...and then The Last Jedi happened.
...yeah.
So, in the time since, I've finally gotten to where I'm comfortable with writing this again, so I'm aiming to finish it up. Because I came to the conclusion that my love and appreciation for Star Wars should be far greater than my hatred of the idiots trying to destroy it.
...yes, I have managed to find a way to be both enlightened and vindictive about this.
In this particular instance, I'm going back over the already published thirteen chapters (which will still be available on this blog for those who wish to read them/laugh at my incompetence) and cleaning them up, editing for grammatical errors and the like, and working on making them better! Then I'll get to Chapter Fourteen onward! Hopefully, with it looking as though it wasn't written over the course of a month by an insane, gibbering man on a caffeine binge, maybe people will like it.
And Disney won't attempt to sue me.
...I hope.
Anyway, without further adieu...
MINOS MAYHEM
It is a time of great upheaval in the galaxy. With the defeat of the dreaded GALACTIC EMPIRE and the destruction of their insidious doomsday weapon - the DEATH STAR - one year ago, support for the heroic REBEL ALLIANCE is on the rise. While they do not do so openly, many Imperial Governors vie to secure control over their territories. With the Empire off-balance, several criminal organizations have put the chaos to use in order to further their own agendas.
Such as it is in the MINOS CLUSTER, the last semblance of civilized Imperial life at the every edge of the galaxy and the outermost part of the OUTER RIM. The High Admiral MALTUS AYRO, having assumed the post as the Governor of the Cluster, seeks to use this to his advantage as he seeks a weapon of great power that will surely see his rule unquestioned.
At the edge of the Cluster, a deal is to be made. The GAUNTLET, a criminal organization of great power and influence, has sent a representative to take possession of a shipment of mining equipment. Their leader, TIN DAHEEL, possesses an ulterior motive. The cargo ship carries onboard it a man about to die, a man about to lose everything, and another who has run from everything he had. It is as this ship comes into the ONADAX SYSTEM that great change begins for the Minos Cluster...
Calen woke to the sound of buzzing. Someone was paging him over the comm systems. His mind was still plagued by the nightmares he had had, though they were about something other than the towering spires of his home and that image of that world being blown apart for a change. Even so, as he rose, there was an unpleasant sensation settling in the pit of his stomach. He groaned as he finally managed to sit up, his hand blindly slapping the wall a few times before he managed to hit the 'accept' key on the comm.
"Calen. We are about to hit the system. Please come to the bridge." The bland monotone of the RX droid crackled through the speaker grill at him.
"I'll be right up, Red." Calen ran a hand down his face, pushed aside the covers of his cot (calling the stiff slab of cloth and stuffing a "bed" implied a level of comfort it was incapable of providing), and rose to get his pants, sliding them up his legs as Red droned on.
"Expeditious movement would be appreciated."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be up in three." Calen said, buckling his pants and pressing the key on the comm pad to close the channel. He spent a minute or two rooting around for the cleanest smelling shirt he could find (the machines had been on the fritz again, Captain had said they'd take care of it after they got paid for this job) and slipped into it and his boots, making the walk out of his quarters.
The Triumphant Dawn was a good old ship. A modded version of the old Consular-class, the cruiser had seen more than her fair share of wear and tear over the years. As Calen walked through one of its corridors, he had to admire it. She was an old thing, to be sure, but she'd still always flown true in the year that Calen had been a member of her crew. A crew less than the usual at only six compared to the usual nine, but they more than made do with what they had. The place had really become his home away from home, for better and for worse.
One of those bits of familiarity that came as he got up to the bridge, the hatch to it opening with a low hiss and immediately hearing the voice of the navigation droid - RX-494 or 'Red' as he'd been nicknamed.
"Very nice of you to arrive." Red intoned. "I was beginning to worry I'd be melted down before you showed up. You organics have a very strange idea as to how long three minutes is."
"Good morning to you, too, Red." Calen ran a hand through his hair as he approached, taking the pilot's seat and giving the controls a once over. "And I said 'three'. I didn't specify three what, now did I?"
"Implications were drawn regardless of your lack of specificity." Red chirped in response. "Regardless, we are about to exit hyperspace. Powering down sublight engines in three...two...one." The Dawn lurched as the blurring light of hyperspace gave way to real space once more, the Dawn once more joining the physical universe. As the blue-white tunnel of light dissipated around them, Calen caught sight of the gray-green planet they were entering into orbit of. "Approaching Onadax."
"Terrific." Calen said, looking down at it through the viewport as they settled into orbit.
"I have already taken the liberty of projecting a descent pattern." Red said.
"Fantastic." Calen said, pressing a few keys and grabbing a hold of the control yoke. "I'm taking her in manually." The young man could not help but grin as he heard Red's electronic sigh. However, the droid had long since stopped trying to dissuade him. With Calen at the controls, the Triumphant Dawn descended into Onadax's atmosphere. Instead of going for the spaceport, however, the coordinates had them heading out a fair distance into what the scanners were picking up as a acrid, desert-like area. Just as the planet itself had looked from space, as the ship descended through the canopy of clouds, Calen could see that most of the land resembled that marble. Much of the land was gray, some green throughout. More colors as they moved closer to the surface.
Calen moved the Dawn through the twisty mess of steppes and arches, as well as a few sinkholes that he had to maneuver around. The proximity alarm blared a half dozen times, but Calen never once came close to damaging the ship. He kept the ship true until he reached their coordinates, putting the ship down on a wind-swept mesa.
"I believe one of your fellow organics might have called you reckless just there." Red intoned as the landing gear was securely deployed.
"If the ship was a little smaller, I could have really opened her up." Calen said as he did checks over the systems, just to make sure everything was above board.
"Do you want me to calculate the likelihood that you could have irretrievably damaged the ship?" Red asked.
"I don't, actually, no." Calen said.
"There's only a thirteen point six nine repeating chance of a permanent demise for myself in the event of a catastrophic crash." Red told him. "Organics have a much lesser likelihood of survival."
"I did just say not to tell me. Didn't I?"
"As I recall, you said you didn't want me to calculate the likelihood of the ship being irretrievably damaged. And I didn't."
"Now you're just-"
"Because I already had."
"Oh, now you're just being unfair. Besides, it was fun!"
"Fairness has little to do with it." The droid told him. "And your definition of 'fun' is highly subjective at best."
"For once, I'd have to agree with you, Red." Calen's ears perked up at the sound of the Captain, Caius Montgomery, speaking. In the discussion with Red, he hadn't caught the sound of the hatch opening up to let the man in.
"Captain on the bridge." Calen said, standing as the Captain entered. Caius Montogomery was an older human, probably in the back half of his forties if not into his fifties by Calen's guess. His skin was pale, his face was scarred, and his head was covered in a mop of black hair that was fading into gray. It also looked as though he'd never had it groomed in any way ever. His face that wasn't covered by hair was criss-crossed with scars. His narrow, green eyes were looking upon Calen strangely.
"Paid gig, kid." The Captain said, and Calen slumped slightly. Yet another old habit that was dying hard. "The day I'm that formal about this, I'm hanging up my blaster."
"Sorry, Captain."
"Keep your sorry to yourself. I could use a status report." Caius said.
"Ship's ship shape, nothing seems to be on the fritz as far as primary systems go." The young pilot reported. "Sensors aren't picking up anything out here, though. Some wildlife, but that's about it."
"To be expected, really. They picked this place out." Caius said. When he caught Calen's confused look. "Power move. Tin Daheel wants to make us wait."
"Do you think there's something to worry about?" Calen asked.
"Statistically speaking, there's always something to worry about." Red cut in. "At least for you organics."
"I shouldn't think so, no." The captain shook his head, apparently ignoring the droid. "The Gauntlet is ruthless, but if you're fair in the deal, they're fair. Usually."
"I hope you're right, Captain." Calen said, glancing out at the skyline across from them. It was a beautiful bit of rocky desert...and for some reason it made Calen uneasy. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Just some jitters, kid. You'll work through it." Caius clapped him on the shoulder. "You're dismissed. Get a shower, maybe something to eat. I expect we'll have a few hours to wait, at least."
"Yes, sir." Calen said, leaving the pilot's chair to Caius as he headed from the bridge and started the walk down to his quarters once again. On the way, he saw two of the other crew members - Burke and Santo - heading down toward the cargo bay. They were the newest, having replaced the two who had been a part of the crew before Calen had joined: Burke a human, Santo a Duro. Neither of them were particularly chatty, but Calen knew that would come with time.
With minor greetings shared, Calen headed back to his room, getting a quick shower and redressing in something slightly less dirtied, slipping into his brown jacket as well. The night cycle was coming on, and the wilderness of Onadax was not known to be a particularly wonderful place to those unprepared for the cold. With any luck, though, they wouldn't be there for too long. This time, rather than taking the path back up to the bridge as he left his quarters, Calen took the opposite path, then another turn led up down into the cargo bay.
It was a broad area, holding several crates of various sizes. The largest of them were held in place by magnetic clamps for transport. Standing among them, reading through the illuminated screen of the inventory terminal, was Ordos. Caius' first mate, Ordos was of a darker complexion than the captain, more tanned. He also had a bald head, completely shaven as such, in complete contrast to Caius' unruly, overgrown clocks. Furthering the comparison, Ordos didn't have a scratch on him as opposed to the marks across Caius' face.
And he was clad in body armor. Body armor that had clearly seen a bit of action, seeing as there was plenty of carbon-scoring along its form.
"Good. You're armed." The man did not look back as he addressed Calen, something that always unnerved Calen somewhat. Ordos had exceptionally good hearing.
"Uh...yeah, I'm armed. Why?" Calen asked, his hand resting along the grip of the blaster pistol hanging in its holster at his waistline.
"Just in case." Ordos said, turning to look upon the younger man. His eyes were a warm black, though it seemed as though they were from a face that was smiling...and that smile never seemed to reach Ordos' lips. "Why, are you expecting trouble?"
"Are you?" Calen asked.
"When I can help it, you bet." Ordos said humorlessly, heading over and inspecting one of the crates. "Sure you know how to handle that?"
"I know my way around a blaster, yes." Calen nodded. He had been glad that he hadn't actually had to be in a firefight since he'd joined the Dawn's crew and hoped that that trend would continue.
"Good. I wasn't sure if they were still teaching basic combat training to pilots at the Academy." Ordos said. Calen felt his heart immediately drop into the pit of his stomach. The man had said it so casually, without so much as a rise or lowering of tone, as though they were discussing the weather or some new holovid that had come out of the production houses of the Core.
"...what did you just say?" Calen choked out.
"Let's get a move on, people!" Caius called out, entering from the way that Calen had come. Burke and Santo, too, were joining, getting into position. They were clad in armor, much like Ordos was. Calen looked back to see that Ordos had gone off, retrieving a blaster rifle from a containment unit on the wall and apparently paying him no further mind. "Calen! Hustle!"
"S-Sorry, Captain." Calen stammered out, heading over to join Caius at the controls for the off-ramp.
"Pull yourself together, kid. You look like you've been spooked." Caius said, tapping a few keys and the ramp lowering, the exposure to the atmosphere sending heated air rushing in from outside. Once stabilized, Caius handed Calen a gas mask. "Gonna have a dust storm popping up. Don't need you choking to death while I'm trying to negotiate." Calen nodded, slipping it on.
"Changed your mind about trouble?" Calen asked.
"Not just yet." Caius said. "But Tin Daheel sent a message our way, he'll be landing his ships within moments."
"Ships?" Calen asked, but got his answer as they stepped out from the ship and onto the rocky land. Up above, two ships were descending a few meters off. One of them was a cargo vessel, nearly as big as the Dawn, if not a little bigger. The other looked far smaller and sleeker...likely a personal freighter or something of the like. Bigger than a fighter, but smaller than a proper cruiser.
It was from that smaller ship that a humanoid figure emerged, flanked by five other humanoid figures. The first two were Gammorean, Calen recognized them by the pig-like snouts and bruttish demeanor. They were armed with electropikes and looked all too ready to use them. The other three were of a race that Calen did not immediately recognize, they looked human save for their sunken eyes and heavily wrinkled heads. They carried blasters. The one they flanked, however, outdid them all.
The clear leader of the bunch, he was a Twi'lek. He stood in purple robes accented heavily in a gold and black. His hand languidly moved along the twin tentacles jutting from the back of his skull, and he looked at both the humans with beady eyes and a most unsettling, toothy grin splitting his face. Calen tried his best not to look disturbed.
"Let me do the talking." Caius whispered a brief aside to Calen before leaning ahead and projecting his voice. "Tin Daheel! Good to see you!"
"<Don't act so friendly now, Caius.>" The Twi'lek sounded almost bored, Calen able to follow his Huttese easily enough. "<You certainly can't imagine I've forgotten what happened on Skor?>"
"Oh, that? A misunderstanding!" Caius was laughing. "How was I to know that the Hutts had swapped out those crates of blasters for useless scrap?"
"<The Hutts. Right.>" It was clear that Tin Daheel believed not at all in that. "<But it will not be held against you by my...new employer. Quite the contrary, in fact.>"
"New employer? Does that mean-?"
"<I am surprised the news hasn't reached you yet. Sher Tog has passed on. Natural causes.>"
"Natural causes?" Calen caught the questioning tone from Caius. Apparently it was now the captain's turn to be skeptical.
"<A blaster bolt to the back of the skull does naturally end one's life, does it now?>" Tin Daheel's grin widened, fully showing off his jagged rows of sharp, pointy teeth. Calen could feel his skin crawl. Caius, on the other hand, was laughing again.
"Well, that's a damned shame." Caius said. "Even so, if your new employer wants his cargo, then he'll have it." He gestured back to the Dawn. "Forty tons of mining equipment for forty thousand credits. As per our agreement."
"<Yes, we scanned your ship upon landing. It seems you are telling the truth. For once.>" Tin Daheel raised a hand, pressing his thumb and middle finger together. "<My droids shall handle the transfer.>" He snapped his fingers of that hand, and the cargo ship that had descended opened up. From its own cargo hold, four droids made for the purpose of hauling said cargo emerged.
The process took a half hour, but soon the largest of the cargo crates in the Dawn's hold were removed and brought over to Daheel's cargo vessel. The silence was palpable as, eventually, even Caius stopped trying to make small talk to pass the time. When the last of the cargo was loaded, the droids retreated back into the ship and it sealed up once again, lifting off.
"There we go. Nice and easy." Caius said.
"<Very good. Our business is concluded. Good day to you.>" Daheel said, turning back toward his personal ship with his entourage.
"Wait a minute, what about our payment?" Caius asked, eyes boring holes into the back of the Twi'lek's head. "Forty thousand. That was the agreement."
"<My employer has chosen to alter the deal."> Daheel said, turning around again to face him. "<But he did wish for me to impart a message to you.>"
"What?! A message? This is outrageous! Is this how the Gauntlet does it's business deals? What message?!" Caius asked. His answer came, quick as a flash, as Tin Daheel pulled a blaster from the folds of his purple robes, took aim, and fired.
"NO!" Calen had been half a second too slow to push him out of the way, Caius taking the full hit to the abdomen. The older man crumbled toward the ground, Calen catching him and guiding him down.
"Remember the Grand." The Twi'lek slipped into perfect Basic as he turned to his entourage. "Kill them and take the ship." Calen had enough presence of mind to roll out of the way as a pair of blaster bolts whizzed past his head. Unfortunately, he stumbled in the draw of his blaster as he rolled behind the cover of a rock, it falling from his holster and just out of his reach. An attempt to grab it earning him nearly being singed by a blaster shot for his trouble.
"ORDOS! WE GOT COMPANY!" Calen yelled at the top of his lungs. More blaster fire joined the fray. Ordos, Burke, and Santo were charging in with blasters firing wild. Calen managed to catch a glimpse of the fallen captain, the purple robed figure of the Twi'lek heading over to him, reaching down toward his chest. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Calen rolled forward, managing to grab his blaster, firing a shot as he rose into a crouched position, the blast hitting the Twi'lek's hand dead on.
Tin Daheel swore as he reeled back in pain, clutching his hand. Calen took another shot, this one missing, as he retreated back from the fallen body of Captain Caius. The young human took the advantage, scooting up next to him and dragging him toward cover.
"I've got you, Captain. Just hang on."
"The G...The Grand...The Grand!" Caius sputtered out. Calen didn't have to be medically trained to know delirium when he saw it. Pulling Caius behind a rock, Calen took a shot at one of the blaster wielding guards, knocking him to the ground. With a gap in the assault, he could move and he reached down to slip one of Caius' arms over his shoulder to do just that. Carrying the Captain along, with only a few meters separating them from the relative safety of the Dawn's cargo hold.
"Just hang on, Captain!"
"The Grand!" With the last reserves of his strength, Caius grabbed at his own shirt collar, tearing from around his neck a chain that he smacked into Calen's side several times before Calen finally felt it slip into one of the pockets of his pants. "F-Find...it! Tell Maddox...tell him, I'm...sor-" Caius fell limp against him, Calen forcing the reality that the Captain was dead out of his mind as he tried to get to the ship. At the on-ramp of the Dawn, however, Calen found himself forced to drop the body as he gasped out in pain...something was stabbing at his side.
His body burned as electricity tore through it, both his blaster and Caius' body falling to the durasteel with a loud thunk. Calen collapsed to his knees as the source of his pain was pulled away, his flesh screaming. A kick to his back sent him falling onto his front. Barely able to recover in time, Calen saw the sneering face of one of the Gamorreans looking down at him. In its hands was an electro-pike, usually a weapon for restraint and captured, having been modified heavily.
The weapon stabbed into him again, this time into his stomach as he howled. Once more, the electricity ate at his flesh and the blade pierced his skin. A deep gash was left behind as the pig-headed being pulled the weapon away, preparing for a killing blow. The creature's tongue moved along its teeth as though it were preparing to gobble up a tasty morsel.
In that moment, Calen knew that death was upon him. If he did not act, he would share Caius' fate. He reached out for something, anything that might help him...and in a moment, it seemed to come to him. He didn't fully understand what had happened, but his hand was suddenly grasping the cold hilt of his blaster pistol. The thought did not even enter his mind as to how it had gotten there, it was there and there was only one thing to do. His finger squeezed the trigger, popping off a shot that seared into the Gamorrean's torso.
The creature looked utterly shocked at this, gasping out its last as the electro-pike fell from its hands. Calen squeezed the trigger again for good measure. Calen saw the Gamorrean's body collapse back onto the ramp, sliding down toward the rocky land. His elation at surviving that encounter matched only by his newfound strength as he managed to scoop up Caius' body. A burst of adrenaline letting him get them up into the cargo hold, hoping against hope that he wasn't too late.
Calen slapped his hand against the comm speaker. "Red! Boot up the medical droid! Cargo bay! Now!" The fighting was continuing outside, Calen could still hear the blasters...and he could hear something making its way up the ramp. He turned, blaster up to shoot whatever came up...and found Ordos coming up the way looking wild-eyed. The man ran over to the control panel, retracting the ramp and sealing the cargo hold.
"Wait, where are Burke and Santo?" Calen asked.
"Dead." Ordos said. "We need to get out of here. Now." The man moved in a hurry, heading over to the pair of them. "Can you get to the med bay on your own?"
"I...I think. I called Red...boot up the the medical droid." Calen stammered through, his adrenaline fading off and his wounds starting to take hold.
"Too slow. Get there. I'll be there in a minute." Ordos said, his eyes very purposefully not looking to the slumped form of Caius.
"But what about-"
Ordos smacked the comm system box as well. "Red! Get us out of here and to hyperspace. Do it now!" He yelled, not waiting for an answer. He turned, moving over to Calen and getting Caius' body from him. "Go, now!" He said, moving toward the bridge without another word. Calen did not wait to hear from the man again, arm around his midsection as he moved down the corridor, booted feet clattering against the metal flooring.
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