Slee's Ship Journal #1

*…ip…*

*…er*

*…st*

*rep…*

*THUMP*

…

Repeat, ship recorder test… ah, there it is. My name is Slenahn Rhuna, and this personal ship’s log is a record of my journeys. For the security of me and my compatriots, the remainder of this recording will be encrypted using a key known only to my family.

« Encrypted message 081076 begins »
Caslisse, if you’re hearing this then either I’ve finally managed to find you and am using this log to explain the things I’ve done to do get to you, or I’m dead and by some unlikely turn of events you’ve managed to get hold of this recording. Either way, I wanted to make sure some kind of message was left behind, as I’m not confident that I’ll be around after today and I don’t hold much faith that anyone else near me will be either – nor that if they are, that they’d be likely to continue the search for you. Assuming you want to be found anymore – but that’s another question I can’t speak to right now.

So where to start? Too much has happened up to this point to go over it all now; I only have a short time before our plans need to be put into place. Suffice it to say that we’ve caught the attention of some pretty bad types, the chief of which is Kaltho the Hutt – and he’s not going to let us out of his shadow unless he’s… taken care of first. And I can’t keep searching for you with that shadow hanging over me, so I’m going to have to do some more things I’m not proud of.

Right, “we”… I guess I should run that down quick. I’ve fallen in with an odd group: AD-87, a bodyguard droid (former bodyguard, presumably, as his previous owner recently mysteriously disappeared during our last job) who keeps me busy with weapon repairs and upgrades (oh to be back at home working on engines instead!); a Chadra-Fan named Keva who seems drawn to trouble – especially if it can be found by slicing (which he is admittedly highly skilled at); and Jinx, a Gank who I never expected to pop up again. He was on the same medical transport with dad & me when… well, you know. Anyhow, he seems even more mercurial than most Gank, so that leaves me as somehow being the voice of reason in our group. Hardly what I was looking for – I much preferred when our former associate Kai was around. He was more at ease being the face and voice of the group, but I’m learning to do what I have to.

In any case: the plan. In case it doesn’t work out, here’s a quick outline so you might understand our desperation and what might have done me in. Keva & Jinx are going to pose as bounty hunters and present AD-87 to Kaltho; Kaltho should be eager enough to get AD-87 that he’ll want them on his ship immediately. In the meantime, I’ll be flying a commandeered supply ship that’ll dock with Kaltho’s ship, so that the others have a way out when the fire is lit. I’m bringing some newfound acquaintances (who have as much reason to dislike Kaltho as the rest of us) to pose as crew, in case we need backup – not that I’m sure they’ll be of much use if we do. Still, use what you have. At some point Keva will slip away and reprogram Kaltho's astronav computer so that the next time his ship jumps (hopefully in ill-fated pursuit of us), it’ll end up in the middle of a sun instead.

I know. I told you I’m not proud, but this Hutt has already attempted genocide against an entire planet, and without him out of the way who knows what’ll be next? And how can I continue my search with a monster like that breathing down our necks? What must be done must be done, and I’ll just have to live with it.

It’s time to head out now, the ship we’re commandeering is about t[zzzztt….]
« Internal error – corruption detected, recording 081076 halted »

« Encrypted transmission 081077 begins »
We survived?! And the specter of Kaltho should be taken care of now, more or less… though with more loss than I’d wanted. Things started to go south pretty much as soon as we started, during the ship commandeering. First lesson: don’t put Jinx in a situation where he has to deceive someone. Not, mind you, that any of the rest of us are much better, though this whole situation has, I think, taught me a little bit about creating a smoother lie. Anyhow, first contact with the ship’s crew went haywire, and we ended up fighting our way to the cockpit, where the first unwanted loss came. AD-87 had to do what he does best to the pilot in order to prevent an alert from being radioed to Kaltho’s yacht. True, the pilot did work for Kaltho… but I’ve been in the “take any job you can” situation too, and in another life it could have been me slumped in that seat with my brains splattered on the transparisteel.

Things seemed to be going better after that – AD-87 (and a very convincing-looking fake restraining bolt), Keva, and Jinx had no problem getting onboard Kaltho’s ship under their bounty hunter/captive guises. While they were making contact, I flew the ramshackle transport and docked with yacht under the pretense of delivering specialty food. I wonder how many times gluttony has been the downfall of a Hutt? Anyhow, I and my crew of mechanics-posing-as-delivery-people started unloading the ship – after making sure said ship was ready to leave at a moment’s notice, of course.

It seemed a bit quiet at the delivery dock – if it was like this throughout the ship, it wouldn’t be a problem for Keva to sneak out and reprogram the navcomp at all!

“It’s a trap!”

So much for that… whatever was going on, clearly Kaltho saw through our ruse and now I and a bunch of mechanics were supposed to become some kind of elite special ops rescue party. Or at least, as it turned out, a mildly competent and fairly lucky rescue party.

Where first?! I knew the general area of the computer room on the ship, so we slipped through the galley as if in a hurry to deliver the goods and be gone (only a small deception there). There was only one guard in the computer room, and the others with me quickly formed up and distracted him, pretending to be lost while shielding my sabotage from his sight.

Or, rather, my sabotage attempt. The stress made me lose my cool a bit (so much for the fabled Sluissi calm) and I couldn’t reprogram the ship for a power outage… so I went to plan B and ripped out as many cables as I could grab just as the distraction fizzled and the guard began to comm for help. As the ship went dark and silent, I could faintly hear the boomingly obscene laughter of the Hutt being cut off in surprise.

If I’d been with the rest of the normal group, at that point we probably would have stood our ground and “taken care of” the guard. Of course, if I was with them, I wouldn’t have been in the situation I was in in the first place, so… a hasty slither away it was. I’d like to say it was distaste of leaving another body, but since if all went well everyone onboard would be dead soon anyhow, I guess it was simple survival instinct that caused me to hiss retreat orders to my compatriots.

Or, rather (sense a theme here?) attempted retreat. In our haste we didn’t think to check what might be on the other side of the galley door as we burst through on the way back to the ship – only to end up face-to-face with the dim outline of a heavily-armed bounty hunter. I thought I could distract him by flaring up my fusion lantern – then the aforementioned luck kicked in and it turned out he’d been wearing night-vision goggles and fell to the ground writhing in pain… as the beam illuminated a group of battle droids closing in.

“Run!” Not that I had to tell the others twice… and then disaster struck. An blaster shot rang out, and one of my… well, friends, because who else helps out like they were?… fell. We didn’t even have a chance to grab his body to bring with us, lest we all join him. Swearing under my breath that he wouldn’t have fallen for nothing, I urged the others on past & through another group of battle droids, and then locked down the door behind us to buy some time.

“Slee, I snuck out – I need coordinates for the navcomp!” urgently whispered Keva over the comms. Maybe we still had a chance at pulling this off! I waved the rest of the group on to the ship, to make sure it was still ready to fly, and slithered quickly into the room with the navcomp.

Bat-like shadows flickered as Keva hunched over the computer, now somehow powered up independent of the rest of the ship (never doubt a Chadra-Fan’s ingenuity!). He beckoned me over excitedly – “Quick, it’s already overridden, enter the new navigation data!” No need to tell me twice, I wanted in & out of there as quickly as possible, before more guards came or the power came back up, letting security see what we were up to. A quick run through the navcomp’s systems later, the deed was done – thank goodness for all those times Caslisse & I had to make quick adjustments while exploring new hyperspace lanes!

Keva & I were done not a moment too soon; right after we exited the room, the ship’s systems sprang back to life, making it easy to see the chaos Ad-87 and Jinx had created. The doors to the room they’d apparently been in were dented and mangled, and one was even on fire! Much as the mechanic in me wanted a closer look at the damage, I knew our time was running out (if not already up), so I followed the others back towards the ship.

“What if security did pick up on what Keva & I did?” raced through my mind as I started up the boarding ramp, causing me to quickly toss one of my improvised detonite bombs out onto the delivery dock as a distraction and backup. I’d barely made the throw and gotten to the top of the ramp when I heard 87 punch the engines, lurching us away from Kaltho's yacht. Not that we were free yet… I could tell 87 was having trouble keeping the ship both in line to the jump point and away from the guns of the hornet’s nest that Kaltho’s fleet had become. Stumbling into the copilot’s seat as a barrage hit the rickety transport, I engaged the hyperdrive just as we hit the jump point.

We’d made it! Now the bigger question one… had Kaltho followed, and had he made it? A few short jumps later we came back out of hyperspace not far from where we’d left, and Kaltho was nowhere to be seen – success (I hope)! The rest of his fleet was now in full retreat under a barrage from the planet’s guns – otherwise our ship would have been a sitting duck (we hadn’t quite planned all the way through – remember that “luck” bit I mentioned earlier?) A few moments later we were on the ground, surrounded by the grateful inhabitants.

It feels great to have been able to save a planet and, in a way, strike a small blow against the Empire (did I mention this planet is apparently an outpost for a fledgling rebellion movement?)… so long as I don’t linger on the cost. But what alternative was there? Yes, our small group might have had options… but this planet wasn’t so lucky it seemed. It’s hard for a rebellion to thrive under the ever-present threat of a watchful Hutt – especially one that’s already shown the capacity to poison thousands.

And so much for our attempts to keep our heads down and profile low! Hopefully we’ve at least thrown some of the bigger players off our trail now, and have fallen in with the right people for once. More importantly – people who might have some news of you. That is my priority now, and it’s time to get searching again.
« Encrypted transmission 081077 ends »