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Cell 2 <Imperial Prison Facility: Kessel>
This is a sterile cell, about 6X6 feet wide. It is dry and clean, but
lacks any material comforts. A low, hard black platform serves as a
bed. The gray walls are featureless, and the only way in or out is
through the heavy blast door which can only be opened from outside.
Ponda Baba crouches against the wall, clawed hands draped across his
knees.
Poe starts from his sleep, sitting up and looking around the room.
The Aqualish rises from his crouch, his shadow falling over Poe as he
moves toward the human.
Poe looks up at Ponda with groggy eyes, then slowly pushes himself off
the bed and stands up. He grunts a greeting to the Aqualish, but
doesn't say anything just yet.
Quietly, raspily, the Aqualish speaks to Poe: "Doctor here soon. Ponda
Baba hurt you. Hurt Ponda Baba." He jerks a clawed thumb toward the
door. "Doctor infirmary. Leave."
Poe rubs his eyes and just stares at the Aqualish for a moment, then
slowly nods. "Alright."
"Ponda Baba try not kill," the Aqualish offers by way of reassurance,
flexing his clawed fingers.
Poe lets out a short laugh, "Alright. If I die, I'll remember that it
was an accident." He adds, "Avoid the neck and chest. And the face
too."
"Doctor insist face first," the Aqualish replies, huffing a sigh as he
clenches his clawed fingers into a fist and then swings, hard, at
Poe's left cheek. He shouts: "Kill hoo-MAN!"
From Cell Block A <Imperial Prison Facility: Kessel>, Bardack walks
down the line of the cell block, humming merrily to himself.
Poe gets hit square in the face and falls backwards. "You won't make a
snack out of me!" He jumps back up and makes a tackle dive at Ponda.
As Poe leaps at him, Ponda Baba roars and rams his tusks toward the
oncoming human, but at the last possible moment he throws his left arm
into the path of the hard, sharp tusks and rends through cloth and
hairy flesh. Blood courses from the wound as he is hammered by Poe and
thrown back the floor.
From Cell Block A <Imperial Prison Facility: Kessel>, Bardack stops
humming at the sound of the scuffle. He walks toward the cell door.
"Hey now, what are you two up to? Settle down, or I'll feed ya to the
spiders, I will!"
Poe rolls off of Ponda, slamming his elbow hard into the floor of the
cell at the same time. His cheek is starting to swell and bruise where
it was hit. He gets back up, holding his arm. "What's the matter, more
than you could handle?"
The Aqualish springs from the floor, left arm bleeding badly. He
snarls at the human, flexes his clawed fingers, and then leaps
forward, slashing with the talons of his right hand across Poe's
chest.
From Cell Block A <Imperial Prison Facility: Kessel>, "Hey now, Ponda!
Back of there! We're short on bacta, an' expecting a replacement doc
today! Your friend is wanted for work detail, and has spent enough
time in the infirmary!" Bardack barks.
Poe gasps as the claws rake across his chest and falls to the floor.
Blood flows from the wounds and Poe puts his hand over the wound,
trying to slow the bleeding. While on the floor, he tries to sweep the
Aqualish's legs out from under him with his own leg, but he's pretty
banged up by now.
Ponda Baba puts the bloodied claws in his mouth, hissing: "Taaasssste."
And then he's caught by surprise, apparently, when the human's leg
sweeps under him. Thrown off balance, the Aqualish staggers and falls
toward the cot, thumping his lacerated arm against the bed.
From Cell Block A <Imperial Prison Facility: Kessel>, Bardack has
apparently had enough. "Guards!" he yells. "Cell Two, fight in
progress. Bring a bloody stretcher, Ponda's at it again!" He begins to
open the door to the cell.
From Cell Block A <Imperial Prison Facility: Kessel>, Two guards,
their pistols drawn, move in behind Bardack. Two more move down the
corridor, bearing a stretcher.
Poe doesn't make anymore moves to attack, back himself away from the
Aqualish towards the door.
Huffing angrily, the Aqualish gets to his feet and turns toward Poe,
dark and glassy eyes gleaming in the shadows. His left arm hangs,
seemingly useless due to its injury, and blood is pooling on the floor
as it drips from the injury. The clawed fingers of his right hand flex
and for a moment, he is silent save for breathing. Then, the
apparently enraged Aqualish begins thundering toward Poe.
Bardack enters the cell, flanked by two guards with weapons drawn.
"Stun 'im!" he says, pointing at Ponda Baba.
One of the guards, his weapon set to stun, fires it at Ponda.
Poe lies on the floor, clutching at his chest.
Ponda Baba's claws slash less than an inch from Poe's throat - a
lethal wind tickles the human's flesh - in a sweeping move just as the
glowing blue circles of stun energy strike him, and he falls off to
the right, curled between the cot and the corner of the cell near the
door.
Bardack sighs. He turns and looks at Poe. "What a bloody mess! What's
wrong with you, you trying to get out of here the fast way? There's
better uses for ya here than ta be killed by Ponda in yer cell."
The two guards carrying the stretcher outside enter, and begin to load
Ponda onto it.
Poe shakes his head. Blood seeps through his fingers. "He attacked me
first. I was just..." he takes a deep breath, "trying to defend
myself."
Bardack frowns at Poe, and puts his hands on his hips. "Sure, sure.
An' how do I know this just isn't some ploy to get back to the comfort
of the infirmary? I should send ya inta the mines like this, let ya
worry 'bout bleedin' ta death. Bloody idiots! Think I have nothin'
better ta do than break up yer fights?"
Poe doesn't answer, just grunts and lays on the floor.
Bardack sighs. "All right, on your feet, you slug," he says to Poe.
"We'll take ya both ta the infirmary, an' see if the new doc is here
yet. Old one got stabbed last week by one a' the rowdier patients."
Poe slowly climbs to his feet, letting the air out from between his
teeth with a hiss.
Bardack gestures to the guards that are bearing Ponda on a stretcher.
"Come on, come on." He reaches to open the door.
A few minutes
later...
Infirmary <Imperial Prison Facility:
Kessel>
This sterile-looking facility is where prisoners who are injuried in
the mines receive medical treatment. Rows of beds extend outward from
the walls, and several medical droids move about from patient to
patient. From the look of things, injuries in the mines are a common
occurrence, and new patients, many in very serious condition, are
brought in in a nearly constant stream.
Bardack looks around, and grabs one of the attending droids by the
manipulator arm. "Hey, you. The new doc here yet? I got a coupla
idiots who can't leave well enough alone."
The guards move Ponda from the stretcher to one of the nearest beds,
and depart.
The medical droid says, "I'm sorry, sir. I have no information on a
new doctor."
Poe follows in, taking a seat on an empty bed.
Ponda Baba grunts as he is dumped onto the bed.
Bardack grunts. "Wonderful. Just wonderful! The warden said there'd be
a new guy here today. Bloody hell, I should just let these two bleed
all over each other!"
Evazan enters the infirmary, a medical mask covering much of his
face...but not enough to conceal the scarring. He looks around, and
sees Ponda Baba and Poe. Quickly, he approaches Ponda's bedside, and
turns to face Bardack. "What happened here?" he demands.
"You the new doc? Bout bloody time you got here! Just what we need, a
lazy slug for a doctor!" Bardack frowns and looks at Evazan closely.
"Ugly one, too. Say...you look real familiar, like. You work here
before?"
Poe eyes the doctor a moment before laying down on the bed, still
clutching the claw marks on his chest.
Evazan looks away from Bardack, and sets down the rather large and
heavy-looking medical bag he is carrying. "No, no. I just arrived.
Never been here before. Now, you get going, I'll tend to the patients.
I'm a doctor. That's what I do." He pulls out a syringe, and
approaches Ponda Baba.
Bardack looks at Evazan suspiciously, but nods. "Riight. I gotta see
the warden 'bout something, anyway. Get 'em fixed up so they can head
back to the mines." He turns, and exits the infirmary.
Evazan pulls down the surgical mask, and lets out a hissing breath. "Ponda!"
he whispers, and injects the Aqualish with a stimulant. "Wake up,
Ponda! Now is no time for napping!"
The Aqualish huffs, then looks toward Evazan. "Doctor come," he
grunts.
Poe watches the exchange, not saying anything.
Evazan nods. "Yes, I come! Now, we must get you out!" he whispers.
"Soon, they will learn, the ship bearing their REAL doctor had
an...accident! And my passes and papers are forged! We must go!" He
looks around, and reaches into his bag, withdrawing something and
slipping it into the Aqualish's grasp. "Stormtroopers would search my
bag, yes? But *I* told them, it carries infectious disease cultures!
No search!" he laughs.
Ponda Baba chortles, hugging the gun close with his uninjured right
hand. And that's when a rather snooty looking Imperial officer comes
striding into the infirmary.
Poe lets out a cough when the officer comes through the door.
"The overseer tells me the mines will be short two workers today," the
officer sniffs, walking toward Evazan and Ponda Baba. His haughty gaze
settles on the doctor. "Don't waste your time on the Aqualish. Get the
human healed enough to go back into the mines." He then looks at Ponda
Baba. "Leave the Aqualish for me."
Evazan glances back at the officer. He bends down and reaches into his
bag. "Leave the Aqualish? He's hurt. I'm helping him."
"Don't bother," the Imperial officer replies in clipped tones. "He
will require no assistance when I am done with him."
Ponda Baba keeps the DL-18 held under the bloodied arm, not daring to
move it.
Poe just sits on the bed, not having anything to say that wouldn't
seem suspicious.
"Right," Evazan says slowly. He clutches something inside his bag, but
keeps his hand inside it as he picks it up and moves a few feet over
to where Poe lies. But he watches the officer out of the corner of his
good eye.
The Imperial officer smiles darkly, then moves closer to the Aqualish.
He clasps his hands behind his back, smiling smugly as he leans over
Ponda Baba. "I have heard far too much about you, *Aqualish*," he
snarls. "It is time that you learn, once and for all, your proper
place on Kessel. You have killed two prisoners, maimed four others.
You are a hindrance to productivity. You are a liability." From behind
his back he draws a slender metallic shaft. He presses a button and a
vibroblade whickers outward. "Those tusks will look good on my wall."
Poe watches Evazan approach, not saying anything until he gets closer.
"You'd better do something," he whispers.
It becomes apparent rather quickly that Ponda Baba's left arm isn't
lame after all. He releases the gun in his right hand, then quickly
grabs the Imperial officer's close-leaning head in his clawed hands
and then growls: "Tassssste." He jerks the Imperial's face toward the
waiting tusks. The human in the gray uniform shrieks, slamming the
vibroblade into Ponda's belly just before his mouth is impaled and the
scream is muted. Blood slurries onto the Aqualish, his medical bed,
the uniform, and then the Imperial officer gurgles and falls limp.
Ponda hurls him aside, draws the vibroblade from his stomach, and then
gets off the medical bed, clutching the DL-18 again.
Evazan turns toward Ponda. A DL-44 is in his hand, drawn from the
medical bag. "Ponda!" He shouts. "Hold still! Let Doctor tend you.
Yes? That's a bad wound. I will fix."
Poe curses as the officer is killed. He stands from the bed, "Look, we
need to get out of here. Tend the wound on the ship." He frowns, "How
exactly do you plan on getting past the gates?"
The Aqualish grunts, but nods to Evazan, slumping against the medical
bed.
Evazan turns to look at Poe. He takes a step toward him, the gun still
in his hand. "I don't like you," he says. "And I don't think Ponda
likes you, either!" He looks at the fallen officer, then back to Poe.
"But you might be useful. His clothes! Put them on!" He moves to
attend to the fallen Aqualish.
Poe snorts and starts to pull the uniform off of the officer. "They'll
never suspect the officer they don't recognize wearing a bloody
uniform."
Ponda Baba growls at Poe. He doesn't seem keen on insulting the
doctor.
Evazan begins putting a bandage...quite hastily, on Ponda Baba's
wound. He reaches into his bag and pulls out another syringe, and
injects something into Ponda's arm. "Your new friend has a point,
Ponda," he says. "We will have to...disguise his face, yes! And then
we carry him out as a hostage, to get us to the landing pad!"
Poe frowns at the mention of disguising his face. He starts to switch
his prisoners uniform for the one the officer is wearing.
Ponda Baba allows the doctor to put the bandage on his arm, and then
uses his left hand to cover the wound caused by the vibroblade.
Recognizing the need for haste, he takes his pistol and moves to guard
the entrance to the infirmary while Evazan works.
Evazan finishes up on Ponda, and then reaches into his bag. "Yes,
disguise!" he says, and he pulls out an antique-looking, somewhat
rusty scalpel. "Now, finish dressing, and I will make sure your face
is not a problem!" He steps toward Poe.
"No time!" Ponda growls at the doctor. "Need quick!"
Poe checks over the officer and his uniform for a firearm as he
finishes putting on his disguise. "Let's just bandage it up with a
bloody bandage. That'll suffice."
Evazan frowns at Ponda, clearly disappointed. "All right," he says,
"I'll do this quick. No, bandages not good enough," he says, reaching
into his bag again for two small bottles. "This will do a good enough
job. It will cause some minor discomfort, but will make just enough of
a mess of you." He splashes the liquid of one bottle onto Poe's face,
then waits a few seconds and splashes an equal amount from the other
bottle. He pulls out his pistol again. "Now we go."
The Aqualish ponders something, looking out the window of the door
into the compound, and then back to Poe. He grunts and walks over,
hugging Poe with his left arm and putting the barrel of the DL-18 to
the human's head. "Ponda Baba take. Doctor come...help."
Poe screams and grabs at his face as it burns. He glances up with
anger in his eyes, but says nothing. As his head is grabbed he grunts.
"Let's go," he hisses.
Evazan moves to the other side of Poe, and points his gun at his head
as well, using his body partially as a shield. "Right. We go."
Prison Compound <Imperial Prison Facility: Kessel>
This is a wide courtyard in the midst of the prison. It is surrounded
by high walls, upon which stormtroopers and guards patrol regularly.
Set along the walls at various places are heavy gun emplacements, most
of which are pointed inward, toward the compound. In the compound
itself, the prisoners are frequently allowed to mill about and pass
their time when not consigned to the mines. Bedraggled-looking
Wookiees, gangly humans, mangy Bothans, undernourished Twi'leks and
sickly Duros, among other scattered races, mill about the yard, some
doing mild exercise to keep up their strength in the low gravity.
Nearby are the entrances to the administrative wing of the prison, and
the main cell blocks.
Alarms begin to sound as the three emerge from the infirmary, and the
guards spot them. Several guards approach the trio, and raise their
rifles, but hesitate when they see the apparently wounded officer.
Ponda Baba drags Poe from the infirmary, gun to his head, grunting as
he looks around at the prisoners and, particularly, the stormtroopers
who take a sudden interest in an Aqualish holding an Imperial officer
hostage.
Poe doesn't say anything, just walks along with a scared expression on
his face.
Evazan shouts, "Nobody moves, or your officer here has a very bad day!
Very bad!" He tugs on Poe's arm, leading the trio toward the landing
pad slowly.
Sarlas emerges from the administrative wing. "What in the hell...." he
sees Evazan, Poe, and Ponda Baba, and frowns. "What is the meaning of
this?"
Ponda Baba moves along after Evazan, toward the landing pad, keeping
the blaster to Poe's head.
Poe moves along with his 'captors'.
"The meaning of this is that we are leaving!" says Evazan, continuing
to move toward the landing pad. "And if you stop us, we shoot!"
The guards look toward the warden for instructions, but their fingers
are loose on the triggers.
Sarlas smiles grimly. "As you wish." He motions to the guards to lower
their weapons. "Let them go. They won't get far."
The guards, clearly disappointed, lower their guns. Somewhat.
The Aqualish, satisified they won't be pursued on foot, drags Poe the
rest of the way to the pad.
Landing Pad <Imperial Prison Facility:
Kessel>
This is the main landing pad for the prison facility. It is surrounded
by high walls which are patrolled by stormtroopers and set with heavy
gun emplacements, most of which are aimed upward to track incoming
ships. Stormtroopers also patrol the pad itself and stand ready to
board and inspect any newly arrived or departing vessel. Maintenance
droids mill about the area, and stacks of cargo crates are piled along
the walls.
Poe mutters under his breath, "They'll shoot us down as soon as they
find the officer in the infirmary."
The troopers patrolling the pad have apparently received orders to
stand down. They do not move to interfere.
Evazan shoves Poe, and hisses, "Quiet!" he pulls him toward the ramp
of the Death Shroud.
Ponda Baba shares in shoving Poe, grunting: "Hoo-man talk much."
Continued in
The Evazan Gambit, Part
II |
