Chapter 1
"Entering the clearance code, it went through! Looks like Admiral Denal came through after all." Risha said in a half-surprised tone.
Captain Terra gave her co-pilot a playful smirk.
"Really, you still don't trust him after six missions?" The Privateer asked. Risha shrugged.
"You know me, I'm always a little skeptical." Captain Terra shook her head and carefully guided the XS Stock Light Freighter past Nar Shaddaa's orbital customs towards a designated spaceport their codes automatically generated.
"What do you think it'll be this time, weapons, droids, medical supplies?" Corso Riggs asked while placing charge packs into his blaster rifle.
"I hope it's medical supplies, they're going for triple their usual rate, war and all." Languss Tuno sounded almost giddish while checking his datapad.
"I'm pretty sure everything Corso mentioned goes for higher rates during war." Akaavi Spar said while similarly preparing her electrostaff. A large wookie growled something making Terra nod.
"Bowdaar's right, so long as it's hurting the Imperial war effort, it's a win win." The Privateer said with a cocky smile. Captain Terra possessed slightly tanned skin with long black hair done up in a ponytail and looked to be in her mid twenties. The woman wore a stylish and rogue looking brown jacket and had two blaster pistols holstered on her belt.
From the age of sixteen Terra had been on her own, making ends meet as a smuggler and gunslinger. At age twenty, she acquired her ship and became a captain, but that's when everything changed. Her ship was stolen on Ord Mantell and through a series of strange circumstances, she'd found herself caught up in the Republic and Resurgent Sith Empire's cold war conflicts, and eventually the renewed Great Galactic War.
Despite not being particularly patriotic towards the Republic, Terra preferred it to the Sith any day, and fought alongside the Republic in numerous battles, from Balmorra to Corellia. After helping to save the Republic shipyards during the battle of Corellia, the Republic formally made Terra a privateer, and gave her license to harass Imperial shipping, something she was more than happy to do.
Admiral Denal was her formal handler, and often sent her jobs with more specific objectives, not that Terra minded, since it always came down to robbing very lucrative Imperial supplies, or rescuing prisoners.
"The Empire must be worse off than we thought if they're running such important cargo through Nar Shaddaa." Corso chuckled.
"The Hutts are reliable if you pay them enough." Risha said, bringing them in closer.
"Not in this case." Terra chuckled, earning similar attitudes from her crew. For years the Republic fought tooth and nail just to survive the Sith Empire's onslaught, but when war broke out again, things turned rapidly in their favor. Despite the Empire gaining an initial advantage with their victory on Taris, the Republic liberated Balmorra, held off an invasion of Quesh, wiped out twenty-percent of the Imperial Military at Corellia, and even managed to kill the Sith Emperor in a raid on Dromund Kaas itself.
After that, the Sith Lord, Darth Malgus attempted to rebel and proclaim himself the New Emperor, only to have his New Empire crushed by a joint effort between the Republic and Sith. Terra herself had been among the four member team of Republic heroes who boarded Malgus's space station and was present when the Jedi's new Battlemaster struck down Malgus in a duel, just as he'd struck down the Sith Emperor on Dromund Kaas.
Since then, the tide of war turned in the Republic's favor, and the Sith were now fighting for survival. Terra savored the idea that the Empire might soon fall, and their tyranny with it. But until then, she still had a part to play, and that part was undermining the Imperial war effort. Getting rich while doing so was just an added bonus.
Admiral Denal informed her that the Empire was transporting some very important cargo through the Hutt's Black market on Nar Shaddaa and wanted the shipment secured. Terra couldn't help but think about what Corso said. Just a year prior, the Empire transporting something so important via a criminal network was unheard of. But now, their fleets were on the verge of collapse as the Republic's counteroffensive pressed them on all fronts. Entire regions of Imperial power were cut off from one another as privateers and Republic naval raiding squadrons pressed deeper and deeper into their hyperspace lanes.
Clearly, this cargo was something very important and it needed to get back from the front to the Empire's seat of power. Unfortunately for them, Terra wouldn't let that happen. She landed the freighter at a designated landing pad and stood up.
"Let's make some money." Terra said, placing her hat on and pulling up the cloth covering over her mouth. Her crew eagerly followed, but she first stopped by a protocol droid waiting near the ramp.
"Stay by the cockpit, C2. We may need to make a quick get-away."
"Of course master."
A customs droid met Terra on the landing pad, but quickly let them pass, Admiral Denal's code still working.
"So which hanger is it in?" Languss asked. The Mon Calamari's eyes darting towards various doorways as they passed through the spaceport.
"That's what we need to find out." Terra said. She in turn kept her eyes on the various crews and spaceport employees passing them. This dock was particularly well-maintained for Nar Shaddaa, meaning it was clearly high-end for the Hutts. The lack of obvious criminal activity was another clear sign that this was where serious business happened.
That's when she saw them, five heavily armed men and women in the unmistakable black armor of Imperial soldiers standing guard outside one of the hangers.
"Looks like we found it." Risha said, focusing on the soldiers.
"Yep, this is where the fun begins." Terra said with a deep breath. She wasn't particularly worried about five troopers, she'd handled much worse than that on countless occasions. However, the numerous security guards moving about might cause trouble, not to mention the other Imperials likely inside the hangar.
"So what's the plan, captain?" Akaavi asked.
"Let me think." Terra stroked her chin as she carefully surveyed the spaceport. That's when she saw it, an air duct. The privateer smiled beneath her mouth covering and the others followed suit, all except for Bowdaar who groaned.
Several minutes later, the crew of privateers very carefully navigated the ventilation shafts, watching closely to ensure they didn't trip any security measures. Bowdaar struggled, given his size, but the breeze flowing past them helped a little.
"Don't focus on the cramped space, Bowdaar, think about what you're going to spend your share on." Terra said in a charismatic tone. The wookiee seemed to like that idea and pressed on with a more optimistic expression.
"I just hope there's some big-whig Imp who gets his neck snapped by a Sith when they find out he lost the cargo." Corso chuckled.
"You could stay behind to see if it happens." Risha suggested.
"Maybe I will. Could be fun." Terra silenced the others with a finger pressed to her cloth mouth covering. She emphasized a ventilation covering and very quietly removed it before leaping down. One by one, the others followed until all six knelt on top of a massive cargo container inside the target hanger.
Below them, over two-dozen Imperials stood guard beside a large cargo ship being loaded by lifter droids and crewmen.
"Watch those crates! If you damage the cargo I'll have your hand chopped off!" An Imperial naval officer barked out as she stood near the ship, a datapad in hand.
"There's your bigwig." Akaavi commented.
"Good."
Terra shook her head slightly, and began scouting out the hanger. A few squads of navy troopers in their grey uniforms. These men and women lacked the armor of Imperial assault soldiers like those standing guard, but were still well trained. Eight or so battle droids backed them up, though Terra watched the assault droid with more interest.
She turned to Bowdaar who eagerly nodded with a low growl. Slowly but surely, Terra surveyed the docking area for all signs of trouble, spotting a few snipers hidden atop the crates across from them. One by one, she assigned one of her crew to a specific group of Imperials and a portion of the hanger. Thankfully, she didn't spot any Sith among them.
Terra had dealt with Sith before, but never easily. Typically she preferred to avoid them if possible, though that wasn't always the case. Terra waited patiently as the Imperials finished loading up their cargo before finally beginning pre-flight procedures.
"Alright, Akaavi has the snipers, the rest of us are providing a base of fire in our area. Once we have them distracted, Languss will high-tail it onboard that ship and prep for take off. We then fall back inside and escape with the cargo. Any questions?"
"Yeah, what about him?" Corso said, pointing to the crates across from them. Terra looked over and saw who he emphasized. A human man concealed himself among the containers quite well. Terra and Corso had long developed keen eyes for hidden assailants, but most people wouldn't have spotted him.
He looked to be in his late twenties with slightly-tanned fair skin, spiky brown hair, and green eyes with small but noticeable implants on his left temple. Terra noted that he looked quite handsome, but more than that, something about his demeanor drew her interest in more ways than one. The Privateer quickly shook her head, pushing those thoughts away, she was working.
"Who the Hell is he, another Imperial?" Risha asked, but Terra shook her head. He wasn't wearing an identifiable uniform, but a simple pair of trousers and a red jacket. Still she'd been around enough professionals to know when someone was secretly armed to the teeth, and he certainly was.
"No."
"Another Privateer? Or maybe he's working for the Hutts-" Akaavi started.
"SIS." The captain answered.
"Are you sure?" Corso asked. Terra nodded, he hid it well, but the man's signature was that of someone with keen training and discipline. Not military, but espionage. SIS was the only thing that made sense, which meant he was after the cargo too.
"What? Why would the Admiral send us here if SIS was already on it?" Risha growled.
"Because he didn't know. The SIS likes to keep secrets even from their own side." Terra sighed. Her crew all turned to her with wary expressions.
"What does this mean?" Risha asked with a very careful tone that held back passive-aggressiveness, though not towards her captain.
Terra hardened her expression while gripping both blaster pistols tightly.
"I don't care much about the SIS, this is our score, and the Republic will get whatever it is SIS wants anyway, but not without giving us our cut." The privateers all smiled again with excitement returning to their demeanors.
"What about him?" Corso asked. Terra gave a cocky smile under her mouth covering.
"If he's an SIS agent worth anything, he'll know exactly who we are. We're famous now, which means he won't try to get in our way. We make him work for us." At that, her crew moved into their assigned positions and waited for the signal.
Terra watched the Imperials close up the fuel line when suddenly, the hidden SIS agent saw her. He looked surprised for a fraction of a second before turning to the ship and back to Terra. She could see the frustration in his eyes as he grit his teeth and furiously shook his head. The agent waved a hand, clearly ordering her to back off, but Terra merely shrugged with a cocky expression, tossing a coin up into the air.
"Time to get lucky." She caught the coin and immediately lobbed a thermal detonator into the center of the Imperials.
"Look out!" The crew and soldiers scattered, but three couldn't escape the blast, including a pair of guard droids. Terra leaped down in front of the crates and sprayed the area with a barrage of pistol fire, claiming two navy troopers while the rest dove for cover and returned fire. Ducking and weaving, Terra avoided the bolts before throwing down a piece of deployable cover which lit up in front of her.
The Imperial snipers tried to take aim, only for Akaavi to spring into action. The zabrak spun her electrostaff and knocked the first sniper off the shipping containers. His companions frantically turned to try and gun the new threat down, but Akaavi was too close and mercilessly broke their stances with a series of brutal blows.
Back on the ground, Terra drew virtually all of the Imperials' attention as they tried to surround her. But this proved disastrous as well placed sniper fire from Risha brought down three more navy troopers.
The rest scrambled about, trying to find some cover from the unseen sharpshooter. Corso immediately took advantage of this, emerging from across the hanger behind a crate before downing three of the Imperial guard droids, now unsupported.
Terra tossed another grenade behind a crate, killing two more armed crewmen and a navy trooper when suddenly she realized the SIS agent hadn't joined the fray. With a quick glance back, he'd vanished from his hiding spot, which meant only one thing, he was trying to sneak inside the ship.
"No you don't! Languss!" She shouted. The Mon Calamari sprinted from his cover towards the ship's entry ramp.
"Stop him!" The Imperial officer cried. Terra, Corso, and Risha kept up effective suppressing fire, forcing most of the Imperials back. All three remaining guard droids, and a large assault mech moved in, taking aim at Languss.
"Graaaww!" Bowdaar roared. The wookiee leaped from a crate and landed on top of the assault mech, ripping its claw-shaped head off with his bear paws.
The three remaining droids turned to try and shoot him, but Bowdaar smashed them apart with his techblade in three crushing blows.
"Pardon me!" Languss croaked, whipping out his pistol and shooting the two pilots at the ramp before rushing inside.
Terra heard another two shots from within the ship but felt her nerves ease when hearing Languss's voice from their comm-channel.
"Ship secured, and they were nice enough to take care of all pre-flight procedures. Give me a minute and I'll have her in the air."
"Good, C2 do you copy?"
"Of course, master."
"I want you to take our ship into orbit and track the Imperial freighter, we'll be inside it."
"Right away, master."
The hard part was over, now she just needed to hold the Imperials off long enough to get away. Though now reinforcements poured into the hangar. All five of the armored soldiers raced in, rifles firing.
Terra shifted her fire and managed to hit two of them, but unfortunately their armor was designed to absorb blaster bolts up to a certain degree. Most could take up to three or four shots in the right areas, quite useful for shock troopers.
The five men and women moved behind the crates, clearly attempting to flank the Privateers as a swarm of Hutt security personnel swarmed the hangar, attempting to overwhelm Terra's crew with sheer numbers.
"Wait you fools!" The Imperial officer cried, reaching out with a look of scorn as she watched the hired thugs drop like mynocks against Terra's team.
Imperial navy troopers weren't the most dangerous enemies Terra ever faced, but they did have good training, discipline, and coordination. These Hutt mercenaries lacked these traits, though many had the skills, they acted as a mob of individuals rather than a cohesive team. Many fought for cover, pushing others out into the open only to fall at the hands of Terra's blaster fire.
Despite all of this, she didn't forget about the five armored Imperials trying to outflank them, and gave Akaavi and Bowdaar a signal. Both nodded, getting into position. If the soldiers tried to move in from the nearest opening, the two privateers could come at them from the sides. However, this proved unnecessary, as the first trooper turned the corner, a grenade dropped down in front of her.
"Look out!" She tried to kick it away, but the blast enveloped her in an instant. The other four scattered, desperate to avoid the blast. In doing so, they became separated and easier prey for the SIS agent who took careful aim and blasted one in his unarmored neck.
The other three instantly opened up on the agent, but did so too late, allowing him to jump down and fire off two more bolts into the largest Imperial's chest and one to his rifle, knocking the hulking man into a crate.
The remaining troopers tried to fire, but the agent was already moving. Terra noticed him mutter something while raising his offhand, and suddenly a nearly invisible dart shot out, hitting the first Imperial's neck. The armored soldier began to tremble, her legs wobbling before she collapsed.
By then, the agent reached his final target, who furiously swung the stock of his rifle at him. The trooper wasn't a bad fighter, and put up a decent fight against the SIS operative, but ultimately failed as the agent finally got leverage and swept him to the ground firing another dart into his neck.
Unfortunately, the fight wasn't over. The largest of the troopers hadn't died from the two direct hits, his armor smoking, but still intact. Now growling he charged into the agent like a reek, and slammed him into the nearest crate.
Terra almost cringed as she imagined his pain, which wasn't that hard considering she saw the agent's expression. Despite what had to be immense pressure, he held out his wrist to the man's neck and fired a pinpoint laser, killing him instantly.
Terra's mind snapped back to attention as she heard the ship's engines come to life and steam shoot out from exhaust ports.
"She's good to go, captain!" Languss said, his voice on the verge of child-like glee.
"Alright, come on!" Terra shouted as she waved to Bowdaar and Akaavi. Both sprinted inside the ship as the others gave them cover.
"They're trying to steal the ship! Stop them!" The Imperial officer shrieked like a banshee.
"Alright, Corso you next. Risha go!" Corso sprinted inside, followed by Risha. For a brief moment, Terra considered offering the SIS agent a ride, but then saw him readying a grapple towards a ventilation shaft.
The Privateer readied herself to get inside, priming another thermal detonator. But just as the explosive left her hand, the world seemed to slow down. Out of the corner of Terra's eye, she saw a gamorrean arm a permacrete detonator, to throw at the ship. All she could do was duck down behind her cover before every sense exploded into agonizing pain.
Terra's sight went white and her hearing a high-pitched ringing. After an uncertain amount of time, noise and blurry vision slowly returned and she struggled to get back up, her body still trembling.
Even so, Terra saw the sheer carnage caused by the detonator's premature explosion. Over twenty Hutt mercenaries lay sprawled across the hanger in pieces or as charred corpses with fire and debris surrounding a small crater where the gamorrean had been.
"Damn idiot." She growled. Further back, a few Imperials also lay dead, but most were either wounded or still disoriented, struggling to regain their senses.
"Medic!" One cried, the moans and wails of pure agony from the wounded Imperials almost eliciting sympathy from Terra. Even so, she looked over and to her relief, saw only minor scratches on the ship's hull, nothing more than superficial damage.
She was about to get inside when she remembered something, the SIS agent! Terra looked to where he'd been and saw the man sprawled on his stomach. His jacket was torn up with burn marks and cuts across exposed flesh, and for a brief moment, she thought he'd died. But then, Terra spotted him move a little.
The Privateer grit her teeth as she saw more and more of the Imperials getting back to their feet.
"Come on!" Risha shouted. Well, there was only one thing to do. Terra got up and sprinted over to the agent even as the Imperials opened fire. She knelt down and injected him with a quick-use medpack.
The agent gasped as the kolto took effect, and looked up at the Privateer standing over him.
"You want to live, get on your feet!" She barked, helping him place his right arm around her shoulder. The agent grunted, but finally found the strength to stand up with Terra's help. Together, they moved as fast as they could, blast bolts whistling by their heads, narrowly missing.
Corso stood by the entry ramp, providing cover fire until Bowdaar reached out and ensnared both humans in his strong arms, pulling them inside just as the ramp closed.
"Strap yourselves in!" Risha shouted while in the cockpit with Languss.
Bowdaar set the agent down and buckled his harness while Corso and Terra did the same. The stolen ship wasn't particularly fast or agile, but they managed to break the atmosphere before Hutt security ships could reach them.
"Where too?" Risha asked.
"Coruscant! C2, meet us there!"
"Yes, master. I've just enter hyperspace."
"Coordinates locked!"
"Punch it!" Terra shouted. Just like that, the ocean of stars became a tunnel of light, they were safe. Corso and Languss both exhaled deeply, allowing their bodies to nearly collapse. Akaavi didn't entirely lose her guard, but eased up slightly. Bowdaar let out a triumphant roar, particularly as he eagerly went back to get a better look at their haul.
Terra, however, was more interested in their passenger, the agent. She unstrapped herself and walked over to him, barely conscious and only held upright by his seat's straps.
"Languss, come take a look at him." The Mon Calamari nodded and got up, leaving Risha to pilot the ship alone. He knelt in front of the agent and performed a quick examination.
"Hmm, burns, bruises, maybe a broken bone or two. Nothing a kolto bath won't fix." Languss took out a vial of kolto and injected him with it, easing some of the man's pain.
"He should be fine until we get to a proper med center."
"Good, why don't you go back with Bowdaar and see what we managed to steal." The Mon Calamari's smile returned.
"Gladly!" Terra took his spot in front of the agent and exhaled, removing her mouth covering and hat.
"Can you hear me?" She asked, her tone soft but with a clear command presence to it.
"I can hear you." The agent muttered, still shaken up by the explosion, his eyes only half-open, but his mind clearly there.
"I'm guessing you know who I am."
"Yeah, Captain Terra, also known as Ace. Smuggler turned Privateer, and a hero of the Republic."
Terra's cocky smile returned as she nodded.
"That's right, mind telling me who you are, and what exactly your mission was?"
The man hesitated.
"Don't even bother lying. I'm a professional, I can tell you're an SIS agent." He sighed in resignation.
"Great. My name is Agent Theron Shan, as you said, SIS."
Terra blinked for a moment with a look of disbelief. Corso and Akaavi looked similarly astonished.
"Shan, as in Satel Shan?"
Theron didn't answer for a moment, but then sighed again.
"Yeah, she's my mother, let's just leave it at that."
"You're the Jedi Grandmaster's son?! Why aren't you a Jedi then? Fail out of the academy?" Terra laughed.
"You could say that. Not being Force sensitive played a part."
Terra had to hold back further laughter at the sheer absurdity of what was going on before her.
"Alright, I'll have a good laugh about that later. But for now, I want to know why the SIS was after a shipment of Imperial goods that Admiral Denal of the Republic Navy authorized me to hijack." Theron shook his head while looking even wearier.
"That's what the director gets for not sharing information with the military. Look, I appreciate you saving my life, but my mission is highly classified. You may be a hero, but you're not part of the SIS or the military, I can't share details."
Terra replied with a smug grin and took out the same coin from earlier.
"Well, it just so happens that whatever you were sent to retrieve is now in my hands." She said flipping the coin as Theron did his best not to look angry.
"Don't worry, it'll go to the Republic one way or another. I am a Privateer after all, and I do want the Republic to win this war. But my contract states I'm supposed to turn over my hauls to the Navy, not the SIS. If your boss wants it, he'll have to talk to Admiral Denal."
"Look, I'll make sure you and your crew are properly compensated for the cargo, but it needs to go to SIS." Theron insisted.
Terra's face turned slightly stern as she moved closer. Despite this, Theron didn't flinch and he met her eyes, her deep pretty eyes.
"You know who I am, Agent Shan, and what I've done for the Republic. So stop treating me like some thug for hire. My mission was the get this cargo for Admiral Denal, and you better be damn sure I'm getting it back to him, and if not him, I could always hand it over to Republic Special Forces. You could say I'm good friends with one of their officers, you might've heard of him, and his squad."
"I know. I appreciate your dedication, but I have a mission too, and you interfered."
Terra narrowed her eyes, but smirked again before emphasizing the ship around them.
"By all accounts, it seems to have been a success. We got everything from the Imps and it's going back to the Republic one way or another. Plus, I got you out alive."
Theron opened his mouth to speak, but Terra cut him off.
"Your mission is complete, Theron. You can call your boss and tell him to talk to Admiral Denal, I'm sure he'll be willing to share."
Theron chuckled despite the pain in his stomach.
"I'm sure he will. Alright, fine, better it goes to the Navy than the Empire. Thank you." He admitted.
"Your welcome, now try to get some rest." Theron shut his eyes and drifted off into sleep. Terra took another deep breath and got up, walking back to the cargo hold where she saw Languss and Bowdaar going through the crates.
The Captain took out a holocommunicator and sent out a signal, moments later the holographic image of a twi'lek in an admiral's uniform appeared.
"Captain Terra."
"Admiral, good to see you again. Mission success, I've got the ship and all the cargo. We're on our way to Coruscant."
"Outstanding! I knew I could count on you."
"There's more, an SIS agent was there, apparently he was on a mission to recover the haul too." This news caught the Admiral off-guard and he winced.
"SIS was there! Of course they were, always keeping us in the dark!" The twi'lek growled, resentment seeping into his face.
"Captain, check this out!" Languss cried. The Mon Calamari sprinted over with what looked like a schematics projector in his hand. Activating it, they saw the blueprints for a Harrower-class Dreadnaught, one like they'd never seen before.
"So this is what SIS was after." Terra said warily.
"Indeed, you just earned a bonus, captain."
Author's note
Hey there folks, yep another SWTOR story, can't help it, I love SWTOR. Unlike some of the other stories I've posted this one is already completely written.
My current plan is to release a chapter once every Friday until its done, unless you guys want them posted sooner
Please let me know what you guys think so far, likes dislikes and suggestions
So until next time,
Please review, comment suggest or ask (VIA PM)