Well, originally, I had planned on posting chapter one two weeks ago, but I finished it a bit late for my taste and opted to give it another rotation. By rotation, I mean that I'm also writing a story called Life at the Speed of Formula One over on AO3. That story updates every other week, so I plan to be posting this on the off weeks of that story. If you followed along while I was writing Secrets of the Outer Rim I, you'll be familiar with this arrangement. Anyway, I'll post both chapters at once.
Secrets of the Outer Rim II.
Act I.
The Edge of the Galaxy.
Chapter II.
The Rings of Taaszon: Part II.
The whole station shook, interrupting my confrontation with the blue-skinned alien woman. I had no idea what happened - did one of the storms throw an asteroid into the station? We rushed over to the window to see what was going on, only for me to see that the situation was far, far worse than I could have expected. A fleet of blood-red capital ships filled the space around the planet, with fighters and boarding craft swarming out of them, flying towards the station and towards the planet surface itself. A few of these capital ships emerged out of hyperspace in the rings, but over their blood red surface, these ships carried black hexagonal plates, almost resembling scales, and these protective scales absorbed the blow of the asteroids. Still, seeing capital ships emerge in a flurry of explosions from a ring of asteroids only to emerge unscathed was a terrifying site, especially since those ships were now attacking us. Naturally, I looked over at the blue-skinned woman, thinking that she was responsible, but when I saw her featureless eyes widen, I only saw fear. Fear. What could make a woman this powerful scared? This is the woman who has been mind-controlling people, wreaking havoc, and dominating the station ever since she got here. She even broke through every Imperial protocol there is to get to the surface. Everything I've seen has had this woman facing the Empire alone without a hint of fear in her eyes, but the arrival of these strange ships? That scared her.
"Who are they?" I asked, knowing that she knew more than I did. At the same time, klaxons started blaring throughout the station and I heard the rushing of people and guns outside, likely the Empire and the Mining Guild security rushing to confront any threat while non-combatants were rushing back to their quarters and going into lockdown.
"The Shahak'Tur. They know nothing of fear or mercy, they're a vicious race of conquerors from beyond the galaxy...and now they're here." she answered, fear evident in her voice, confirming that she knew all about these people. She has confronted them before.
"But how are they here? This planet has barely just been added to the charts and the Empire keeps information about this planet on a strict need-to-know basis." I pointed out. The planet is on the star charts now but is noted as restricted with no other information about it, the Mining Guild is allowed to operate in this one zone and it pays well, but I've already gone over the restrictions placed on me, the other contractors, and the Mining Guild employees. This planet is barely known within the boundaries of the Empire, how is it known to their enemies?
"I don't know, we don't even know if they use charts. Wherever they're coming from, it's beyond the known hyperspace routes and there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason as to where they show up. They come, they attack with lightning speed and ferocity, and they give you no choice but to retreat or die. So, I suggest you do the former." she answered while heading over to a storage locker in her room and grabbing her stuff. That took the form of a backpack I hadn't seen before, and a blaster rifle I definitely hadn't seen before - yet more evidence of the free reign she's enjoyed onboard this station.
"Where are you going to go?" I asked, not seeing how she had a way out of here.
"I'm doing exactly what you should be doing - getting to a hangar, stealing a ship, and getting anywhere else but here." she explained, opening the door and slipping to the right - towards the receiving hangars - while all the security personnel were rushing to the left. This left me with an uncomfortable choice to make.
"Alert! Alert! This is Director Amstrun of the Galactic Empire. We are being attacked by an unknown enemy. There is a boarding party in the planet-side hangar. All security personnel are required to help contain the threat and all armed personnel are hereby deputized. We need every fighter we can get in the hangar now!" he ordered over the intercom, making it clear that everyone who could fight had to fight. This meant that my friends - Captain Graizo and Merziza - were going to be in that fight, so I should be at their side. On the other hand, though, if the blue-skinned woman thinks its hopeless, what chance do we have? We only have a fraction of the power she does. and we are clearly outnumbered. Should I really join a suicidal fight if someone stronger than me is telling me to flee? Probably not. But at the same time, does that mean that I can leave my friends to die? No. I couldn't do that. So what then? Well, I suppose I have to get to the hangar, help me friends get out of this situation, and leave the Empire to handle this situation while we flee. Right, that sounded like the best of both worlds. So, to the left I went.
I would, however, have to make a stop at the armory first, because I did not feel like rushing into that hangar with nothing but a dinky blaster pistol. The shaking of the station stopped, likely because the attackers stopped firing upon the station once their boarding parties were on the ship, but in the place of the shaking, there was instead a chaos within. Even from here, as I found myself outside of the armory pounding on the door controls trying to open it, I could hear the blaster fire and the explosions coming from the hangar...and getting closer. The armory door finally slid open, and I rushed over to a heavy repeating blaster, just as I had during the excavator droid crisis. Now I finally felt as prepared as I'll ever be to face this threat.
I stepped out of the armory only to immediately take a step back into the doorway and into cover as a volley of red laser fire hit right where I had been standing. I glanced over the corner to see a squadron of the Shahak'Tur - that's what she had called them anyway - in person for the very first time. So, they were covered head-to-toe in that black hexagonal scales as armor with red bodysuits beneath. The exception to this was the head, of course, which was all black, had a face plate made of those hexagonal panels, a black visor across the eyes, and then more scales forming the rounded top of the helmet. This top was, however, split by a black crest, pointing straight up at the forehead and then growing shorter all the way down the back of the helmet. This seemed to be a stylized recreation of the lizard theme seen in the scales, and when I caught my first look at an officer, I saw them wearing the same type of armor, merely with a few red icons on the black plated armor, and a more prominent, lizard like crest. The structure of the fin was black with red webbing in between. This not only made it immediately clear who the officers were - to enemies and allies alike - but it also served to inspire fear, reminding the enemies of some sort of terrible beast or dragon. Naturally, I decided to take a shot at him.
I used my left hand to hold the repeating blaster against my chest while using my right hand to blind-fire the blaster pistol around the corner - I figured I would rather risk my hand and have bad aim than have good aim but risk my entire body. I was hitting a couple of them, maybe, forcing others to go into cover, and I was maybe slowly their advance slightly, but...they just kept coming. I was also aware of the fact that them being here means they managed to get out of the hangar - if they've landed elsewhere to bypass the resistance in the inboard hangar, I hadn't heard about it - which didn't bode well for my friends. It also didn't bode well for my chances to get to my friends. I couldn't push through because there were too many of them, and I couldn't stay here or else I was going to get overwhelmed sooner rather than later. I really, really didn't like the idea of abandoning my friends, but if these strange aliens were already here, what are the chances that they're even alive? I know it's a very, very negative thought and it might seem like I'm giving up, but if I try to push against them, I'll die, if I stay here, I'll die sooner rather than late. My only chance is to do what the blue-skinned woman said and flee. I hated the fact that she was right, but I also didn't want to find out whether or not these Shahak'Tur take prisoners.
"Dammit!" I lashed out before retreating into the armory. I slipped inside and then blasted the lock with the repeating blaster, ensuring that the aliens would have to break their way into here. This bought me some time, now I just hoped they didn't realize there were multiple exits. I tapped the emergency exit - created in event of a catastrophic fire or any other sort of incident that might require rapid extraction while making it impossible to get through the main door - and slipped through the narrow doorway into a hallway on the other side of the armory. Here, klaxons were still blaring, and I could hear blaster fire coming from the hangar-side end of this hallway, but there wasn't an active threat right now. Good. This time, I went to the right, rushing towards the clear end of the base, where hopefully I'd find some form of transport and get out of here. I wasn't going to be able to save my friends, the station was being overwhelmed too completely, too quickly...but I could still save myself.
"Not so fast alien." just as soon as I entered the hangar, I heard a voice ring out. I stopped and turned to my right, seeing Director Amstrun stumble into the room. He had a blaster pistol trained at me with one hand and used the other hand to shut the blast door behind him. The metal door shut over a scene of Amstrun's stormtroopers sacrificing themselves in the fight against the Shahak'Tur so their commander could escape. Amstrun leaned against the wall for a moment, catching his breath while continuing to aim his blaster at me, before finally speaking "They'll be here any minute, they're overwhelming the base from multiple sides now. The way I see it, there isn't time to prepare a whole shuttle and get out of here. That right there is the only shuttle ready to launch right now. That right there is the only way someone is going to get out of here. That somebody is going to be me."
"Don't be stupid Director, there is plenty of room in that shuttle, we can both get out of here." I reasoned. I could see for myself that he was right - we didn't have the time or the people to move a shuttle out of a storage bay, fold out the wings, fuel it up, do everything else it takes to get it flight ready, and take off before the Shahak'Tur got to this hangar - and there was only one prepared ship left. Perhaps the blue-skinned woman took the other one, perhaps she went to another hangar and found another way out, or maybe she too was caught by the Shahak'Tur and wound up dead. I didn't know. All I did know was that there was one shuttle and two of us, and he didn't seem to be willing to listen to reason about this. It might be his human bias against my species, it might be Imperial arrogance, it might be both, I wasn't sure what it was and I didn't really think it mattered, what mattered is there was an armed man who wanted to take that shuttle all alone. I was armed too, but he was aiming at me, my guns were in a carry position, I didn't stand a chance of out-drawing him.
"Don't question me you pest, I am an Imperial officer, and I will not - " the Director lashed out, not wanting to argue with me, but then, I felt a powerful presence yet again, while he felt constriction on his throat. Amstrun dropped his blaster, reached for his throat, and then got pulled into the air, lifting up by the blue hand of the all-powerful woman who I spoke to at the beginning of all this. She suffocated the Imperial to death and then tossed him into the wall like a ragdoll, yet another awesome display of her power, but one that filled me with fear when those featureless red eyes turned to me. She didn't harm me before, in fact she gave me the right advice about what to do with this attack, and now she saved me, but seeing that kind of power, I couldn't help but be scared when she turned her attention to me.
"Come on, get on the shuttle. We haven't much time." she said plainly and simply, heading inside and waiting for me. I hesitated for just a moment before following her, deciding that I was less scared of her than I was these aliens. The ramp went up as soon as I was onboard, and we got moving immediately - Amstrun was right about this hangar also being on the verge of getting overwhelmed - jumping to hyperspace as soon as we were clear. I didn't get a clear view of what their fleet over Taaszon looked like, but I couldn't imagine that it looked good. The Empire and the Mining Guild got completely and utterly shredded. A few days ago, I probably would have described the blue-skinned woman as a walking army, just with the powers she could wield, but after seeing that? No, no individual could compare with an army. Whole divisions, an Imperial security force that had me and the other contractors on our toes during our entire time on that station, were liquidated in a matter of minutes when the Shahak'Tur got onboard the station. I imagined the situation was much the same on the surface, on any other Imperial installations outside our restricted zone...the whole planet will be in their hands before long.
I took a look at the shuttle. It was a bulky, boxy Mining Guild shuttle, entirely a case of function over form, but it does have a hyperdrive and a generous load of fuel, so I suppose that makes it more than good enough. The boarding ramp was behind me, having risen up to form the angular rear of the vessel, while the majority of the shuttle was taken up by a passenger compartment. Six seats on either side and a storage compartment above for blaster rifles. I threw my repeating blaster up into one of those for now. At the far end of the passenger compartment, there were an additional two seats on the left, making for a total of fourteen seats, while on the right, there was a storage locker. I walked up to it, opened it, and found it loaded with various items of clothing: Mining Guild jumpsuits like the one I was wearing, jackets, pants, boots, etcetera, etcetera, but nothing particularly useful. I closed the closet and moved on, seeing a quick hallway with engine access on one side and another storage compartment on the other, including the first aid kit. Nothing particularly useful in here either. That left me with nothing to do but enter the cockpit, where the blue-skinned woman sat in the pilot's seat and the co-pilot's seat open for me.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I sat down.
"Talcher-595, a waystation in the distant outer rim. Officially it's in Imperial space, but it's a regular hangout for smugglers and bounty hunters. Nobody is going to notice us there. It's the perfect place for me to disappear and for you to find transport to wherever you're looking to go." she explained, making it clear that we were going to separate. As for the station, I was familiar with Talcher-595. The Talcher route was one of the outermost hyperspace trade routes in the Empire, with connections to Hutt Space, and large stretches which were only nominally under the control of the Empire. This particular station probably has a dozen stormtroopers on it compared to several hundred people going through it at any given time, so yeah, the Imperial presence isn't really there to do much in terms of security or law, instead, they're there to be visible. Serving as a reminder that the Empire is in control and that breaking Imperial laws could lead to a much larger response. It was a mutual understanding: the Imperials knew not to bust any petty smuggling or bounty hunting, while the common criminals knew not to do anything too outrageous that might warrant a more significant Imperial presence arriving here. The fact of the fact is that the Imperial military doctrine was one that they could dispatch a star destroyer pretty much anywhere with ease. The problem the Empire had is with concentrating force - it's rare to see a full fleet of Imperial ships. Even seeing five or six star destroyers with a handful of escort craft was a rare sight, especially when compared to the Clone Wars.
The Republic and its Clone Army had a very particular goal in the Clone Wars: destroy the separatists world by world. The Republic military doctrine required large fleets, it required large armies, and it required massive strategic movements. The Imperial military doctrine, however, is a lot more focused on maintaining control. An Imperial Star Destroyer patrolling one system while three others patrol three other systems is a lot more useful to the Empire than massing four star destroyers in one place. There aren't any enemies that can really stand up to the Empire, therefore, there is no reason for the Empire to mass their forces. Now, the arrival of the Shahak'Tur may change that, because the Empire was woefully unprepared on the space station and, at the time we fled, had failed to rally a response fleet to the planet. This might honestly represent the first time the Empire has been challenged in any meaningful way, and it's going to be fascinating to see how they respond to this. Well, fascinating I say, but the kind of fascinating I would like to experience from a distance: I don't want to encounter the Shahak'Tur again and I wouldn't be comfortable being part of any sort of significant Imperial response. The fact of the matter is that, considering my species and my line of work, I'm not exactly a friend of the Empire, the way that Director Amstrun talked about me before his death illustrates why, but, on the other hand...I don't want to see what the Shahak'Tur would do to me.
"I sense you still have questions." the blue-skinned woman pointed out a few moments later, once my train of thought turned from what happened on Taaszon and towards what was happening right now. I made a questioning face, trying to play it off like I didn't know what she was talking about - the last thing I wanted to do was ask the wrong question to a woman who could easily kill me, probably without even lifting a finger - she was having none of it though "Oh come on, you know you want to ask questions and I know you want to ask questions. Out with it...your mind is so restless I can hardly tune it out."
"Well, can I start with a name?" I asked, still somewhat nervous.
"Za - Schweva." she started saying something, stopped, then changed her mind, saying something else. I take it this meant one of the names was fake, and it was easy to assume the name she fully gave was the fake one, but, on the other hand, given she's been undercover long enough to be proficient in this saboteur type role she played over Taaszon, I suppose it's also possible she reflexively gave a fake name, stopped herself, decided she trusted me, and instead gave the real name. I was far, far too nervous and invested in my survival to press this matter.
"Why did you decide to help me?" I asked, well aware of the fact that she didn't need to warn me about the Shahak'Tur and she definitely didn't need to save me from Director Amstrun when she was already in the shuttle.
"First of all, you stepped in to help me before you even knew anything about me. Second of all, I was well aware of the fact that I had much less control over you than the others I was able to control. You had autonomy, you had the ability to fight against me, and while I am confident, I could have overpowered your mind regardless, you made things far easier by playing along and helping me. Finally, you had the opportunity to reveal me to the Empire and you didn't take it." she explained, reminding me of how the Empire dragged away that Zabrak boy she turned into her other pawn while I did nothing. I felt horrible about that, and I felt even worse about the fact that she seemed to be grateful for me doing this. It wasn't a good thing and it was motivated more by fear than anything positive.
"So, you felt you were returning the favor?" I asked.
"Yes. You helped me, so I decided to help you. All debts will be cleared, and we'll never have to see each other again." she answered, spelling out everything in transactional terms. She did this so she wouldn't have to feel like she owed me anything.
"I didn't realize I was such bad company." I tried joking.
"Well, you'll realize now." she bit back, I was about to recoil a bit, thinking I overstepped a boundary, but I saw the slightest bit of a smirk on her lips and realized it was meant to be more of a sharp barb than a legitimate remark. I relaxed though then, only for her to follow it up with this "Seriously though, the Empire, the Shahak'Tur, me? You're dealing with things far greater than you can possibly imagine. I urge you to get as far away from all this as possible, because involving yourself will inevitably make your life far, far worse. There is a luxury in ignorance, believe me."
"Ignorance about what?" I prodded.
"What did I just say?" she retorted, a bit harsher this time.
"How am I supposed to keep away from it if I don't know what it is?" I pointed out.
"You argue like a petulant child, you know that, right?" she bit back but I just smirked and shrugged. Schweva sighed before explaining "My people and I were living in a planet beyond Imperial space when the Shahak'Tur attacked. We had no idea who they were, we had no idea where they came from, and we had no idea what they had wanted. Now, we had been a bit more prepared than the Imperials on Taaszon were, mainly because we lived in constant fear of a potential invasion, so we fought them. It was a long and brutal campaign. We lost a lot of people, we killed a whole lot of them too, but they were relentless. We had some certain advantages over them, and that held our lines for a time, but they adapted, and eventually, they started slaughtering us. We had no choice but to abandon our planet...again. Five years ago, we had eleven systems, then we were reduced to a single planet. Then we lost that. We had to move again and only now are we starting to rebuild, crushed between the Empire and the Shahak'Tur. Now they're starting to fight each other too. Two horrible civilizations are doing battle over the most distant and desolate parts of the galaxy while we exist in the middle of it just trying to survive. Does that sound like something you would possibly want to be involved in?"
"No." I admitted, not knowing what else to say after that description. Especially because there seemed to be a lot, she wasn't telling me: the planets involved, how they lost those systems, what exactly happened during that terrible war, and where they are now. I could see that she was making an effort to protect me from all of this, but that didn't change the draw I felt towards that. Logically, I know it's a bad situation and I shouldn't be involved in it. Logically, I know I just escaped one fight and should avoid getting involved in any other fights. Logically, I know that if someone as powerful as her feels that way about this fight, I wouldn't stand a chance in it. I know all of this, but still feel myself drawn to it, connected to her. And no, that's not any sort of romantic thing, it's a sort of mental thing. Not to get poetic about it, but it feels like our paths are intertwined, like there is a reason I was the one to recover her destroyed stealth ship.
"Good. Besides, it's not your fight to fight anyway. My family has been embraced in this culture for nearly four thousand years. My family doesn't know any other way of life at this point. Add to that the fact that my lineage carries a power very rare to our species, and there really is nowhere else for me to go. As for you? You don't know us, you don't belong to us, and you have no reason to involve yourself in our struggle." she explained, spelling out the difference between me and her. Once again, she presumed to know my background, but, then again, I didn't know her background. I didn't even know what species she was to be honest, but here she was telling me how she was exceptional even among her species. So, I can infer that, when she says her people, she doesn't mean her species. Furthermore, the power she keeps alluding to but not touching on, that seems central to all of this, and it is what marks her apart.
"This power...it's the Force isn't it, like what the Jedi used?" I asked.
"Yes. It is. Use of the Force makes one a target of the Empire and it seems to be completely alien to the Shahak'Tur. Not once have I encountered a Shahak'Tri Force user and Force users seem to be among their highest priority targets. At this point, with the Jedi being hunted to extinction and everyone else during turned into a pawn of Palpatine, I'm sure many would consider the Force to be nothing more than a curse." she responded, explaining it in such a way that it seemed like a warning. This, combined with some of the other things she's told me, have led to me developing certain suspicions. The way this conversation is going, however, I imagine she wouldn't want to answer those suspicions, and I wasn't quite comfortable enough to push her on a topic she was very purposefully avoiding. I also noted the fact that she didn't include herself among the Jedi, which meant that she had the Force - a Jedi characteristic, as far as I've always known - but wasn't one of them. Admittedly I don't have the understanding of the Jedi that somebody who lived on Coruscant ten years ago might, but as far as I've known, the Jedi did everything in their power to gather up every Force user within their border, sometimes even beyond. Of course it makes sense that there are exceptions, the galaxy is a massive place after all, but I've never encountered an exception before. Then again, with the Jedi gone but the percentage of Force users being born presumably remaining the same, perhaps this will become a commonplace issue.
"So...if the Jedi could control troopers that easily, how were they all defeated?" I eventually asked a different question once I realized there was nothing else to do but talk as the blue, distorted streaks of light in hyperspace filled the viewports of the cockpit.
"Well...there are multiple explanations for that." Schweva sighed, coming to the same conclusion and deciding she had nothing better to do than to entertain my questions "First of all, there is the simple fact that no Force user is invincible. They can only block so many shoots with a lightsaber, they can only run so far, and, if it comes to it, there is only so much a Jedi could do about a thermal detonator or a turbolaser. Second of all, the Jedi were a pacifistic and inhibited order. Almost every single one of them had the raw ability to do everything I've done and more with the Force, but they limited themselves, they lived in constant fear of this imagine scepter of the Dark Side. A whole half of the Force and they treat it like a monster under the bed, pathetic. Anyway, they refused to realize their offensive potential and many, I imagine, were reluctant to attack their own troopers when the orders came down. Which brings us to the final point: Order 66 came down unexpectedly and suddenly. The Jedi were shot in the back by their own loyal troops who betrayed them in the blink of an eye. After the first wave of killing...it struck like a wave in the Force. Even I felt it and I wasn't even admitted to an Academy at this point. Imagine the feeling of every single death getting thrown in your face, pounding through your head, and while you're trying to hold your mind together your troopers unload their blasters into you. Obviously if you lined up the Jedi on one side and the clone battalions on the other side, it would be a different story, but we're not talking about a fair fight here. We're talking about a rapid, organized, simultaneous massacre against a totally unprepared enemy."
"You sound like you know a lot about the Jedi Purge for someone who wasn't there." I pointed out. Even the way she addressed it, as Order 66, offering a deeper insight into the chain of events than the general public knew about. The version of events we were presented was that the Jedi attempted a coup to overthrow the Chancellor and the Senate, scarring the Chancellor in the process, but the Clones were able to stop them and eliminated the Jedi. All Imperial citizens are now encouraged to report any news about the Jedi, even if it's mere rumors, while doing anything to aid them would be met with extreme prejudice, even if the accused didn't realize they were helping a Jedi. It is all rather convenient for the Chancellor - who then decided that, in order to maintain peace and security, his emergency powers were made permanent, and he was proclaimed the first Emperor - but it was the story we had to work with. That did not seem to be the case for Schweva.
"Somebody I know was an eyewitness." she answered, leaving it rather clipped.
"So," I yawned, the last of the adrenaline fading away as exhaustion set in. I spent my way running around a station under a heavy attack, desperately fought against an alien species I'm not even familiar with, and almost got killed by a high-ranking Imperial officer. It's a rather exhausting day, I think "Where are you going to go once we separate?"
"You don't need to know that." she shot down my question.
"Why not?"
"Because it's better that you don't know."
"What is the harm in telling me?" I prodded.
"Shall I write a list?" she shot back "I'm not just protecting you, I'm protecting myself."
"Hmmph," I huffed.
"If you must know, I'm going home." she relented, finally telling me that much. It didn't offer me any useful information, but it still somehow felt comforting knowing that she was going to go back to a place she called home after all this. Satisfied with that information, facing exhaustion, and realizing that we still had plenty of flight left to go, I leaned my chair back and fell asleep, leaving Schweva alone to fly the ship.
It seemed like only a few minutes later I was standing up from the chair. Problem was, it was the chair on the left side of the cockpit. That was the first sign that something was amiss, but the second came when I looked over to the right and saw a dark blue-skinned Togruta with a white pattern on her face and red stripes across her white Lekku and Montrals. I was looking down at myself. So, I was dreaming. That much seemed clear to me, until I felt myself - the me from the dream, not the actual me still sleeping in the co-pilot's chair - move into the other room and open the closet. A pale blue hand reached out and grabbed a yellow and black Mining Guild jacket and then came back into the cockpit, laying it over my sleeping body. I realized then that I was seeing things from Schweva's perspective. So, was this a dream or was this proof of the connection that I had been feeling ever since I first encountered her? I couldn't be sure, not yet anyway, but I was still watching.
Satisfied with my condition, Schweva walked out of the cockpit and, quietly as she could, used two fingers to slide the door closed with the Force. She walked out into the center of the passenger compartment of the shuttle and partially unzipped her jumpsuit. Before my mind could jump to any wild conclusions, I saw her produce an almost flat, disc-like holoprojector she had hidden in her jumpsuit, having laid it flat against her stomach. Schweva put the holoprojector on the ground, zipped herself back up, and then bowed down as the blue hologram of a Nautolan woman in a set of form-fitting black robes appeared.
"My mistress, I bring news from the Taaszon mission." she began.
"Excellent work my apprentice, what do you have to report?" the Nautolan replied, speaking in a posh accent similar to Schweva.
"The situation is worse than we thought. The Empire had a presence in the rings and on the surface. There was a large space station in orbit, including a Mining Guild presence, scanners along the edges of the rings, and three star destroyers in atmosphere. They deliberately mask their presence to make it seem smaller than it is, but they seemed like they would be prepared for an attack. During my sweep of the surface, I found the city very much in ruin, but Imperial scientists were tearing through our technology and trying to research anything they can. I fear the Empire may now have a much deeper understanding of anything we produced prior to the fall of Taaszon." Schweva reported, unknowingly telling me more about the situation that she had when I was awake. So, Taaszon was their lost homeworld after all, and the purpose of Schweva's mission was to do reconnaissance. As for the star destroyers in the atmosphere, I knew nothing about that. Still, it makes me grateful that I never tested the limits of the Mining Guild zone, because if I had accidentally tripped one of those sensors, I might have had three Imperial ships aiming their turbolaser batteries at me. Assuming that my understanding of the Imperial military doctrine still holds true, having a whole three star destroyers present shows how important holding onto this planet was to the Empire. At the same time, the fact that those three star destroyers were there but still failed to make an impact on the Shahak'Tur invasion is even more concerning.
"There is more, isn't there?" the Nautolan asked.
"Yes. Shortly after I returned from the surface, the Shahak'Tur attacked. They just hopped out of hyperspace with no explanation and started shredding through the Imperial defenses. I think the shuttle I commandeered might be the only one that made it out." Schweva added, curiously enough leaving out any mention of me.
"So, even if we had managed to retake Taaszon, it would have just been lost to them." the mistress grimaced.
"I wish things were different, my mistress, but that seems to be the case. We've lost another world to those monsters." Schweva clenched her fists against the ground, angry about this.
"I do too, believe me, everything that has happened to us these past few years weighs heavily on me. Still, we are alive, we are rebuilding, and, while it may not be very visible quite yet, we are winning victories against the Empire more and more with each passing day." the master tried to reassure her apprentice.
"But not the Shahak'Tur?" the apprentice questioned the master.
"No, not yet. That time will come though. We will all have our revenge soon enough. For now, return to New Taaszon, there is still much work to be done." the Nautolan concluded, giving new orders to her young apprentice. The master also name-dropped a place, New Taaszon. It was named after their old planet, so it was easy to assume that New Taaszon would be a planet as well. Still, I hardly knew of a planet called Taaszon, let alone New Taaszon, so I couldn't be sure it was the name of a planet. That being said, it could just as easily mean that the planet is hidden from Imperial star charts, which would fit with Schweva's tendency to be secret. So, New Taaszon, perhaps a planet, perhaps a place on a planet, or perhaps just a codeword for something else entirely. I didn't know, but it was something more than what Schweva was consciously telling me.
"Of course. I will journey there just as soon as I'm sure I've lost the Empire's trail." Schweva responded, finishing the transmission. I could guess that losing the Empire's trail was exactly what she intended to do on Talcher-595. The Empire would eventually notice they've lost contact with Taaszon and would be greatly interested in any shuttles that made it out of there. Especially if they realize that Taaszon fell and that our shuttle was the only one to get out of there. No, it absolutely made sense to get rid of the shuttle and find another ship for her. Someone like me could probably fit in quite well on Talcher-595, considering my species and the business I work in - I might not have friends on Talcher but I probably have friends of friends there - but someone of her rather distinctive species? Probably not. In any case, I watched Schweva get up, hide the holoprojector yet again, and return to the cockpit, the vision or dream or whatever exactly it was fading out as she sat back down in the pilot's seat, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I had been watching all along.
When I woke up some hours later, I saw that Schweva had indeed tucked me under a jacket, seemingly confirming that the vision I had last night had been true. Schweva was, however, not in her seat. I got up and walked into the main compartment to find her putting on a hooded rain poncho and some Mining Guild gloves, taking advantage of the closet to cover up her appearance. The blue-skinned woman glanced over at me before saying.
"We'll be landing on Talcher-595 soon. I advise you to change into something more casual and less obvious. The colored jumpsuit screams Mining Guild. I suppose everything else here does too, but you'll get a lot farther looking like a worker on leave than you will looking like you just walked out of the station." Schweva explained, pointing out that I was still dressed in my uniform. Looking down at myself, I also saw some burn marks, blaster scorching, and all kinds of dirt. It was clear that I've been through a battle and, while Talcher-595 wasn't exactly the type of place that asked questions, it wasn't exactly a good look. No, I really should change, and she was smart to disguise her appearance as well. An unmarked black jumpsuit was almost too nondescript, even for this place. In any case, I changed into a white tank top, black leather pants, black boots, and the yellow and black Mining Guild jacket I had used as a blanket last night. I strapped a holster to my right thigh and placed my blaster pistol in there - this was the type where you wanted to be armed - while I grabbed the heavy repeating blaster in my hand. That I was going to sell, hopefully for around a thousand credits, which should get me a drink, a warm meal, and then transport to wherever I need to go next.
"Alright, I'm ready." I told Schweva. The Force user slid the door open and reentered the passenger compartment of the shuttle for the last time. We shared a glance for a moment and then she lowered the boarding ramp, us walking down into a somewhat grungy looking hangar. I took a subtle look around at the base of the boarding ramp, seeing an active workspace where ships were being broken down, sold for parts, and in a handful of cases, straight up being melted for scrap. It didn't take a genius to tell you that this was Talcher-595's chop shop. An overweight Quarren with some dusty pants, no shirt, and a heavy apron approached us. I looked down on the ground, seeing the floor covered in a thick layer of black dust courtesy of all the cutting tools and such being used here.
"What are you looking to do?" the squid-headed alien asked Schweva, who was taking the lead here.
"I'm looking to sell this shuttle, paid in credits." she responded, effortlessly slipping into a put-on Galactic Basic accent.
"Hmm...30,000 credits." he offered.
"No. 75,000." Schweva responded, narrowing her eyes.
"75,000 credits? It's an entry level shuttle. You're out of your mind." he challenged.
"You heard my price." Schweva held her ground.
"What could possibly make that shuttle worth 75,000 credits? I could get one fresh off the assembly line for just a few thousand more than that." he pointed out.
"This shuttle has high-level Imperial clearances. It can get you into any place where the Empire allows the Mining Guild, a particularly persuasive smuggler might even be able to get it into more places than that. The only reason why I'm willing to take 75,000 credits is because me and my friend are desperate. If you're not going to take it, then I guarantee you I'll find another buyer on this station within an hour." Schweva played her trump card, the fact that, since we got this shuttle from a Mining Guild station in a restricted zone over an Imperial planet, this shuttle can get into those kinds of places.
"Okay, okay, let's not get too hasty. I can get you 70,000 credits right now. Throw in that repeating blaster and I'll throw in another 2,000 credits on a datastick." the Quarren offered, having been convinced. Internally, I was relieved to get rid of the heavy blaster rifle now and not have to lug it around with me, but I didn't want to let it show on my face, because I knew how these deals went: never appear too desperate, never give away what you want before you get it.
"What do you think?" Schweva asked me, implying that she was considering the offer, but she was willing to walk away. Another negotiating tactic.
"I think we can take it, but we could probably get a better one too." I responded, teasing the Quarren with the possibility of a sale, but also making it clear that I, too, was willing to walk away. Schweva looked back at the Quarren, who seemed to involuntarily shiver under the gaze of her featureless red eyes.
"Fine, we'll take it. Just make sure you keep your discretion." she decided, leaving off on a threat.
"Discretion is part of the business. Give me a minute." the Quarren announced before walking off to get us the money. A few moments later, Schweva and I stood outside of the chop shop, each of us possessing 35,000 credits while I had an extra 2,000 credits courtesy of that repeating blaster. I got more than I wanted out of it, but the credits being on a datastick does make them a bit less clandestine than tangible credits. A datastick of credits means you need to transfer data, and that creates a paper trail. I think I'll use those credits on this station, trying to burn them away before I got out of here.
"Well, I'm going to return home. Good luck Zaverra Ashtso, take care of yourself." Schweva told me, the powerful woman showing some genuine affection for me after all this.
"Thanks, you too. Maybe our paths will cross again." I responded, smiling.
"For your sake, I hope they don't." Schweva warned again, my smile falling, causing her to sigh before adding "But it was nice to meet you."
"Thank you." I responded, holding onto the strap of my backpack - containing my credits and a change of clothes, the beginning of a set of supplies I was going to try and assemble before heading out of here. Of course, the question was where I was going to go next, but I'll have to figure that out. The fact of the matter is that I needed to get a new job: 35,000 credits is enough to live off of for a time, sure, but I was expecting a lot more after that Taaszon contract. At the same time, I have a distaste for violence to begin with, and I just got into a significant battle against the Shahak'Tur, which I would rather not repeat. The problem is, in this sphere of bounty hunting and mercenary work, there aren't many options which aren't violent. I needed to do something though.
For the time being, I found a room to rent on Talcher-595 and went to the cantina for now. This was the type of place where everybody wanted to sit in the corner, everybody wanted to have a vantage point on everyone else, while also not allowing anyone else to be behind them, thus, the solution to that was to have a circular arrangement with booths all around. I took a seat in one of those with a bottle of Tetan wine. I poured a glass for myself, raised it for the friends I lost in the skies over Taaszon, and downed the glass on there behalf. I suppose I didn't have proof of their deaths, but come on, I saw what was happening on that station, I saw how quickly we were getting overwhelmed, and I knew that whoever was fighting in the hangar got crushed before I even got there. Absolute best-case scenario, they gave up fighting and tried to surrender, and hopefully the Shahak'Tur do take prisoners after all. The absolute best-case scenario is that they're prisoners of a strange and violent alien race, so not only is death the more likely option, but it almost seems like the better option here. My friends died on Taaszon and all I can do is mourn them. So yeah, goodbye to Captain Graizo and goodbye to Merziza. Gone but not forgotten.
I set the drink down, sighed, and thought about some of the good times we had. Admittedly, it's not like the three of us were some sort of lifelong friends or anything, we didn't even know each other before arriving on the station but knowing them certainly made my time on the station a lot easier. Graizo was a lazy old man at the end of his career, but he had a certain charm in spite of that, he was easy to be around, he was funny, and he had so much experience under his belt that he commanded a certain kind of mistake. As for Merziza, she was masterful with a sniper rifle and probably the best marksman I've ever met. Merziza was also a woman and a lot closer to my age, so I was able to get along with her in ways that I simply couldn't with Graizo. The point I'm trying to make here is that, while I didn't know either of them for very long, they certainly became important to me during that job, and it saddens me to know they died fighting a fight they had no business being involved in. Not even the Imperial stormtroopers on Taaszon deserved to die, because they were just soldiers doing a job; they probably never expected anything to actually happen here. In the blink of an eye, the soldiers went from believing the worse they'll ever need to do is enforce the restricted zone boundaries to fighting a full-scale war against an unknown enemy...even the Empire didn't deserve that. I gave a moment of silence for the lost, then I pulled out my own holoprojector and made a call.
"Zaverra Ashtso...what can I do for you?" the smiling blue hologram of Rog Bhiorsin appeared on the table in front of me. Rog Bhiorsin used to be a bounty hunter in his own right, until he failed, badly, during a job on Zygerria. The green-skinned Twi'lek had his lekku chopped off then and there, only surviving because his crew were able to seal the wounds and install prosthetics. The Twi'lek got out of the active side of the game, now acting as a fixer for the Bounty Hunters' Guild, known all across the illicit corners of the galaxy for his trademark smile, the two cone-shaped metal nubs hanging behind his head where his Lekku should be, and for his insistence on an exorbitant operating fee. Now, grumbling aside, in my experience I've found his fees to be justified, considering he does always manage to find me good work, even when I do make it hard for him with the parameters I set. At the same time though, that doesn't change the fact that I know he's trying to rip me off at any turn, enriching himself at every turn, while being sure to pay me the bare minimum it would take to make sure I keep using his services. I respond to that by changing what the minimum is depending on the job, how desperate I am, and what my mood is. At the moment, I want something easy, short, but high paying, which is one: a high bar to begin with, two: an ambitious ask considering that I might as well be in a situation where I'll take what I can get.
"The Taaszon job went bust at the eleventh hour. I'm going to need something to fill that gap and I'm going to need the pay day to come as soon as possible, what can you do for me?" nevertheless, I gave it an honest try, spelling out my demands. Now, if I was willing to endanger my life in the pursuit of violent criminals, I might have a chance at an easy payday, conversely, if I was willing to do some real wet work for a group like the Exchange or the Hutts, I could get a lot of credits without very much waiting at all. I knew this, and I have killed before, but I didn't like it. I always preferred a clean job, and I always preferred a quiet job. That's why the Taaszon job seemed so perfect for me, for Merziza, for Graizo, and for a lot of other people in our position, but we all saw how that ended. Now, being the sole survivor from our group - as far as I knew, anyway - I had to try and find another job like that, as unlikely as it may seem. The fact of the matter is, when the Shahak'Tur attacked, I was only a week or so from receiving a 100,000 credit plus pay day from the Mining Guild. Obviously that opportunity is gone, but I don't quite yet know the true cost of that loss.
"Well, fortunately for you, I do have some jobs in mark for you. First of all, there is some dust up on Alderaan involving a property dispute. Two of the noble houses are feuding over the same piece of land and they're massing as many forces as they can. Both of them are threatening war but I doubt anything is going to happen, neither the Empire nor the ruling houses of Alderaan are going to allow that. All you'd need to do is go there and look menacing for a little while." Bhiorsin presented the first job, a standard type of security deal, one that I imagine he's offering to numerous clients and dispersing them across both sides, playing the whole conflict for profit. Bhiorsin's more immoral tendencies aside, I do agree that actual conflict is unlikely. The noble houses of Alderaan are not what they once were: there was a time when the noble houses all had their private armies and would wage war for the control of the planet, now though, they're little more than a prestigious name with a hereditary fortune. The noble families can't afford these massive standing armies of their own, but when they want to flex their muscles, they can afford to raise some mercenaries to their cause. This seems to be one of those cases, and history has shown that every time one of these disputes has happened in the modern era, either the ruling house of Alderaan or the Republic has stepped in to prevent bloodshed. Presumably the Empire will be interested in doing the same thing, for the sake of maintaining order if nothing else.
"Alternatively, a group of scavengers want to tear through the wreckage from the Clone Wars on Mygeeto. This operation is technically illegal, so they want security and they're willing to pay a cut of all profits for that security, but at the same time, scavengers hit Mygeeto and the other war-torn worlds all the time. The Empire generally turns a blind eye unless it's time to make an example, so you should be fine. Are you interested in either of these?" Bhiorsin asked, offering me two potential jobs, but jobs that should be safe unless something really unexpected happens. At the same time, Alderaan is in the galactic core and Mygeeto became an important world for the separatists, so now it has been incorporated into the Republic, despite its presence in the Outer Rim.
"Do you have anything outside of the Empire? I'd rather keep a low profile for the moment." I requested.
"No...but I can figure something out. Give me some time." Rog responded, ending the call. I sighed, I figured the best thing to do at this point was to finish my drink, head to the room I was renting, and go to sleep for a few hours. Hopefully by the time I wake up, Bhiorsin will be back at me with some information and I'll know where to go when I leave this station. That was the plan anyway, but then things got weird when I saw two stormtroopers enter the bar - on a space station with this few Imperials, that was a bad sign - then they talked to the bartender for a few moments before turning to me. Very bad sign. The two stormtroopers approached my booth from either side while a third Imperial, this one an officer wearing the standard gray uniform without a cap, but with a cape and a bandolier. A human male with blue eyes and spiked back gray hair approached my booth.
"Zaverra Ashtso, Contract #88191796 of the Mining Guild Taaszon station. You're supposed to be dead." he addressed me immediately, standing there with his hands crossed behind his back.
"Who?" I asked, trying to play it off like it wasn't me.
"Don't play me for a fool Ashtso, I am Grand Moff Velessius Kordoth of the New Territories. Director Amstrun reported directly to me, I had facial scans, fingerprints, and biometric data on every single individual that stepped on that station. I knew exactly who you were as soon as the cameras on this station saw your face. So, you are going to come with me, you are going to tell me exactly what happened, and you will not lie to me again. Are we clear?" the Imperial officer spelled out his demands, making clear what exactly the stakes are now. I was completely and utterly in over my depth. The Imperials got here in the blink of an eye and they knew exactly what they were looking for: I could only hope that Schweva made it out.
"...I understand." I spelled out, following the officer out of the station, his stormtroopers flanking me on either side, taking me to their shuttle. I had no idea where they were going to take me, but I knew it wasn't good.
As tradition, a cliffhanger.
