Hello, Star Wars fans. Read any good Star Wars stories today? I know I have. I got the latest Star Wars graphic novel, Star Wars: Chewbacca. It may not be as good as the original graphic novel named after Chewbacca, but it is still a good read. Oh,and I watched the latest chapter of SWTOR(Star Wars: The Old Republic): KOTFE (Knights of the Fallen Empire), and it was excellent. I especially loved Aric Jorgan's disillusionment with Leontyne Saresh's tyranny. Personally, I hope that she and her puppet chancellor get their comeuppance later in the story. Anyway, I'm sorry if this chapter took so long. It took me a while to come up with something for this chapter, as I didn't write much in my outline for the third and fourth stories. Well, with that out of the way, let's get on with the story.
Day 19 of theShadow Alliance's formation
Two days later, on Gargon
Edaan just exited the spice refinery on Gargon, and his thoughts were chaotic, to say the least. Boba Fett had ordered Edaan and his crew to investigate the distress signal from the primary spice refinery in order to see who was responsible for the disappearance of the company of Fett's warriors that were sent there in order to aid the revolting slaves in breaking ties with Neo Death Watch.
Everyone didn't say anything as they searched the factory, but the tension between the eight of them was as obvious as who they suspected who was responsible for the massacre. In investigating the factory, each member of the team discovered clues that Neo Death Watch was responsible, but Artoo took the cake by slicing together scattered files from the helmets of Fett's dead warriors, security cameras, and the intercom system. Together, they revealed that Mirta Gev and Belok Rhal were personally responsible for the massacre that took place two days ago.
"Well, Mand'alor won't like this news one bit." A grim Akku said as the eight of them made their way to the Second Chance after completing the search for survivors throughout the facility, only to come up empty.
"Agreed." Edaan concurred as his brain was in overdrive in coming up with an explanation as to why Mirta would kill everyone present. He knew that she could be cruel at times, recalling the story that Han Solo told him of when the Qreph brothers captured him, and how she tortured him, and how she stood by and did nothing as Vestara killed over twenty-eight thousand innocent workers just to send a message to Lando Calrissian. But partaking in the killing of innocent slaves was a new low for Mirta.
There must be an explanation for this. Edaan thought as he approached Akku to get his take on the slaughter that occurred here. "What do you think of this?" Edaan asked.
"Honestly, I don't know what to make of this, boss." Akku said with a hint of remorse in his voice. "I mean, I've heard the rumors of how brutal both sides can be, but killing defenseless slaves is a new low for Neo Death Watch."
"I know what you mean, my friend. This is just what gives honorable mercenaries and bounty hunters like you and Robonino a bad name." Edaan concurred. "Still, it would help to know the motives of our enemies for doing this. Except for Belok Rhal and Natasi Daala, of course, as they would kill or ruin anyone who gets in their way. I just don't get how Mirta could partake in this and emerge spiritually unscathed." he continued.
"Well, maybe she's agonizing over the choices she's made, boss. I mean, she betrayed her family and Mand'alor, and she took both of her and Ghes's kids with her when she joined Neo Death Watch-"
"Wait a second, Akku. You're telling me that she had kids, and TOOK them with her off to war?! I know that Mandalorians start to train their kids in the warrior ways around the age of eight, but that is insane!" Edaan interrupted with horror and rage in her voice. "Mirta must be off her meds if she thinks that her kids would be safer with her. Especially since she's one of Daala's elite commanders."
"You won't get any argument from me." Akku concurred. "Anyway," he continued "I think that Mirta killed all of those soldiers in order to protect them." After getting a bewildered look from Edaan, he went on, saying, "I've heard rumors that Daala wants any of Fett's soldiers alive that survive any battle in order to interrogate them for information on Fett's troop movements, weapons shipments, and especially the schematics for Kyrimorut, as she can't get any spies inside the base. Daala even resorts to torture in order to get any intelligence out of them, but none of the soldiers won't crack." After getting an impressed look from Edaan, Akku said "And a lot of Daala's troops spill their guts in Fett's prescence. That says a lot about the leaders and their methods, doesn't it?"
"Indeed it does, my friend." Edaan said. At least Akku gave him a reason for Mirta's actions, and while he would never condone cold-blooded executions, he could understand Mirta's reservations for putting them down when the only alternative was a brutal torture by Belok and Daala's torture droids and speciaists, and followed by a cruel execution by a firing squad. He only hoped he could use that to his advantage when he eventually confronted Mirta and he tried to save her form her misguided loyalties. I suppose that it's only a matter of time until we find out. Edaan thought as everyone entered the Second Chance, and took up his or her positions within the ship. May the force be with us all. He thought as the ship took off for Mandalore in order to report back to Beviin and Fett.
Well, that concludes this chapter. I hope I made the characters real enough for you to enjoy. Anyway, sorry if this chapter took longer than expected, especially since this was the shortest chapter that I've written so far, but other events got in the way. May the force be with you, and Long Live the Expanded Universe!
