At this point, readers who chose to follow the adventure in the Star Wars Adventures Game Book can return to The Bartokk Assassins.
On Esseles, the heroes who had been stunned by the Bartokks were fully recovered. Despite Trinkatta’s cantankerous nature, he had done a good job of caring for the wounded at his starship factory.
Sitting on a bench in Trinkatta’s workshop, Bama Vook gave his son a playful sock in the arm. “I’ll bet you’re glad to be back on Esseles, eh, son?”
“I’ll say!” Chup-Chup declared. “Wait’ll I tell my friends about my adventure.”
“Perhaps you should delay your storytelling for now,” Qui-Gon calmly suggested. “Until we settle the matter of the missing droid starfighters, lives are still in danger. You’ll be able to tell your friends soon, I promise.”
Qui-Gon turned to Obi-Wan and Leeper. Both the Padawan and the droid were hunkered over a table that was littered with numerous tools. Leeper was examining the Neimoidian prototype hyperdrive engine that had been retrieved from the Bartokk freighter, and Obi-Wan was monitoring a subspace transceiver.
“What do you make of it, Leeper?” Qui-Gon asked.
The droid tapped at the engine. “It’s a fast unit, this is,” he admitted. “If all those Trade Federation droid starfighters were powered by engines like this, they could be deployed almost anywhere within the next three sectors in a matter of minutes.”
“Then I think we can assume that was the Trade Federation’s motive for wanting their starfighters built on Esseles,” Qui-Gon proclaimed. “If they’d built such threatening weapons within Republic space, they’d be breaking more than a dozen treaties. The Trade Federation representative would be kicked out of the Senate.”
“I wouldn’t know about that,” Leeper admitted. “But I’ll tell you this: if that second Bartokk freighter is carrying twenty-five droid starfighters, it can’t be for any good reason.”
The Jedi Master turned to Obi-Wan and asked, “Any word from Corulag?”
“I sent a message to Corulag Academy,” Obi-Wan replied. “They know the Bartokk freighter may be on its way.”
“It’s a long trip to Corulag,” Qui-Gon observed. “It’s my guess that the Bartokks plan on delivering the droid starfighters there. If they’d wanted to deploy the starfighters, they could have done so as soon as they left Esseles. If the freighter is traveling below light speed, we’ll catch up to it without any problem.”
“Actually, we may already have a problem,” Obi-Wan admitted. “I tried sending a message to the Jedi chapter house on Rhinnal to check on Adi Gallia’s condition. There’s no response. I’m only getting static. It might just be subspace interference.”
“Then again, there might be trouble on Rhinnal.” Qui-Gon grimaced. “We must go to Rhinnal immediately. We’ll deal with the Bartokk freighter as soon as we can.”
Bama Vook jumped up from his bench. “Leeper and I can take you to Rhinnal in the Metron Burner.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer, Bama,” Qui-Gon said. “Let’s get going!”
Nute Gunray paced the main deck of the Trade Federation battleship. He was scheduled to deliver a report to Darth Sidious, and he was not looking forward to it. Still he knew the Sith Lord would not forgive a late communication, so he sat down in front of the holocom.
The image of the cowled Darth Sidious appeared above the transceiver. “What is the report from Esseles?” Darth Sidious demanded.
Nute Gunray struggled to find the best words to answer the question. “There has been an unexpected development,” he babbled. “Our two agents have reported they overheard that a Bartokk freighter left Esseles with all fifty droid starfighters and the prototype hyperdrive engine.”
“Is that all?” Darth Sidious asked.
Gunray was surprised by the Sith Lord’s question. Darth Sidious sounded almost unconcerned about Bartokks. “There is another problem,” Gunray added. “Our agents also believe they saw Jedi Knights on Esseles.”
“I have little tolerance for unexpected developments, Gunray,” Darth Sidious responded. “You have not handled this situation well.”
“I … I will pursue the Bartokk freighter myself!” Gunray boldly stammered.
“Do not bother,” Darth Sidious answered. “I have someone else lined up for the job.”
The hologram flickered off.
NEXT ADVENTURE:
THE FURY OF DARTH MAUL
11.6.18.15.14.5-1
Star Wars - Episode I Adventures 002 - The Bartokk Assassins Page 5
