Chapter 15 The Fixer and Chasing Shondra
An absolutely gorgeous day in Elroodan!
Andromeda was feeling almost as if she were on vacation.
The incident on Alluuvia was almost too easy—of course she didn’t say
anything then; she was afraid to jinx it. Yes,
this black-ops thing was going to work out just fine.
She was in a rare good mood and nothing was going to bring her down!
She was even all smiles as she went into Gwynn’s
Dispatch. Gwynn barely acknowledged
her presence and seemed to all the more crusty and sour the more she smiled.
He wordlessly set a data disk down on the counter.
“Lookin’ for Shondra? Well,
she ain’t been by. She sent this,
though. I just hope she hasn’t
gone and gotten herself into trouble again,” he pushed the disk toward Tolian,
who took it.
“What makes you think she’s in trouble?” Andromeda’s smile came
down a notch. “You think it’s
bad?”
“Two guys came in here earlier asking after her and they didn’t know
any of the code phrases, so naturally, I became somewhat concerned.
I’m sure that disk will say she’s just fine,” Gwynn said.
The last comment was more for him to make himself feel better.
Tolian stepped off to the side away from the counter and any customers
and Zaron handed over his data pad so the disk could be played.
A hologram of Shondra appeared, dressed in spacers’ clothing and began
to speak:
“Whoever intercepts this message, please deliver it to Gwynn’s
Dispatch, a shipping business in Elrooden, on Elrood.
Tell the man that this message is from Shondra.
“Gwynn, I must get this message to my old trading partners.
You know where they’re from. Don’t
give this message to anyone else!” The
message ended abruptly. A few
seconds later, the screen reactivated to display a different message:
“It’s been a long time since we
smuggled the goods. I can’t wait
until we get back.”
A cursor sat blinking, waiting for a password.
The smile had now left Andromeda’s face completely.
If there’s a password involved, it’s serious.
Tolian seemed to pause, hand poised over the datapad.
“Don’t you know the password?” Luse asked quietly.
“It has escaped me momentarily,” Tolian’s brow furrowed.
“We’re her old trading partners from…” Andromeda prompted.
“Ah, yes. Of course,” he
typed in ‘Keyorin’ and waited. Everyone
seemed to hold his or her breath until the new screen came up.
This time, it was a hologram of Shondra dressed in an orange Rebel flight
suit, sitting in the cockpit of her Y-wing with a look of deep concentration
etched on her face. Through the
viewports, several explosions could be seen.
It was clear to everyone that she was in the middle of a firefight of
some kind.
“Imperial shipping is taking a real beating out here!
This group of pirates have become a real powerful force in this sector
and they just roasted another Imperial mining shipment.
They heard about me and want to meet to discuss terms of truce and mutual
assistance. I don’t trust pirates,
but they do make powerful allies. They
want me to meet with them on Korad. I’m
putting down there. Meet me there as
soon as you can!
“What follows is the frequency for my Y-wing’s homing beacon.
If you broadcast a message on the frequency, you’ll activate my beacon
and you can home in on me.
“If I’m not there, I’ll leave you a message.
Use my decryption program. My
R2 unit will know where I went.
“
“You know what those numbers are for?” Maharet asked.
“Sure. One’s for the
homing beacon and the other is her decryption key.
Looks like we’ll have to step on it and hurry on over to Korad,”
Zaron said as he deactivated the pad and removed the disk.
“Korad? Let’s try to
avoid His High Exalted Ruler, shall we?” Andromeda moaned.
“Mental note to self—don’t take boots along!” Zaron muttered more
to himself.
"I’d just like to take a moment to mention that my day has been
completely shot,” Andromeda said to no one in particular.
It took nearly a day to get to Korad, and thankfully, Slythor’s goons
were nowhere to be found. Zaron was
trying to plug in the code to Shondra’s homing beacon but wasn’t getting it
to work. Luse was sitting closest to
him and couldn’t take it after nearly ten minutes of four different people
trying to get it to work.
“Are we having mental breakdowns or something?
I might as well try it. Gimme
that code!” Luse jumped in and took the datapad from Zaron.
“So let’s see. All you
have to do is type in this code here and—well what do you know!
It really does work after all! If
you take a look on those scanners, Shondra’s ship is right down there!”
He sat down again in a huff and didn’t look at anyone.
Andromeda did what she did best and took the Moon
Shadow down for a landing close to the Y-wing.
When they had disembarked and reached the fighter, it was in the process
of being picked apart by scavengers, who were so into what they were doing, they
didn’t even notice Gorr and Luse walking up, and when they were finally aware,
they sure scared off easily! Upon
further inspection the droid was still in its droid socket, but it was clear
that the scavengers had tried to take it out.
The metal around the socket was pried up in places, and when that failed,
it looked as if they tried to cut their way in, and when that failed, it looked
as if they tried to pry the droid out by nearly taking its head off.
The poor droid's head remained attached by only two strong cables that
ran to the rest of his body. Luse
tried to remove the droid next, but had no luck and nearly removed the droid’s
head altogether as he lost his grip.
“Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me,” Zaron sighed.
“Looks like I’ll have to fix the droid first and then access the
message. Looks like I’ll be
a while.”
Kosh and Gorr had
returned to the ship to keep an eye on the sensors to see if Slythor’s goons
were out and about. Andromeda and
Tolian stayed nearby to keep an eye on Zaron in case the scavengers returned,
wanting to claim the ship any further. Maharet
was sneaking around, scoping out the place.
She nearly startled Luse when she suddenly came beside him and was
whispering in his ear.
“Those scavengers are still close.
As a matter of fact, there’s a small group of about eight spying on us
from nearby,” she said.
“Spying on us? Where?
I don’t go for being spied on! Where
they at?” Luse suddenly became agitated and angry.
Maharet gave him the general direction, and off he rushed before anyone
could stop him. He managed to knock
two of them senseless before the remaining six gave him one heck of a beating
and knocked him out cold. No one
stepped in on his defense, and the scavengers left him alone and went on their
way. Maharet brought him back to the
ship to sleep it off while Zaron spent the next hour on the droid, trying to
activate it.
When the droid finally did come to life, it began chirping and warbling
in an excited greeting. Zaron knew
what he was doing with the code this time as he plugged in Shondra’s
decryption code.
“Hey! I’ve got it!
Get the others out of the ship so they can hear this,” he called out.
Kosh and Gorr came out with a groggy-looking Luse in tow and Zaron began
to read:
“Reached agreement with pirates. They’re
going after Imperial shipping. That
gives new Rebel Cells a chance to start operations.
“Must leave Korad now. As
Solo would say, I’ve got some old friends looking for me.
I think they’re ISB. They
already got a couple of the pirates.
“Going to Merisee. I need
to find a garden to think. Look out
for Imperials.”
There seemed to be a long pause before Maharet spoke up.
“Is that it?”
“I would have read more if there was,” Zaron replied.
“There’s just technical stuff after that, and that’s the
coordinates for Merisee out of the nav computer".
“To Marisee!” Luse cheered.
“Um, I don’t really mean to alarm anyone, but I think I hear engines.
Can we go now?” Gorr began to back away nervously and was headed back
to the Moon Shadow.
“I don’t hear any engines. Besides.
I was hoping to mess with this droid for a little longer,” Zaron
protested.
“I hear it, too. What if
it’s Slythor? Maybe this time,
he’ll want your lab coat! Let’s
go!” Andromeda was already half running to the ship and wasted no time in
firing it up once she got there.
“There’s a ship on the sensors, but I can’t make out what exactly
it is,” Maharet said when she reached her station and began tweaking the
controls. “It doesn’t appear to
be after us—wait! Its bottom hatch
is opening up and—oh, my gosh! Someone’s
fallen out! It’s human!”
“Lieutenant, it is a life, and we must save him,” Kosh said with a
kind of finality that didn’t invite debate.
Andromeda was already on the move.
“Alright! Kosh, you catch
him from the top hatch, the rest of you hang on!”
And the Moon Shadow sped up to
meet the falling unfortunate. Andromeda
had the ship in a dive to match the person’s speed and Kosh pulled him in to
safety. Once he was in, she was
putting all of her concentration on pulling the ship out of the steep dive.
“Way to go, Kosh! That ship
isn’t very happy with us right now. I’ve
got the shields up and look out!” Maharet gave the command.
“One day, the humanitarian in him is going to get us all killed!”
“Hey! Don’t talk about
the Jedi like that!” Gorr snapped from his seat.
“If anything, we should try to be more like him!”
Maharet growled a low growl as if in warning, but didn’t push the
challenge.
Andromeda could be heard crowing in delight from the cockpit as it really
didn’t take much to chase that other ship out of there—only a shot or two,
and the Moon Shadow came away without
a scratch.
Meanwhile, as Kosh was closing the top hatch, the saved newcomer was
gaining his feet. He was a short,
pudgy human, dressed in the remains of what looked like a very fine suit of
clothes at one time. He instantly
turned to Kosh as soon as he had his breath and was shaking his hand quite
vigorously.
“Oh, Captain! I cannot
possibly thank you enough for saving my life.
So unexpected and from out of nowhere, too!
How fortunate that you had come along just then!
Thank you, thank you!”
“I am not the Captain, I’m Kosh, and a simple ‘thanks’ will
suffice, sir. You’re welcome.
I just so happen to not like witnessing anything die,” Kosh managed to
wriggle his hand free. His long
fingers felt flattened and suddenly, it seemed like all the feeling was suddenly
just in that arm.
“And who are you, my good man?” Kosh asked once he had regained his
composure.
“Oh! My manners!
Where is my head—do forgive! The
name’s Mikos. Mikos Argdran.
I’m an information broker. My
card,” he smoothly handed it over to Kosh, who looked at the card for a
moment.
“Mikos
Argdran
A
Friendly Merchant to the Stars
Buy,
Sell, Trade
Specialty
goods welcome!”
“Is everything alright, back here?” Maharet called.
Mikos was startled out of his wits to see a dark shadow with red eyes
coming toward him. He nearly dropped
the big, floppy hat he was holding and was suddenly clutching it tightly.
“Yes,” Kosh responded. “This
is Maharet. Maharet, meet Mikos.”
“My card,” he said meekly as he extended it.
“Mikos Argdran at your service. You
must be the Captain? How can I ever
thank you for saving my life?” His
confidence seemed to have returned and was now pumping her arm.
“Your welcome and it was his idea.
Who was it that threw you off that ship?” Maharet asked, managing to
release his grip.
“Oh, that. Well, that.
That was just a very unsatisfied and not to mention uncouth client,” he
dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “I
simply didn’t have what he wanted, so he threw me out of the airlock!
The nerve! But don’t you
worry about that. Just how can Mikos
repay you all for saving my life?” He
had followed Maharet out and happened upon Luse next, where the same handshake,
profuse thanks and the giving of his card happened yet again.
Luse either didn’t know how to react, or chose not to.
He just acted somewhat overwhelmed and went back to his station.
Gorr looked intimidating enough not to be messed with, so Mikos only
handed him his card along with his thanks.
When he had reached Zaron, Mikos had pumped his poor arm profusely.
Zaron was sure that it was going to fall off by the time he was done.
“Your welcome, I think, and no, I’m not the Captain,” he mumbled as
he cradled his arm almost protectively as if to keep Mikos from pumping it
again.
“Ah, silly me! The Cockpit,
of course!” Mikos pushed his way forward.
Andromeda had just gotten the Moon
Shadow stable again and Tolian was bent over the Nav Computer, trying to
calculate the Merisee coordinates to catch up with Shondra.
“Ah, Captain! So we finally
meet! I’m Mikos Argdran at your
service. That was the best piece of
flying I’ve ever seen—up close, that is.
How can I ever thank you?” he was shaking Tolian’s hand now.
“Your welcome. For
starters, I’m Tolian. You can
thank Llellandra here for that fancy piece of flying,” he said not hiding his
pride.
“A female pilot? Please!
If only every woman knew how to drive or fly as well as you!” Mikos
gushed. “My card.
If there’s anything I can do for you, pretty lady, just ask!”
Andromeda took the card and only smiled in return as she threw Tolian a
glance and sat down again at the helm.
“So what brings you aboard our ship besides Kosh, here?” Tolian asked
as he took his seat again.
“An extremely unhappy customer,” Mikos brushed the question away
again as he made himself comfortable in the nearest seat.
“Forgive my saying so, but you folks don’t strike me as the typical
scavenger. You just don’t look
like the type of people who go prowling around a filthy, rust-covered dumping
ground like Korad—of course, then again, neither do I seem to be that type of
person, do I? Strange how fate can
bring people together, isn’t it?” He
leaned toward Andromeda, who pretended to be completely concentrated on flying.
He didn’t notice that her knuckles were white from gripping the
controls so hard. She glanced over
at him and raised her brows as if to say “Fate, huh?”, but either he
didn’t catch it or he ignored it as he continued on.
“You all appear as if you are looking for something unique, something
special…something that not even the wastes of Korad cannot offer!
You know, I just so happen to have many many contacts throughout the
entire Elrood System! I know many,
many different beings in all sorts of places.
High and low, if you get my drift? You
need financial information? Starting
a business? Making a fortune?
Personal information? You’re
looking for someone, yes? Tell Mikos
how I can help! It’s the least I
can do, since you all saved my life and everything!”
Andromeda glanced over at Tolian a little nervously.
“Yes, we were looking for a friend of ours,” Maharet said.
Andromeda looked up at her with a warning glint in her eye that told
Maharet to be careful. Maharet could
tell that Andromeda didn’t really like this character much at all.
“A friend, is it? The only
person I’ve seen down there was a woman. Pretty
thing. Looked very out of place down there in her orange flight suit.
She seemed to be looking for someone, herself,” Mikos leaned back in
his chair, pretty happy with himself, since he caught the look in Andromeda’s
face, indicating that yes, he was right.
“You wouldn’t happen to know what had happened to her?” Maharet
pressed.
“Actually, I just might. She
seemed to be in a pretty big hurry, and she booked a passage to Merisee with a
real good friend of mine, a freighter captain called Andrick.
I know where they went,” he paused.
“But you must take me with you!”
Andromeda could sense the desperation in Mikos’ voice and was wondering
if anyone else had picked up on it. His
eyes were pleading with them, and she could see terror and fear lying behind it.
She sighed heavily and turned to Tolian with a look that seemed to say
“Just what have we got to lose? It’s
cool with me, but it’s your call,”. Tolian
didn’t seem to pick up on Mikos’ signs and if he did, he didn’t
acknowledge the fact. He only looked
back at her and shrugged his shoulders as if in agreement with her.
“Alright. We’ll bring you
with us,” Tolian said simply.
Mikos seemed to relax instantly. “Very
well then! Set course for Merisee,
Pilot Llellandra! I know we can find
Andrick when we get there! See?
I told you I could help,” he boasted.
“No problem!”
“Just call me Andromeda,” she said with a forced smile.
“This way,” Kosh ushered him out.
“Have a chance to clean up and make yourself comfortable.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful!” he followed Kosh out.
Once he was gone and the cockpit door had closed, Andromeda finally spoke
up.
“I don’t know about you guys, but that guy gives me the creeps!”
she said as she gave a slight shudder. “He
comes off to me as some slimy—I’m not sure.
He talks too much. He grates.
I don’t trust him any further than I can throw him!”
“That’s saying something. You
could probably throw him pretty far,” Zaron quipped.
“You know what I mean!” she snapped back at him with a look that
seemed to say “Gimme a break!”
“He’s hiding something. He
wouldn’t really explain his reasons for being thrown off that other ship,”
Maharet said quietly.
“That’s information we probably don’t need and would be best if we
never found out. He’s on the run
from something and it’s best not to get anymore involved than we already are!
He just better not pull us into whatever it is he’s got going!”
Tolian said from the nav computer.
“He’s most unpleasant,” Luse said from his station.
“He’s a pain,” Zaron rubbed his arm.
“He smells,” Maharet said wrinkling her nose.
“The man grates,” Andromeda said again.
“Ready for the jump,” Tolian announced.
“Great. Here we go,” Zaron muttered as Andromeda punched the button and the Moon Shadow slid into hyperspace.
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* Chapter 11 and subsequent chapters are based upon the module "Operation: Elrood", a game concept owned by West End Games, written by John Beyer, Chris Doyle and Anthony Russo. I wish to make it known that the game and/or story concept is not mine. This is simply written into readable story form of our adventures as we went through it, and that passages are taken directly from the module itself. Concepts of people and places are not mine except for PC's listed on previous page. I'm doing so because I thoroughly enjoyed the story and wanted to do this for entertainment purposes only--I'm not making any profits of any kind off of this. I'm just wanting to make clear that I'm giving credit where credit is due. Thank you.