Fiction Home - More by Piquo Starr - More in Action and Aventure

All of the evidence was right there in front of him. Unbelievable as it was, it couldn't be denied. The fire that had tragically ended the life of Torrence Starr had been in fact a case of arson, arson with the worst intent; murder. As Piquo Starr sat at a table with his only remaining friend, Flynn Lawrence, he stared blankly at the photos that clearly indicated the planned destruction of his father's business building. Slowly he sat back and ran his fingers through his hair, no sign of tears in his eyes. Enough tears had been shed at the news of Torrence's death. This news had not saddened him; it had only fuelled his newfound hate for the Empire and all that it stood for."Well Flynn, I guess this is goodbye. There's no way I can stay here after what just happened; I probably wouldn't last more than a week," Piquo said as he rose from the table.

"Where are you gonna go? Have you ever been to another planet before?" replied Flynn.

"I'm not really sure right now," Piquo said as he threw on his jacket and tucked his knife into its ankle sheath, "I'll have to wing it as I go. I hope to see you again someday."

Without a backward glance Piquo ran to his state-of-the-art swoop that he had parked nearby. After prepping the swoop he gunned the engine and sped off into the night. As he drove he debated what to do. His plan so far consisted of getting to the Zoltrix and getting off planet as soon as possible. He didn't have much time to ponder because he quickly became aware of someone pursuing him. Just a few seconds after he heard the whine of hard-pressed engines behind him he realized that he was going to be caught before he could reach the hangar where his personal ship was stored. Piquo pushed the engine harder and for a fleeting instant he thought he would reach the building in time. As he rounded the final corner he saw two things simultaneously. One was the hangar, and the other was a blockade of three military issue speeder bikes. Piquo threw the swoop into a slide and managed to break the barricade with no bodily damage. The swoop, however, was totalled and had shut off completely.

Piquo leapt to his feet and began to run towards the hangar. A leg shot out in front of him and he fell to the ground with a loud crunch, as his communicator became a pile of spare parts. Piquo rolled onto his back and narrowly dodged a boot that came crashing down where his head had been a second before. Piquo swung his legs around and tripped his assailant in a move that brought him to a sitting position. Quickly he drew his knife and attempted to remove a few of his attacker's fingers.

Unfortunately Piquo had made a horrible mistake. He had not counted on his opponent's comrades reacting in such a quick manner. As he was bringing his knife around to permanently silence the first of his assailants, one of the others, who he could clearly see were stormtroopers, grabbed his neck and threw him head-first into the ground. Lying there dazed, Piquo had just enough time to twist his head out of the way of his own knife, which was now wielded by one of his attackers. However, his maneuver was not entirely successful. The blade scored a deep gash in his face, from jaw-line to temple, narrowly missing the artery. As a final move of desperation, Piquo kicked both legs apart and then twisted into a crouched position. With is right hand he broke his original assailant's neck and pushed the lifeless body onto one of his comrades.

Seizing the slight opening, Piquo bolted towards the hangar and slammed the door, locking himself inside. He raced to his Headhunter and immediately started the pre-flight procedures. After strapping in, slapping a crude bandage on his face, and ensuring that the engines were running well, he lifted off and flew through the opening in the ceiling. As he flew he switched off his comms because the babble from the nearby flight tower broke his concentration. He kicked the engines into full thrust and plotted a course that would take him out of the atmosphere and to the only hyperspace coordinates he knew. This was a huge gamble because he had heard them from a drunk in a bar once.

He reached out and pulled the hyperdrive lever and saw the star lines around him slow and become single points. Below him a green and blue planet that was covered in clouds spun. He glanced down and noticed his comm system going crazy. Frantically looking up he noticed a large Imperial ship hiding behind a nearby moon. Piquo reaches down and activated his comms.

"Attention unknown fighter: this is the Hunter, you are to power down all systems and prepare to be tractored aboard by order of the New Republic Military."