Chapter 44: Taniar Trav'nel

In orbit of Krant

One of the most recently settled worlds in Bothan space Krant had a wide temperate belt, yet was remote, wild, and sparsely populated. The oldest settlements were less than two centuries old and the planet had a population of less than fifty million, thirty-two million of whom were Bothan.

The Bothans here were a culturally diverse bunch. On the southern hemisphere continent, called Mabon by most of the locals, the largest settlement area was a peninsula populated by 400,000 ashy-furred Clan Ales Bothans; fundamentalist Purple Savrit worshippers who had settled the area to avoid paying taxes that fund Bothan Way temples. The second-largest inhabited area on the planet was a desert city of around 100,000—a diverse group of Church of the Force worshipping Bothans and humans, mostly Clan Alya and Ilya Bothans from Kothlis, tired of existing at the top of their Grum's trouble-maker list.

On the more populous Continent Silber, the only continent with a maglev system, a million Wookiees and two million Bothans had settled a forested area with heavy rainfall. For the most part, those Bothans had assimilated to Wookiee culture, spoke Shyriiwook as a first language, and had abandoned the use of clothes.

None of these Bothans were the ones the Botha'ahir vessel was in orbit to meet. They were here to meet another strange cultural off-shoot—strange even in comparison to the yowling Wookiees.

o.o.o.o.o

"So, Captain Biad'tannen," growled a cream-coloured Bothan female wearing Mandalorian armour from the shoulders down. "You won't tell us why you are summoning us to your ship? Why you want us to leave the surface, fly through the atmosphere, dock, and go aboard a vessel under Botha'ahir jurisdiction?"

Taniar's fur swirled nervously as she watched the viewscreen. She probably thinks we are here to arrest anyone who looks like a Mandalorian.

"You can call me Uk," said the blonde and brown-furred heterochromat with a friendly smile, ears perked up. His body language screamed: I am listening to your concerns.

"Well Uk," growled the Clan Aean Bothan displayed on the viewscreen, "you won't tell us why you are here."

"I can't tell you why we are here," Uk growled with the Spacer hand gesture for no. "I can show you if you would just please come aboard. It would be our treat."

This is such a bad idea, Taniar thought as her fur continued swirling. This is completely insane.

"This is extremely suspicious behaviour and I am shocked that the Botha'ahir Navy would act so… annoying. I am going to have to ask you to stop contacting me or any of our people. Zovir Ras'ean out."

"WAIT!" Uk yelped, fur swirling nervously.

Zovir scowled at him toothily.

"Would it be agreeable…" Uk growled, regaining his composure, "for us to meet in a neutral location?"

"A neutral location?" Zovir growled, ears perking up, one eyebrow raised.

o.o.o.o.o

Taniar was amazed that Clan Aean agreed to meet them at all. On their way down to the planet were Uk, Taniar, and an elderly officer they had picked up from the Corps of Engineers as they swung by Botha'hir, Colonel Zrask Oc'nel. They rode a boxy, three-engine CZ-9 TannenWorks transport shuttle down to the surface.

They took no pilot with them. Uk had insisted he was going to pilot the shuttle himself. Taniar had never seen the Captain actually pilot anything, but as far as piloting went, he seemed to be doing a smooth job.

"Kita ko uszhul mid koram sensor." [I see them on sensors,] Zrask said. [They are already at the landing site.]

[Sir?] Taniar growled.

[Yes?] asked both Uk and Zrask at the same time.

Too many officers… [Captain, I do not think Clan Aean will help us. I feel we are risking Botha'ahir security by telling them we have stolen Mandalorian armour.]

[We didn't steal it, Gunny!] Zrask snarled in outrage. [We seized it. The armour was used in the commission of the worst crime in Bothan Space in centuries.]

Taniar scowled, blinking incredulously as she looked Zrask in the eyes. Really Colonel? Semantics. [All right sir, we didn't steal it. However, I don't think Clan Aean will see it that way.]

Zrask opened his snout to say something the stopped.

Rain streaked across the shuttle's windows as it descended into a dark cloud.

Taniar stood up for a moment, zipping up her camouflaged outercoat, then sat back down.

A suit of Mandalorian armour sat behind the three Bothans in a well-lit display case. On the display case, more than a dozen terminal screens displaying the status and composition of the various components.

o.o.o.o.o

"Let me get this straight," Zovir snarled furiously. "Now, you sketchy Spacers want us to come aboard your shuttle?!"

On a grassy knoll in a torrential downpour, the three Botha'ahir Bothans met three Clan Aean Bothans. To one side of the knoll was a parked shuttle, to the other, a parked red and white USV-5 air speeder.

"We are not going to harm you," Taniar growled huffily.

"Well Sergeant," Zovir retorted, biting the air angrily as she spoke, "it's not your reassurance I want! It's your Captain's."

Uk glared at Taniar, fur beginning to prickle in annoyance. "Of course, we won't harm you," he sighed. "We only want to show you something… here, we can bring it out," he added, gesturing towards the ship.

Without a word, Taniar jogged through the mud back towards the ship. Opening the rear ramp, she clambered in with a grunt, disengaged the magnetic locks at the base of the display case, and groaned as she tugged on it. She slowly pulled the technical display down into the rain.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Zovir yelped as she and the others approached the case. "Di'kute!" [Idiots!] she screamed as she began swearing in Mandalorian.

Even angrier than I thought, Taniar smirked, shaking her head in exasperation.

"I know you might not like this," Uk growled cautiously, his fur swirling nervously under his trench-coat.

The Clan Aean Bothans began conversing amongst themselves in Mandalorian, dense with angry snarls as they gathered around the display case. One of them reached forward, as if to deactivate the force-field but Zovir grabbed his hand, snarling furiously.

Taniar cautiously inched her hand closer to her blaster holster. She stepped between the Clan Aean Bothans and the armour, standing taller to exaggerate her taller stature even further. You will have to get through me if you want this.

[Actual here,] Uk growled into his wrist comm. [We might need some close-air support.]

[Roger that, sending indigo squadron into low orbit for standby.]

Zrask pulled out his datapad. "Listen here," he growled. "If any of you are willing to teach me how to—"

"—This armour is sacred," Zovir growled cautiously, gaining some composure. "Even when heretics like the KHGC use it, it still must be treated with respect."

"Exactly," Zrask growled with a toothy grin, his aged grey and white fur dancing excitedly. "As you can see, we put it in this case with great care. If you would teach us, then—"

"No," Zovir said firmly, folding her arms. "The only course is to return it, or smelt it down—"

"—That is not going to happen," Uk said sternly, matching Zovir's tone. "Thousands of Bothans were killed by humans wearing those very suits of armour. We are going to learn all we can about it whether you help us or not. If you help us, Clan Onel and Tannen are willing to pay your Clan eight billion Zav."

As if responding to Uk's offer, the sky was momentarily brightened by a bolt of lightning. Seconds later, the six Bothans' ears twitched as the sound of thunder rolled over them.

o.o.o.o.o

The two officers' moods were sour on the return flight.

Taniar was more optimistic. At least we did not have to call in air support on those Bothans. She shuddered at what type of hell that would have created. Dozens of angry Clan leaders snarling phrases like 'act of war' on the floor of the Combined Clans.

"This is not over," Uk grumbled under his breath.

"You're right, sir," Taniar said with a confident smile. "I am certain Botha'ahir minds will crack the secrets of this armour eventually. We don't need their help."

"That's not what I mean. Gunny? Tactical assessment."

Taniar blinked in shock, her fur swirling nervously. Okay. Back to insane it is. "Well sir," she growled cautiously, "those Clan Aean Bothans did not seem as heavily armed as the KHGC forces we engaged on Thellus. Their airspeeder was unarmed. Our intelligence reports show they have only a few snub nose fighters, a generation behind ours. Sir, I feel I must say, we have not been given authorisation to attack these people."

"Any benefit to our reverse-engineering efforts would surely be offset by the political fallout for this," Zrask added, turning to face the Captain.

"Colonel, Gunny," Uk growled, "I am only keeping our options open. Besides Gunny, your assessment would be good material for new wargames."

"Yes sir," Taniar agreed, then paused. Very interesting material… Capturing a Clan Aean Bothan of Interest. Huh! Her fur danced with excitement as she began outlining a simulation on her datapad.


Author's note:

Clan Aean is HyperionGM's creation, used with his permission. Give his stuff a read if you like.