Getting the Gang back Together, Storming the Wheel, The Downfall of the Mighty

Chapter III | Episode I | 12/27/2016

A ragged-looking figure approaches the glowing lights of a building in Coruscant, the glowing light reflecting off the beads of sweat dripping down his face. The figure breathes in slow, composed intervals. He pauses for a moment, observing the hundreds of imperial troops canvasing the nearby streets. The danger is everywhere, and yet, no one cares about him, or even notices him. He uncovers his head and walks into the building labeled “The Good Trader.”.

On the planet Brentaal IV, a Chiss and his newly polished R5 unit sit in a darkened underground bunker. Various images flash across the holoterminals as the Chiss’s fingers fly across various input devices. An image of The Wheel pops up on a display along with the image of a large Chevin, as Rath continues to open other items of information, linking articles and pieces of information. The droid chirps with excitement as the information continues to appear.

“We did it R5. It’s time to deal with Garalug and get rid of this annoyance for good. And then move on to much more pressing matters…”

Draven sits quietly in the main control room of Garalug, the Chevin crime lord. The tough-skinned Chevin barks orders to various bounty hunters and syndicate cronies as Draven watches on. He’s been here for two years, and everything is finally coming to a head. Today is the day that they take the wheel. All the systems are in place — every piece of surveillance and every door system had been overrode silently, just as Garalug had ordered. In just a few short hours, the assault would begin. That’s when Draven could make his move. He would take the droid and escape.

The droid IT-3P0 contained the information about Draven’s creators. His only contact he had ever known had pointed him to cloud city to find information. He was told seek out the man named Grayson. Once there, Grayson, the crooked imperial agent selling his gem in an illegal auction, had divulged to Draven that the droid would contain everything he needed to know about his past. Once on the wheel, however, Draven found that the droid belonged to none other than the crime lord Garalug himself.

Draven did everything he could to purchase or trade for the droid, but Garalug knew a desperate soul when he saw one, and would only negotiate with Draven if he would help him ‘take back the wheel.’ After years of long hard work, that day had come. Draven knew that the Chevin would not honor his commitment and now schemed to escape during the chaos of the war on the Wheel — droid in tow.

Now, looking out over the hoards of expendable Aqualish thugs the crime lord had hired, Draven knew his window to escape would be short. Everything he had done over the past years had built up to this moment. Draven looked up as the Chevin barked out the order, “….Now let’s take this station!”

“I’m sure we can work something out, General!” replies Captain Twil.

“Oh, we will.” replied General Tessala, a hardened officer of the Imperial army. “Or at least for the sake of your business, we will.”

Twil looked back to Idozzi, who shrugged her shoulders with a look on her face. “Listen…” continued the Zeltron. “Tessala, the good trader has been nothing but friendly and cooperative to the empire in the way of taxes and paying you any money you’ve asked…even paying those funds above and beyond what was required. I assure you we want nothing more than to cooperate. But what you’re asking me to do is nothing short of treason! I can’t resell Empire goods under illicit means. That’s where The Good Trader has to draw the line.”

Tessala looked at the Zeltron with a harsh gaze before continuing, “Oh, don’t worry captain, nothing here is illegal. Merely, jumping through some hoops. You’ll find a way.” With that statement, she nodded to her entourage of troopers and left the office of The Good Trader, passing by a robed Zanroy on her way out…

As Twil and Idozzi talk over the complications of having an Imperial agent threaten to shut down their business if they don’t break Imperial law by stealing from the Empire, The Good Trader’s receptionist notifies the two that a visitor has come asking specifically for them by name.

Walking out to the front waiting area, Twil immediately jumped in surprise as he recognized a shaggy Zanroy. “You’re alive!” Twil and Idozzi shout in unison, as they run to embrace Zanroy.

The standoffish Zanroy seems taken aback, but excited to see his old friends. Without hesitating, he starts off with , “I need your help”. Twil and Idozzi are startled by the immediate request, but quickly invite him inside to a nearby conference room.

Pushing some of his signed books off the table, Twil begins to ask Zanroy about where he’s been and what he’s been doing. Before they get very far, a holo communication comes in on the holotable of the conference room. Twil doesn’t recognize the request, but answers anyway. The recognizable face of Rath fills the air above the table.

After getting past the realization that the entire group has nearly reunited within the inexplicable time span of a few minutes, pleasantries and excitement are exchanged.

Rath, as startled to see Zanroy as anyone else mentions that despite his best efforts, he was unable to find Zanroy over the past two years.

Dodging the question, Zanroy simply says, “I wasn’t anywhere you would be able to find me…”

Leaving the statement at that, Rath continued, “Well, I don’t know why ‘the gang is back together’ but I could use all of your help.”

Twil lights up at the thought of getting out on a wild adventure again. “Anything, buddy, how can we help?”

“I have to take care of a problem. I’ve been plagued by the existence of a Chevin named Garalug. He has made my life harder than it needs to be, and he needs to be dealt with. I’ve finally tracked him down to a station here on the outer-rim. It’s called, ‘The Wheel.’” Rath explained, “My contact tells me there’s about to be a large amount of instability on the Wheel, and now is my time to sneak in and get rid of him.”

Twil, Idozzi and Zanroy contemplate the request but don’t need a lot of detail to be convinced that their friend needed help. Twil starts transferring tasks to Aklee and Gretta and various contractors while he plans to be away. As he gives his information to the office administrator, she responds to him by saying, “Captain, we haven’t had contact with Aklee since she arrived at the Wheel. She’s behind schedule.”

The realization that Aklee is stuck on the same station as where this ‘instability’ is about to occur terrifies everyone that knows Aklee. She’s part of the team and deserves help. Twil instantly says, “Why are we waiting? lets get to the Wheel!”.

Idozzi chimes in, “The Wheel… that has the rebel pieces that they needed on Hoth. This is one of their most valuable shipments for that cannon. We cannot lose that cargo either!”

Without much more discussion, Twil shouts to Rath on the way out, “We’ll be there to pick you up as fast as possible.”

Blasting through the atmosphere of Brentaal IV, the planet where Rath had set up his underground base, the Sovereign nearly pancakes the field of solar panels layering the ground. Twil’s attempt at getting the crew in close and as quickly as he could almost results in disaster. In a quick reverse engine thrust, Twil hits the engines at full speed to slow the ship before impact on the snowy, barren fields. The ship’s thruster engages at full power, arcing the ship up gracefully before it lands.

As the ship settles into a makeshift landing pad next to the Chiss’s base, the damage to the fields of solar panels becomes evident — the powerful engine of the YT-2400 has scorched a major portion of the electrical system.

Rath, emerging from his lair observes the destruction of his electrical supply, and shakes his head. “Twil, you idiot.” He muttered under his breath, “Come on R5,let’s get going.”

As the two leave from the secret ground level entrance to his base, the doors closed quickly, followed by walls of “mountain” covering it up in perfect camouflage, once more.

As he boarded the Sovereign, he headed directly to the cockpit, “You’re paying for that.” He scolded Twil, pointing at the destroyed solar panels.

“Yeah, yeah.” Twil replied with a wave of his hand. He then turned to face the two new arrivals, “Whoa! Is that R5?!” He exclaimed, “What did you do to him?”

“I gave him a new paint job.” Rath replied, “Along with a few more… upgrades.”

Twil gave Rath a curious look, and said to R5, “Well, lookin’ good buddy!”

R5 beeped with pride, in response.

“Alright, the crew’s back together!” Twil yelled out, “Everyone buckle up! next stop, the Wheel!”

Not wasting another second, Twil launched the Sovereign out of the atmosphere of Brentaal IV, and hit hyperspace as quickly as possible.

Even through hyperspace, it would take a little time for the Sovereign to reach the space station. So, Twil took this opportunity to get the crew reacquainted with each other. Catching up on the past two years.

Twil took pride in describing his exploits. His start up shipping and trading company, the Good Trader had managed to get off the ground and was now doing lucrative business with the Empire, the Rebels, and pretty much everyone in between.

Aside from that, he had started a clothing line with the Cloud City Lutrillian, Solomahal. And he had published three best selling books.

Idozzi, of course, worked with Twil at the Good Trader, making sure everything ran smoothly.

Rath remained quiet, not surprising anyone. But Twil knew the truth. Through the Cloud City heist money and Chiss technological know how, Rath had built up a secret fortress underneath one of Brentaal IV’s icy mountains. From there, he used his unique talents to become one of the galaxy’s most powerful information brokers. Twil figured Rath could give even Anatta, the Toydarian, a run for his money.

“And what about you, Zanroy?” Twil asked, turning his attention to the human, “You said you needed our help?”

Zanroy was quiet for some time, as if having an argument with himself inside his head. “Do you guys remember Elaiza?”

Rath raised an eyebrow at the question, “The old woman?”

“Yeah.” Zanroy replied, taking a deep breath before continuing, “Well, she was more than just an old woman.”

The three just stared at Zanroy in response.

“She’s a Jedi.”

“What?!” Rath yelled out in shock.

“A Jedi?” Twil asked, confused, “You mean, like, one of those people that thought they could use magic? I thought those were just fairy tales.”

“Yeah.” Zanroy replied again, unsure of how to continue, “They’re real. And the power they wield, the Force. That’s real too.”

“What does this have to do with you?” Rath asked, feeling uneasy.

Zanroy let out a sigh, and held up his hand. Pointing towards a cup on the nearby table, he seemed to be struggling internally.

As the three watched on, they saw the cup begin to visibly shake, before being lifted off the table. It floated in the air, and slowly yet steadily, made its way into Zanroy’s grasping hand.

Rath stood and took a step back, after witnessing such an impossible feat.

Twil on the other hand, exclaimed, “Wow! That’s awesome! So, you’re a Jedi?!”

“Not really.” Zanroy began.

“He’s Force sensitive. He has the potential for their power.” Rath cut in, “I’d heard tales of the Jedi, and the Sith, and people like you. I scarcely believed them though. Clearly I was wrong to dismiss them. But wait, Elaiza. You said she’s a Jedi? I thought they were all killed.”

“Apparently she escaped.” Zanroy replied, “She was on Cloud City for the Jewel of Yavin. I guess it can be used to power her lightsaber. That’s why she was at the auction. She needed a new crystal.”

“And your connection to her?” Rath inquired.

“It was during the heist. She stole the jewel. I followed her, and tried to get it back. I got on her ship. She took me to some backwater, primitive planet. She taught me only the smallest amount of the Jedi’s teachings, how to use this power, and then she ditched me there. It took me years to get back to civilization. I want to find her. I have a lot of questions for her. And only she can answer them for me.”

Before anyone else could say more, the ships alarms pinged, notifying the crew that they were reaching their destination.

“Well, we’re here.” Rath announced.

Twil and Rath then quickly headed to the cockpit. “Ota said that he sent a scout ahead, to let us know what the situation was.” Twil said.

Scanning the vast blackness of space before them, the two were easily able to spot the massive space station known as the Wheel, before them. It looked completely shut down. No lights. No incoming or outgoing traffic. Nothing.

“Hmm. Looks like my contact inside was right.” Rath mused, “He commed me in a panic, saying that Garalug had taken over, apparently his men were slaughtering indiscriminately, and all power was being shut off.”

Just then, the ships comms lit up, indicating an incoming call. Twil answered it immediately.

“Captain Twil, this is Green 6, Rebel A-Wing” The voice announced.

“Ah! You must be the scout Ota mentioned.” Twil replied.

“Yes sir.” Green 6 answered, “I’ve been watching the Wheel for a good long time now. It looks dead. But it’s defense turrets are still very much operational. You’ll need to do some fancy flying to get in there.”

“How good a pilot are you?” Twil asked.

The Rebel pilot chuckled in response, “The Rebellion only let the best fly in one of these beauties.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Twil yelled out. “Okay, here’s the plan. You fly around, draw their fire, and we’ll go straight for the docking bays.”

“I’m good Captain Twil, but not a miracle worker. You’ll have fifteen, maybe thirty seconds of distraction, before the turrets change targets.”

“That’ll be more than enough time.” Twil said, with a devilish smile on his face.

Rath let out a sigh, before buckling himself into the nearest chair.

“Get ready for a wild ride!” Twil announced over the comms.

As the A-Wing darted for the space station, Twil fired up the ship’s thrusters, pushing the power as far as it would go. He let out a yell of excitement, as the Sovereign cut through space. Deftly dodging rogue blaster bolts left and right, Twil made it into the docking bay. The only problem was, he was going way too fast.

With a horribly loud screech, the Sovereign crashed onto the docking bay floor, sliding along the durasteel, sparks flying every which way. At least half a dozen Aqualish guards were crushed in the process, never knowing what hit them. The ship was finally forced to a halt as it collided with the back wall, causing it to partially cave in.

“Captain?!” A voice suddenly cut in over the ship’s comms.

“Aklee?!” Twil replied, recognizing the voice immediately, “Where are you?! Are you hurt?!”

“Look up.” Aklee replied.

As Twil and Rath both looked upwards, they could see the purple pearl, docked across from them, just a few meters away. In the cockpit, they could see Aklee, slightly more pale than usual, waving to them, somewhat halfheartedly.

“Hey! It’s good to see you!” Twil said over the comm, waving back.

“Captain, the Pearl is locked down. I cant move it.”

Twil and Rath both clearly saw the docking clamp, keeping the Purple Pearl grounded. “Rath can you-”

“Easily.” Rath replied, cutting Twil off mid sentence.

“And those turrets-”

“Already on it.” Rath replied, tapping the side of his implant.

“Awesome. Aklee, we’ll get you out of here as soon as possible.” twil said, over the comm, “You got the shipment right?”

“Of course, Captain.” Aklee responded, “Coordinates for Hoth are all set. I just need to get this thing flying.”

“Uh, Twil.” Rath cut in, “Is that who I think it is?” He said, pointing down to a humanoid figure who had just run into the docking bay, with a shocked look on his face.

“Draven?!” Twil exclaimed.

The four had exited the ship, upon seeing the lost companion. And while Rath and R5 were busy unlocking the Purple Pearl’s docking clamps, the others were catching up with the mysterious Draven.

“Draven, what are you doing here?” Twil asked, still shocked.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Draven replied, “Alright. So, I explained to you that I lost my memory, right? Well, that Grayson guy said there was a droid here that had answers. But, the droid belongs to this crime lord, Garalug.”

The conversation was interrupted suddenly by a thunderous roar. Looking back through the doorway he had used, Draven spotted a small army of Aqualish goons, all in the employ of Garalug. “We’ve got company.” He stated.

Knowing Rath needed more time, Twil lunged for the door’s locks, activating them, slamming the door shut. Moments later, the crew could hear multiple thuds as the Aqualish army pounded against the securely locked door.

“So, anyway.” Draven continued, as if nothing had happened, “Garalug wouldn’t let me have the droid. He forced me to work for him. And I’ve been working for him for the past two years. Waiting for this very moment. I knew he would attack the Wheel. And in the chaos, I was going to steal the droid from under his nose, and get out of here.”

Draven was interrupted once again, by the roar of an engine, as the Purple Pearl had been released from its confines, and was now taking off. As the Pearl flew out of the docking bay, Rath approached the group. “Well Draven, you’re in luck. I’m here to kill that Chevin bastard once and for all.” The Chiss announced.

“Well, let me see if I can get the droid first. Then, you can do whatever you want.” Draven replied.

Just then yet another noise interrupted the group. The five looked towards the door to see multiple saw-like blades cutting through the thick durasteel door.

“Anyone got a plan for dealing with them, first?” Zanroy asked, pulling out his blaster.

“Yeah, actually, I do.” Twil said with a smirk.

Approaching the door slowly, Twil pulled out a small, spherical thermal detonator from his pack. He hit the door’s lock, causing the doors to fly open once more. This not only shocked the Aqualish thugs, but even threw the ones wielding bandsaws into the walls, due to the force of the doors opening, and due to the fact that their saws were stuck in the doors. In an instant, Twil activated the thermal detonator, locked the doors shut once more, and dove for cover. The others followed suit, as the explosion caused the doors to fly outwards.

Once the dust had settled, the five got back to their feet, to see that the entire pack of Aqualish thugs had been reduced to a gloppy pile of blood and viscera.

Revolted by the sight and smell, the crew pushed through the gory mess, following Draven’s lead, to reach Garalug.

The Wheel, normally a place packed with all sorts of species from all walks of life, was eerily quiet and dark. The five made their way towards the main control room, where Garalug had set up his base of operations, with no resistance.

As they arrived, they split up. Twil, Idozzi, and Zanroy would enter in through a ventilation shaft on the left, while Draven would enter in through the front doors, under the guise of still working for the Chevin. Rath, meanwhile, would stealth in, following Draven.

Rath knew their plans would be pointless, but it would be good to have backup, if his own plan didn’t work.

As the two entered, it took all Rath had to restrain himself. There, in the center of the room, sitting on a throne made from blater rifles and other weaponry, was Garalug. The Chevin who had screwed him over, putting a bounty on his head, causing him years of head aches. Freedom was in Rath’s grasp. He knew it. He just had to let the next few minutes play out.

“Draven, what are you doing here?” Garalug asked in a booming voice.

“I’ve done as you’ve asked.” Draven began. “You have the Wheel. Let me have the droid.”

“Sure.” Garalug replied.

Just then a door in the back opened, revealing a glistening white protocol droid. It was a stark contrast to its surroundings. As it made it’s way to Draven, he asked, “Wait, really? You’re really letting me have it?”

“Why not?” Garalug said with a shrug, “It’s as you said, you’ve done as I asked.”

Draven began to approach the white protocol droid, but suddenly, half its body was blasted to pieces.

Shocked Draven looked to Garalug to see him holding a very large blaster. “Did you really think I would let you have it so easily?” garalug asked with a laugh, “I owe you nothing!”

Having seen enough, Rath made his move. Completely undetected, due to his trusty stealth tech, Rath approached the Chevin. Activating the thermal detonator that Twil had given him, he placed it at the Chevin’s feet.

Backing away, towards the door, he deactivated his stealth tech. With just enough time for Garalug to see him. Before the crime lord could react, however, the detonator exploded. Utterly destroying the Chevin, leaving nothing behind but charred bits of flesh.

“Consider my debt paid.” Rath said to the smoking crater. He then turned to Draven, “Grab the droid. R5 and I may be able to salvage some data from it.”

As they reconvened with the others, lugging the half destroyed protocol droid, the group heard a familiar roar. They turned to see a colossal army of Aqualish, all, strangely enough, brandishing bandsaws, yelling out what could only be aqualish war cries.

“Run.” Twil ordered.

The five picked up the pace, running as fast as they could while still carrying the broken droid.

Knowing they wouldn’t make it at this pace, Zanroy and Twil began lobbing even more thermal detonators behind them. Soon, the army of bandsaw wielding Aqualish were destroyed, much like every other enemy the group had encountered on the Wheel.

Safely back on the ship. Rath waited until they were free of the Wheel, and well outside of it’s remaining turrets’ range, before getting to the broken droid.

Draven and Twil anxiously looked on as Rath and R5 attempted to salvage any info from the mostly destroyed scrap. Finally Rath stands, unplugging the datapad that he had connected into the droid. “This is all I could get.” He said with a sigh, handing the datapad over to Draven and Twil.

They both anxiously read the datapad’s following message:

“ — — -BEGIN DATA DECRYPTION — —

Αḋḋіtіоոаⅼ

սոіtѕ аⅴаіⅼаḃⅼе սроո rеԛսеѕt οf

сοⅿⅿаոḋіոģ

οffісеr

рⅼаոеtаrу Ǒrе Êхtrасtоr — Веаⅿ Ťесḣոоⅼоģіѕt

Ꮲrіⅿаrу tаѕk: Տаⅼⅴаǵе ⅴаⅼսаḃⅼе іոfоrⅿаtіоո/ⅿаtеrіаⅼѕ frοⅿ ĎЅ-1 tеrrоrіѕt аttасk.

Ṗrіⅿаrу

tаѕk: Šаⅼⅴаģе ⅴаⅼսаḃⅼе іոfоrⅿаtіοո

Νоtе: Áḋḋіtіоոаⅼ սոіtѕ аⅴаіⅼаḃⅼе սроո rеԛսеѕt оf соⅿⅿаոḋіոǵ οffісеr Ваrrіѕ

Ꮯrеḋеոtіаⅼѕ: Ꮲrојесt

Аսrа,

ІŠΒ, Îⅿреrіаⅼ Ρⅼаոеtаrу Ôrе Ӗхtrасtоr — Веаⅿ Тесḣոοⅼоǵіѕt

Ρrіⅿаrу

tаѕk: Řесοⅴеr Ꮶуḃеr ѕресіⅿеոѕ

Ѕսḃ-tаѕk1: Ѐⅼіⅿіոаtе rеⅿаіոіոģ rеḃеⅼⅼіоո

fіǵḣtеrѕ

Ѕսḃ-tаѕk1: Êⅼіⅿіոаtе

rеⅿаіոіոģ rеḃеⅼⅼіοո

fіǵḣtеrѕ

Տսḃ-tаѕk1: Еⅼіⅿіոаtе rеⅿаіոіոǵ rеḃеⅼⅼіоո fіģḣtеrѕ

— — -END DATA DECRYPTION — — ”