunter drew within firing range, several spikes began to
glow, then ejected deadly green charges at Obi-Wan's ship.
Obi-Wan neatly evaded the explosive charges and fired his laser cannons
at the Bartokk freighter's triangular sensor dish. The dish was heavily
reinforced, but Obi-Wan kept his finger on the trigger until the entire sensor
array ruptured and exploded. Behind the Headhunter, the last.droid star -
fighter was suddenly cut off from its controlling brain. Flying without any
guidance, the starfighter maintained its high velocity as it headed straight
for the freighter. Obi-Wan wanted to board the freighter before it released
any more starfighters, so he angled back toward the large ship. The Bartokks'
deflector - shield generator was located within a small dome on top of their
freighter. The ship's protective spikes began to glow, preparing to fire again
at Obi-Wan, but as the out-of-control droid fighter raced closer, the
freighter's defense system tar - geted the droid fighter instead. While the
freighter's spikes hurled energy charges at the in - coming fighter, Obi-Wan
targeted the Bartokk ship's deflector-shield generator. There were
simultaneous explosions as both the Trade Federation droid fighter and Bartokk
shield generator blew. The freighter's shields dropped and Obi-Wan raced for
the docking port that had been previously occupied by the six-winged
starfighter. Before the freighter's spikes could recharge, Obi-Wan had docked
the Headhunter. He knew the Bartokks would not fire at his ship when it was
directly linked to their own freighter. He scrambled out of his ship and into
the freighter's docking port tube. An eight-sided metal hatch was built within
a thick plastoid frame at the end of the tube. Obi-Wan pushed against the
hatch and found that it was locked. Obi-Wan passed his hand over an
illuminated control panel to open the hatch.
Suddenly, he heard a hissing sound. He realized he must have activated an
anti-intruder security system and triggered the releas
e of poison gas into the
dock - ing port tube. Obi-Wan drew his breather to his face with one hand
while he activated his lightsaber with the other. With a quick twist, he
jabbed the lightsaber through the hatch and carved a large 0 through the thick
metal. He took a step back then threw all his weight against the hatch,
knocking it clear out of its plastoid frame and into the next chamber. A great
whooshing sound burst from the docking port tube, and Obi-Wan felt the air
whip by him as if he had suddenly been caught in a strong wind. An automatic
safety feature had kicked in, and it suctioned the gas out of the docking tube
and into space. Obi-Wan removed his breather and returned it to his belt. Then
he deactivated his lightsaber, but kept the weapon within his grip. Obi-Wan
moved forward into the Bartokk freighter. He found himself in a dark corridor
that ran the length of the ship. He looked to his left and right and tried to
get his bearings. From ventilation slats in the metal floor, steam rose and
created a damp, wispy haze that impaired his ability to see either end of the
corridor. He guessed that the Bar - tokks' bulbous, insectoid eyes did not
require much light to find their way around on the ship. Besides the darkness,
there was an unusual sense of quiet within the corridor. The only thing Obi-
Wan could hear was the steady, mechanical hum of the sublight engines, a sound
that emanated from the main engine room at the left end of the corridor. Since
Obi-Wan had breached the Bartokks' security system in the docking port tube,
he knew they must have been aware of his presence on their freighter. He was
considering where to begin his search for the captured Chup-Chup when he saw a
shadowy figure move toward him from the engine room area. The figure was
clinging to the corridor's ceiling. A flash of metal indicated the figure
carried a sharp knife. Obi-Wan heard the sound of a crossbow being cocked. A
quick glance to his right revealed that a second figure was moving toward him.
lt crawled along the grilled floor from the other end of the cor - ridor. Obi-
Wan realized he was trapped between two Bartokk assassins.
Obi-Wan activated his lightsaber and the weapon illuminated the dank
corridor. The Bar - tokks pounced. The Bartokk who jumped from the ceiling was
the first to meet Obi-Wan's lightsaber. The glowing blade swung through the
assassin. The second Bartokk fired its crossbow. Obi-Wan flung himself against
the wall, narrowly avoiding instant death by two poison-tipped arrows that
tore past him and embedded in the ceiling. Obi-Wan swung his lightsaber hard
and defeated the second Bartokk. By cutting down the two Bartokks, Obi-Wan's
battle had only begun. Since the aliens' intelligence was distributed
throughout their bodies, they continued to fight even after being cut in half.
The two Bartokks had now been divided into four dismembered parts, all of
which scurried across the corridor floor and prepared to attack again. Obi-Wan
reached up to the ceiling and retrieved the two poison-tipped arrows. With
expert skill, he flung both arrows at two of the insectoid frag - ments that
clawed at him from the floor. The arrows drove through the black-armored
exoskele - ton and the two body parts flinched sharply before dying. As the
two dismembered figures lurched forward on their hacked torsos and aimed their
claws at Obi-Wan, he brought his lightsaber down again and again, reducing the
assassins to an unsightly pile of parts too small to be threatening. Obi-Wan
stepped away from the bits that lay strewn across the corridor floor. Even
though he was without fear, Obi-Wan could not help but feel some revulsion for
the violence that had just taken place. He wondered how Qui-Gon would have han
- dled the Bartokks, and if his Master would have been in any way disappointed
with his use of the lightsaber against such fierce opponents. Obi-Wan pushed
the thoughts from his mind. No matter what anyone thought, the facts remained
the same: Bama Vook's son had been taken hostage by the Bartokks, and Obi-Wan
was the young Talz's only hope for rescue. By Obi-Wan's own calculation, only
four Bartokks remained in this hive. If the two assassins in the corridor had
managed to telepathically alert their comrades of his location before they
died, he would still have to deal with four very angry Bar - tokks. As he
prepared to exit the corridor, Obi-Wan nearly tripped over one of the
assassins' weapons belts. By the glow of his lightsaber, he examined the items
on the belt. He found a pistol that packed a stun net charge, and also a
slaving collar control device. Slaving collars were crude mechanisms used to
make prisoners behave themselves. If a collar-wearing captive tried to escape,
the collar would release an ugly shock.
Obi-Wan knew that the control device could also be used to track a
captive. If such a collar had been used on Chup-Chup, Obi-Wan now had the
resource to locate him. Obi-Wan switched on the device and aimed it up and
down the corridor. According to the illuminated panel, a captive was indeed
wearing a collar, and was located in the main cargo hold. Obi-Wan pocketed the
control device and secured the stun net pistol to his belt. He walked up the
corridor and cautiously entered the main cargo hold. Although he could not
immediately see Chup-Chup, the starships had at least located the Trade
Federation droid starfighters. Like cave-dwelling winged rodents, the droid
starfighters dangled upside down from a rack secured to the ceiling. The
fighters had their wings folded up in transport mode. Even at rest, the
starfighters were a menacing sight to behold. But the hold was hardly filled
to capacity. A quick count confirmed there were only twenty-two droid
starfighters in the hold. Because Obi-Wan had destroyed only three droid
starfighters in com - bat, he wondered what had happened to the re - maining
twenty-five Federation fighters. Searching for Chup-Chup, Obi-Wan edged around
a corner to find the hold's docking port. A magnetic field filled the
rectangular port and separated the hold from outer space. Obi-Wan remembered
his view of the freighter from outside and realized the three droid
starfighters must have been deployed through this transparent port. A clanking
sound caused Obi-Wan to turn to his left, and he quickly spied two Bartokks.
Holding tools, they were working on what looked like the Neimoidian prototype
hyperdrive engine.
The engine was clamped in place to a worktable that was set near the
hold's docking port. Since Obi - Wan had never actually seen the prototype
engine, he was not certain that this was indeed it. But from the engine's size
and design, he knew it was highly probable. Seeing Obi-Wan out of the corners
of their bul - bous eyes, the two assassins turned their monstrous heads in
his direction. They dropped their tools and reached for their crossbows. Obi-
Wan's alert mind kicked into high gear, and everything appeared to slow down.
His eyes scanned the hold and he saw an opportunity to eliminate this pair
without touching his lightsaber. He was relieved, since he had no desire to
repeat the battle in the corridor
that had resulted in such carnage. As the
two Bartokks raised their weapons, Obi - Wan found a handgrip on the wall
while he set his concentration on a switch near the worktable. The switch
controlled the magnetic field that protected the hold from the vacuum of
space.
Obi-Wan grabbed hold of the grip on the wall, held his breath, and
reached out with the Force to throw the switch. The magnetic field dropped and
a massive wind blasted through the port. The two Bartokks and several tools
were torn out of the hold and into space. As soon as they were outside of the
ship, Obi-Wan used the Force to throw the switch back into place. The magnetic
field instantly raised, and the hold's air pressure returned to normal. Obi-
Wan ran to examine the prototype engine that remained secured to the
worktable. Fortu - nately, it was still intact. A desperate pounding came from
the starboard airlock on the other side of the cargo hold. The circular
airlock hatch was built into the thick plastoid wall. Airlocks were used to
help spacers reacclimate to different environments, but in the wrong hands,
the pressurized cabin could also be a death chamber. Obi-Wan ran to the
airlock. He peered through a bubble-shaped transparisteel viewport that
offered a distorted view of the pressurized cabin's interior. He saw the Talz,
weirdly magnified through the bubble-shaped viewport. The hair-covered alien
ap - peared taller than Obi-Wan had envisioned. The young creature was gasping
for air and hammering his hairy fists-against the walls.
To the left of the airlock, a gauge indicated the sealed chamber was
depressurizing. Obi-Wan knew he would have to do something fast or the Talz
would die. However, he was reluctant to use any of his weapons to open the
airlock because the sudden pressure change might accidentally kill the child.
There were ten buttons on the airlock control board. Obi-Wan was unfamiliar
with the functions of each button, but he knew a button was the best option to
open the airlock. Although he never would have admitted it to anyone, he
wished he had Trinkatta's technical expertise.
Trinkatta! As soon as he thought of the Kloodavian, Obi-Wan remembered
how he had deactivated the Bartokk stun net by pressing two yellow buttons on
The Bartokk Assassins Page 4