STAR WARS

         The Ryan Quaid Adventures

	Ryan Quaid rose up from his seat, tossing down the last few
credits he had. He strolled out of the smoky bar onto an alien
landscape, one he had only seen a few times since he landed on
Rantoon. The sun was setting behind the west mountains. Ryan walked
out towards the space dock. He didn't have any money left for a hotel
or boarding house, so he decided to stay the night in his ship, the
Alley Cat. A smuggler's true friend, the worn YT-1450 had been through
a lot, but she was still running, better then most would expect the
poor ship to.
	Along his way to the ship Ryan could see the small inhabitants
of this world rushing towards their homes. If there was any place in
the galaxy that wasn't safe to walk the streets at night, it was this
gloomy place. During the day it was as safe as most places in the
galaxy, by nightfall criminals lurked about, as did the Mondocks, a
strange savage race which lived in the mountains. No one knew for sure
what the Mondocks were.
	The day was drawing to a close and the red sky slowly turned
into a dark blue, then pitch black. The city's lights were shut down
to attract as few Mondocks as possibly.
	Ryan made his way into the space port, one of the few places
where low level lights were still allowed to stay on. He walked
through the empty halls towards his ship. Rantoon wasn't a very
popular place, especially for a smuggler. But when you're low on
money, any job will do.  This one unfortunately fell through. The man
who was supposed to meet Ryan never showed up. It was to be a simple
escort to the neighbouring planet Rentaris.
	This sister planet was almost exactly the same as Rantoon,
except for the society which lived there, mostly rich, snobbish,
families with nothing better to do then waste their money on a
lifestyle which made Ryan sick to the stomach. He decided long ago
that he'd never settle down.  Sure it had it's down sides, but to be
tied down, just wasn't Ryan.
	He walked into Hanger 18. The Alley Cat almost seemed majestic
in the low level lights. Ryan paused for a moment to look at her, then
continued to the bottom of the ship where the ramp controls
were. After entering the combination, the ramp began to lower to the
floor. With a clang, the ramp stopped. Ryan walked up it and to the
hatch. He entered the second code and the door swished open. On the
inside he hit a button and the door slid closed as the ramp
retracted. He went into a small room in the back where he laid down to
rest.
	Suddenly a large banging jarred him back to reality. He
stumbled out of bed to notice that several hours had passed. Wiping
his eyes he strolled to the hatch. "What the?...Who?..." Ryan
murmured.  He knew that even officials didn't come out this late.
	As he reached the hatch he pulled out his blaster in one hand
and opened the door with the other. A body fell inwards. Ryan threw
out his arms to catch the slob. Damn drunks' thought Ryan. But that
was just it, this wasn't a drunk. Setting the moaning man down on the
ground, Ryan noticed blaster marks on his clothes, he also smelled
burnt flesh. He looked outside but didn't see anyone. It wouldn't be
until later that Ryan would wonder how this man had extended the ramp
to his ship.
	"They're coming" moaned the man. He coughed a bit and moaned
again.
	"Who's coming?" urged Ryan. "Who are you?"
	"My name is. . ." the man paused again, grimacing at the
pain. "Darb Soon. I was supposed to meet you at the Travellers
Inn". He coughed.  "They'll be here soon, they're coming."
	Ryan looked at the man, injured by some mysterious
attacker. This was the man who he was supposed to meet, supposed to
take to Rentaris.  Now he lay, injured on the metallic floor of the
AlleyCat. Ryan walked down the ramp cautiously looking around for the
would-be assailants. The entire hanger bay was empty, devoid of sound
except for Ryan's quiet footfalls. He scanned the area once more, no
one at all. Ryan cleared his throat nervously and slowly walked back
up to the freighter. "I got a bad feeling about this" he murmured.
	Suddenly a green ball of energy flew past his head and into
the far wall with a deafening explosion in the quiet, still confines
of the hanger.  Ryan instinctively ducked, and returned fire at the
silhouette rushing behind a pillar. Another blast came firing past,
this time from the other side. Again just missing Ryan. This time Ryan
got a good look at who fired, a humanoid creature, covered in some
sort of cloak and carrying a long staff which ended in two forks
pointing inwardly. The creature stood behind a doorway, pointed the
staff at Ryan. A green flash came from the end of the staff as a small
ball of energy flew towards Ryan. He leapt towards the entrance of his
ship narrowly escaping being hit again.  Standing up he slammed his
hand on the close button, the door closed, and the ramp came up. Ryan
ran towards the cockpit nearly tripping over Darb, who now lay
unconscious on the floor of the AlleyCat.
	Reaching the cockpit, Ryan jumped into the pilot seat and
started all the systems. Risking a burn-out he skipped the start-up
sequence. The engines hummed slowly and
strangely. "No. . . No. . . No. . ." Ryan said. "NO" he yelled
slamming his fist on the control panel. With a sudden loud hum, the
engines came on at full power. "Yes" Ryan Quaid said gratifyingly. He
set the controls and raised shields. Blasts rocked the ship from
outside.  Ryan lifted the ship off the ground, retracted the landing
platforms and started the forward thrust. The AlleyCat zoomed out of
the hanger and into the night sky with ease. Green flashes came from
behind the battered YT- 1450 as the ship escaped from the space
port. Ryan set a course for space and then for the planet Rentaris.
	Back at the space dock, five robed figures walked out of the
shadows as the ship rocketed off. They all disrobed to reveal armoured
warriors.  The armour was a menacing grey as well as a close replica
of that worn by the Mandalore warriors. A group of warriors who fought
the Jedi during the Clone Wars. One of them spoke in a deep harsh
voice. "Trask will not be pleased." He walked out of the hanger,
followed by the other four.
	With the ship on auto-pilot, Ryan quickly made his way back to
where Darb was. "Wake up Soon, why were the Mondocks after you ?" Ryan
asked questionably. He'd never seen a Mondock before today, but he'd
heard the locals describe them. They are tall hooded creatures,
bearing staffs of energy. Darb never answered his question as he was
dead. The extent of his injuries were too much for the older, slightly
overweight man to bear.  Ryan pulled the body into the cargo bay and
onto some empty boxes. He then started to go through the dead man's
pockets. At first he felt guilty and a thief for doing so, but he was
a smuggler, and he may find something that could shed some light on
the situation.
	That's when Ryan's hand brushed over something smooth and
hard. He pulled it out of the jacket pocket and examined it. Some sort
of strange device. It was obviously man made. It had input ports as
well a mesh of wires and other components, some of which were totally
alien to Ryan. It appeared to be some sort of power matrix, or power
converter, or both. It was hard to tell. Ryan decided to keep the
object for now. Before heading back to the cockpit, Ryan also found a
small data pad. It Read:

: 45-67-290
: Nod. Eta 641
: To: Darb Soon
: Fr: Zeith Carwin
:
:	The meeting has been postponed to the following standard
: week. You must bring the device, or you will never see her again. 
: We also require the codes as well as installation instructions. The 
: gate has been constructed, we require the key. Remember don't fail
: us.  
:
: Santor's Lot.
: 13:35
:
: Mantor Calls

	Ryan studied this data pad awhile. What did it mean? Who or
what was Mantor? The data pad provided Ryan with more questions than
answers. He slid it into one of the pockets of his trench coat. The
last thing he found was a crumpled piece of paper. The only thing
written on it was [95-34n\176ì 28^21]. Ryan also looked at this in
confusion. He tucked the crumpled paper away with the device into
another pocket in his coat and went back to the cockpit.
	Ryan reached the planet Rentaris in approximately 40 standard
minutes. There he landed just outside the major city of Neeplom. It
was one of the less wealthier cities, but it did have more money then
most planets. It was also the spot where he was to drop Darb
off. Morning was creeping into the city here and Ryan was sleepy, but
if he wanted to get to the bottom of this then he would have little
time to sleep. His first thought was Santor's lot. It sounded to him
like some sort of club or bar.  Only one way to find out' thought
Ryan. He walked outside the ship, holstering his blaster and making
sure that he had everything he needed.  He closed and locked the
AlleyCat and proceeded to walk towards the brilliant city.
	He reached the city limits in about 20 minutes. It didn't take
Ryan too long to find Santor's lot. Cautiously he walked in, looking
for someone he didn't know. The place seemed deserted. There was an
old man at the far end, but that was it. No bartender either. Ryan
took a few more steps inwards, feeling uneasy. He also felt a sudden
pain as everything went black.
	Two roguish looking men stood over the unconscious Quaid. One
still holding the gun which he hit over Ryan's head. They pulled Ryan
up and towards a waiting landspeeder outside.
	Ryan woke up, his head filled with pain, his arms were numb as
he found them locked above his head to the wall. He looked around the
room.  Two men stood guard near him. A tall thin man walked up to him,
holding the paper which Ryan had found on Darb Soon. "Thank you my
dear Quaid, you have given me what I so desired. The vital piece of
information which has unlocked Dr. Soon's prototype. This equipment
which you so thoughtfully brought to me will allow me to travel
anywhere in the galaxy, merely by stepping through a door."
	Ryan looked up to see a metallic contraption with wires and
mechanical appendages sticking out here and there. In the centre was a
six foot door. Mottled blue energy waved along this door way.
	Ryan couldn't believe what he was hearing. "We are now going
to attack Rantoon and make it our base of operations. And you, my
friend, will be dead. You see, that poor planet and it's criminal
underground will be perfect to set up such a base. Too bad you won't
be here to see it. We have no time for small time smugglers." said the
tall man.
	"Small time !" Ryan said cocky, "Hey I was wondering, with
that doorway, can you go to hell ?" The man slapped Ryan across the
face.
	"Do not anger me Quaid... You do not want to see Zeith Carwin
angered." Zeith's face was contorted into a mad stare. He broke his
gaze away from Ryan and started to walk towards the machine. He
quickly turned and fired with such speed that it surprised Ryan. The
blaster bolt skilfully hit just above his head, between his
arms. "Next time that won't miss." Zeith said. Ryan trying to hide his
shock was amazed at how fast this guy pulled out his blaster and fired
it, especially with such accuracy.  He also wondered how many hostages
he executed in getting that good.
	Ryan's thoughts were interrupted when the sounds of several
blaster shots came from outside as screams followed. Ryan looked up at
the possibility that someone was coming to save him, but who? That's
when he noticed next to him stood a beautiful girl, mid 20's. She was
shackled and hanging much like Ryan, but she was unconscious as well
as bruised from beatings. This must be the girl who was mentioned on
the Data pad.  "It's the Strife" yelled one of the other men in the
room.
	"Take cover and kill them all, they mustn't get the doorway"
yelled the tall man. He looked at Ryan then turned and rushed back to
aid his troops.
	Ryan glanced back up as red blaster shots rang through the
room. All the men in the room had taken positions to fend off the
attackers. Ryan decided this was the best time to escape. He started
wiggling and moving.  But it was no use, he couldn't get out of the
bonds. He looked around and saw a control panel with the release
button on it.
	That's when the attackers came in. The first wave of five came
in.  All were dressed in pure grey Mandalore armour. Ryan took notice
of the armour. He had heard of the Mandalorian warriors, they
supposedly took on the Jedi during the clone wars, but those were all
myth's. Ryan had never seen a Jedi, or believed that they actually
existed. He had seen pictures of what the armour looked like, but this
was the first time he'd seen any replica of it. Anyways this armour
was painted a light grey. The pictures he'd seen had the armour more
of a green colour with more detail.  As Ryan flung his feet at the
controls, he assumed the Strife had these tailor made for them. This
was not uncommon, with such a vast galaxy anyone could make armour or
pretty much anything to look like they wanted.
	The battle continued as Ryan lifted his feet, trying
desperately to hit the release button on the control panel. They must
be battling over that doorway, if the Strife get it, all hell could
break loose in the galaxy.  If these other guys fend off the strife
and keep it, who knows what may happen.' Ryan thought as he swung his
legs to the button again. He never knew of either of these
organizations until today, but he could see by the accuracy,
technology and actions of the Strife that they were not a group to
meddle with. This other group, Mantor, seemed more like a highly
organized gang or militia. Ryan swung again trying to reach the
controls. It was no use. As he swung back a stray bolt hit the control
panel, it exploded, Ryan and the girl both fell to the ground. He
flung of the shackles and quickly picked her up and started to run.
	"They're getting away" yelled a voice
	"We can't worry about them now"
	"Protect the doorway"
	"Yeaarrrgh"
	Holding the girl over his shoulder Ryan ran around a corner
and bumped into a guard who was running to help his men. The guard
stumbled back and Ryan kicked his legs out from under him. The guard
fell and Ryan used his free hand to grab the guard's weapon. As he
went for the holster the guard grabbed his arm. Ryan grimaced as he
was loosing balance in holding the girl. He did the only thing he
could think of. He kicked the guard in the head as hard as he
could. The guard fell back to the ground. Ryan grabbed the blaster
from the holster .
	Putting down the girl he turned around the corner and fired
four shots at the doorway and leapt behind the wall as the doorway
exploded with a peculiar sound. Ryan managed to turn his head away as
blinding light and energy filled the corridor. The girl awoke with a
moan at the noise of the explosion. He looked around the corner and
gasped at what he saw. The whole area was gone, a large smoking crater
which was as smooth as glass was the only thing left. If he had been a
few feet closer he too would be dead, or something far worse. He stood
up and helped the girl to her feet. "Hi there, I'm Ryan Quaid.. nice
to meet you.. now lets go.."  Ryan said in one breath as he grabbed
the girl by the arm and turned the opposite direction from the
crater. Bumping into a chest. Looking up he could see a 7 foot,
muscular man staring down at him.
	"Umm, we were just leaving" muttered Ryan. The man grabbed
Ryan by the arm and threw him against the wall. The blaster fell from
Ryan's grip. He was then thrown against the other wall. Ryan was
quickly getting a splitting headache as well as other pains in his
back. The girl just stood there stunned not knowing what to do. She
glanced at the crater, at Ryan, at the large ogre of a person beating
him up and the blaster laying on the ground. The blaster ! Obviously
the attacker had not seen it. She went for it, just as she was about
to lay her hand on it, she was knocked to the side by Ryan's body
which sailed through the air into the wall yet again.
	"You really don't want to be doing this" Ryan sputtered and
then cringed as he hit the wall again. He tried to fight back, but he
was tired and he still didn't quite get the circulation fully back in
his arms. The girl got up and held her shoulder. She then dived for
the blaster after Ryan was thrown against the opposite wall.
	"Now you're just getting redundant" said Ryan as he wished he
hadn't after getting an extra strong hit against the wall. Now he was
sure his back was getting plenty bruised. The girl got back up with
the blaster in hand. The large man threw Ryan to the floor and quickly
grabbed her arm and then slowly let go as he was shoot in the
chest. His body crumpled to the floor. Ryan pulled himself up and
looked at the girl. "My name is Teery" she said.
	"Well lets just get out of here before more of them come." He
said in a pained staked voice... The two quickly made there way down
the hall, they could hear more voices coming from the crater. Ryan
theorised that it was probably more of the Strife, investigating what
happened. Either way he didn't want to hang around and find out. They
saw a beam of light coming from a T-junction. They ran towards this
and found a small garage.  In it were two swoops and a landspeeder. He
looked at Teery and decided that she was in no condition to try and
ride a swoop by herself. He wasn't even sure that he was able
too. They were tricky speeder bikes. So he hopped into the driver seat
of the landspeeder. Teery climbed into the passenger seat. "Damn, what
the hell is the code for this thing" he cursed as he punched in some
numbers randomly. He could hear more blaster shots in the
distance. "Dammit." he cursed again as he punched the access panel.
	He bent the access panel and commented "Good, now all I have
to do is..." he cut himself off as he pulled off the panel and looked
at the wires.
	"Do what? what are you doing... Never mind just hurry I think
they're coming closer." said Teery.
	"I'm trying to hot wire this baby" he said picking out certain
wires and examining them. Suddenly a voice shouted out of the shadows
"The prisoners are trying to escape in the landspeeder." another voice
answered "Take Frist and go after them, we'll try and hold off the
Strife. Seems like they want to destroy us all."
	"They're coming" whispered Teery.
	"I heard" Commented Ryan Quaid. The two officers ran out of
the shadows and towards Teery and Ryan who sat in the
landspeeder. Sparks flew out of the control panel and Ryan let out a
large yelp as the landspeeder came to life. "Now lets get the heck out
of here." He gave Teery his blaster and hit the accelerator. The other
two jumped onto the swoops and went into pursuit. Ryan took the
landspeeder down the long exit corridor of the garage. The tunnel-like
exit was lit with low level lights which cast shadows as they zoomed
by at high speed. They rapidly past each support beam built into the
walls and were suddenly thrown out into the glaring sun. It was mid
day and a surprise to Ryan who thought it was midnight with only the
moons giving off light.
	The white, 4 seater, topless landspeeder hovered away, down a
sandy bank away from the exit. Teery looked back at the two who were
following. Her hair constantly blowing in her face. She noticed that
the building they were escaping from looked relatively innocent and
small compared to what was actually going on inside. She figured that
this wouldn't even hit the news. The people of this planet were rich
and snobbish, episodes like this were covered up really good as to not
tarnish the planet's reputation.
	The two swoops began gaining on the landspeeder. Swoops were
made for speed. Racing speeder bikes for sport brought these high
speed and difficult machines into existence. The two officers slowly
came up beside the landspeeder. One went for his holster to pull out
his blaster, but was shot by Teery before he could reach
it. Unfortunately, the other took this moment to leap onto the
landspeeder. The two swoops both took dives and tumbled and crashed as
they hit the ground. Two explosions erupted behind the landspeeder and
it was thrown forward. The heat from the explosions could be felt upon
everyone's back.
	Frist appeared up out of the backseat to Teery's surprise, she
hadn't noticed him in the landspeeder until now. She brought Ryan's
blaster up and Frist gave a quick chop to her arm. She dropped the
blaster and automatically held her arm in pain. She was still very
weak and bruised all over from being held captive. She gave a weak
punch but frist avoided it.  Ryan looked back at the two and knew that
Frist was way out of Teery's league even if she was at full
strength. If he got involved then the landspeeder would most likely
crash. Teery suddenly was thrown against the dashboard. Ryan glanced
over at her and an idea suddenly came. "Hold on to the seat
straps. She wrapped her arm around one and braced her self.  Ryan was
about to pull some sort of crazy stunt, but she had no idea what.  She
just didn't like the look in his eye.
	Suddenly the landspeeder took a sever incline which made it's
motor's whine. Frist fell backwards into the back seat. He attempted
to get up as the landspeeder reached it's maximum altitude. "Lets hope
this is enough room" Ryan prayed
	"Enough room for whaaaaaaat ?" Teery said ending in a scream
as Ryan suddenly hit hard left and leaned as much as possible. Frist
slid and banged into the left side of the seat. The landspeeder's
motor whined some more as the landspeeder turned upside down. Frist in
a desperate attempt grabbed onto the seat. Holding on with both hands
above his head he was now dangling out of the landspeeder. Ryan too
could feel himself giving way. The landspeeder was loosing altitude
quickly, with it's repulsor field pointed upwards there was nothing to
keep the landspeeder from falling.  Nor could he control the
landspeeder. He just hoped that his momentum would bring the
landspeeder back around before they hit the ground beneath them. Teery
looked scared, but she was holding on well.
	The landspeeder was almost sideways now as it was approaching
the ground more quickly. Frist was now hanging on the side of it. His
feet just about touching the ground. One brushed a rock and bumped
up. The second did so too. Then both hit the ground and started to
drag him down. He grasped tighter, but it was no use. The speed was
too great. Frist was pulled and dragged down. He went tumbling away
and ended up a bloody mess on the rocky ground.
	The landspeeder came about as did the ground towards them. It
was going to be close. The repulsor field's corner hit the ground and
threw the landspeeder up a bit. The right side slammed into the ground
and both Ryan and Teery were thrown left and right as it shuddered and
buckled.  Ryan quickly regained control of the landspeeder and
narrowly avoided another landspeeder as he crossed over a designated
street. "Maniac" yelled a voice from the luxury landspeeder. Ryan gave
him an obscene gesture as he went away. The two found their bearings
and started on their way back to the Alleycat.
	On the way back to his ship he found that Teery was Darb's
only daughter. He also found out that he possibly had saved the
galaxy. He thought he was just trying to escape. Whatever happened
from now on, Ryan knew that he would be a prime target from both the
Strife and the group called Mantor. The future didn't look to good for
him. Maybe he would have to start hiding out, or join the rebellion
which was rumoured. At least there he'd have some sort of
protection. And so started his journey back to Rantoon and to the
future.

By Peter Ferguson 

Peter_Ferguson@tvo.org

(If you liked this story, or have any comments/questions, please
contact me)