Author: Stan Shinn (Page 66 of 112)

On Khubeaie, Isshtatha finds Chien, an old wookiee friend from the Imperial Slave Mines. They share a furry, growling reunion, and compare notes on the best brand of flea collar.

Rel helps Dredge construct a light saber, which he uses to dice cucumbers, carrots, and Imperial bounty hunters.

The group heads to Kwenn space station, where the Star Destroyer Relentless is docked for repairs. They must rescue undercover rebel spy, Dana Prenteen.

Daymont’s bar fight gets interrupted when his assailant is stabbed.

Carrying the stabbing victim to sick bay, Cornelius gets covered in foul-smelling disease-blood, ruining his chances of getting a date with a hot Jawa.

The rest of the rebels find Dana, but too late. She’s unconscious, surrounded by bounty hunters and an Imperial officer.

Dr. Tark Malin leaps into action and runs up to the bad guys, and says, “You found my sister!”

The bounty hunters stand confused.

Tark grabs Dana and sprints away, thanks to the power of his Rapid Happy Orb™.

The rebels kill the bad guys and run.

On the Tyranus, Tark finds Dana’s final transmission: Commander Adar Tallon, hero of the Old Republic, is alive. He’s hiding on Tatooine. The crew must find him before the Imperial bounty hunters do….

Our heroes meet Rel Thaxton, not-quite-a-Jedi, in a dark, smoky bar…right after Kek nearly picks a fight with him, and Cornelius draws his blaster.

Rel tells the crew that Lu’Nimah sent him. He proves it with a series of secret handshakes, winks, and twitches. He’s here to take the force-sensitive Dredge to find a hidden Jedi temple on Khubeaie.

The crew goes there; Dredge and Rel find the temple, and enter.

Meanwhile, outside, the Imperial scum arrive. A star destroyer targets the ship from orbit, and storm troopers speed across the desert.

In the temple, Dredge must face his destiny—alone. It turns out his destiny is a bunch of scary bad guys: Count Vidian, The Inquisitor, and several mysterious, gray-cloaked guards. They capture Rel, decapitate him, and order Dredge to join them.

Outside, Isshtatha pilots the Tyranus toward Vidian’s ships on top of a mesa. The crew fires at will. Tark, Daymont, and Kek strike a blow for the Rebel Alliance.

In the temple, Dredge refuses to join the Dark Side, and leaps into an abyss, plummeting toward certain death.

But instead of death, he discovers Rel, alive and well. Dredge has passed his Jedi test—and all of it was an illusion.

Now, the crew has two almost-Jedis. Count Vidian’s days are numbered….

Something smells funny on the O.R.C. Tyrannus.

It turns out to be Kek—a rat-like, bat-like humanoid who stows away on the ship.

On Vor Deo, the heroes visit a park to pick up information from Lu’Nimah. As Vin Sai tries to track the stealthy Kek, Isshtatha leaps into action to save a petite trollop from an aggressive shroom dealer.

Tensions mount when Vin and Kek decide to steal a droid—R2-X9. Daymont storms off…and notes it in his report.

Daymont later returns to call Vin a dumb-ass.

Racing with Vin, a distracted Daymont slams into a Storm Trooper transport, killing the Troopers and destroying both vehicles.

Then, the heroes spot five drug-dealer thugs on hover bikes and chase them. Isshtatha decapitates one with the car door and Daymont guns down three more in a deadly spray of automatic fire.

Kek wonders how soon it will be before these nuts get him killed.

Back on the ship, Vin Sai analyzes blood samples from the drug dealers and the crew. Someone’s blood seems to have midi-chlorians in it. (Yes, The ‘M’-word.)

The next day, the crew discovers that Count Vidian has killed the wife of their friend, Gorse. They decide that it is time to stop Vidian once and for all…