Chapter 3
The first sun was beginning to rise over the Tatooine horizon. We ran by foot from my house to the docking bays. By the time we reached the entryway, I was ready to vomit. Exhausted, drunk, and sweaty I looked upon the ship that would now be my new home.
"There she is, my pride and joy, the Sky Princess," Andronikos stated smugly.
I looked in awe at her majesty. It was just a light cargo freighter, but it was in the best shape I had ever seen. While most modified smuggler's ships look amateur, the work done to the Sky Princess was of expert craft. I felt very comfortable boarding that ship.
"Wow, I'm impressed." A beauty like that couldn't go uncomplimented.
"You haven't seen anything yet."
The three of us entered the ship. The inside was just as clean as the outside. This man took a lot of pride in his ship. The ship was quite spacious and I wondered how much more space there was that I wasn't seeing.
I followed Andronikos through a corridor when he abruptly stopped and opened a door.
"Wilkes! Get up! Prepare the crew for a man-hunt!" Andronikos barked.
I peered inside to see a young looking human man with shaggy brown hair sitting up with a scowl on his face, sharing a bed with a green Twi'lek woman, covering her body with the sheets.
"Sorry, sweetheart, you're going to have to leave," Wilkes grumbled, rubbing his face and pointing toward the door.
Andronikos made his way to the cockpit, studying the galaxy map. I stuck to his side, not knowing what it was I needed to be doing. Casey was already there, gazing out the large window.
"Casey, you remember his face, right? Check Republic and Imperial files and see if this low-life has a bounty on his head and how much it's for," growled Andronikos. He sat back in his chair, stoking his chin in deep thought. Casey took a seat next to a holocomputer and began her search.
Wilkes entered the cockpit fully dressed among four other human men.
"The crew is ready for your command, Captain. But who the hell is this guy?" said Wilkes bluntly, gesturing in my direction as if I were milk that was left out of the refrigerator.
"This is Fen-dur Stratoblaster. He's a new member of our crew. Get use to him. If you have any complaints, we're still at port. You have plenty of time to grab your things and leave," Andronikos replied. I wasn't sure why Andronikos wanted to help me so bad and why he even wanted me join the crew. He practically made me join. I just found it curious.
"Whatever you say," said Wilkes with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Fen-dur, this is Sylas Wilkes, my first mate," said Andronikos. "Behind him is Webb, our scout."
Webb looked like a former Republic soldier with his confident stance and crew cut. He gave a nod as Andronikos introduced him.
"Next we have Gadget, he's a mercenary if I've ever seen one. He's a Mandalorian cyborg and there's no one I'd rather have on my side in a blaster fight."
Gadget was a bald man with tan skin about the same as Andronikos, only Gadget was twice his size. He had a glowing green mechanical eye and an obvious large mechanical arm that was easily seen because of his sleeveless green jacket. He wore no shirt underneath the jacket, exposing his extremely muscular torso. One thing I knew for sure, I was going to stay on his good side.
"That little guy down there is Ghost. He's the stealth expert. There's not a base in this galaxy that Ghost can't enter undetected. He doesn't talk much, but his skills are invaluable when we're far too outgunned."
Pale and slender, Ghost leaned on the wall with his arms crossed, his long black hair hanging over his eyes as he gave a stern, unmoving gaze.
"Last but not least is Lester. He's the medic. He's the reason most of us are still alive."
Lester had a large nose on a face that looked like he had an opinion about everything. He also had black hair that he combed to the side which contrasted the long white lab coat he sported.
"Good to meet you all. I look forward to working with you. Like he said, I'm Fen-dur. I'm glad I get to be a part of this wonderful crew," I said as politely as I could. To be honest, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to act around these guys.
"Well, he's gonna fit right in, ain't he?" scoffed Lester with high pitched little chuckle.
"What purpose do you serve? You just one more mouth to feed or what?" Sylas jeered.
"Well… I… uh…"
"Shut it, Wilkes. We've been needing a mechanic. I don't have time to maintain the ship all the time and we need a guy who can make sure the ship is running smoothly full time. Plus, this guy has a score to settle with the same guy who just took my speeder. It seemed logical that we team up. Hunting this guy down is our next mission. Casey is on the job identifying the next scumbag we're going to take care of," Andronikos explained.
"I found him! Take a look!" Casey exclaimed. The crew gathered around the holocomputer to see the face of their next target.
"The name is Tyresius Lokai. He's wanted by both the Republic and the Empire alike. By the looks of it, he's in the same business we are, simply stealing things for pleasure, only he is mostly a solo act. Says here he is most often seen on Tatooine, Nar Shaddaa, and Corellia. But if he's left Tatooine, he could be anywhere," informed Casey.
"Where has he been recently? Any habitual clients or victims?" Andronikos sat up in his chair.
"He never double dips. However he does have a ship called the Scarlet Dart in his name. I'm looking at docking records and it looks like he's docked at the same hangar bay on Nar Shaddaa eight times within the last month."
"Alright crew, prepare your equipment. I'm setting a course for Nar Shaddaa. Even if that's not where he's headed, it will be. If we beat him there, all the better. When he checks into his favorite hangar bay, we will be waiting for him. He won't know what hit him."
The crew dispersed leaving me alone with Andronikos and Sylas.
"I'm going to get us ready to take off. Why don't you show our new crew member to his quarters while I do that?" said Andronikos to Sylas.
The two of them had a brief stare down and with a sigh, Sylas said, "Follow me."
We left the cockpit area and crossed through the main room and into a corridor.
"Alright, tell me about yourself, kid. You ever kill a man? You ever been involved with the Hutts? How long have you been on the run from the Republic?" I thought it was considerate of him to assume I was on the run. But curse my honesty.
"Actually, I've never done any of those things. Just two hours ago I was a law-abiding small business owner who had never done anything to raise the attention to the government. My only involvement with the Hutts was my mutual partnership with swoop bikers. I didn't really have a direct relationship with them. They sponsored the racers and the racers came to me with their bikes and that was the extent of it." Come to think of it, at this point in time I still was a law-abiding citizen. I may have joined a group of criminals, but I hadn't done a thing against the law yet.
"You're kidding," Sylas laughed. "You don't have to hide here, we're all criminals. Seriously, what are you wanted for?"
"I'm not joking," I replied. I walked beside him embarrassed that I've never killed a man. It seemed so backwards to me.
"I don't believe it. Do you know how to fire a blaster? Do you know anything about thermal detonators? Are you familiar with any hand-to-hand combat techniques?"
I shook my head. I soon began to feel out of place. I realized I stuck out like a sore thumb on this ship. I had no grasp on criminal culture, the only experiences being the brief shootouts I saw on the lawless sand-trap I was about to leave. On top of that, I was the only alien on this ship. I was this orange-yellow Twi'lek with purple eyes and long headtails among a bunch of hairy humans.
My quarters were at the end of the corridor next to the ventilation ducts. It was a little room with a tiny bed small enough for my headtails to hang off the edge no matter what position I laid in. A footlocker sat in the corner.
"Here's where you'll be staying. There are blankets and sheets in the footlocker. Feel free to store whatever you like in there. I doubt you'll survive long, so just remember whatever you stick in there will be mine shortly. Have a good morning, when you're ready, come on out because Lester is making breakfast for everyone." Sylas walked away with a small smirk.
I plopped down on the bed and scratched my head. I started thinking about the night before and how I should have done things differently. All the things I could have done to have avoided this mess. I didn't want to be there anymore. But it was too late, I was too far invested. Besides, who knows what Andronikos would do if I backed out now. I made up my mind that I was going to give this whole big bad pirate thing everything I got. I was going to show everyone on this crew that I belonged. Respect is earned, not given freely. To this day, I hold that as my number one rule in the galaxy.