Entry 012: Secrets, Favors, and Homes...
The fleet moved this week from the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere else. It's technically listed as a star system, but only by the definition that it is a star surrounded by planets. It didn't even have a name, only an old Republic System Designation number. Personally, I wouldn't even call them planets, but who am I to judge.
The primary was a red giant, but there is also a barely dwarf star orbiting it. I guess it used to be a gas giant until some idiot tossed a lit death stick into it. The rest of the planets weren't much better off. The inner system was all rocks and the outer system was all gas giants. Most didn't even have any useful gasses on them; those that did were so radioactive from the dwarf that they're useless. There weren't even any moons, only rings where the moons once were before they were pulled apart.
The one thing this system did offer was actual holonet access. We got updates from around the Empire and mail actually began circulating. It didn't matter much to me, though. My inbox was nothing but spam. Well, there were a couple of recruiting adverts for other Rebel squadrons that I qualified for with my current flight credentials. Not that I would ever leave Phoenix Squadron, but it felt good to be wanted. One even promised me my own personal technician, but I doubted that tech would be anything like Serim.
We were still running scouting missions for bases in the sector, which is why Tensinel approached me when we both returned from a fruitless run. He said that he might have a line on a potential base for the fleet. I asked him some questions, but he was rather tight-lipped (as if there were any other way for him to be). He asked me to go to Commander Sato with his suggestion and he requested permission to check it out.
I'd call it sketchy, but with Tensinel, one could never tell. Commander Sato thought the same when I approached him with it. Captain Rex was also present and thought it might have been worth a look. It beat any of the suggestions he was giving. The commander signed off on the mission, but said that I had to accompany him to the destination. Tensinel didn't say anything aside from "I'd have preferred to go alone" before he walked away to plan the mission.
The Ghost returned to the fleet the next day. Because Ahsoka was gone, Five docked in the forward cargo compartment of the Emancipator. When the Ghost heard about the suggestion, they generally approved. Sabine asked to join us, but Tensinel (who was present for the briefing because it was his plan) declined. He said that a Mandalorian would only make his sources jumpier than they already were. There was no argument, only a knowing nod from the warrior who went back to leaning against a chair occupied by Ezra.
The Phantom, the Ghost's auxiliary fighter/troop ship, took off while Cresh was on patrol. They were in search of medical supplies for the Emancipator in an old Clone Med station. Tensinel was still planning the mission, so Ten and Twelve took the entire shift. I tried to assist him, but he just looked at me with his deadpan until I found somewhere else that needed my attention (specifically, a sabacc game with Serim and some of her tech team).
The next day, Eleven and I were on our way to the Garel System. Looking it up, I saw that it was only a few minutes jump from Lothal. That would have raised some flags, but I trusted Tensinel. Though, that trust was heavily strained when we exited hyperspace near to the planet Garel and saw a Star Destroyer in orbit. But, it jumped out before we got near the planet.
Eleven was lead on the mission, so he took care of landing clearances. I got an update from the Garel City Spaceport telling us to dock at Bay 94. I also saw that the entire system inside the orbit of Garel was listed as an Imperial Quarantine zone with patrolled checkpoints.
We landed in the docking bay and made sure the ships were secure. Before we left, Tensinel handed me a beige flight bag. Inside was a combat jumpsuit kit. He told me that it might not be a good idea to be seen in a Rebel uniform on the planet until we got the lay of the land. I agreed and changed. When I saw him next, I was quite surprised.
Tensinel was in armor. It wasn't just a combat jumpsuit like the one I was wearing, but actual armor: a chest piece, gauntlets, cod, shins, thighs, and biceps, all with the same blood red color over a beige pressure suit. The helmet had two eye slits and his voice was enhanced and changed when he told me to follow him and to look tough.
We stopped at a couple of tapcafe's, caught a singer at a club, and ate lunch at a nice little cantina. There were Imperial patrols, but they only looked for things out of the ordinary. Even though we were dressed in combat gear and strapped with weapons, we fit in. Though, the Imperials were also acting as local security forces when they arrived to break up a brawl in one of the tapcafes. Garel was occupied, but ignored. There was an Imperial supply base on the planet, but it was on another continent.
We made our way into the heart of the dock-master zone. It was outside the spaceport proper and looked to be in far better shape. There was an overabundance of brothels and other establishments of ill repute on either side of the speederlane, but there was a lack of Imperial patrols. Though, I did recognize a couple uniforms entering a parlor that proclaimed all-hours Twi'lek dancers.
We ended up at a massive estate that was labeled as belonging to the Dock Master. Tensinel didn't even pay attention to the signs to alert the attendant and wait. He just walked right in and I followed. It was dimly lit, but the gold accents on practically everything made the entire room look aflame.
We passed into a side room filled with droids in front of various computer stations. I got a look at one and it was cargo manifests and shipping authorizations. Another was a flight control station for the spaceport. One of the droids looked up at us, pressed a button on the side of its console, and went back to what it was doing.
The next room told me what it pressed. We walked in and were looking down the barrel of five blaster rifles. There were four humans and a Rodian. Tensinel looked around and proclaimed in a loud voice that he didn't appreciate blasters being pointed in his general direction. This caused the security forces to look at one another in confusion.
A Zabrak walked out from a side door with an annoyed expression on her face. The moment she saw Tensinel, her expression changed to a huge smile. She practically sprinted around the guards and leaped to wrap herself around the armored man. Though he didn't even shift when she hit him, her hug caused one of his plated to clack off of its magnalock. That made the guards even more confused, but they slowly lowered their rifles.
She scolded him for not calling ahead or else she would have dressed more appropriately. Her simple shift was belted at the waist and showed off her bare sides all the way to what I only assumed were dancer's shoes. Even the single strip of fabric looked like a natural shimmersilk and was almost transparent where it actually pressed against her skin.
Tensinel took off his helmet and kissed the woman for an uncomfortable long time. It was long enough for the security team to begin looking anywhere but at the shapely leg of the woman arching over his thigh armor. I cleared my throat, but it didn't do anything to stop the kiss. One of the security guards looked at me, shook his head, and walked back over to the nearby table. The others joined him.
The woman finally let my wingman come up for air after about three minutes. In that time, there were two hands of Sabacc played and one of the security guards offered me a drink, which I politely declined. It was then that Tensinel realized that there were other people on the planet and that we had some business to attend to.
He asked if the boss was in, to which she nodded with a smile. She wrapped her hand through his and pulled him toward a door. I followed them into the next room, but she told me that I had to wait there. In the other room, I heard the baritone laugh of a Hutt before the door closed.
As far as waiting rooms went, this one wasn't all that bad. There was a holodancer on the single table in the room, a female Nautolan who was rather limber. She was spinning around the metallic pole that connected the table to the ceiling. I sat down in one of the chairs near the table to watch the show and was surprised when the hologram came down off the table and began giving me a holo lap dance. I couldn't feel anything, but that didn't stop my body from reacting. I stood and walked through the hologram. I decided to lean against a wall and enjoy the pole routine from a distance.
Tentinel came out of the private meeting with the Zabrak still glued to his arm. He smiled at me as we walked back through the rooms, which was odd, and told me that we had a deal. We'd be getting a total of seven bays, three large and four medium, on the outskirts of the docking area near Garel City proper. On top of that, we would have complete access to the maintenance ordering facilities and would receive the Dock Master's private discount for all parts we need. The docking berths would also come with twelve single-person rooms for the medium bays and large bays, and twenty-four four-person rooms each with their own refreshers for just the large. We were registered under a dummy corporation as a cargo company with three capital ships, four transports, and twelve fast couriers.
He told me to prep the ships for liftoff and he'd be with me in about an hour. The Zabrak woman huffed at him and punched his bicep, which made him amend it to three hours. She shuddered and licked her lips. I answered with my best "Yes, sir" and left. I outranked him.
I decided to walk by the bays we were going to call home and found them near to the central market and tourist area. That meant good cover for anyone wanting to go out on the town. The vendors had a decent list of foods and drinks and there were a couple of entertainment parlors near enough for off-duty walking. There was also a higher-class tower hotel for anyone who got tired of bunking at the spaceport, but the rates were a little steeper than I liked. On top of it, there was a speeder rental business just off the docking lanes.
I got a snack from a vendor while waiting for Tensinel to return and returned just before he did. We changed back into our flight suits, but he told me to keep the combat jumpsuit because I might need a disguise and it fit me. I thanked him and stored it back in its duffel, shoving it behind my seat in the storage compartment.
We were in hyperspace back to the fleet when he broke his self-imposed radio silence to state "you have questions." I told him that was an understatement. It took about a minute for him to respond, but the response was quite surprising.
"I was a bounty hunter and called in a favor."
With that, he cut the comm channel. It explained so very much, both about his skill and why he was so tight lipped with his past. We were silent until we got back to the fleet.
I briefed Commander Sato and Captain Rex. Captain Syndula asked me how I was able to get such a good deal from the Hutt Dock Master and not pay anything. I told her that it was Eleven that got the deal. He said only, "I called in a favor." Rex looked him up and down and said that it was good enough an explanation for him.
Commander Sato opened a broadcast to the fleet and informed them that the next day, we would be setting up our new base during Second Watch on the planet Garel. I could hear the cheering down the hallways of the Liberator.