Chapter Seven: "Into the Unknown"
The three fugitives were tossed into the prisoner cell with their binders still on. Kavra was angrily cursing some Twi'leki curse words at them that not really anyone else in the room understood, so the guards just shrugged and walked down the hallway outside of the cell. Eventually, Kavra stopped with that and slumped down on a nearby bench, seeing Lak was busy trying to get the doors open and Rafik was sitting on the floor with his eyes closed, meditating, like how his Master suggested to do whenever he needed to figure something out.
"What're you guys here for?" they heard a voice ask.
They realized the voice must have come from the cell next to theirs. Lak momentarily paused in his efforts to open the door, but he simply didn't answer them and he kept trying to open it. Kavra went to the wall that separated their cell to the one next to theirs as she was curious who was on the other side.
"What's it to you?" Kavra asked.
"Hondo heard about the bounty I have on my head from the Hutts, so he had his pirates bag me when I was in a cantina. They even said they were gonna keep my ship as a 'bonus'..." the voice said with a hint of annoyance. "Anyway, I told you, now you guys tell me." the person added.
"Why should we?" Lak frowned as he tried opening the lock more.
They heard the person beginning to chuckle as if the person thought it was funny. What was he snickering at...?
"C'mon, one of you is a Jedi. Hondo obviously isn't collecting a bounty from the Hutts, he's collecting one from the new Empire. Jedi are going for a lot of money from what I heard, but none of the other two of you look like bounty hunters. A Clone soldier who's obviously AWOL and a Twi'lek who probably just got caught up in nonsense? Please, you're both just trying to escape with that Jedi." the person stated.
The three fugitives seemed surprised by what the person said. That person definitely knew what they were...
"Are you going to tell the Empire about us? Bag yourself some credits?" Lak frowned.
"No, I'm not going to do that. Let's just say that smugglers don't have much of a good reputation with the Republic, and I don't think the Empire is gonna like us any better than they did. Does the name 'Varec Vaanar' mean anything to you? That's me." the person said.
"You're a smuggler of some sort...?" Kavra asked.
"Depends on who you ask... 'Smuggler', 'thief', 'convict', even 'killer' have all been applied to me at one point or another. My name has been on wanted posted in half of the Galaxy... I robbed shipments from both the Separatists and the Republic, I know what I'm doing." the person now known as 'Varec' said.
"Why are you telling us all this...?" Lak inquired.
"Because I can tell you wanna get off of Taris as fast as you can, and I can help with that. However, as you can see, I'm kinda stuck in this cramped cell... If you get me out, I'll fly us as far from this rock as I can." Varec assured.
Kavra and Lak both, needless to say, were still a little unconvinced. They looked down at Rafik and saw he was still meditating, but he gave a motion of his hand suddenly and used the Force to unlock their cell doors. Surprisingly, he also unlocked the doors next door, freeing Varec and causing Lak and Kavra to be confused. Why did he open the door for the stranger next to them?
"Why did you do that?" Kavra asked.
"We don't have much of a choice... We need to get out of here as quickly as we can, before Hondo gives us to the Empire. Let's just hope that smuggler is telling the truth..." Rafik stated.
They then heard a noise and saw Varec was now standing in the doorway to their cell. Varec was revealed to be a Zabrak, a human-like creature with small horns on their heads. This particular Zabrak was tan colored, and he was also wearing a large trench coat with some type of armor underneath. Varec smirked at them out of gratitude, even though he knew two of them were a bit suspicious of him.
"Well, you all coming? My ship is right outside... However, I need to get my crew out of their hands. One's a droid, and I've got a Mon Calamari, and some Duros. Help me get as many as you can to my ship, I'll bring you somewhere." Varec said.
"That can work... The pirates are heavily armed though, so I'm not sure if all of them will-" Rafik began.
"Don't worry about that." Varec said, cutting him off. "My guys are all locked away in another cell block, but if you use your weird Jedi powers to get their cell doors open, then we'd have backup to get to my ship." he added.
"Alright, but know that some of them might not make it. And keep the ship's engine running, because something tells me we'll need to get out of here very fast." Rafik said.
Varec nodded and hurried out of the cell block to sneak his way over to his ship. Meanwhile, the three fugitives quickly hurried down the opposite end of the hallway, seeing a door that led deeper into the pirate base... They needed to save as much of the Varec's crew as they could, before they would be in the clutches of the Empire... They hoped they could do it.
Rafik was in the lead of the three, and he cautiously stopped once he saw the hallway took a left. He poked his head out to see where it led and it appeared they were near some sort of a treasure room, but the rest of the prison cells had to be around somewhere. The three cautiously went inside the treasure room, but they had to quickly dive behind a stack of crates as a pair of guards walked in.
"-Hey, when do you think Hondo will pay us?" one of the guards asked.
"I dunno... He needs to pay up soon, though. I'm hooked on death sticks." the second guard replied.
"Sheesh... you know those can't be good for you."
Lak gave a motion of his fingers to Kavra and Rafik, signalling that he intended to take down the guards. The other two fugitives nodded in agreement, and they split up. Rafik cautiously made his way towards the second guard while Kavra and Lak were making their way towards the first.
"Yeah, I know, 'it lowers your life and stuff', but the rush is fantastic."
"Whatever... When I get my share from that Jedi and his friends, I'm getting myself a new swoop bike. Y'know they used to race them professionally in the Outer Rim?"
"I wish I could say that I cared about that, but... I don't."
The three fugitives got in position as the first guard sat on a nearby crate, and the second guard stood in front of another. Rafik simply stood up and got the second guard in a headlock, pulling him over the crate and knocking him unconscious. Naturally, the first guard began to freak out from what he saw, but Lak grabbed him and pushed him towards Kavra, who proceeded to punch him in the face and knock him out.
Kavra rubbed her now-sore fist as Lak picked up one of the blaster rifles the guards dropped. Kavra quickly grabbed the other rifle and a nearby thermal detonator as the two saw Rafik looking around for something, but managing to soon find what he was looking for inside of a crate. His Lightsaber. Rafik picked up his weapon and he held it tight as he walked to the door the two guards came out of, and he signaled for Lak to kick it open. Lak readied his blaster and he proceeded to do as Rafik said and kicked the door open, where Rafik activated his Lightsaber and the three ran through the door.
...the three fugitives immediately stopped, all going wide eyed as they realized they ran right into the main hall of the base, in which dozens of heavily armed pirates were partying. The music they were playing stopped and every single pirate in the room turned to look at the fugitives, along with Hondo himself. Hondo sighed with a small amount of disappointment as he got out of his seat and approached the three fugitives, stopping a short distance away from them.
"Jedi, Jedi, Jedi... when will you learn? I guess this means we can't be friends after all." Hondo sarcastically told him.
"Your definition of friendship is very different from mine, Hondo..." Rafik frowned.
Almost every pirate in the room raised their blasters towards the three fugitives, but Hondo didn't aim at all. Rafik raised his Lightsaber in front of himself and prepared to defend himself, Lak aimed his blaster at a nearby pirate, and Kavra moved her hand behind her back and readied her thermal detonator, hoping the pirates wouldn't see her doing that until it was too late.
"Look, I'll make you a deal... put down your weapons, let yourselves be recaptured, and maybe I'll let you try some of this delicious Alderaanian wine." Hondo graciously offered as he showed a half-empty glass to them.
"No, we're fine." Kavra frowned.
"You sure? It's very, very good..." Hondo smirked, still showing the half empty glass.
The three fugitives were silent after that statement, and Hondo's smirk faded as he saw the three were glaring at them. Obviously, they were not in the mood for Alderaanian wine, or any type of wine for that matter... That's when an explosion occurred on the other side of the room, and it succeeded in killing a few pirates and sending several more straight to the ground. They saw a large hole was blown in a nearby wall, and the next thing they knew was that several Clone soldiers were rushing into the room and shooting at anything that moved. The three fugitives quickly dove for cover, and they accidentally ended up hiding behind a table with Hondo. The four were surprised to end up taking cover together, but no one was trying to push each other out or anything like that.
"Did you call in the Empire?!" Lak asked.
"Who else was I going to get that money from?" Hondo flatly stated.
"You nerf-herder! Do you have any idea what you did?! They'll kill all of your pirates, Hondo! The Republic might've bowed down to your threats, but did you honestly think the Empire would?!" Kavra exclaimed.
Hondo awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he took in all of that information. Maybe he should've thought it through... The Republic would easily pay, the Separatists sometimes would, but this new Empire...? Well, it was obvious they loved to shoot first and ask questions later. He probably should've thought about it.
"You're probably right about that..." Hondo sheepishly said.
"Everyone relax." Rafik frowned. "Arguments and accusations aren't going to help us here. Since the Clones are here for a Jedi, which is me, I'm going to assume they have at least one or two capital ships in orbit, and a large amount of troops heading this way. We need to leave as fast as possible." he stated.
"That Zabrak has that ship... We got to get to his crew and then we can leave!" Kavra stated.
"I'll get his crew out! You three just get to his ship!" Rafik said.
"Er... I'll just go in mine, thank you. It would be an awkward flight after I tried to collect bounties from you." Hondo shrugged.
Before the three fugitives could say anything else to him, Hondo had already ran off with his pet. The two dodged laser fire from the Clones and rejoined the pirates, where they began their defense.
"Er, right, where was I?" Rafik asked himself, using his Lightsaber to deflect laser fire from the three. "Oh, right, you two get to Varec's ship! I'll find his crew!" he said.
"Got it! Good luck!" Lak said.
Rafik covered Lak and Kavra with his Lightsaber as the two ran for the nearest exit, hoping to get to the hangar successfully. Taking out several Clones along the way with his Lightsaber, Rafik managed to get through to another exit that led towards the cell block Varec's crew was being held. He neutralized a few Clone soldiers in the cell block, and then he got to the first cell and saw the Mon Calamari hiding in the corner. He then cut open the lock on the door and helped the Mon Calamari up to his feet.
"Come on, get up! I'm a friend! We need to get to your ship!" Rafik said.
"Alright, alright! Just get the others, they're just down the hall!" the Mon Calamari exclaimed.
Rafik nodded and he hurried down the cell block, passing one empty cell after another. Where were the Duros...? He finally stopped when he got to the cell at the furthest end of the hall, and he went wide eyed with shock and disgust with what he saw... Every Duro that was a part of that Zabrak's crew were executed by the Clones, some of their wounds still smoldering from the heat of the laser fire that hit them...
He knew, however, that he couldn't stay and reflect on any of this. He needed to get that Mon Calamari out of there and to the ship as quickly as he could...
Kavra, Lak and Varec were all taking cover behind some crates in front of Varec's YT-2400 freighter. Dozens of Clones had found their position and were firing volleys of laser fire towards them, trying to eliminate this threat before killing or capturing the Jedi.
"What's your Jedi friend taking so long to get my crew?!" Varec asked as he fired his dual blaster pistols at the Clones.
"He'll be here soon! Trust me!" Lak replied, taking cover as a few lasers hit the crate he was behind.
"Oh, he'll take his time! Sure! Let him go at his own pace, then!" Varec replied, his voice reeking with sarcasm and a lot of annoyance.
Finally, they saw Rafik and the Mon Calamari hurrying towards their position from a nearby exit. Rafik was using his Lightsaber to protect the Mon Calamari as they hurried over to them, and soon the two got behind a pair of crates next to the others.
"Hey, good! You got Braz! Where's the others?" Varec asked.
"Dead. The Clones executed them before I arrived..." Rafik replied.
Varec groaned with frustration, and he decided to let out that frustration by firing at the Clones again. He actually took down several of them before Lak pulled him back into cover.
"I've got a thermal detonator! I'll throw it and then we run for the ship! Hopefully the explosion will be enough to daze them for enough time!" Kavra said.
"Then do it! I don't got all day!" Varec impatiently replied.
Kavra rolled her eyes as she tried to figure out how to use the thermal detonator. After all, she was just a girl who lived on Coruscant, she didn't really have much experience with military-grade weaponry until a week or two ago. Finally, she pressed a large button on the top of the spherical explosive, seeing it was now activated. She frowned and tossed it towards the Clones who were firing at the group, and after a few seconds the room echoed with a very loud explosion, which succeeded in eliminating at least half of the Clone soldiers and sending the rest into disarray. The group wasted no time, and they quickly hurried into the freighter, in which they passed a modified green and black colored R3 astro droid with a conical-frustum style head.
"T9, get ready! We're getting out of here!" Varec said as he hurried to the cockpit.
The droid, T9, gave a series of beeps as confirmation and he hurried to find somewhere to hide, as he knew it was going to be a very bumpy ride... Varec quickly got into the cockpit with Braz and the two got in their seats, activating the ship for the first time in a couple of weeks.
"Hang on!" Varec smirked, happy to be back in the pilot's seat of his ship again.
Several more Clone soldiers hurried into the hangar and began to fire at the ship as Varec began taking off. The lasers had no effect on the tough armor as the ship finally blasted its way out of the hanger, quickly heading up towards the stratosphere and finally into space itself. There was several moments where the action was over and they thought it would be an easy escape, but they were wrong. However, Varec noticed two Venator-class Star Destroyers, which were basically massive arrowhead-shaped ships, and they appeared to be dispatching fighters to attack them.
"They're not letting us go without a fight! I've modified this ship a lot, so I've got more than one turret! You three get in them and give me enough time to prep the hyperdrive!" Varec ordered.
"Copy that! Rafik, Kavra, let's do this!" Lak said.
The three fugitives quickly ran out of the cockpit. Rafik and Kavra ran to a gunwell that led to two of the turrets, in which Rafik climbed up to the top one and Kavra climbed down to the bottom one. Lak just ran down a nearby hall and to a turret on the back of the ship, inside the cargo hold. The three were ready by the time the first wave of Imperial fighters arrived. Rafik saw they were ARC-170's, a heavy duty fighter that the Republic commonly used. He knew they would have their work cut out for them...
The three began to fire at the fighters when they began their attack runs. One of the Imperial fighters managed to get a direct hit onto the ship, causing a massive vibration to go through the hunk of junk and causing Varec to frown.
"Hey, I said keep them off of the ship!" Varec said, feeling very annoyed.
"It's not exactly easy to do this!" Kavra replied with the same amount of annoyance.
Lak smirked as he fired at a fighter coming directly towards his turret. Thankfully, this one didn't managed to hit the ship when he fired his lasers at it, but Lak fired right back at the fighter and managed to destroy it. Kavra fired at a second fighter that was coming towards her turret, and she managed to destroy it before it even got close to the ship.
"Hey, I got one!" Kavra smiled.
"Great, but don't get cocky!" Lak replied.
Rafik wasn't really used to firing from turrets, as he much preferred flying in the pilot's seat of an attack fighter. He did have training in using the turrets, but that was back when he was a Padawan, which was years ago. However, he slowly began to get the hang of it again, and he even shot down a few of the Imperial fighters before Varec got the hyperdrive up and running.
"The hyperdrive is ready! You guys better hang on!" Varec said.
The Imperial ships intensified their attack as the three fugitives defended the ship from them. Finally, Varec activated the hyperdrive, calculating a destination to another part of the Galaxy, far from Taris or Coruscant... The stars began to elongate and soon the ship went into the familiar blue tunnel which was hyperspace, quickly losing the Imperials which were on their tail...
Varec and Braz walked into the living suite of the ship, basically the place to rest or hang out as the ship traveled. The two were soon joined by T9, and then the three fugitives walked into the room after getting out of their turrets.
"Hey, we're not dead! Good job!" Varec smirked.
"Yeah, yeah... Thanks for getting us off of Taris." Lak replied with a roll of his eyes.
T9 gave a series of beeps as he approached Kavra and Rafik, causing the two of them to smile at the friendly droid.
"Hey, little guy. Nice to meet you, I'm Kavra." Kavra smiled.
"Actually, that's a good point. Introductions, right? Well, you know me, and the Mon Calamari is my friend Braz Meddo, and that's my astro droid, T9-E2. Right now you're standing in my ship, the 'Eagle's Pride'. I don't mean to brag, but she's the fastest ship in this sector of the Galaxy." Varec explained.
"Impressive..." Rafik replied, looking back up at the smugglers. "My name's Rafik Thul. I was a Jedi Knight until a few weeks ago, when the Empire invaded the Jedi Temple. I got saved by Kavra Locke, the Twi'lek, and then we ran into Lak. His inhibitor chip broke in a scuffle and now he doesn't want to murder me anymore." he explained with a shrug.
Varec nodded and went to a nearby Dejarik table, a holographic game with two players controlling monsters. He didn't play the game at the moment and instead just leaned against the table, crossing his arms and smirking at the fugitives.
"Well, I'd like to make you an offer... See, we're all on the run from the Empire, and if they find us then they'd kill us. All of my crew aside from Braz and T9 are dead, and I've got some positions on this ship I need filled... So, would you three like to become crewmates on my ship?" Varec offered.
"What, and become smugglers? Criminals? That seems low..." Lak frowned.
"I'd prefer the term 'freedom fighter', or 'rebel' or something. But yeah, 'smugglers' seems fair enough." Varec shrugged.
Kavra, Rafik and Lak all looked at each other. None of them wanted to become criminals or smugglers, but their entire lives were uprooted and changed forever. Could they be comfortable becoming thieves? Although they would hopefully do some good in the Galaxy...
"I'm not one hundred percent on board with this..." Lak stated.
"If you want, I could ditch you with one of the escape pods and you could land on one of the backwater worlds around here." Varec offered. "Look, I don't steal from the poor or the needy, and I don't go on rampages or kill people who don't deserve it, so if you're worried about any of that then don't be." he added.
"Lak, come on..." Rafik said, placing a hand on his shoulder to help reassure him. "It's not like we can go back to the Jedi, or the Grand Army of the Republic. We need to adapt to survive now..." he added.
Lak took a few moments to think it all over. He was a soldier, he had a high sense of honor... But when your former comrades were shooting at you, it'd probably make you change opinion as well. Rob the rich to give to the needy? It seemed like the right thing to do... he just hoped it wouldn't backfire.
"Alright... I'll do it. For now, at least." Lak said.
"I'm in as well. I can't ever go back to Coruscant, but I'll stay and try my best to help." Kavra added.
"And I'll do this as well... I may need to put up my Lightsaber for a while, though. It's too dangerous to be seen with one." Rafik said.
Varec was happy to hear all of this. True, he could've just randomly found some people in a cantina somewhere to be his new crew, but he doubt he would've found anyone with the level of experience the three fugitives had. The Twi'lek might need some training, but the Jedi and the Clone were good additions bar none. With a smirk, Varec began heading back to the cockpit, but he turned to look back at the group.
"I'm glad you chose this. Welcome to the Eagle's Pride." Varec said.
Braz followed Varec to the cockpit as T9 simply began wandering around the ship. The three fugitives simply stood where they were, struggling to get used to the idea that they were now smugglers... Hopefully the Eagle's Pride could be a good home for them. Hopefully the Empire would always stay two steps behind them. Hopefully they will manage to do at least a little bit of good for the Galaxy...
Their adventures were just beginning.
