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Emon's
Meeting with Freedom
A Story for the Battlecry #4 Competition
WC-TCS/MAJ Troutrooper/Wing VIII/ISD Colossus
(troutrooper@yahoo.com)
"Your name is…F'Kio
Dar, you say? Where are you headed, Mr. Dar?"
"Oh, I not quite sure yet, but probably somewhere in the vicinity
of Vodran system. Perhaps I might stop by Corellia, too." Emon
Kaaren had this customs agent completely hooked by his story. Aboard
the Oasis, Emon had found the pilot's wardrobe and was surprised
at how well it fit. Dressed in decent clothes-and infinitely cleaner
than the ones worn in prison-Emon now began his new life. He had
decided to stop at a New Republic border station to get his bearings
and few supplies. Plus, he needed to know the state of the galaxy
after being in prison for so long. Unfortunately, this nerfish Gotal
was holding him up at the moment.
"Do you have anything to declare?"
"No, sir."
"Do you grant permission for a scan of your ship?"
"Sure. Take all the time you need. And while you're scanning,
I'll just hop on over to the station's bar. I don't want to interfere
with the scan, of course."
"By all means. We will be done in five to ten minutes."
"Finally," Emon thought. He opened the hatch for the inspectors
and strode over to the nearby pub. He was certain that the only
suspicious item they would find would be a couple bottles of Jaap's
Brew, a slightly illegal alcohol which, when combined with the right
ingredients, becomes a powerful explosive. A scan team as ragtag
as the one boarding his ship would never find the real dangers of
the freighter. Emon entered the bar and sat down at the counter.
These border stations were fairly standard: customs officials, pilot's
lounge, a few bars and restaurants, gift shops, and always sparkling
clean. "I could take my family to one of these. If I ever wanted
to have a family, that is."
"What'll it be, sir?" the large, but friendly bartender
asked the escapee.
"Umm, whiskey and a glass of water. Tall glass of water, that
is. I'm kinda parched." The bartender nodded, spun around,
and poured the water for Emon. Kaarin sighed and looked at the other
person in the room. For the first time in his life, he was free.
And, for the first time in his life, he was completely, utterly
bored. He wanted to do something, but after every new and exciting
idea, a wave of lethargy washed over him. "Information trader?
Nah, the only sides who could pay me what I want already have enough
spies. Mercenary? Nah, I know too many of them. Plus, I'd have to
work in a team. Slaver? Uhhh, no. Farmer? See slaver. Man, if only
I-" Emon stopped as the other patron looked up at him and motioned
for Emon to sit at his table. Looking around and finding no-one
else, Emon slid out of his barstool and into the squeaky-clean metallic
booth.
"I don't know who you are, and frankly, I don't care either.
My name is also not important, but what I am about to tell you is.
Approximately two days ago, the New Republic attacked one of its
own prisons a couple of systems away from here. Their target was
a man named Emon Kaarin. All but one of the prisoners were killed…and
one freighter pilot. Unfortunately for them, their target was not
found among the dead and a scan of the planet has turned up nothing."
"So why are you telling me all this? It seems way more classified
than I want to know." Emon was definitely nervous. If word
of the attack had reached a backwater station such as this one,
he probably shouldn't stray near some of his old hiding spots.
"Your freighter has the same IFF code as the one owned by the
dead pilot. One missing prisoner with the know-how to pilot any
craft and cover his tracks, and one missing freighter. Coincidence?
Not a chance."
"And what if I am that missing prisoner? What would you do
to me?" Emon didn't recognize this guy at all, but then again,
a lot had changed in the past few years.
"If you are the prisoner, then I stun you, throw you in the
holding cell of my ship, and take you to Warlord Zsinj." That
name set of several alarms in Emon's head. He had worked for Zsinj
once and had hated the man. He did not enjoy being in the warlord's
presence as a bounty hunter, and he definitely did not want to be
in the warlord's presence as a prisoner. "If this…informant
is telling the truth, I need to get out of here. Fast."
"What do you want from me? You obviously didn't call me over
here to tell me highly classified material for kicks."
"Show me your ID, Mr. Dar." Emon froze. He hadn't had
the tools he needed on-board the Oasis to make a proper, albeit
fake, ID. He was able to slight-of-hand the customs agent, but this
guy…"Huh, I have a better chance of sleeping with Princess
Leia than blindsiding this fellow right now." He fumbled with
his pockets, trying to stall.
"Stalling will only hurt your case, Mr. Dar. I suggest producing
an appropriate ID immediately. You are not armed, but I am well
armed. Your ID. Now." He didn't know who this guy was, but
Emon had begun to hate that cool, calm, and in control voice of
his.
"Bartender, where's that whiskey I asked for?"
"Oh, sorry sir. It's on its way."
"No more time, Mr. Dar," A blaster appeared. It looked
modified, but then again, anyone who used his blaster more than
twice always modified it in some way. Emon could see that it was
set to high stun, which meant that the target was knocked completely
out for quite a long period of time.
"Your drink, s-" As soon as the bartender put the whiskey
on the table, Emon flipped the shot glass at the mysterious informant.
The whiskey spilled onto the blaster, causing it to short-circuit.
The bartender jumped back, while Emon leapt out of the booth and
sprinted for the door. Unfortunately, the informant pulled another
blaster out. Fortunately, he couldn't aim right and only managed
to ruin the bar's doorway.
The station was silent. Not
a single person was around, and all the lights were off. It was
almost as if the place had been evacuated, except for Emon and his
attacker. F'Kio Dar was now a suspect running from the law. Emon
Kaarin had been running from the law for quite some time. Emon had
managed to find a small holdout blaster and some clips for it. He
still was confused, though. The informant said that the New Republic
had attacked its own base, but he saw TIEs attacking it. Perhaps
the informant had misinformation…unlikely, since he knew that
the pilot was killed and the Oasis was stolen. Emon wondered why
the New Republic would go after their own base, especially in TIE
Advanceds. Was the New Republic trying to frame the renegade Imperials
of destroying their prison? He didn't know, and frankly didn't care
at this point. All he wanted to do was find a way off of this floating
spacedock. He peered around the corner, saw no-one, and made his
way to the turbolift. Emon heard footsteps about 20 meters away
and moved into the shadows of the lift. He looked to see a merchant
wandering through the station, window shopping.
"Hey you! I have a proposition for ya!" Emon loudly whispered
to the merchant.
"Yes…? What can I do you for?"
"I need to get to Malastare. Can you help?"
"Malastare, huh? Well, that could be pricey, 'specially since
I'm not going that way."
"Where are you going?"
"The Adage system, but I'm stopping over in Ord Mantell."
"Five hundred creds if you drop me off in Ord Mantell."
"Five hundred? Sure. I leave in two hours. Meet me at the customs
area in front of Hangar XB-2."
"Right." As the merchant walked away, Emon wondered how
he would pick up the 500 credits he promised. He had not seen anything
worth even fifty creds in the entire building. Except for…"the
shuttles!" Hurrying down to the hangar level, he remembered
that he was being hunted only after a couple of laser blasts scorched
the wall to the right of his head. "Damn that guy is persistent."
Emon fired back without looking and continued to the hangar bay
just a wee bit faster now. He called for one of the turbololifts
and ducked into the shadows. His pursuer came closer, but could
not find him. "Time to end this," thought Emon. He waited
for the informant to come three steps closer…one…two…
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! DROP YOUR WEAPON AND TURN AROUND SLOWLY!
MAKE ANY SUDDEN MOVES AND I WILL SHOOT!" Emon froze. He was
about to follow the orders when he realized that the voice was in
front of him. He peered around the corner to see the customs agent
who had checked his ship aiming for the informant. Not wanting to
ruin this moment, he crouched down and watched the events unfold.
"You are under arrest for violating section 882.94 paragraph
7 of the New Republic customs code: failure to quarantine diseased
fruits."
"WHAT?!"
"We found two unknown fruits infected with Soan-Los-7. This
virus is highly contagious and uses humans as disease vectors. You
probably unwittingly infected every plant here on the station. I
hope you're happy."
"This is insanity! I didn't declare it because I didn't know
I had any fruits or veggies aboard! Heck, I'm surprised I had anything
to eat aboard my ship at all!! Let me go!"
"Be quiet. You're only getting into more trouble by yelling
at me." The agent took him away and Emon was left staring blankly.
"Wait a sec…I can get to my own-well, it's mine now-ship
and not have to pay that trader anything. Great!"
"Control, this is the
freighter Oasis. I respectfully request permission to leave."
"Permission granted…Hold please…uhh, Agent Sxol would
like to speak with you aboard your ship."
"Roger that." Emon couldn't believe it. Here he was, literally
one minute away from freedom, and he had to wait because some agent
wanted to speak with him. "What could this Agent Sucka, or
Sxol, or whatever want?" He hid everything that might be incriminating
and waited. He heard a knock at the ramp and went back to see who
it was.
"Hello Emon Kaarin."
"Wha…who…Uhh?"
"Oh I knew who you were from the moment you arrived. I'm surprised
you didn't recognize me. I am Uopal Masch, Master Bounty Hunter.
I believe you met my apprentice, Hadero Trew."
"I know you now. We worked together on that Hutt hit…though
the name of the target escapes me right now."
"Right, unfortunately for you, though, we don't work together
any more."
"So you're here to capture me and to take me to Warlord Zsinj,
right?"
"No. The bounty is for you, dead or alive. Same price. The
only reason we didn't kill you earlier was because I wanted to teach
my apprentice how to bag the big bounties. Your worth is far more
than you know. We never lied to you: the New Republic did attack
your prison in an attempt on your life while trying to make it look
like an Imperial hit, and I am a certified food inspector for the
NR-I did that before I became a bounty hunter. So, unless you can
escape from us right now, you are a dead man." Emon thought
about the events that had happened here on the station. He felt
a little remorseful for killing the freighter pilot now, mainly
because he didn't really escape. As the apprentice fired the fatal
shots, Emon Kaarin remembered only one thing: he forgot to tell
the merchant he wasn't going to meet him.
CMDR/CM Troutrooper/Omicron/Wing
VIII/ISD Colossus
PC/ISMx6/CoB [GALL] {IWATS-M/1/2-SM/2-TT}
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