Oceanum de Astra : Remnants of Stardust

by DCTrinityFan

As the Cold War between the New Republic and the First Order slowly warms, a botched privateer mission reveals a previously undiscovered planet, rich in resources and rife with turmoil of its own. In a bid to improve diplomatic relations, The Galactic Senate requests the New Jedi Order send some of its younger members... as foreign exchange students! (rating may change)

2. Vol 0, Ch 1: Murphy's Law

F###ing finally! It's been almost a year!

To anyone who happens to be following this, I'm sorry.

It took me way, way too long to get this new chapter out. It was a combination of many things; work, college (which is done now, yay!), writer's block, and my own procrastination. But it's out now (just in time for May the 4th 2022!), and holy crap, this is long.

So yeah, sorry this took so long, and sorry this chapter is so long.

On the bright side, some recent changes in my personal life mean that I'll hopefully have more time to write. And I've gotten some renewed motivation to work on this fic. So it's not dead (for now...).

Also, to anyone wondering why I precede lines of dialogue with a character's name. That was a deliberate choice on my part, and I will probably continue to use it. Though I will try to do it less if it really bothers people.

Also also, I went back and made a few minor changes (5/3/2022) to the first chapter. Go back and check if you want, but the only important thing is a worldbuilding reference to something that won't be relevant for a couple chapters, so I wouldn't worry.

To anyone still with me, thank you so much.

Usual Disclaimer: I own nothing. Please don't sue me. I don't have any cash to pay.

Now on to my crappy fic!

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"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."
― Dwight D. Eisenhower

---

Second Quintile, Fifth Week of Month Four; Zhellday, 24 Serap, 28 ABY

Four days before arrival in the Oum System

System FO-2151980, First Order space

Aboard the Redshifter

15:40 Standard Hours

Hylo Visz was bored. Not that she was particularly upset about being bored, given the circumstances, but bored nonetheless.

Up until now, the mission was strangely but pleasantly uneventful. They had made it passed the First Order's customs inspection with no issue, their forged paperwork and cover story - independent traders from the neutral zone seeking to swap produce with a couple agricultural colonies and trading posts- had managed to hold, and from there it was a simple matter of inputting the coordinates and jumping to the first system on the list.

At this point, they were six days into the job. Two days spent traveling from Coruscant to First Order space, then four days jumping from system to system in search of Garza and Sumalee's missing agents. It could've been going a little faster, but they needed to keep a low profile to avoid detection, and were thus taking extra caution.

It was honestly becoming tedious.

Now they were on planet number seven, having started transmitting the SIS codes about 5 minutes ago, and finally received a response a few moments later. Now that they'd identified the rendezvous point, Nico began prepping for atmospheric entry and landing while Hylo readied the crew - interrupting their ongoing sabacc game in the process.

Four of their six other crew members were seated around the circular table in the ship's lounge; Corso Riggs, Vette, Gus Tuno, and Gault Rennow. A quick cursory glance around the table told Hylo exactly what she expected; Gus had been cheating (poorly), Gault was also cheating (successfully), Vette was keeping pace despite playing fair (or maybe was just really good at cheating, Hylo wasn't sure), and Corso was out two months salary.

Hylo walked up to the table and slapped her hand a couple times upon the pot. "Alright, people, put the game on pause. We'll be touching down by 1600. You all know the drill."

Gault smirked and responded in mock annoyance "Aww, but we were having so much fun emptying Corso and Gus' savings. Ah well, I'm still looking at 50 mil when we're done here."

The aforementioned farmboy and ex-Jedi respectively both sighed with relief, before the former then perked up at finally processing Hylo's words. "About time! Thought I'd lose it being cooped up on this ship any longer. Think we'll get to see any action down there?"

"Would be a good chance to see how my new baby handles," piped in Vette, referring to the modified Z-6 autocannon gifted to her by Corso as a Birthday gift the week before they took this mission. The young twi'lek woman had even already taken up Corso's tradition of giving the weapon an unfortunate nickname, "Spewie."

"Hopefully not, but it wouldn't hurt to be prepared if it comes to it," responded the mirialan smuggler before looking around the room. "Where are Bowdaar and Blizz?"

Vette: "Bowie's exercising in the cargo hold, and Blizz is in the engine room. Said he wanted to try upgrading the hyperdrive to a class 0.5, like the Millenium Falcon."

Hylo: "Again? Last time he tried that, it fried the drive motivator and we were stranded on Tatooine for a week. And that's how we ended up with Gault!"

Gault: "Hey!"

Vette: "Don't worry about it, Hylo. Blizz learned his lesson. He's testing it on a spare hyperdrive module first to make sure it's safe. You won't be seeing another Gault or Gus shacking up with us anytime soon."

Gus: "Oh, come on! I'm not nearly as bad as Gault!"

Gault: "Again: Hey!"

Hylo: "Corso, go give Bowdaar the heads up. I'll check in on Blizz, make sure he isn't going to get us all killed before we hit atmo."

The mantellian farmboy nodded as he stood up from his chair and headed toward the cargo hold, where the wookie gladiator and ex-slave was passing the time by keeping his powerful body honed at its peak. Hylo, meanwhile, headed for the engine room, mentally preparing herself for whatever horrors the jawa mechanic had inflicted on the ship's engines which she'd spent many days meticulously maintaining and modifying since her partnership with Nico "the Voidhound" Okarr began.

Blizz was normally an excellent mechanical and electrical engineer; Hylo fondly recalled how the two had bonded initially over their shared interest in starship engines, similar to how she and Nico had become thick as thieves (somewhat literally) in the years since the outlaw had helped free her from her nearly 40 year stint as a carbonite frozen wall decoration in a Hutt palace. But lately, Blizz had begun a sort of "experimentation" phase, where any moment not spent on missions was spent trying new tricks to improve the aging stock freighter. Her and Nico's own modifications had been mostly successful in keeping the decades outdated XS class ship up to date with modern expectations, but Blizz was becoming a bit of a challenge seeker, trying to match or even one up the feats of other famous privateer ships.

And honestly? His most recent project was really starting to get on her nerves.

"Blizz!" She called out as the bulkhead door opened and she stepped through. The jawa mechanic jumped in surprise, dropping the set of cables he'd been rearranging. "We've made contact with the SIS/Mandalorian team. Drop what you're doing for now and meet us at the holoterminal. We'll go over the plan and assign roles then."

The diminutive hooded figure waved his hands in frustration. "But Blizz about to conduct latest test! Blizz been working on newest configuration two days, on verge of breakthrough."

Hylo: "Whatever it is you think you've managed to pull off this time, it can wait. For now, we have a job to do and the sooner we finish and get out of nu-Imp space, the better."

The jawa mechanic deflated at the mirialan's words, and Hylo couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt over upsetting the ever optimistic and cheerful little tinkerer. She knelt down to look Blizz in his beady yellow eyes.

Hylo: "Look, buddy, I get that you care so much about improving the ship, and while I sometimes get mad about the occasional… accidents that have sprung up from time to time, I do appreciate all the hard work you do to help me and the others keep us flying. But right now, we have a job to do, and we need to be quick and careful if we're to get out of here in one piece at the end of it. We don't know for sure what to expect down there or when we get back in space. So right now I need your head in the game. "

Blizz just stared at her confused for a moment, before hesitantly responding, "But Blizz head not in any game."

Hylo pinched the bridge of her nose, a small smile betraying her amusement at the jawa's response. "It's just a figure of speech, Blizz. I mean you need to stay focused. A lot of money is riding on this, not to mention our lives."

Blizz nodded and turned to quickly tidy up his workspace before joining the others around the holoterminal for briefing.

---

Second Quintile, Fifth Week of Month Four; Zhellday, 24 Serap, 28 ABY

Four days before arrival in the Oum System

Third Planet in System FO-2151980, First Order space

Near the SIS Rendezvous Point

16:20 Standard Hours

Hylo Visz was feeling tense.

They had landed on this planet approximately 20 minutes ago, and from there had split up and set to work immediately. Hylo, Nico, Bowdaar, and Gault were to meet the SIS team at their current hiding spot while Corso, Vette, Gus and Blizz stayed behind, the former two to guard the ship, the jawa to get the stasis pods ready for their "guests," while Gus had sheepishly volunteered to stay behind and help. Bowdaar had been brought along with the meeting group to add some extra muscle in case of a skirmish, while Gault was brought along because Nico and Hylo currently trusted him about as far as either of them could throw him and wanted him where they could keep an eye on him. Given his history as a notorious backstabber and his fairly recent recruitment, they weren't keen on leaving him on the ship unsupervised, even if not alone.

The planet they'd landed on was inhabited, though only sparsely. A farming colony with only a few scattered settlements, the nearest of which was still pretty far from their landing zone. They'd touched down in a wide rocky canyon in a remote mountain pass, a variety of rock formations and caves provided ample cover for their targets. The four of them moved cautiously with weapons ready, realizing the possibility of encountering hostiles on this unfamiliar world.

Thankfully, aside from some skittish herbivores, the valley was seemingly empty of any lifeforms.

Seemingly.

The group found themselves before the entrance to a dark, but shallow cavern, the opening obscured from the ground by surrounding rock outcroppings. The cave was at the bottom of a short downward slope, with an overhang from the cliff wall hiding the entrance from overhead view.

Nico holstered his pistol before walking slowly and cautiously toward the cave opening, the others fanning out to cover the perimeter. He pulled out a comlink from a pocket inside his duster coat, and entered a code to transmit a short range signal. The comlink pinged for just a moment before sounding a distinct chime indicating the signal had been received and answered.

Nico turned back toward Hylo, who nodded to him in reassurance before he turned back and spoke into the comlink.

Nico: "Ok, the area's secure. You're clear to come out."

Just as he'd finished saying that, a flickering came from the cave mouth as a holoprojector deactivated, showing a fairly lit campsite within which four figures stood. One was a young human woman in a reddish brown jumpsuit working at a small makeshift comm terminal. She had slightly tanned skin, black hair tied back and a cybernetic implant visible on the left side of her face. Nico couldn't help but think she seemed familiar...

The other three were all wearing heavy blue and grey beskar armor, and had their weapons pointed out of the cave towards the Redshifter's captain and his compatriots.

Nico's hands shot up in surrender as he tried to placate the armed and dangerous warriors before him.

Nico: "Whoa, whoa! Easy! We're not with the nu-Imps. We're the cavalry, Sumalee sent us to get you out of here."

"Hold your fire, guys," said the cyborg woman as she jogged over from the terminal. "His codes check out. He's with us."

Nico lowered his hands as the Mandos did the same with their weapons. He glanced at the familiar looking cyborg girl for a moment as she stepped out towards him where he could get a better look. Realization dawned on him as the woman herself seemed to recognize him as well.

Nico: "Mako?..."

"Long time no see, Captain," replied the cyborg female as she walked up to the gunslinger, smiling. "Shame this little reunion isn't under more pleasant circumstances."

"You know this chaavla adat, Mako?" Spoke one of the Mandos as they approached cautiously. All three of them had their helmets on, and the Mando's voice was slightly distorted from the installed speaker, but was distinctly female, if somewhat deep and contralto like.

Mako: "I thought I told you about these guys already. Well, whatever. This is Nico Okaar, captain of the Redshifter and an old friend of Braden and I."

"This adat is the Voidhound!?" Said another of the Mandos present, this one a young man.

Mako grinned. "You heard right, Torian. This scruffy looking son-of-a-Hutt is the guy who took down Grand Moff Kirill. I was basically still a kid at the time, but Braden was there and he told me pretty much the whole story after the fact." She then turned to Nico and gave a quick half-hug. "It's so good to see you again, Uncle Nico."

"Likewise, Slice," the smuggler captain responded, returning the hug in the process. "I haven't seen you since Braden's funeral. Gotta say, didn't peg you for government spy material."

Mako: "Technically, I'm a freelance agent, kinda like you, but it's the SIS that's paying my bills instead of the military. They needed a good slicer, and not to brag, but seeing as I could hack the Hutt Cartel's Treasury Banks at the ripe old age of 11, I was deemed a 'person of extraordinary talent' for possible recruitment. Helps that as a mercenary, plausible deniability comes into play; this is a pretty sensitive op after all. The fewer official Republic personnel that risk capture, the better."

Nico: "Yeah, Sumi said something similar when she hired us to save your sorry butts."

Just then, there was a familiar whahrarrrar from behide them, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps. As the two turned, Mako smiled happily as she took in the sight of yet another familiar face.

"Bowdaar!" She called as she trotted over to meet the wookie halfway for a big bear hug. "Oh, I missed you too, big guy. How have you been? Are anymore of the old crew still around?"

Bowdaar cocked his head behind him toward where Hylo Visz stood, smiling, having turned and holstered her blaster by this point as her attention was caught by the feel good meeting taking place.

Although she hadn't known Braden for as long as Nico - a consequence of being frozen in carbonite since the Rise of the Empire - she had developed a sort of older sister relationship toward Mako back when the girl's stepfather was working with Nico's crew and the Republic to hunt down Grand Admiral Harridax "the Voidwolf" Kirill. The then young girl had been absolutely enamored with her stepfather's bounty hunting lifestyle, and her enthusiasm only grew when Braden offered his services to the then Redshifter crew in hunting the Voidwolf down, in what turned out to be his last hunt before retirement. Poor guy passed away a few years later - shot in the back of the head by some cowardly drunk bastard in a bar over some old petty squabble - and the funeral was the last time any of them had seen Mako in person. Sure they talked over the holo once in a while, but the girl was still just a teenager when they'd last met. Now she stood before them as an early 20-something year old. Time flies and all that junk.

Hylo's train of thought was interrupted by a crushing hug from the younger woman.

Mako: "Oh, it's so good to see you guys again."

"Y-You too, Mako," Hylo struggled to say as the cyborg squeezed the air out of her lungs.

"So much for the professionalism you claimed to pride yourself on, slicer," spoke up the third and final of the Mandalorian trio present. The voice was female, but also low and deep, and carried an edge of bitterness not present in the previous two's earlier outbursts.

Mako became red faced and let go of Hylo, coughing a bit to clear her throat before responding, embarrassed.

Mako: "Yeah, uh, sorry. Got a bit carried away. It's just that I haven't seen these guys in a while, and with all the stress we've been under lately, it was such a relief seeing them again, I couldn't resist."

The still masked Mando scoffed at this before turning back to their campsite, preparing to disembark. By now her fellows had settled down to the point they were willing to remove their helmets. One of whom was a young man - earlier identified as Torian - just a bit younger than Mako, with messy blond hair and neatly trimmed matching goatee, blue eyes and a scar on his left cheek of a downward curved arc with two straight lines crossing over it.

The other unmasked Mando sparked the privateer group's attention. She had striking red hair and hazel eyes. She stood with a relaxed demeanor, sizing up the smuggler crew. The group couldn't help but think she was familiar. Not the same personal familiarity as with Mako, but more of someone recognizing a figure they'd seen from the media, like a celebrity or public figure.

It was then that Nico recalled Sumalee's mention of a Mandalorian VIP, and the pieces fell into place.

Nico: "Shae Vizsla. So, you're the 'person of interest' we're getting paid so much to evac."

The redheaded warrior nodded, her expression neutral. She was secretly hoping no one would bring up her-

"You're kidding," spoke Gault, who up until now was unusually (and in Hylo's opinion, pleasantly) quiet. "We've been hired to rescue Bo-Katan's daughter? Oh, this job just got a lot more interesting."

Shae's face was now crestfallen. She hated when people brought up her parentage. And the overshadowing reputation and influence of Clan Kryze's politically active matriarch.

Gault: "How is Mand'alor's Vizier these days? Still doing Djarin's work for him?"

"That's enough, Gault," cut in Nico as he turned back to Mandalore's de facto princess. "Anyway, who're your friends? Pretty sure Sumi never said we couldn't know who you were."

Shea thanked the stars Nico was changing the subject. And yes, surely these hired guns knowing their names wouldn't be a major security risk. And if Command disagreed, they didn't need to know.

Shea: "The moppy haired evaar'la jag is Torian Cadera. The masked besom is Akaavi Spar. They've both been accompanying me as part of their Ijaat Norac. A self imposed crusade of atonement, to restore lost or damaged honor."

Nico: "Atonement? What did they do?"

The two Mandos in question had become rather downcast at the mention of their situations. Or at least it seemed to be in Akaavi's case, who still wore her helmet as she apparently found the ground very interesting all of a sudden. Torian's gaze was similarly directed downward, a mournful expression clear on his unmasked visage.

"It's a long story," replied Shae, hoping to spare her comrades a very depressing conversation for the time being. "They might be willing to tell you themselves on their own time. For now, we should probably get going, asap. There's a First Order patrol that comes through here periodically, and I doubt whatever cover story you've cooked up to get here will excuse housing wanted criminals if we get caught."

Nico: "You thought right. In fact, we're actually supposed to transport you all in stasis pods from here."

Akaavi: "Slana'pir! I did not spend the past several days dodging First Order patrols and hunters just so some Republic lapdog could put me on ice!"

Shae: "Udesii, Akaavi! This isn't the first time we've had to smuggle ourselves as cargo. Besides, Mako trusts them, and that's good enough in my book."

Nico eyed this Akaavi character in curiosity. Mandalorians did have a reputation for being stubborn and wary of outsiders, but the female Mandos' attitude still came off as odd when compared to her much more amicable compatriots. And what was with the "Republic lapdog" remark? Weren't they on the same side right now?

"Alright," Hylo's words brought him back from his mental tangent. "We should probably start loading up, then. What all of this are we taking?"

"None," Mako said, pulling out a small cylindrical object. "This detonator is synched up with small pulse bombs implanted in all our equipment, with more scattered throughout the cave. Once we're a safe distance away, I just press this button and boom, nothing left for the nu-Imps to work off of. Just some shrapnel and wiped hard drives."

Nico whistled in admiration. "Not messing around, are you Mako" Then, he realized something. "Wait, where's the Black Box? That's basically half the reason we came to get you… no offense."

"None taken. And I already have the Black Box on me." She pointed towards her face implanted cybernetics. "This bad boy has a crazy amount of storage space. After the safehouse raid, I hid out long enough to transfer the data from the old box into my implant, then wiped the original and used it as a decoy to distract the agents hunting us."

"Clever girl," Nico nodded in approval. "Alright, let's get going. We gotta get you guys hidden away before we prep for takeoff, and I'd rather there not be any nu-Imps around when we do."

---

Second Quintile, Fifth Week of Month Four; Zhellday, 24 Serap, 28 ABY

Four days before arrival in the Oum System

Third Planet in System FO-2151980, First Order space

Aboard the Redshifter, landed

16:57 Standard Hours

Once back aboard the ship, everyone had sprung into action in preparing for takeoff. Most of the work had already been completed beforehand, Blizz, Gus, Corso and Vette having kept the freighter in flight-ready status in case a quick getaway was needed.

Therefore, most of the prep-work was centered around situating their guests in the appropriate accommodations. Which of course amounted to freezing them into humanoid popsicles. Metaphorically speaking, anyway.

Blizz had taken the liberty of setting up the disguised stasis pods ready for their intended occupants. And unfortunately for Akaavi, the tight, compact space of the hidden chambers meant the Mandos had to shuck their bulky armor for the duration of the trip. On the bright side, the ship had sufficient capacity in its hidden smuggling compartments to carry the armor pieces, so they weren't leaving their precious beskar'gam behind.

Didn't stop Akaavi from complaining the whole while.

Akaavi: "This is ridiculous! I am a proud daughter of Mandalore. Not some vegetable or piece of meat to be flash frozen and shipped as cargo!"

"Lisar bic, Akaavi," scolded Shae as she removed the last few pieces of her armor, placing the disassembled plates in one of the Redshifter crew's provided cases for storage. "We've already gone over why we have to travel like this. And there's no honor or glory in getting yourself and others pointlessly killed by being a grandstanding idiot, just because you didn't want to do something as simple as use a stasis pod for a long distance trip."

Akaavi sighed, knowing her leader was right. Her honor as a Mandalorian would not be served by suicidal recklessness, only her foolish pride. "Fine," she said, and began removing her armor.

In the cockpit, Nico had taken the mission data card and smashed it under repeated stomps of his boot, before gathering the pieces in a dustpan and dumping them in the ship's incinerator. Hylo was sat in the ship's copilot seat, checking over the ship's preflight system diagnostic as she listened to the sounds of her captain and partner completely brutalizing the defenseless computer chip.

As the gunslinger sat down at his own seat, the mirialan turned to him with a sly expression and sarcastically, teasingly asked, "Are you sure you killed it?"

Nico scratched the back of his neck, sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that. Given how Sumi put so much stock in security for this mission, I had to be sure it was completely fracked."

Hylo: "Pretty sure the burner would've done that well enough on its own."

The pair sat mostly silent for a moment, the only words being from Hylo going over some pre-flight checks as Nico seemed uncharacteristically distant.

"So," Hylo said, trying to break the monotony a bit. "Been a while since we had Mako on board."

Nico: "Yep. Been about 7 years and some change I figure."

Hylo: "Lot has changed since then. Ship was in better shape. Different crew."

Nico: "Lots of faces seem to come and go around here."

"Yeah, lotta folks have been in and out of this ship. Lotta history." Hylo gazed around the cockpit, wistfully. "We should try and contact some of the old gang when we get back, catch up."

Nico barely twitched as he responded, his voice oddly monotone. "I doubt they all would be happy to see us."

Hylo sighed solemnly. She'd figured out where this was going.

Hylo: "You're thinking about Risha, aren't you?"

Nico nodded slowly.

Nico: "I just… Seeing Mako again brought back some memories. Like you said, a lot of faces come and go around here, and well… hers was one of them."

Hylo leaned over and put a hand on his shoulder.

Hylo: "Hey. You know it's not your fault she left. She just had her own shit to deal with, and it wasn't something she could bring you along-"

Hylo was cut off by a loud explosion coming from the engine room.

The two smugglers went wide eyed, before an annoyed expression crossed Hylo's face.

Nico: "Blizz?"

Hylo: "Blizz."

Hylo sighed and got out of her seat, turning towards the cockpit exit. "I'll take care of it. You just focus on getting us off this rock."

Nico: "Want me to spoil the surprise or would you rather hear it from him?"

Hylo tilted her head. "You know what it is?"

Nico cocked his head towards a console display. "This popped up right after the explosion. It's only a minor warning, but…"

Hylo leaned over the terminal to examine the holoscreen. A yellow notification read as follows:

YELLOW ALERT WARNING: DAMAGE TO TERTIARY SYSTEM REDUNDANCY. BACKUP EMERGENCY SYSTEM NON-FUNCTIONAL: AUXILIARY HYPERDRIVE MODULE. RECOMMEND REPLACEMENT AT NEXT REFIT.

Hylo let out another annoyed sigh. "Of course, it's the backup drive. Dammit, Blizz."

Nico: "Least it's just the backup and not the primary this time."

Not that it made much difference to Hylo at the moment, as she departed to address their latest disaster. She'd told Blizz very clearly to wait to continue his little project until after the job was finished. Specifically, when the intel and VIPs were turned over to command and the crew were all safe and sound back at their stronghold, swimming in credits. But no, apparently the little jawa just couldn't wait until they were not about to go into outer fracking space where even the most minor of damage to the ships systems or structural integrity could spell death for them all!

She found the dazed jawa mechanic with singed robes, coughing on smoke from a minor electrical fire that had fortunately already been put out by the ever reliable Corso, who stood awkwardly by the engine room door with a used fire extinguisher in hand.

In front of Blizz was the charred remains of what was once the ship's backup hyperdrive.

Hylo pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration and sighed. "Blizz," she began. "Remember when I told you to put off this little experiment of yours until we got back safe?"

Blizz paused, nervously. "Yes? Blizz remembers."

Hylo: "And what did you do?"

Blizz held his tiny little hands up, defensively. "Blizz do what Blizz told! Blizz wait until we safe to resume."

"We're not safe, Blizz!" Hylo snapped. "We are still in First Order territory! We're carrying four humanoid popsicles who's mere presence aboard our ship puts a target on our backs! And now, we don't have a backup drive!"

Blizz: "Only backup drive! Main drive okay, no risk to ship."

Hylo: "No risk to ship? Don't you realize how dangerous it is to not have a backup?! What if the main drive gets taken out? Huh? Then we'd be stuck in whatever backwater system we drop into! And that's assuming we don't get spotted by a First Order patrol immediately!"

The little jawa shrunk at Hylo's harshness. Truthfully, he knew she was mostly right. Flying without a critical system backup like the hyperdrive was very risky. Heck, he remembered the stories of how the Millennium Falcon's main hyperdrive failed during the Evacuation of Hoth. Solo and crew had been stranded in the Anoat Sector for weeks, and that was with the much slower backup drive in perfect working order.

That being said, they hadn't actually taken off yet, so they could possibly just go into town to get a replacement drive - a quick jaunt into town would be unlikely to threaten their still intact covers. Also, come to think of it, there was something about Hylo's tone and bearing that suggested more than just frustration and pragmatic cautiousness. Like she was expecting not that something may go wrong, but that it most certainly would.

"Whoa there, Hylo," piped in Corso from the doorway. "It's not that big a deal. We can still hop over to that town we saw coming in and grab a spare if it's bothering you that much."

"You don't get it, do you?" The irate outlaw turned her attention - and by extension, fury - toward the young mercenary, who instinctively raised the fire extinguisher in front of his face in self defense. "It's not just a fried backup. It's a sign! Who knows what's gonna go wrong next? We could fly into a black hole, or explosively decompress, or run into someone with a grudge against us captaining a Star Destroyer!"

Corso lowered his extinguisher at those words, confusion evident on his face. "A sign? What are you…" Before realization struck him, followed by annoyance.. "Oh, hell! This is that stupid Universal Law thing you're obsessed with, isn't it?"

Hylo: "It's not stupid! I have been a spacer a lot longer than you have, kid, and I've had my fair share of disasters. And every one of them was preceded by something seemingly minor going wrong out of nowhere!"

"Is our dear First Mate being a paranoid lunatic again? And it's not even centaxday!" Snarked Gault Rennow as he approached the entryway to the engine room, where some of the crew had gathered out of curiosity toward whatever the commotion was about. Vette and Gus peered curiously yet cautiously, while Bowdarr stood beside them in the hall, maintaining as respectful a distance as possible while still within earshot.

This wasn't the first time Hylo had gone kriffing crazy over what she called her "Invisible Law of the Universe," and it most certainly wouldn't be the last. It was the mirialan smuggler's belief that major misfortunes were preceded and forewarned by smaller ones, and thus she scrutinized every single annoyance and inconvenience the crew encountered. Granted, not every bit of bad luck set the paranoid spacer off, but when it did, the rest of the crew were typically more likely to suffer migraines than any actual sort of danger. In spite of Hylo's insistence that her adherence to this rule had saved not only herself, but the whole crew on numerous occasions.

"Oh, sure, Gault." Hylo addressed the devaronian conman, sarcastically. "Ignore your first mate. 'She's just being paranoid! It's just a coincidence! She needs to take a chill pill!' I mean, how crazy would it be for there to be some cosmic warning system for when shit is about to go down. It's not like there's some kind of omnipresent energy field that connects everything together and guides our fates- Oh wait."

She pointedly eyed Gus at that last line.

"Guys, can we please just calm down for just a minute!?" Interrupted Vette as she stepped into the middle of the developing argument before it could escalate further. "Whether or not Hylo's theory is bantha poodoo, we still have a job to do, and we still need to get out of here before a First Order patrol spots us and blows us all sky high!"

And it was at that moment, the ship's intercom chimed in with the voice of their captain.

Nico: "Folks, we're gonna have to speed up our departure time to right now. A First Order patrol is incoming and we gotta be gone ASAP if we don't wanna be blown sky high."

At that, the ship jolted as repulsers activated to lift the freighter off the canyon floor.

Hylo grunted in frustration. Looking around her at the assembled crew, who each shirked at her clearly still agitated glare, she simply uttered a quick "We'll deal with this later" before hurrying back to the cockpit to assist with their rushed departure.

---

Second Quintile, Sixth Week of Month Four; Primeday, 26 Serap, 28 ABY

~38 hours before arrival in the Oum System

Fourth Planet in System FO-1951999, First Order space

Private Starship and Heavy Equipment Parts Merchant Shop, Jumo's Star-Parts Exchange

10:52 Standard Hours

"You're in luck," said a bearded man in overalls standing beside a till behind a dusty countertop. "I have one light freighter module left. This one's used and isn't in the best of shape, but it's still functional last we tested and strong enough to give your ship a 8.0 FTL rating."

"That's fine. It's just a backup, anyway," replied Nico Okarr as he stood in front of the counter in the cluttered and dimly lit parts shop. Corso had accompanied him, as per the crew's rules about moving about in potentially hostile territory. Or friendly territory for that matter. After all, in a galaxy where practical wizards, shape-shifters, mind-control parasites, and other such bizarre happenings straight out of old speculative fiction novels and vids actually existed for real, being at least a little paranoid could come in handy.

And on a planet controlled by a faction that, as far as anyone knew, was basically a smaller Galactic Empire on steroids, being cautious was more than a necessity.

That is not to say one couldn't be too paranoid, and if Nico was being honest, his First Mate's occasional ramblings on her "Invisible Law" superstition could be exasperating even for him. But in this case, she did have a point in it being risky to fly without a backup. Given the sensitivity of this mission, it paid to minimize risks whenever possible. So, if at the very least to placate the agitated mirialan, they opted to make a stop at a frontier town on one of the Nu-Imp's minor inhabited world's that happened to be near the border, and swing by a local parts shop to buy a replacement backup.

Hence why he was standing in this dusty old shop, Corso - the only other human on the crew, and thus the one who'd draw the least attention from Imperials - fake-browsing in the background to look casual.

Nico: "So, what's the damage?"

Clerk: "Sticker price is 3000 credits. Afraid I can't afford to haggle down right now, though. But I do take any other trade currencies you may be carrying besides standard credits, if that helps."

Nico: "You except peggats?"

The clerk perked up at this. "Why, of course! That should come out to 75 peggats for the drive."

Peggats were a Huttese currency, roughly equivalent to 40 galactic credits. Although the Cartel had mostly, if not entirely fallen back into Hutt Space following Jabba's death 24 years ago, certain influences of their criminal, commercial hegemony remained throughout the known galaxy. Peggats were no exception, most likely because while the currency backing was of Hutt origin, the coins themselves were solid gold, and thus had a near-universal trade value.

Nico hoisted a heavy sack full of rolled peggat coins onto the counter and pulled out three 25 coin roles. Given his occupation as a state sanctioned outlaw, having a stock of them on hand for certain over-the-counter transactions outside Republic space was essentially a job requirement.

"So," the shopkeek spoke as he checked the rolls to make sure they were all filled out. "You said you come from the neutral zone? I hear it's pretty rough and tumble out there."

Nico: "Yeah, well. It's not so bad once you get used to it. Simple, at least."

Clerk: "I hear ya'. Still, it can't be easy with all the criminals and xeno gangs running wild out there."

Nico cringed at both parts of that sentence for different reasons. Technically, he himself was a criminal after all. Specifically one hired by government suits to commit crimes against other criminals and governments, but still. And of course the xenoes remark for obvious reasons. Sure, xenophobia was common amongst Imperials even during the Empire's early days, but it still irked him whenever he heard this kinda rhetoric.

Clerk: "It's fortunate the Supreme Leader is sending more troops to the region. Get that place orderly for once, before the Republic or their Alliance puppets get their dirty mitts on it."

Nico: "Eh, doesn't matter to me either way. Far as I'm concerned, it's all just changing flags."

Clerk: "Oh you wouldn't want to be in the Republic, friend. Nothing but anarchists and xeno-lovers over there. Even that Rebel scum Mothma's Galactic Alliance boondoggle is just a worse version of Republic membership."

"Really?" Nico replied in fake intrigue, curious to see how kriffed up the people's opinions here really were on the Republic. "It can't be much worse than in wild space. At least in Republic space there'd be some kinda police right?"

Clerk: "Pah! If there are they'd either be on the take from the gangs or underfunded and blocked from doing their jobs by bleeding heart senators and activists. Thank the stars the First Order isn't like that. We have strong leadership out here that isn't afraid to get tough on degenerates and anyone who whines about 'Oh, they're just misunderstood! We need to reach out to them and help!'. Bloody idiots, there's no helping those people, that's just how they are. Xenoes do as xenoes do, after all. The government here is smart to keep them in line."

A crunching noise was heard behind them. Nico turned to see Corso holding the crushed remains of a box of electrical fuses, a scowl briefly visible on his face before he remembered where he was. He flushed in embarrassment before turning towards the counter and gave an awkward "I can pay for that" before wandering over to another part of the store to resume his browsing.

Nico raised a hand to his face in embarrassment. "How much?"

Clerk: "That'll be one more peggat."

Nico pulled out another coin and slid it across the counter, which the clerk took it and added it to the pile of counted coins.

Nico: "So… the way you describe it, the Republic sounds like a real shithole."

Clerk: "Well, that's what you get when you let every single moron and degenerate in the galaxy have a say in who runs the government. Seriously, Emperor Palpatine did away with the old order for damn good reasons, and the Rebel bastards had the gall to kill him and bring it back even worse!"

Nico flinched at the old man's outburst. Clearly, the First Order's propaganda had sunk deeper than he initially imagined.

"Well," Nico began hesitantly. "I guess I'm lucky to not live in the Republic, huh? Though, I hear my homeworld is considering joining the Galactic Alliance, and a lot of planets that do that end up joining the Republic later."

Clerk: "Then you should probably think about moving. Or..."

The old man leaned over the counter and gave Nico a sly look.

Clerk: "If you can get a message to First Order Command - say, through one of the outposts or one of our foreign emissaries - it might convince them to intervene and save your world before it's too late."

The old man pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, and scribbled down a holonet address and a few instructions before handing it to Nico.

Clerk: "Here. This holonet cite is a message board for those who share the ideals of the New Order. You might find it helpful, enlightening even."

Nico took the slip of paper without protest. "Much obliged, mister."

"Oh, it's no trouble." And with the peggat coins counted and stowed away, the old clerk headed into the back of the shop to wheel out their module.

---

Second Quintile, Sixth Week of Month Four; Primeday, 26 Serap, 28 ABY

~36 hours before arrival in the Oum System

Fourth Planet in System FO-1951999, First Order space

Aboard the Redshifter, leaving orbit

12:19 Standard Hours

A tired Nico Okarr plopped down in pilot's seat of the Redshifter's cockpit. "Happy now?"

"No," Hylo Visz curtly replied. "I'll be happy when we're out of First Order space and back at the hanger with our bounty."

Nico: "Kriff Hylo, relax. We got the drive, it's already installed."

Hylo: "And I say you got screwed on that. I looked at that module while you guys were putting it in, it's crap. Warped manifold, leaking coaxium reservoir, and wired like the electrician was drunk. The fracking ground was missing off of it!"

"Okay, okay I get it!" Nico held his hands up placatingly. "Look, it was the best we could get without drawing any heat. And Blizz assured us that it'll hold until we get to the nearest Republic spaceport at least. Hell, we don't even need to get that far, any port on an Alliance world would work."

Hylo: "Nico, there are no Alliance worlds between here and the nearest Republic outpost. That's why it's the Neutral Zone."

Nico: "... You're really gonna get nit-picky right now?"

The ongoing bickering between the two could be heard from back in the ship's lounge, where most of the remaining crew were gathered to kill time after preparing the ship for the next lightspeed jump.

Blizz had opted to remain in the engine room to keep an eye on the new backup drive, having expressed similar concerns to Hylo despite his own assurances. After all, a subpar module hooked into the system could create further problems down the line, especially with the faulty electrical equipment. And it gave him a distraction from both his obsession with his latest project and his lingering guilt over causing this problem in the first place.

Vette, Gus and Gault had started another game of sabacc, minus Corso, who had no more money to gamble. Instead he opted to join Bowdaar for a friendly few rounds of the holoboard game dejarik. Fellow wookie warrior Chewbacca was notorious for his short temper and pettiness in regards to this and other strategy games. Bowdaar, on the other hand, was rather civil and respectful when it came to such games.

Not that it made any difference, given how much Corso sucked at this game.

Corso: "God, I can't win for losing around here lately! Let's see…"

Corso moved his k'lor'slug one space to the right, then attacked Bowdaar's Sanrio, dealing three damage.

Bowdaar followed this by moving his Ng'ok within range of both Corso's k'lor'slug and his ghhhk, then used its ability to attack and destroy both.

Corso's groan of frustration was followed by a similar noise from Gus as he lost his remaining credits on the last hand.

"It's been a pleasure, boys," Vette said as she gathered up her winnings. "Now unless Gault is up for another round?"

"Ha, no thanks!" Gault held up his hands in surrender, before gathering up his own share of the pot. "I can tell when it's time to cut my losses."

Vette: "Aww, but I was having some much fun draining your bank accounts."

Gus simply sat at the table, feeling defeated. Vette, having finished packing away her chips and gotten up to stow them in her bunk's lockbox, patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

Vette: "Cheer up, buddy. You'll win big one of these days."

Gault: "Be honest with him, Vette. He's better off staying as far from a card table as possible. Especially given how he refuses to use his biggest advantage."

"I will not use my Jedi powers to cheat," Gus snapped, indignantly, sitting up in his chair. "And even if I wanted to, I'm too out of practice."

Gault: "Well, good luck with your little moral high ground there, pal. But as the old saying goes: 'A fool and his money are soon parted.'"

Corso: "You know, given your whole 'fake Jedi conman' shtick, I've always been surprised by how seriously you take the actual Force stuff. Didn't you get kicked out?"

"I didn't get kicked out!" Gus shot back at the Mantellan. "I quit, I quit of my own choice."

Vette: "Yeah, come to think of it, why did you quit, again? I can't remember whether you ever mentioned it."

Gus' expression became sullen as his eyes turned towards the table top.

Gus: "I… I'd rather not get into it. Let's just say it wasn't for me."

Nico's voice echoed from the cockpit. "Seriously, you go crazy over every little annoyance we run into in the field. 'Oh no, I spilled some caf on the floor of the galley, we're all gonna die!'"

Hylo's voice fired back. "I'm not fracking crazy, Nico! I have never been wrong about this!"

Nico: "And yet here we are, Hylo, not dead! About to cash in a four hundred million credit bounty! Now correct me if I'm wrong, but this hardly seems like a disaster, now does it!?"

Vette sighed. "Sounds like mom and dad are fighting again."

Gus: "What is it with Hylo and the 'Universal Law' stuff, anyway? Does she not understand coincidences?"

Bowdaar: You of all beings aboard this ship should be able to understand, Tuno. You yourself once dealt with premonitions and communing with the universe.

Gus: "Do we really need to keep bringing up how I flunked out of Jedi school?"

Gault: "Weren't you insisting you quit on your own?"

Gus: "S-Shut up!"

---

Second Quintile, Sixth Week of Month Four; Centaxday, 27 Serap, 28 ABY

~11 hours before arrival in the Oum System

Nearing border crossing point between First Order space and the Neutral Zone.

Aboard the Redshifter

16:06 Standard Hours

Hylo Visx was annoyed. Very, very, annoyed.

She and Nico Okarr sat in absolute silence next to each other in the cockpit as the Redshifter drifted through vacuum, the former with a smug grin on his face while the latter wore a stone faced expression.

"So," Nico broke the silence. "Is this the part where I say I told y-"

Hylo: "Fuck off."

Nico: "I'll take that as a yes."

Nico was then struck in the head by a crumpled up ration wrapper.

Corso then came in carrying paper cups full of synthetic caf. He handed one to Nico casually, and the other more cautiously to the quietly seething Hylo.

Corso: "So, we're almost in the clear?"

Nico: " Seems like it, unless you ask miss gloom and doom over there."

Hylo: "I hate you guys so much right now."

Nico: "We love you too, Hylo."

Hylo: "Ugghhh!"

Corso: "Anyway, it's good that we're finally getting out of this place. Folks around here are more messed up than a gundark on Tarisian Ale."

Nico: "I know, right? It's like they live in little bubbles that only let them hear the Nu-Imp's propaganda and nothing else."

Corso: "And all that 'zeno' crap that one guy kept going on about. It's like he thought every non-human was a gangster or murderer. Kriff, he'd probably have an heart attack if he saw a human gang, or an alien cop."

Nico: "Imps were always xenophobic, but since when were they so blatant about it?"

An alert chime sounded from the console in front of Nico. He leaned forward and checked a monitor screen.

Nico: "We're being hailed to stop by a customs ship. Should just be a quick scan and then we can get out of here."

Sure enough, a First Order picket ship drew alongside them. A voice spoke up over the comm.

FO Customs official: "Freighter Bluestreak. Transfer your cargo and passenger manifest."

Nico responder. "Will do, officer."

The smuggler captain brought up the necessary data package and initiated the transfer. The screen registered positive as the message was sent and received.

A few moments later, the Redshifter was bathed in blue-white light as the picket ship did a deep scan of the vessel.

Hylo's hand was twitching nervously.

Nico: "Relax, Hylo. Worse case scenario, they send a couple guys over to inspect us. We'd have our holo disguises up and any incriminating stuff tucked away by the time the airlock finished sealing."

After the longest 3 minutes of Hylo Visz's life, the picket ship completed its scan.

FO Customs: "Stand by. Do not move from your current position."

Nico began to get up from his seat. Whelp, boarding action it is, then. Time to double check the tanks, seal the smuggling compartments and-

Corso: "Where are they going?"

Nico turned back to the viewport. Indeed, the picket ship was turning and moving away from the Redshifter.

Nico reactivated the comm. "Hello? Is there a problem?"

No response.

Nico: "Hey, what's going on?"

Still, no response.

Before Nico or anyone else in the cockpit could react further, the ship's sensors pinged incessantly as several contacts suddenly dropped out of Hyperspace dangerously close around them.

Hylo manned the sensor suit, frantically reading off the results. "Picking up seven ships with First Order IFF signals. Four frigate weight ships, two unidentified classes of ship similar in mass to a Victory-class Star Destroyer, and one… whatever it is, it's nearly twice the size of an Imperial-class!"

Corso: "It's an ambush!"

The cockpit became darker from the shadow of the largest ship looming over them as it drew closer.

Nico: "Hold onto something!"

Nico gripped the yoke for dear life and engaged the main drive thrusters full throttle, and the Redshifter surged forward.

Then abruptly stopped all together.

Corso: "What's going on!?"

Hylo: "They've caught us in a tractor beam."

"Hold up a minute," Nico said as he began flipping switches and pressing buttons on the console, rerouting power and prepping certain systems.

His thought process was interrupted by a notification chime from the ship's comm. They were being hailed.

It was then the three, joined by Vette and Gus as they'd arrived amid the panic and peered into the cockpit in nervous curiosity, became aware of something odd.

They weren't moving at all. The Nu-Imps weren't tractoring them in. Just holding them in place. Why? If they weren't planning on taking them in alive, they would've vaporized them by now.

The comm chime continued.

Vette: "... Is someone gonna get that?"

Nico reluctantly opened the comm channel.

Nico: "This is Captain Franklin Dimaggio Gale of the freighter Bluestreak. What is the meaning of this-"

?: "Spare me your feeble efforts to deceive us, Nico Okarr. I know who you are."

The voice was female, and unfamiliar to anyone present listening.

Nico: "I think you have me mistaken for someone else, ma'am. I'm just a humble trader trying to get home."

?: "I believe I'd remember the man who murdered my father."

The console's holoprojector then sprung to life, generating the image on a woman with short spiky black hair and green eyes. In contrast to her prior declaration, she was not frowning or scowling, but smiling. A dangerous, sinister, sadistic smile.

?: "I suppose I can excuse the lack of recognition, seeing as you and I have never met and I was never the most public of figures in the Remnants. My name is Nexia Kirill, daughter of Grand Admiral Harridax Kirill, also known as the Voidwolf. The man you murdered ten years ago."

Nico: 'Voidwolf? That fat bastard had a kid?'

Nico: "Well, hello there Miss Kirill. I suppose there's no point denying it. Yes, I am the legendary, heroic, cunning and devilishly handsome Voidhound. Did you set this all up just to catch me? I'm flattered."

Nexia: "As satisfying as it would be to personally hunt you down like the filthy dog you are, our main objective is actually your four frozen passengers. The fact I can finally bring down one of the Empire's most wanted and avenge my dear departed father is just a nice bonus."

The Redshifter crew were taken aback by this explanation. How did the Nu-Imps figure it out? What tipped them off?

Nico: "Er, I don't know what you're talking about. We were just here for some regular business. Put food on the table, you know?"

Nexia: "And that wouldn't be Republic business, now would it?"

'Crap'

Nexia: "Oh, we know all about this little job of yours, since before you even first sailed into First Order space. And now you've been kind enough to hand us the Republic spies all wrapped up like presents in your hull. Oh, it will be so delightful to unwrap them later aboard the Fenris. Have you seen her, beautiful little warship, one of our new Resurgent-class vessels."

Hylo: "Then why are you just hanging us out in space? Not enough room in your hanger?"

Corso: "Yeah, whatever you're gonna do, just get it over with!"

"Corso!" Gus hissed at the farm boy in a stage whisper. "Stop daring the evil lady to kill us!"

Nexia: "I like to consider all my options. I could just blast you out of the sky and recover the stasis pods afterwards. Efficient, easy. Though a bit boring, and of course risks destroying them if the Republic didn't bother with providing quality equipment, as I expect of them. Or I could bring you aboard along with the targets and have fun torturing you as well. Oh, what would I do with you then? Skin you alive? Feed you to my pet beasts? Or perhaps have a bonfire with you all as the logs? Oh, so many wonderful choices!"

Nico: "Like father, like daughter. You're just as crazy and bloodthirsty as he was."

Nexia: "I'll take that as a compliment. Now, I've had enough of watching you squirm. We can resume this little chat in person."

At that, the line was closed, before the ship began moving back towards the Resurgent Star Destroyer Fenris. The massive ship's angular hull becoming visible from the Redshifter's cockpit viewport.

Hylo: "Whelp. I hate to say I told you so, but…"

"Just so you know," came Gault's voice from elsewhere aboard ship. "If we get captured, I'm ratting you all out to save my own skin. Nothing personal, just basic survival logic."

Nico: "Vette, Corso. Get on the guns. Gus, you go help Blizz in the engine room."

Vette: "Got something planned, Boss?"

Nico grinned. "You'll see in a bit."

The three crew members ran to their posts, Vette taking the dorsal turret and Corso the ventral.

Nico: "Hylo, when I give the signal, engage the main thrusters at full."

Hylo: "Right."

Nico finished his earlier preparations as the the Redshifter was tractored toward the Fenris' ventral hanger Bay. The gunslinger's hand was kept hovering over a specific switch on the console. One tied to one of his ship's many after market modifications.

The ship drew closer to the hanger.

Closer.

Closer

Closer still.

Hylo: "Nico, if you're gonna do something, anything at all, now would be good."

The ship was just centimeters from docking range of the nu-Imp hanger.

"Now!" Shouted Nico as he threw the switch, triggering a hidden external compartment on the ship's hull. Out of which shot out an object resembling a proton mine. Then the object exploded, creating a dense cloud of micro-debris that scattered around the space behind the Redshifter.

At that moment, Hylo kicked the engines into full burn and the smuggler ship shot off away from the Fenris, dodging turbolaser fire from surrounding frigates and support ships as it flew out into open space towards the border.

---

Aboard the bridge of the Fenris, the crew were briefly stunned by the unexpected escape.

Nexia Kirill was particularly confused. And angry.

Nexia: "What, how!? How were they able to escape our tractor beam?! We were just short of getting them in docking range!"

"Sir, it appears they managed to deploy a Shroud." Replied the Sensors Officer assigned to the Tractor Beam Station. "The chaffe particle field disrupted the tractor beam connection and prevented our sensors from reestablishing a target lock before they sped out of range."

Nexia clenched her fists in fury. "Fine. We'll do this the dull way then." She turned and walked towards her command station, the officer following.

Nexia: "Order the fleet to launch all fighters and pursue that vessel. Lethal force authorized. I don't care if they have to tail them all across the Neutral Zone, just don't let them reenter Republic space!"

1st Officer: "But sir, isn't that a bit excessive? As high priority a target it is,, it's still just one stock freighter."

Nexia: "I don't care if it takes the entire Imperial navy. I want that hunk of junk atomized, now!"

---

"Uh, boss?" Vette's voice came over the ship's comm. "Are you seeing this?"

Nico brought up a holoscreen of the ship's rear view. And turned pale at the sight that greeted him. In the distance, the nu-Imps were launching all of their TIEs. All of them. Hundreds of TIE craft of varying types and configurations, from light interceptors to bulky bombers, and even some drop ships and troop transports.

Nico: "I take back my earlier statement. She's even crazier than her old man."

Hylo: "How about we focus less on a revenge seeking bitch's sanity and more on staying alive!"

Nico: "Right!"

Nico Okarr grabbed the yoke and readied himself for evasive maneuvers, while Hylo began prepping the hyperdrive and navicomputer for an emergency jump.

They fortunately had some leeway in this situation. They'd managed to put some distance between themselves and the nu-Imps when they escaped from the tractor beam moments earlier, and the rushed deployment of the TIE squadrons meant they were not properly organized after launch.

Though, not as much leeway as one would expect, given how fast the nu-Imps' interceptor craft were gaining on them.

"Kriff!" Shouted Corso from the ventral turret station. "What kinda fuel are they putting in those things?"

Vette: "These things could give A-wings a run for their money!"

Nico: "It's OK. We'll be able to jump before the get in range to hurt-"

Just then, a turbolaser shot grazed their shields.

Nico: "What the hell?"

Hylo: "Where the frack did that come from!? We're way out of range of their ship's cannons!"

"I think it came from one of those weird TIEs!" Came the reply from Vette, immediately followed by the sound of laser cannon fire as the twi'lek woman returned fire from the dorsal turret, hoping to at least ward the approaching fighters off their flight path and keep them from getting target locks on their ship.

Corso: "They put turbolasers on TIEs!? Can they do that?"

Nico: "Apparently, but let's table that discussion for now, until we're not getting shot at!"

The ship ducked and weaved as it maneuvered to evade the oncoming storm of energized plasma from the pursuing nu-Imp TIEs. Nico banked to starboard to avoid a direct shot against the hull, only to take a glancing blow from another turbolaser bolt fired by a TIE that had managed to flank them as the interceptor squadrons closed in and began harassing them.

The barrels of the dorsal and ventral turrets lit up as Vette and Corso returned fire. Bright red bolts of charged particles rapidly lanced out at the enemy craft, several briefly flickering against weak shields that occasionally gave out from sustained impacts before the fighter exploded in a short lived flash of ignited fuel and pressurized oxygen before defusing in the vacuum of space.

"Damn!" Corso yelled from the ventral turret. "Even with shields, these things don't seem to hold out much!"

"When they actually do get hit, anyway!" Vette shouted back. She'd managed to get a few good hits in, the new TIE variants either veering off from damage or exploding in a ball of fire and shrapnel. Many more, though, simply dodged her bolt bursts, albeit losing their target locks and lines of sight in the process, taking some heat off the fleeing freighter at least.

Nico Okarr banked the ship to port and then "down" in his mad flight to break free of the swarm of TIEs clouding their vision, before "leveling" off and resuming his seemingly random side swerve maneuvers as Hylo continued prepping the hyperdrive to finally jump them out of the system and First Order space.

Nico: "How much longer 'til we're outta here!?"

Hylo: "The drive is charged! And I've almost got the navicomputer ready, we just need a stable jump vector! I just need a few seconds and we're good to go!"

Nico yelled into the ship's open comm. "You hear that!? See how long you can keep 'em off us, the hyperdrive's almost ready!"

Corso: "Loud and clear, captain!"

Vette: "Hey, Corso! What's your count?"

Corso: "Seventeen! Yours?!"

"Nineteen!" A muffled explosion and flash of light near the dorsal side of the hull punctuated her reply. "Scratch that, twenty!"

The Redshifter made a quick course change vertical starboard as enemy TIEs continued their pursuit, now with fewer swarming the freighter as they were forced to pull back, either due to needed resupply or - in the case of those fighters launched from the rear most ships in the nu-Imp fleet's formation - having exceeded support range of their carriers. The reduction in enemy strength was a blessing on the beleaguered smuggler ship, giving them some much needed breathing room.

Nico: "Good, they're easing up. Hylo, you ready to jump?"

"Almost," the mirialan replied as she watched the navicomputer readings self adjust to their current heading. "Just need to adjust for turbulence and velocity and… NOW, PUNCH IT!"

"Finally!," Nico shouted as he reached for the jump lever and forcefully shoved it forward. The forward viewport shimmered as the realspace field bubble enveloped them, and the stars shifted as the laws of physics and space itself were warped to facilitate the controlled acceleration to superluminal speed, preceding the dimensional shift into the tacyonic plane of reality known as Hyperspace.

Then, in the split second before the expected lurch forward before the inertial dampeners caught up, an impact shook the wayward vessel. The exterior of the hull was enveloped in static electricity as warning lights flashed and sirens blared within.

Nico: "What the fuck!?"

Hylo: "We've been hit with an ion bolt! All our systems are getting fracked from the electrical surge!"

An alert came from Hylo's side of the console. Seeing it, the mirialan uttered a quiet "frack" in frustration.

Nico: "What now?"

Hylo: "The ion blast short circuited the main hyperdrive motivator. Systems rerouting power to the backup."

"Great, just great!" Nico groaned back as he jerked the yoke to and frow, dodging a flurry of laser and ion bolts, silently thanking the Force or God or whatever higher power was at work to make the already inaccurate ion cannon shots that little bit much easier to avoid. "How much longer do we have to wait now!?"

Hylo: "Not long, but that's not what I'm worried about. The surge coupled with the redirect is overclocking the backup, and the navicomputer is glitching from the electrical interference!"

Nico: "Ok, so either we're about to make a wild jump to who knows where with an unstable drive that could explode any second, or we're just about to explode. Real nice!"

Hylo: "I told you something like this would happen!"

Nico: "Time and place, Hylo! Time and-"

And in that moment, the Redshifter shot forward and disappeared in an eyeblink, leaving behind not but a thinning exhaust trail and bewildered TIE pilot's in its wake.

---

The Bridge of the Fenris was eerily quiet. A tension hung in the air as not a single soul dared to utter a single syllable of sound. In the center of the raised walkway of the command level, Nexia Kirill stood scowling, the fleet's commodore and ship's captain behind her, unmoving.

"Commodore Daihurs," came Nexia's voice, disturbingly, uncharacteristically calm and level. But with a subtle edge to it that radiated a malicious heat.

The aforementioned officer nearly jumped at the sudden silence breaking mention of his name. Recomposing himself, he stood at attention and returned his superior's address.

Daihurs: "Yes, my Lord."

Nexia maintained that frighteningly monotone voice. "Recall all fighters for servicing and rearming. Send word to the Supreme Leader that we will be pursuing the target into the Neutral Zone."

Daihurs: "But, my Lord. We're not properly equipped for an extraterritorial expedition. We'd need to at least resupply beforehand."

"If we wait too long," the irate woman snapped back, her previously calm tone rising in intensity from barely restrained anger, "they'll either be dead or back in Republic space by the time we've even crossed the border."

She turned to the man. "Or should I inform the Supreme Leader of your blatant insubordination in the face of a direct order?"

By now, Daihurs was sweating. "I-It will be done, my lord!" The Admiral saluted, before turning to the CIC command terminal, the captain trailing behind him.

Nexia Kirill looked away from her pathetic excuse for an Admiral and back at the starfield, contemplating her next moves as her rage continued to boil beneath the surface.

---

Second Quintile, Sixth Week of Month Four; Centaxday, 28 Serap, 28 ABY

~1.5 hours before arrival in the Oum System

Hyperspace

Aboard the Redshifter

5:25 Standard Hours

So. Much. Turbulence.

Nearly ten hours of non-stop vibration, lurching, and swaying. Dimly lit rooms and corridors from low power. The smell of ozone from sparking damaged electrical equipment and wiring.

And not an empty bucket in sight.

When not coping with the effects of foul-air exacerbated motion sickness, the crew were taking the time to conduct mid-flight repairs. Fortunately, they hadn't yet lost any critical systems or suffered any hull breaches. But the ship had taken a beating nonetheless, and the ion cannon damage in particular left a lot of equipment fried and short-circuiting. Most of the repair work was just damage control, putting metaphorical bandaids here and there to keep the ship from dying on them, mid-flight.

"Gault," Hylo called from within a maintenance access pit in the engine room. "Hand me the fusion solder."

The devaronian moved to hand her the tool in question, when another lurch of turbulence tripped him up, causing his foot to collide with the toolbox. Luckily, it stopped just at the edge of the maintenance pit. Unluckily, Gault dropped the thankfully inactive soldering tool into the pit, where its fall was broken by Nico Okarr's head.

"OW, fuck!" The captain rubbed his head in the spot where the tool had impacted. "Gault, what the hell!?"

Gault: "My hand slipped."

The smuggler stared back incredulously.

Nico: "That's it? No 'sorry about that' or 'you okay'?"

Gault: "I believe you know me better than to expect that by now."

"Yeah, well screw you too." Nico then turned away from the conman to where Hylo had already picked up the dropped fusion solder and resumed rewiring the circuit for the lateral stabilizer.

"You know," she spoke up, not bothering to tear her goggled eyes away from the circuit board she was currently soldering. "I hate to say I told you so, buuuut-"

"Shut up, Hylo! Just shut up!" Nico snapped, turning to her. "We have enough shit to deal with right now with the whole 'careening through hyperspace towards our demise' thing going on! So, if you'd be so kind as to hold off on the gloating about your stupid Universal-"

And it was at that moment, another lateral lurch sent the toolbox at Gault's feet tumbling down onto Nico's back, which in turn sent the captain tumbling to the floor.

Nico: "AAAHHHH!"

Hylo: "And we see the Law of the Universe at work."

Turning off the fusion solder and removing her goggles, Hylo bent down to help the captain back to his feet. "Gus, get the first aid kit. Bowie, help me get Captain Jackass up outta this pit."

The latter grunted and mumbled in his native shyriiwook as he kneeled down near the pit's edge to lift the moaning man out by his armpits. Bowdaar gently placed Nico on his stomach as Gus returned with a medkit, scanner already out and activated. The device bathed the gunslinger's body in lime green light as the wookie jumped down to take his place alongside Hylo in the pit, the mirialan resuming her work as Bowdaar crouched down to pick up the scattered tools.

"Good news," Gus said as he deactivated the med-scanner. "There's no serious damage, just some bruising. You'll be sore for a while, but some bacta or kolto gel should speed up the healing process."

Nico slowly pushed himself up to a kneeling position, groaning in pain with each movement. "That's - ouch - that's great." He looked at Gus expectantly. "Where is the gel?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just gimme a second," the mon calamari responded as he began digging through the med-kit for a tube of kolto-infused ointment.

Nico pulled his shirt up to expose his back for ointment application. He had ditched his trademark duster coat long ago; between the stale, putrid air, and the internal climate control systems malfunctioning such that they could be set at either way too hot or not at all, the environment aboard the ship was not one friendly to layers.

Nico: "Alright, I'm ready for some of that Jedi healing power you're so fond of bluffing about."

It was at that moment, that Nico felt a brief but sharp pain at the base of his neck.

"Ouw!" The captain put a hand to the spot where he'd been pricked. "I thought you were using the ointment."

"Sorry," Gus snarked, not even bothering to hide his grin. "Was all we had." A tube of bacta enriched ointment was conspicuously shoved towards the bottom of the med-kit bag.

Hylo: "It Nico hurt!?"

Bowdaar: "Yes."

Hylo: "Good!"

"Uh, guys?" Vette's voice vocalized over the ship's intercom. "You may wanna come see this. There's a bit of a problem."

"Well, I guess duty calls," Nico pulled his shirt back down as he stood up. "You good here for now, Hylo?"

"Up yours," came the monotone reply from the pit.

"Yeah, hate you too," the gunslinger shot back teasingly before exiting the engineering compartment and making his way around the ship's looping corridor. He passed Blizz on the way around, the little guy working at a hallway panel and seemed nearly finished. Perhaps his self-imposed exile from the engine room would end soon, but until then there was still plenty of onboard work to keep him occupied until they could finally exit Hyperspace and land.

And as luck would have it…

"Alright," Nico greeted Vette and Corso where they sat in the pilot's and co-pilot's seats as he stepped through the hatch into the cockpit, to stand behind and between the pair in from of the holomap projector. "What seems to be the problem?"

Corso: "Well, we finished unscrambling the glitches data in the navcomp. And now we at least know where exactly we're headed."

Nico: "That's great!... What's the bad news?"

"Well…" Vette began nervously, not the kind that one feels when they're afraid of a superior's reaction (au contraire, she never had to worry before about giving the captain bad news. He was never the type to lash out.), but because the news in question would be disconcerting to anyone who heard it, and she was already shaken enough herself from knowing. Turning back to the console, she brought up a star map on the projector with their auto-pilot course highlighted in orange, a yellow dot along it indicating their current position in real time relative to real space.

Vette: "The route takes us several parsecs above the galactic disc. While the stars in that area have been charted and cataloged through telescopic observations, none of the systems have been explored. Most of them, we're not even sure whether they have planets orbiting them. This one in particular is our problem child."

The holomap zoomed in to show an approximation of a G-type star, with shadowy orbs around it indicating the supposed locations of celestial bodies that astronomers hypothesize might be there, given current research.

And the orange line that represented their travel route was going through it.

And the yellow dot that represented the ship was getting closer and closer…

Nico stared, wide-eyed. "Well… that's a pickle." He paused for a moment. "How long do we got?"

Vette: "If these calculations are correct, about an hour, give or take 10 minutes."

Nico bent down to activate the onboard com-system. "Hylo, how soon do you think we can disengage the drive without blowing up?"

The response came quick. "Depends on how fast the last of these short circuited lines get fixed. Why?"

Nico: "Because we have an hour before we get fried by a star, that's why."

---

~50-55 minutes later

They were cutting it close. Not super close, but close.

The last 50 or so minutes may have been the longest of any of their lives. Longer than when Hylo watched her parents cut down by droids, longer than when Vette watched her sister sold off when they were young, longer than when Corso watched his family farm burn.

And now, the moment of truth.

"Ok," Nico said at the helm, shipwide com active as he addressed his crew. "Everyone ready?"

Hylo: "We're in position. Just give us the signal to pull the plug."

Vette: "Ditto!"

Bowdaar: "Affirmative."

Nico sighed. This part was going to be tricky. With the tight deadline given to them, they couldn't adequately fix everything that needed fixing to ensure a smooth transition back to realspace. Seemed like for every short they patched, two more blew up elsewhere. And each meant a temporary patch job they couldn't be certain would hold up enough.

Transitioning to and from Hyperspace was a relatively straightforward procedure when all systems were working as intended. But when you were just barely flying on a wing and a prayer? Oh boy! It was like barefoot dancing around carpet tacks. Spread over hot coals! Besides the hyperdrive itself, there were multiple systems and subsystems needed to successfully perform Hyperspace travel; some of which, one might not think of immediately, given that they're primary functions were in other areas of ship operation.

Navigation, for one. A ship in Hyperspace followed a preset path automatically, which was calculated prior to jumping. This same tech was also needed to ensure the ship could safely exit Hyperspace without dropping into a black hole or ramming into an asteroid. Secondly, inertial dampeners. The pseudo-motion "jump" that occurred when a ship broke the tachyon barrier carried enough g-force to pulverize a humanoid organic down to atoms without it. Fuel, generators, the reactor to power everything. So many things that could go wrong, so many chain reactions that could be set off if specific devices didn't work their mechanical magic at just the right moments.

Which was why the crew were scattered around the ship, posted at key points to manually disable or reactive key systems, to ensure that everything that needed to happen for them to not die when Nico threw the switch, happened.

"Great, now get ready." His hand hovered over the lever. The ship marker on the holomap drew closer and closer to its final destination. "And three…. Two… one… NOW"

Nico threw the lever. At the same time, Hylo cut power to the hyperdrive, as Vette triggered the dampeners and Corso began powering down the subspace field. Beside Nico in the co-pilot's chair, Gault pulled a fuse from the navicomputer to turn off autopilot.

And as all of this occurred, Niko held tight to the yoke as the swirling blue, white and black clouds dispersed in favor of a pink and white field of flashing lights as the ship made an unstable exit. The captain held on for dear life, struggling to maintain control as maneuvering returned to manual and the trans-dimensional forces at work bucked and buffeted the little ship in what would otherwise have been an out of control spin and tumble.

At last, the glare cleared up into the familiar streaks of the stretched and compressed starfield as the Redshifter transitioned back into realspace.

Then the stars snapped back into their normal visual, including one particular star that now stood in their direct path, close enough to be recognized not as a pinpoint of light, but a flaming ball of gas.

A very, very distant flaming ball of gas.

Nico released a breath he didn't realize he was holding, collapsing back in the pilot's seat before pulling out a handkerchief and wiping the sweat from his brow. "What's our position? How close did we cut it?"

"Surprisingly on point," Gault said in mild amusement as he read off the monitor. "Assuming this is accurate, we dropped out right in what should be this system's goldilocks zone."

"Really?" Well, that was lucky. For a minute there he was worried they'd drop out in a debris field. Or end up on a collision course with an asteroid or planet. Or get caught in a gravity well and-

The ship lurched suddenly.

Nico: "What was that?"

An alert chime sounded from the console, as the slightest sensation of movement was felt.

Gault checked his side's display. "Looks like we're caught in something's gravity well."

Nico: oh no

Gault: "Just barely, though. A little bit of thrusters to adjust attitude and…"

The movement and alarm stopped. A message on the screen read "STABLE ORBIT ACHIEVED."

Gault: "... and we're good."

Nico: "Any more heart attacks you wanna try giving me?"

Gault: "Maybe later."

Nico: "By the way, what is it we're orbiting?"

Gault: "Well, apparently we're facing away from it by about… 73 degrees port. Whatever it is, it's big."

"What's big?" Vette questioned as she stepped into the hatchway.

Nico: "Whatever it is we're orbiting. And for all we know, it could be a black hole."

Gault: "Naw, this has mass. And an… atmosphere…"

All three of them perked up at that.

Vette: "I mean… the surveys did say there might be a planet here…"

"73 degrees" Nico mumbled to himself, reaching for the controls. Maneuvering thrusters flaired to life as he carefully worked to reorient the ship's bow without compromising their orbital stability. The ship turned slowly. 65 degrees. 50 degrees 40 degrees. 30. 20. 15. 10. 5…

There was nothing there.

Gault: "Oh, and 48 degrees relative down."

Nico: "Oh. Ok."

The bow was dipped down gently. What came into view stunned the cockpit's occupants such that Nico almost forgot to stop the ship's downward momentum.

A planet. A garden world, in fact. A glowing, beautiful ball of blues, greens, greys and browns spread out across a tapestry of oceans and continents visible on its sunward side.

And they were the lucky idiots to have discovered it.

The captain's hand went to the intercom. "All hands to the bridge. You might wanna see this."

A few moments later, Corso stepped through the hatch. "Please tell me this is good… news…"

"What is the problem, captain…" Bowdaar froze in place. Blizz peered out from behind him, and his beady yellow eyes went equally wide.

"Oh, for kriffs sake, what is it now Ni… co…" There weren't many sights nowadays that could leave Hylo Visz speechless, but discovering a new garden world was one of them. Even for someone accustomed to the rugged, rough and tumble lifestyle of an outlaw, the implications were not lost on her.

They were about to make a lot more money off this job.

"Yes!" Vette was practically jumping with excitement. She grabbed Corso by the shoulders. "The Republic will pay us so many credits when we tell them about this."

Nico: "Hold on with the celebrating for a minute, Vette. Look over there."

Their attention was focused on the planet's side at the starboard side of their view. It appeared they had entered this world's orbit at a position that was in transition between night and day, and a quarter was still shrouded in gradually receding darkness. But amid that darkness were dots of light clustered in groups spread around the surface. The kind that indicated significant urban development.

Which could only mean one thing.

"An inhabited system" Hylo sighed as the youngsters' excitement partially deflated. "There goes that bonus. Sorry, Vette."

Corso: "Wait. Wouldn't this be first contact then? That still has a bounty."

Hylo: "That's assuming they haven't been contacted previously. Or hell, for all we know this could be some kind of secret First Order colony."

Gault: "No on both those counts, dearest Hylo. I took the liberty of doing a quick sensor sweep, and the results are most intriguing. Here, see for yourself."

The devaronian activated the bridge holoprojector, displaying the results of his impromptu survey. Two things were highlighted: aerospace traffic, and wireless telecommunication traffic. On both counts the levels seemed on par with what one would expect of a fairly well developed colony world. But two things stood out.

First, in both cases, there was no indication of activity beyond the upper atmosphere. No ship's entering or leaving. No telecomm signals being relayed by satellites. For all intents and purposes, it didn't seem these people had any spaceborn infrastructure, or even access to space travel.

Which brought up the second issue. Despite the lack of evidence of space travel above the mesosphere, what they could pick up below the ionosphere indicated an industrialized society that could've been able to. Intense and frequent electromagnetic signals - indicative of pre-subspace or even pre-quantum entanglement - bounced around various points that seemed to be some sort of relay system. And the overwhelming majority seemed to go through two big relays that fed several smaller ones, with wave vectors indicating at least two more big relays elsewhere not covered by Gault's scan.

And those big relays seemed to be doing the work one would expect artificial satellites to handle.

Hylo: "Ok, so they don't seem primitive, but they don't seem to have space travel, either. Just what the hell kinda backwater is this?"

Vette: "Not all cultures develop their tech the same way. Not that hard to believe that someone would end up like this."

Nico: "Alright, so these folks threw all their money at radio towers instead of rockets. I take that to mean they got metal and no nu-Imps, sooooooo any objections to landing?"

A chorus of "Nopes" echoed through the cabin.

Nico: "Great. Then where to? There's frozen tundra to the north, tropical island to the south. I myself am leaning toward the south side of that giant lake in the mid-"

"No." All heads turned to one Gus Tuno. When exactly had he gotten here? No one noticed him before, he'd been oddly quiet since they'd dropped out of Hyperspace. "Not there. There," he pointed towards a point just within the planet's nightside shadow. Bright points of artificial light indicated a fairly large city bustling with the nonstop activity of urban life.

Hylo: "Ok… any particular reason?"

Gus: "No, no… just a feeling…"

Corso: "Like, a gut feeling or… you know… that kind of feeling?"

Gus was silent for a moment. His eyes became somewhat downcast, and his voice was quiet and solemn.

Gus: "... yeah. That kind of feeling."

Nico's eyebrows raised at that. "Well… it's not like that kind of feeling ever steered us wrong before. Any objections?"

Silence.

Nico: "Alright then. Prepare for reentry."

The crew quickly dispersed, save for Hylo and Gus, who sat down in the starboard and port side passenger seats. Hylo relaxed a bit, leaning back in the fake leather chair as the ship rocked slightly from the early stages of reentry. The ship tilted "upward" slightly as its pilots carefully eased them out of orbit to begin the slow descent toward the surface.

Gus, by contrast, was stock still, staring out the viewport at the increasingly close visage of the planet. The mon calamari crook was eerily tense, like he was staring death itself in the face.

Hylo: "You alright there, Gus?"

Gus nearly jumped out of his seat in shock. His eyes darted around, as if he was unsure where he was for a moment, before settling on the mirialan woman and exhaling to calm himself.

Gus: "Yeah, yeah. I was just… zoned out for a bit."

Hylo: "Sure you're OK? You seemed pretty tense."

Gus rubbed his hands together, nervously. "It's just… there's something off… I don't know what it is, but I'm just getting this weird sense of danger… like the Force is screaming at me over… something."

Gault: "So what you're saying is, you have a bad-"

Hylo: "Gault, focus on the sky."

Gault: "Alright, sheesh."

Nico turned in his seat to address his crewmate. "Wait, you said you had a feeling where we should land. Now it's too dangerous?"

"It's not- It's complicated," Gus snapped back, rubbing his forehead as if trying to relieve a persistent headache. "Imagine that you're receiving a bunch of messages, telling you you're in danger, like you're about to die or get maimed or robbed. But there's this one that stands out, and you're not sure why it stands out, but it's telling you 'you have to come here!' Not that it's safe, just 'come here.' And your instincts are telling you to trust it, even if it seems sketchy."

The captain and first mate exchanged confused glances. "So, should we still land there?" Nico asked.

Gus took a deep breath, paused. "... Yes."

"Well, OK then," Nico spun his chair back towards the viewport. "Maintain present course, I guess."

Silence, for a moment.

Nico: "Ssooo… you guys know what you're gonna spend your cuts on?"

Gault: "Let's just say the dealers in Cantonica are gonna become very familiar with me in a few months."

Hylo: "I was thinking about getting my own ship again. Rolling with you guys is fun and all, don't get me wrong, but I've been feeling about due for a change of pace."

"Oh!" Nico responded, teasingly. "So eager to be rid of us, aren't you?"

"Shut up," Hylo shot back, though her light chuckling gave away her amusement. "I'd just like having my own ship again. The Redshifter's a fine bird, but she's no Crimson Fleece. Hey, what about you, Gus?"

"I-" The mon calamari paused. "I don't know. Never really thought-"

The cockpit suddenly went dark. Followed by a downward lurch as the ship began freefall.

Nico: "... Gault, did you just shut off all power?"

Gault: "... No, did you?"

Nico: "No."

Hylo: "Nico? What is going on?"

Nico: "No fracking clue!"

Panic set in as the ship rocked with turbulence from its now uncontrolled descent. Hands instinctively reached for flashlights, emergency light switches, and commlinks. With the power out, so were the inertial dampeners, as the sensation of free fall grew faster and faster.

Nico held a comlink to his face, activating a private group band. He shouted a frantic "Blizz, what the hell's going on back there!?"

The little jawa answered back, equally frightened, "Blizz no know! Power just surge, then stop. Like hit with ion cannon, but no boom, no shake!"

Nico: "Why hasn't backup power come on!?"

Blizz: "Blizz no know, either. Working on now. Maybe check breaker?"

"Hylo!" Nico spun around to where the mirialan was working at a panel behind him. "How's the circuits on our end!?"

Hylo: "No damage! And no tripped breakers, either! It's like everything just died!"

A short few minutes passed, but it felt like an eternity as those in the cockpit either freaking out or frozen in panic.

Suddenly, the cabin was illuminated by a dull red from the emergency lights.

Blizz: "Backup working again! Resetting systems now!"

Nico quickly turned back to the pilot's seat as screens and instruments lit up. Gault had already begin trying to wrest back control of the ship before the human captain took over. And not a moment too soon, as the fire and heat of reentry friction could already be seen and felt through the viewport.

Nico: "Give it full thrusters! Gault, give me the helm!"

The acting copilot wasn't going to argue. He immediately turned pilot control back over to the captain, who proved the superior pilot as he managed to actually bring the ship under some semblance of control. Specifically, from a total, uncontrolled freefall to a semi-controlled case of falling with style.

"Okay, good news!" Nico shouted as he managed to level out their descent. "Thrusters are still functional, and I was able to get us back on course."

Hylo: "And the bad news?"

Nico: "Well, given the fact we'd already touched terminal velocity, there's a good chance we won't be so much as landing as having a mostly controlled crash."

Hylo: "Well, shit!"

Nico: "Gault, what's our altitude?!"

Gault: "Thirty-six klicks and dropping!"

The ship sailed downward through the atmosphere, its pilots struggling to balance between arresting their momentum while navigating an approach vector that offered the best chance of survival.

Gault: "Twenty-five klicks!"

They'd passed into the receding shadow of night, their angle of approach slowly becoming less vertical. A quick course adjustment ensured they'd avoid crash landing atop a desolate mountain range.

Gault: "Eighteen klicks!"

They passed through the upper layer of a thick cloud formation, the ship rocking with turbulence from the unstable air pressure. Flying blind, with only instinct and a set of coordinates to guide them. Needless to say, the mood among the cabin was tripwire tense.

Gault: "Fifteen klicks… Twelve…"

The clouds remained thick. Their velocity slowed.

Gault: "Ten… Eight… Seven… Six…"

Ice crystals pattered against the hull. Thrusters burned hot against their cold, humid surroundings.

Gault: "Five… Four…"

The clouds began to thin. The ship's descent slowed further and its bow angled upward as Nico regained control.

Come on, come on, the experienced pilot thought to himself, Just a little more…

Gault: "Three…"

The ship burst past the cloud line just as they'd managed to level out. Both visibility and stable flight were finally restored, and with it a mild reduction in stress. Hopefully, this meant they were out of the woods for the moment. And in the event something else went wrong now, at the very least they could see their impending doom coming.

And in their field of view was a massive city in the distance, lights shining indicative of early pre-dawn levels of activity as early risers began their routines and night owls finished theirs. Surrounding this megacity were lush forests, full of deciduous trees still thick with leaves even as the local summer season neared its end.

Any awe the crew experienced from this sight was interrupted by a sudden impact with the port side hull. Followed by a jolt, then a new emergency alert.

Hylo: "Oh, for kriffs sake, what now!?"

It was Gault who responded, his usual cool noticeably broken by frustration.

Gault: "Oh, nothing. Just the loss of our payday!"

Gus: "What?"

Gault: "Whatever hit us triggered the pod release!"

A useful feature of the XS stock light freighter was its releasable cargo hold. The port side mounted cargo storage cabin not only offered increased carrying capacity for long hauls, but could be detached from the ship's main hull via a series of locking mechanisms. The slot could then function either as an extra airlock, or be used to anchor other cargo pods, such as freight containers or certain larger objects too big for containers or onboard storage. Furthermore, the ability to jettison the hold mid flight came in handy during emergencies, like if you needed a decoy against hostile entanglements or had to drop some weight while in atmospheric flight.

And unfortunately, their four frozen passengers' stasis pods were in said detachable pod when its release was triggered by… whatever it was that struck them.

A second strike told them it was definitely an attack.

"Somebody get on the guns, now!" The captain screamed into the intercom. "What the hell hit us!?"

Deeper within the vessel, Vette found herself closest to the turret access ladder, and was currently making her way around the newfound clutter obstructing the passageway. Said clutter appeared immediately after the surprise attack started, so it was same to assume the two were related. And took the form of strange spikes piercing the already weakened hull.

Glancing back at the weird spikes as she took hold of the access ladder, Vette noticed something oddly familiar about them.

Vette: Hmm, those kinda look like quills…

A second impact, followed by more spikes piercing the hull and an exasperated "Any day now!" from the comm snapped Vette out of her musings, and she quickly climbed up the ladder to the dorsal turret. Activating it, she searched the surrounding skies for whatever bodies could be harassing them.

She was not expecting what she found.

They were plain as day even in the darkness and dim light of the predawn sky, their pitch black bodies either illuminated by the moon and starlight or contrasting against the clouds. Three figures, flitting about above them as they took turns rising into the air before dive bombing the worn out starship with their odd projectiles.

As one did so, and was met with a face full of ionized plasma for its troubles. And as it fell past the ship, the young twi'lek woman got a good look at it. And her earlier thoughts about the strange projectiles were put into context.

They were birds. Giant, black birds that flew faster than any bird had any business flying. And she could see now, the projectiles were their feathers.

Vette: What the hell?

So shocked was she by this, she almost forgot about the other two bird monsters currently trying to kill them. Both the remaining beasts dived down toward them at blinding speed, beaks and claws bared as if intending to tackle the poor vessel. But not fast enough to avoid the stream of plasma bolts fired from the Redshifter's dorsal laser turret. One was hit directly in its head and torso, dying instantly and subsequently plummeting to the earth. The other managed to steer out of line from the second volley aimed at it, but was then clipped by the third, tearing through its wings, making it tumble away as it shrieked in pain.

The high pitched pew pew from beneath her signaled that the ventral turret was being fired.

"Gotcha!" Corso's voice shouted from down the ladder shaft. "Sorry I stole your kill, hun!"

Vette: "No worries, babe! 'Bout time you joined the party anyway, you almost missed out!"

"Sorry to interrupt your little flirtationship," the captain chimed in over the comm. "But I suggest you strap yourselves in! Whatever those things shot us with hit something critical, and we're about to lose lift."

"Crap!" Corso shot out of his seat and hurried up the ladder. He knew full well what the captain meant. Crash landing imminent. And while the smart thing to do would normally be to buckle up immediately, his position at the ventral turret didn't offer much protection. Nor did the dorsal turret for that matter, as Vette followed after him towards the nearest seats with safety harnesses.

Back in the cockpit, the ground was approaching steadily. It's occupants scrambling to sufficiently brace themselves where they sat. Except for the captain.

Hylo: "Nico, what are you waiting for!? Put your harness on!"

"In a sec," the outlaw responded, white knuckle gripping the yoke. "Gotta steer us clear of anywhere populated."

The ship glided downward in a gradual, but quickening descent. Power was diverted from anything and everywhere possible towards the remaining thrusters and repulsers, desperately trying to slow them down and hopefully soften the ship's now inevitable crash. What little wasn't going to lifting the ship up was helping to steer it hard to starboard, as it became more and more apparent that if they didn't hit any of the approaching buildings, they would at least give a few folks a nasty wake-up call as they shot past.

Like whoever was occupying what appeared to be at first glance an unusually tall clock tower. Anyone looking out a portside viewport might catch a brief glimpse of a grey haired, bespectacled man working late at a desk, spitting out his coffee in shock.

The lights of urban sprawl gave way to lush trees and rolling hills as the Redshifter swung northward. Lush trees that looked to be getting closer and closer at an alarming rate.

Nico: "We're clear! Closing blinds!"

With the opening of an emergency panel and the press of a button, a durasteel shudder closed over the forward viewport, cutting off their view of their imminent demise in exchange for added protection against what was to come.

Nico hastily strapped himself in. Behind him he could hear the repetitious mumbling of his mirialan first mate, eyes closed as she muttered a familiar mantra.

Hylo: "I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me. I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me…"

Nico wasn't that surprised. Hylo had been raised in the Church of the Force, and even if she didn't bring it up much, it had nonetheless carried over into her outlaw lifestyle in spite of - or perhaps because of - the rough and rowdy nature of that path. Hell, her whole 'Invisible Law of the Universe' shtick was basically an extension of her religion's belief in the 'will of the Force.'

A bit more surprising was the fact that Gus was chanting along with her. Sure he'd been a Jedi Padawan, but he was a former Jedi Padawan. And he'd been consistently trying to distance himself from that life since.

The ship drifted over the treeline, before skimming the tips of the higher tops for just a moment. Then the thudding, the smashing, the scratching, the tearing as it ripped through branches and trunks. Some exterior components were knocked off amidst the carnage. Like a radar dish snapped off by flying debris. Or the ventral turret when the hull ricocheted off a boulder, along with a decent sized strip of the ventral armor and outer hull plating. The boulder itself broken apart during the impact.

Said ricochet gave them a brief bit of lift while reducing some of their forward momentum. It was a bit of a blessing, in hindsight, as it indirectly softened the rest of the landing. Blasting through trees for about a hundred meters before finally touching ground, skidding across upturned dirt and sod for another hundred or so meters. Before finally, the friction of the ground and resistance of the trees and rocks slowed them to a standstill.

The heavily damaged freighter sat at the end of a trail of devastation, debris and shrapnel scattered behind it. The chaos of the preceding minutes contrasted by the serene silence of the surrounding woods, once disturbed by their arrival, now returned.

---

Second Quintile, Sixth Week of Month Four; Taungsday, 28 Serap, 28 ABY

Oum System, planet Remnant,

Somewhere in the Emerald Forest, north of Vale City, Continent of East Sanus.

Aboard the Redshifter

7:03 Standard Hours

4:42 AM Local Time.

Miraculously, there were no fatalities.

Nor were there anything more than minor injuries. The safety harnesses had done their jobs, it seemed.

They were all in one piece. The air was breathable. They were safe.

Safe in a practically destroyed ship, having lost their cargo (and with it, their paychecks), one of their crew (Bowdarr was in the cargo pod when it ejected. What luck!), on an alien planet in an unexplored part of the galaxy which no one else knew about, that was apparently home to murderous bird creatures with projectile feathers that could pierce the hull of a light freighter.

Don't say it, Nico thought. Don't you dare-

Hylo: "Boss, I have a bad feeling about this."

In spite of their current predicament, Hylo Visz felt grimmly validated.

---

You're still here? By the Force, you must have an iron will!

Anyway, thanks for reading. I don't have a set schedule for when the next chapter will be out, but I will be starting as soon as possible and will have it up as quick as I can.

Also, I plan on crossposting this to Archive Of Our Own under my other screenname, DCTrinityFan. This is also my screenname on Reddit and a couple gaming accounts, btw.

Also also, for anyone wondering, the Galactic Alliance in this is a supranational organization made up of the Republic and most of its allies. I took the idea from the Templin Institute's New Republic Reimagined video, which helped reinvigorate my drive to work on this fic.

Anyway, thank you all for sticking with me through this. Feel free to message me with any questions you have, though I can't guarantee a quick response.