Chapter 5        Slagg Flats, Old Arno & Adar Talon

Days Two and Three...

Dawn seemed to come far earlier than expected. Tolian was up first, getting everyone awake and rushing them through breakfast. He appeared anxious to get going to see Slagg Flats. Edmund had secured a set of speeder bikes the night before with Zaron’s help, making sure they were getting the best deal possible. Andromeda didn’t mention anything about it, but she could tell that he was feeling that tense feeling too, so it wasn’t just her paranoia talking.

As they left the ship to get their bikes, a messenger came running up to them, all out of breath. "Excuse me! Is one of you Commander Blackadder? I have a message for Commander Blackadder!"

"I’m Blackadder," Edmund stiffened.

"Then this is for you," the messenger handed him a sealed envelope and quickly ran off again.

"Odd. You know anyone out here?" Maharet asked. Edmund shook his head with a slightly puzzled look to it and moved to put the letter in his pocket.

"Aren’t you going to open it?" Zaron asked. Edmund slowly opened the envelope and carefully unfolded the note within. He perused it for a moment and then passed it around the group:

"Mr. Blackadder,

Imperative that I meet with you and your team. Have extremely important information re: Adar Talon. Please meet me at the Cantina at eight this evening.

Old Arno"

"If this guy knows who I am, then we will meet him later after our appointment with Slagg Flats," Edmund said quietly as he mounted his bike.

Andromeda looked from face to face and didn’t have to ask what the other was thinking. They all seemed to have that bad feeling.

The ride out to the old water silo was uneventful and the scenery never changed from sand dune to sand dune. If there were a beach nearby, then Andromeda imagined that she would have enjoyed the ride—and the breeze—a little more.

The water silo was an old, rusted out building, obviously abandoned as far as holding water went. The speeder bikes screeched to a halt just outside the front door, which appeared to be ajar. No one came out to greet them as they cautiously got off their bikes and headed for the door.

Andromeda already had her blaster drawn as Tolian went to knock on the door. There was no answer. Edmund stayed with the bikes. Zaron went around to see if there were any other ways in. Andromeda followed him.

As Zaron went to check on a power supply box mounted to the side of the building, he noticed nothing wrong. He was nearly startled silly when Andromeda grabbed him by the arm and pointed to the ground.

"Look! Speeder tracks! Someone’s been here before us!" she whispered.

"And why not? Someone lives here, remember?" Zaron hissed back and returned his attention to the power box. Andromeda returned to where Tolian and Maharet were inspecting the door.

"Did you knock?" she asked.

"No answer," Maharet replied as she carefully opened the door wide. The three of them could not see very far inside since there was no light within. Maharet went first, cautiously stepping inside followed closely by Tolian and Andromeda with their weapons drawn.

It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dim light within the silo, but once they were able to see, a terrible sight met them. Furniture was upturned. Papers were strewn all over the ground. Bodies were lying dead and slumped over the desk was a huge, white, furry alien, who also appeared to be dead. As Maharet stepped closer she noticed a strange dart-like object protruding from the neck. She felt for a pulse, but found none.

"That Slagg Flats?" Andromeda asked.

"Has to be," Maharet sighed heavily. "She’s dead. They all are. Someone found out and beat us here."

"I had a sinking feeling that something like this would happen. It’s been way too easy so far," Andromeda began to back up. "I’ve got a good idea who’s responsible, too. Labria, that double-crossing, nerf-herding, lying—"

"My feelings exactly," Maharet said. "Let’s get back to town. This Old Arno character had better not be involved." They quickly ran out of the building in to the nearly blinding sunlight. They jumped back onto their speeders and headed back to town.

"I’m going to give that Labria character a piece of my mind!" Andromeda fumed as she skidded to a perfectly executed (and noisy—even scary) halt in front of the Cantina.

"Y’know, there’s a good chance that he had nothing to do with it," Zaron began.

"And maybe this Old Arno character is a ghost as well," she snapped back. "Is it me, or has this all just been too good to be true? It just feels like it’s all been too easy—information conveniently falling into our lap or else it’s been practically handed over to us on a silver platter! Agh! Don’t mess with me! I desperately need a drink!" She pushed past everyone and stomped into the cantina. Tolian only held his hands up, indicating that he had nothing to do with her sudden outburst as they quietly followed her inside.

She purposefully strode up to the bar and slammed down a couple of credits. The bartender wordlessly set a drink down before her. She instantly emptied the glass and silently motioned for another. Zaron saw it and was about to say something about it, but the dangerous glint in her eye kept him silent.

Thankfully, they hadn’t long to wait. In came Labria, completely plastered off his rocker, staggering and singing loudly. Andromeda spun around to face him, her glare stony, her fist clenched tight, ready to strike. Tolian stood just to her right, ready to arrest any rash actions coming from her, as was Zaron who was standing just to her left. Edmund stood off to one side, tall and intimidating.

"Ah! My friends! Back so soon? So! How’d it all go?" he held his arms out as if to embrace them, but his mood was quickly subdued when he caught sight of Andromeda and her clenched fist glaring at him.

"Not that good then," he smirked nervously.

"Who else knew about Slagg Flats?" Edmund asked quietly.

"No one, I swear!" Labria squawked, his hand upraised.

"Well guess what. Your good friend is dead!" Andromeda growled. Labria seemed to retreat a step or two as if she had struck him.

"I’m sorry. I had no idea," he said quietly, seemingly sober for the moment. "But I have a new message for you. A new lead. It’s from an old friend of mine. Goes by the name of Old Arno."

"Old Arno?" Edmund raised an eyebrow.

"What about him?" Andromeda snapped as Edmund grabbed him by the shirt.

"You now owe me one hundred credits for misleading information," Edmund got in his face.

"No problem! Here’s fifty now. That’s all I have on me, honest! Just don’t hurt me, okay? I’ll take you over to Arno. He’s sitting over in a corner booth," Labria sputtered as he handed his money over to Edmund and led them to the corner. No sooner had they reached the corner booth did Labria turn to the gruffy-looking group around them and sputter, with finger pointing—

"That’s them. That’s the bunch I told you about. That’s the bunch who went asking after Slagg Flats!"

"You nerf-herding son of a Bantha—" Andromeda pulled out her blaster in defense and fired a shot off after him but missed. They were surrounded by a small group of Bounty Hunters, who were already firing at them.

Of course blaster fire sent the patrons running and the band actually was diving for cover. It was over as quickly as it had begun. The Bounty Hunters didn’t stand a chance and Labria’s big mistake was actually sticking around to watch.

"That lying—" Andromeda began again as she trained her gun on him. She wasn’t about to wound him seriously, though. That would be murder in cold blood if she did, she reasoned. But it appeared that Edmund didn’t share her viewpoint and could have cared less. He fired off two shots that stopped Labria cold and dropped him to the floor.

As Labria fell, a small sack fell from his fist. When Edmund picked it up after the fight he could hear the jingle of money—three hundred credits worth. Andromeda was surprised as she looked at Edmund who didn’t seem to have any qualms over what he had just done.

"This will be plenty of payment. Now I’m a satisfied customer," was all he said as he pocketed the money.

"But what about Arno? I wanted to grill him a little," Andromeda almost sounded disappointed.

"He probably would have lied to you," Zaron said as he began to head for the door. "I wouldn’t hang around if I were you. Imperials will be crawling over the place soon."

"Zaron’s right. Let’s leave," Tolian began to push them toward the door. "Let’s just hurry back to the ship."

"Tolian’s right. Let’s just wait it out. Forget about this Arno character. Any and all of our so-called leads have been nothing but trouble. We’ll just have to find Talon ourselves. We’ll have to find a way to beat the Bounty Hunters there somehow," Maharet said as she also headed for the door.

"I agree with Maharet," Tolian said as they headed back to the ship. "We’ll skip the Arno-thing and head out at second dawn. There’s at least three different places that Bounty Hunting party will try and I intend to be where they’re not."

"What does that mean?" Andromeda asked as they turned down an alleyway.

"Zaron has told me a little about this place. There’s an old Tusken Fort south of town. There’s an old manor estate east of town and there’s a supposedly abandoned settlement west of town," Tolian explained. "We have to try and outguess the Bounty Hunters. If you were one, where would you head first?"

"Probably the abandoned settlement. If I was an old hermit, that’s where I’d hide out," Zaron said reasonably.

"Maybe the Manor," Maharet replied.

"We’ll find out in the morning," Tolian entered the ship. "I think we should head out to the Tusken Fort."

"Why there?" Andromeda asked.

"Because it would seem like the most likeliest place. If you found out that everyone in the galaxy was hunting you down, wouldn’t you want to barricade yourself somewhere safe?" Tolian shut the door behind them.

"I suppose you’re right. You’re a smarty every day, Uncle," Andromeda kidded.

"So then we are settled and decided. We will be headed out to the Tusken fort at second dawn, then," Tolian settled into a seat.

"I just hope that your hypothesis is correct," Zaron said quietly and also settled into a seat.

Andromeda held up a deck of cards, waiting for any takers on a game but there were none and quietly began a game of solitaire. Edmund wordlessly headed for his quarters, probably to go put his new found fortune in a safe place. Maharet also retired to her quarters, probably for a nap. Tolian was bent over a computer and Zaron had now pulled out a data pad and was fiddling with it. That began the long (and not to mention boring) wait.

Second Dawn seemed extremely slow in arriving. An unsaid urgency was felt amongst them as they quickly jumped onto speeders and began to make their way out of town.

"Seems awful quiet this morning," Maharet commented.

"It seems as if the town were almost deserted," Andromeda agreed.

"Think about it. They’re all out hunting Talon," Zaron pointed out. It was almost eerie. No one else really said anything as they headed out of town.

They were just outside of town when they overtook a lone speeder bike. He actually was waving his hands, trying to flag them down as if he were in some kind of trouble. When they got closer they found that it was an old man and indeed, his bike was in trouble.

"I’m so glad to see you! When you didn’t meet me at the Cantina last night I had feared that something terrible had happened!" he seemed overly relieved. "You’re Rebels, aren’t you?"

"Old Arno, is it?" Edmund spoke up.

"Why, yes! When you didn’t show up last night, I took it upon myself to go and warn Talon myself. I was able to throw those hunters off the trail, but I don’t know for how long!" Arno seemed to be on the edge of frustration as he gave his failing bike a jerk and a little feeble kick.

"Hop on," Tolian gave him a hand up.

"The Tusken Fort and hurry!" Arno gave the order as if talking to a cabby. They slammed on the gas and were silent as they sped over the desert dunes.

It was a long hour and a half later when the old fort came into view. It was much bigger than any of them had thought and Tolian could tell that Arno was somewhat relieved at seeing it.

"I just hope we aren’t too late," Arno seemed tense as they pulled up to the door. A sentry who was standing duty in the upper tower greeted them.

"State your business!" he yelled down to them.

"We’re here to see Talon. It’s a matter of life and death!" Arno called up.

"Just a minute!" he called down again. In a moment the great front doors were opened and they were quickly ushered inside. They were ushered through a long hallway and into a brightly-lit room.

It looked more like a musical conservatory, if anything. There were many rare musical instruments that hung on the walls. There were luxurious furnishings. An old man was seated at what looked like a piano, playing a concerto of some kind and another younger looking man was seated nearby. He jumped up almost nervously to greet the new arrivals.

"Arno! What a surprise!" he seemed almost uncomfortable.

"Kip, its been a long time," Arno said quietly. "My friends." He gestured to the group behind him. Andromeda had already made herself comfortable on one of the luxurious couches, listening to the beautiful music and was joined by Edmund. Tolian stood just behind them while Maharet and Zaron hung back by the door. Kip smiled and went to the piano. The old man stopped abruptly and turned to them.

"Hello," he smiled. "I’m Adar Talon. Welcome to my home. I see you’ve met Kip, my bodyguard."

"I’m Commander Blackadder of the Rebel Alliance," Edmund stood. "We’ve been sent to find you and bring you back safely to our base. The Empire knows that you’re still alive and have put one heck of a bounty on your head. Every bounty hunting maniac has come to Tatooine looking for you." Talon sighed heavily. Kip quietly excused himself and left the room.

"I had my reasons for doing what I did, faking my death and letting the galaxy believe that. It was the only way I could think of in order to leave the service of the Galactic Empire. I have actually been quite happy here, planning to live out my days here in quiet solitude on Tatooine. But now I see that I could be of some real use and I can serve where my beliefs lie, for once. Yes, I will come back with you and join your rebellion," Talon said quietly and stood up. There seemed to be a sigh of relief from everyone in the room that was nearly audible.

"That won’t be so easy," Kip said as he returned, followed in by several other Bounty Hunters and the one and only Joda Cast! The hunters had them quickly surrounded with guns pointed. Talon retreated to the back of the room.

"A real treat," Joda said from behind his mask. "Not only will we get the bounty for Talon, but there’s sure to be bounty for this Rebel Scum as well—although probably not as much! More like petty cash."

"I’ll have you know I’m worth much more than that!" Andromeda growled and let off a shot with her blaster.

"Over my dead body!" Zaron growled almost inaudibly and fired his blaster. There was an outcry from Talon who took cover in a corner with Arno as he watched the fire fight ensue. Shots rang out and despite Talon’s cries of protest and warnings over the valuable and rare musical instruments he had in the room, too, but he needn’t have worried so much.

It was all over in a matter of moments. The Hunters never stood a chance. Kip was lying dead as well as Joda Cast and all four of his cronies. Before the smoke was even cleared, Tolian, Andromeda, Edmund, Maharet and Zaron were picking various things up off the floor and off the bodies as well.

"Not much time," Edmund tossed Talon and Arno a weapon. "We need to get out of here and back to base as soon as possible."

"No worries there," Talon said casually as he waited for them to finish packing. "I have my personal skiff parked in the other end of the compound. We’ll just skip town altogether and just head straight for your ship. After what just happened here, I’ll be more than happy to join your rebellion! No sense in waiting for the next batch of Hunters!"

They wasted no time in getting back to the Redeemer. They went as fast as they could possibly go and no one was breathing easy until the ship had safely touched down on the new Rebel base on Palmonar.

There, Admiral Talon was greeted with practically open arms and they were given a hero’s welcome. They were each awarded a Medal of Honor and Bravery at Admiral Talon’s request, since he was quite impressed with them.

Commander Organa and Mon Mothma were most pleased with having Admiral Talon’s talents joined with the Rebellion effort. This was a major score in keeping the new foothold against the Empire.

*Chapters 4 & 5 based off of the Tatooine Manhunt module for the Star Wars RPG.  No Copyright infringement intended, honest!!  No profits being made, either!! 

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