As Yoda rose from the floor, the lift tube doors began to slide shut. Yoda forced the doors open, but the lift was already descending in the shaft.
Yoda jumped on top of the lift and held on. He had barely caught his breath when the lift came to a sudden, jarring stop. By Yoda’s estimate, the lift was somewhere between Levels 35 and 40. He’d thought Frexton might have been attempting to reach Level 1 or one of the Science Service tower’s sublevels, so he was surprised that the lift had stopped so soon. Yoda hunkered down on top of the stalled lift and placed his ear over the lift’s upper emergency access hatch. He heard the sound of the lift tube doors opening.
Then Chief Scientist Frexton began to scream.
Yoda pulled at the emergency access hatch, but it was jammed. He drew and activated his lightsaber, illuminating the dark lift tube with the weapon’s vibrant glow. He sheared the hatch clear off the lift’s top, then leaped down through the open hole and into the lift cabin.
From inside the lift cabin, Yoda gazed through the open tube doors to see that he was on Level 32. According to a sign on the wall, this area was devoted to aeronautic research and development.
“Get away from me!” Chief Scientist Frexton yelled from outside the lift.
Yoda stepped out of the lift cabin and the doors slid shut behind him. An antechamber led directly to an aeronautic laboratory, where Academy scientists and engineers developed new repulsorlift systems. Yoda saw a tall, robotic figure standing in the entrance to the lab and almost mistook it for an X10-D before he realized it was just an unmanned bipedal servo-lifter. Like the X10-Ds, servo-lifters were used for moving heavy freight, but they were operated by a pilot instead of remote-control. The pilot had already fled. Yoda ducked behind the two-legged loading machine and peered inside the lab.
He saw Frexton cowering against a wall, held at bay by a single X10-D draft droid. Numerous storage bins filled with starship engine parts were also evident, but there wasn’t any sign of the comfort conveyor that contained Teela Panjarra. The lab was dimly lit, with much of the area lost to shadows. Yoda scurried up onto the servo-lifter to get a wider view of the room. He didn’t see any Bartokks. But he knew they were nearby if they were controlling the X10-D.
“Help!” Frexton shouted as the droid raised a metal claw and prepared to strike.
Yoda switched on the servo-lifter and the robotic freight-loader lurched forward, causing the X10-D to turn. By the time the X10-D’s infrared photoreceptors had locked onto Yoda, the Jedi Master’s lightsaber was activated. Yoda’s first swipe passed through the X10-D’s legs, and his second neatly removed the droid’s head from its shoulders.
Chief Scientist Frexton fainted. Yoda tried to revive him, hoping to learn what had happened to Teela Panjarra. But the man was out cold.
Yoda turned to the fallen body of the X10-D and knelt over its torso. He opened a panel on the droid’s chest, only to discover the droid did not contain a plasma bomb.
Yoda wondered where the sixth X10-D could be.
Suddenly, bright overhead lights came on, illuminating the entire aeronautics laboratory. Ten meters away from Yoda, the LOCC lay on the lab floor. An X10-D draft droid had one foot firmly planted on top of the conveyor. Three Bartokk assassins were also in the lab. One Bartokk operated the remote-control device for the X10-D while the other two aimed crossbows loaded with explosive-tipped arrows at Yoda’s heart.
The Jedi Master had walked right into the Bartokks’ trap.
One of the crossbow-wielding Bartokks wore a vocabulator. Clicking its mandibles, the Bartokk cautioned, “If you make any sudden movement, we will make the droid crush the container and its contents.”
Yoda did not move. He knew the Bartokk was serious.
“Our brothers on Level fifty-eight telepathically warned us of your position before they perished,” the Bartokk continued. “We anticipated you would try to escape the tower, so we programmed all lifts to stop on this level. You have meddled with our assignment for the last time.”
“Clever, you are,” Yoda allowed. His mind raced, trying to plan his next move. Hoping to buy time, he added, “Detonate the plasma bomb, and perish too, you will.”
The vocabulator-equipped Bartokk tilted his insectoid head toward a long, dart-shaped repulsorlift skiff parked next to a transport hatch. “We will leave the Science Service tower in our skiff and return to our starship. There is no place for you to run, warrior. We’ve sealed off this entire laboratory. We intend to leave you trapped within the tower. By the time the bomb detonates, we will be far away from Curamelle. Now you will remove your weapons.”
Yoda reached to his belt and removed his lightsaber. With incomprehensible speed, he activated the lightsaber and flung it at the Bartokk who controlled the X10-D. Using the Force, Yoda guided his weapon through the air, slicing through both the Bartokk and his remote-control device, then curving back around. As the X10-D fell back against his controller, Yoda caught the lightsaber by its polished handle and spun at the two crossbow-wielding Bartokks.
The Bartokks fired their explosive-tipped arrows at Yoda. The Jedi Master’s lightsaber flicked out at the oncoming bolts, snapping them in half. The arrow tips struck the lab walls and exploded. Before the assassins could reload their crossbows, Yoda surged forward and defeated them.
The three Bartokks and the two X10-D draft droids lay motionless on the floor under the bright lights of the aeronautics lab. Nearby, the unconscious Chief Scientist Frexton remained stretched out on the spot where he had fainted.
Yoda went to the LOCC and looked through its small viewport. Miraculously, Teela Panjarra remained sound asleep, and wore a faint smile on her lips.
Yoda stepped away from the LOCC and went to the sixth X10-D. Opening its chest plate, he found what he had expected: the third plasma bomb. As he carefully removed the bomb from the droid, he saw the Bartokks had taken an extreme precaution to prevent him from deactivating the explosive device.
Unlike the other two plasma bombs, the third bomb had a secured timer mechanism that had been set for a five-minute countdown. Any attempt to switch off the secured timer would cause the bomb to explode.
Since Bartokks communicate telepathically, Yoda figured that the four surviving members of the hive were aware they had lost the three Bartokks in the aeronautics lab. Unless the other four were in the Science Service tower, nothing would prevent the remaining Bartokks from leaving Corulag.
Yoda realized he was the only one who could get rid of the bomb and stop the Bartokks. Although it would be a dangerous mission, he dared not leave Teela Panjarra alone and undefended in the tower. He reluctantly decided to take the LOCC with him as well as the plasma bomb.
Yoda placed the LOCC and bomb on the Bartokks’ skiff and gripped the vehicle’s controls. He fired the skiff’s engines, and the dart-shaped vessel blasted out of the aeronautics lab transport hatch.
The skiff soared away from the pyramidal Science Service tower. Yoda steered around the tower to locate the stolen SoroSuub space yacht. The lights of Curamelle seemed to flow past the skiff like an illuminated wave. Searching for the space yacht, Yoda angled toward the low-rise buildings across from the tower’s nursery window on Level 7.
Then he saw it. The SoroSuub space yacht was already rising up and away from its hiding place. Yoda swung the skiff after the space yacht, drawing closer until he was within thirty meters of it. Unfortunately, the assassins had anticipated his pursuit.
A Bartokk appeared on the stern of the space yacht and aimed a disrupter rifle at Yoda. The energy weapon was capable of unleashing a blast so powerful that it could break down targets at the molecular level. The Bartokk fired, and Yoda swung hard and away to avoid the energy blast. Yoda brought the skiff into a tight spin that positioned him directly under the fleeing space yacht, then came up toward the yacht’s stern and punched the accelerator.
The nose of the skiff caught the Bartokk’s skull. The disrupter rifle flew from his claws and skittered across the deck, while
the Bartokk himself was knocked clear off the yacht.
Yoda matched the SoroSuub space yacht’s speed, then landed the skiff on the yacht’s open stern. He intended to plant the plasma bomb on the space yacht, then escape the stolen craft. Although there were barely two minutes left before the plasma bomb was set to detonate, Yoda wanted to be certain there weren’t any innocent people on board.
He left Teela Panjarra within her LOCC, then carried the geodesic plasma bomb away from the skiff and crossed the yacht’s aft deck.
Yoda walked past a supply bulkhead and a hatch for an emergency escape pod, then stepped up to the base of a curved, tubular air vent and peered through a viewport into the main cabin. Inside the cabin, three Bartokks operated the controls of the sleek vessel. They appeared to be unaware of Yoda’s presence on the yacht.
Yoda tossed the bomb into the tubular air vent, then scurried back across the deck and onto the skiff. As he prepared for launch, he sensed something was wrong. He looked for Teela Panjarra’s conveyor, and discovered it was missing.
Without warning, the yacht’s canopy shields rose swiftly and sealed off the stern. Yoda heard a chittering sound from the deck that caused him to turn.
The Bartokk Queen stood on the deck. She was tall for a Bartokk, and her insectoid limbs displayed strong, flat muscles. Yoda realized there could be only one explanation for her presence on the yacht: She must have decided to personally oversee the ill-fated assignment to Corulag. Except for a handheld vocabulator, the Queen did not appear to be carrying any weapons. In the Queen’s lower left claw, she carried Teela Panjarra’s LOCC.
The Queen raised the vocabulator to her bulbous-eyed head and rasped, “Prepare to die, warrior.”
“On this yacht, a plasma bomb is,” Yoda replied as he stepped away from the skiff. He walked toward the guardrail, under which lay the fallen disrupter rifle. “Requires time, fighting does. Time you have not. Surrender the child, you will.”
The Bartokk Queen laughed. “Foolish warrior,” she snarled. “For failing our mission, we are prepared to die. You, on the other hand, have only managed to lock yourself up with us.” The Queen extended her arm and crushed the vocabulator in her claw. Then she opened her claw, letting the broken bits fall to the stern’s highly polished deck. She released the LOCC, letting it land with a dull thud on the deck. With all her claws free, the Queen assumed an attack position and prepared to strike.
Keeping his eyes on the Queen, Yoda slowly shook his head. “Not locked up with you, am I,” he replied as he edged toward the guardrail. “Locked up with me, are you.”
The Queen must have assumed Yoda was going to try using the disrupter rifle, and she pounced with her razor-sharp claws outstretched. She was still in midair when Yoda stepped away from the fallen rifle, activated his lightsaber, and let the Bartokk Queen fall upon its lethal blade.
The Queen was split in half and sprawled on the deck, but the two body parts rose quickly and tried to claw Yoda. The Jedi Master swung his lightsaber again and again, until there was little left of the Queen but flipping bits of insectoid armor.
Only the Queen’s head remained intact. It rested on its side on the deck, looking at the remains of her body.
The SoroSuub space yacht veered off course, and the three surviving Bartokks stepped out of the main cabin. Teela Panjarra’s conveyor began to slide across the deck toward the cabin, but Yoda grabbed hold of it. By Yoda’s calculation, the plasma bomb would detonate in less than twenty seconds.
Yoda pushed and followed Teela Panjarra’s LOCC into the yacht’s emergency escape pod. The moment they were inside the cushioned confines of the pod, Yoda hit the ejection button.
The pod blasted out and zoomed away from the SoroSuub space yacht. Anticipating the blast, Yoda placed a protective hand over the viewport on Teela Panjarra’s LOCC while he closed his own eyes. The pod was suddenly rocked by an incredible explosion, followed by a thunderous boom. The plasma bomb had detonated on schedule. Even with his eyes shut, Yoda could see the intense light of the massive explosion.
The shock wave subsided, and the pod descended to the Science Service tower. Yoda opened the LOCC to check on Teela Panjarra. She yawned, opened her eyes, looked at Yoda...
...and giggled.
At this point, readers who chose to follow the adventure in the Star Wars Adventures Game Book can return to Jedi Emergency.
Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi watched as Chief Scientist Frexton was led away from the Science Service tower by the Academy Security Police. Nearby, the President of the Academy himself was assuring Mace Windu and Yoda that Frexton would never set foot in a laboratory again.
“It’s most fortunate that no harm came to Teela Panjarra,” Qui-Gon noted.
“Not to mention the entire Academy,” Obi-Wan added.
Yoda and Mace Windu turned away from the Academy’s President and approached Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. The infant Teela Panjarra was cradled in Yoda’s arms.
Qui-Gon’s comlink chirped. He removed the device from his belt, held it in front of his face, and said, “Yes?”
From the comlink, Vel Ardox’s voice answered, “The Radiant VII is ready to transport us all back to Coruscant whenever you’re ready.”
Qui-Gon smiled as he responded. “We’re on our way back to Docking Bay thirty-nine-G now.”
On the tarmac of Docking Bay 39-G, Bama Vook and Leeper stood beside the Metron Burner and waved as the Radiant VII lifted off. Bama and Leeper had figured that as long as they were on Corulag, they might try and drum up some business to run a shipment back to Esseles.
The Jedi were transporting Teela Panjarra back to the Jedi Temple. While Mace Windu received a HoloNet message from Coruscant, the other Jedi waited for him in the Radiant VII’s conference room. Qui-Gon was engaged in conversation with Vel Ardox and Noro Zak, and Obi-Wan turned to Adi Gallia and said, “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, Master Adi.”
“Yes, Obi-Wan?”
“Master Qui-Gon has told me that you saved his life last year, but he has not told me the details. I thought perhaps you might tell me of the incident.”
Adi Gallia looked confused, and turned to Obi-Wan’s Master. “Qui-Gon? What’s this about me saving your life last year?”
“Remember the official banquet for the Hewett senators?” Qui-Gon asked. “You stopped me before I took a bite of Konkeel pie.”
“What?” Obi-Wan exclaimed. “You mean... Master Adi simply prevented you from eating dessert?”
“Konkeel pie is highly toxic to humanoids,” Adi Gallia stated. "The Hewett senators apologized and removed it from their menu.”
Qui-Gon looked at Obi-Wan and remarked, “People have died from eating it.”
“Oh,” said Obi-Wan.
Mace Windu entered the conference room. “I’ve received a message from Chancellor Valorum,” Mace Windu informed the gathered Jedi. “The matter of the Trade Federation constructing droid starfighters in the Darpa Sector is under investigation. The Trade Federation representatives, of course, deny any wrongdoing.”
“We’ll have to keep a very watchful eye on the Neimoidians,” Qui-Gon said.
Obi-Wan looked to Qui-Gon and asked, “Master? Do you think we’ll ever find out who hired the Bartokks to attack Corulag?”
Qui-Gon shook his head. “The answer to that question may have died with the Bartokks.”
After Groodo the Hutt and his son Boonda saw the explosion high in the sky over Curamelle city, they realized the Bartokks had failed their assignment to destroy Corulag Academy. Groodo bitterly swore he’d never do business with Bartokk assassins again. Boonda kept his mouth shut. In truth, Boonda hadn’t really wanted to go to the Academy anyway. He thought the Academy had too many rules.
Groodo couldn’t wait to leave Corulag and return to Esseles. The two Hutts abandoned their escape pod and slowly made their way to the Academy Spaceport. They were slithering past Docking Bay 39-G when Boonda tugged at the flab of his father’s left elbow.
“Really?” Groodo replied, beaming. “We must hire him to deliver us to Esseles at once.”
“I can’t wait to tell the gang back home about our adventure on Corulag!” young Boonda exclaimed.
“Boonda,” Groodo growled, “let’s just keep all that to ourselves.”
NEXT ADVENTURE: THE GHOSTLING CHILDREN
11.6.18.15.14.5-1
Star Wars - Episode I Adventures 004 - Jedi Emergency Page 4