Chapter 17 Derilyn
"Derilyn?!”
Andromeda didn’t want to believe it. “That’s
under the Imperial martial law. That
place has got security tighter than a drum!
Hello! That’s interdicted
space! You don’t fly there unless
you have permission.
I’m willing to bet that you’ve probably never seen so many warships
in all your life! Not to mention
that we’re probably wanted for questioning after the Farlek mishap!
This does not look good!”
“We’ll get around it,” Tolian said simply.
“Looks suicidal to me,” Maharet muttered.
“I admit that I’m not comfortable about that either, even if they
don’t know how to recognize Jedi. If
I’m discovered, it will mean death for the rest of you if you’re caught,”
Kosh said.
“But the Jedi have been ‘extinct’.
No one will know what your light saber looks like anyway.
If anything, it could be mistaken for a flashlight,” Zaron offered, not
looking up from the data pad as he copied the encrypted files onto it.
“Now to get rid of these things before the Loag show up here.”
“Gimme,” Tolian held his hand out for one of the disks.
He stepped outside the shop door and looked around.
In one direction, a garbage transport was headed down the street.
With a well-aimed throw, the disk landed neatly on top of the heap.
Coming the opposite direction was a speeder, and with another non-chalant
toss, landed the second disk in its back seat and came back inside.
“But what about that third one?” Gorr asked.
“Easy!” Andromeda completely crushed it beneath her boot.
“No more signal! Although,
Uncle, I’ll have to say that you have your creative moments.
So how do you propose we get to Derilyn?
We can’t apply for a Derilyn Travel Waiver without the Empire running
background checks. We’ll be
arrested for sure!”
“If I can say something here?” Mikos spoke up.
“Trying for redemption?” Maharet snapped, but her comment went
ignored.
“Might I suggest that you look into hiring a ship to transport you
there? Perhaps a cargo ship where
you can hide your own ship on it. It
just so happens that I know of someone who can help—an ore carrier captain, to
be exact. I’ll make the
arrangements, so meet me at the Torina Cantina in two hours.
He should be awake by then,” Mikos jerked his head in Luse’s
direction. “No problem!”
He took off down the street.
“Was that such a good idea to let him go off by himself?” Maharet
asked as she watched him go.
“Maybe not, but after all we’ve been through already, he’s still
with us. He probably figures he owes
us for pulling his fat out of the fire more than once—pardon the pun,”
Tolian replied.
“He’d better not screw it up, Uncle.
If we’re not careful, we’ll be on Derilyn, but in that gladiator
arena and Moff Andel along with General Hul will personally invite Admiral
Maricson to watch!” Andromeda said in a low voice.
“We’ll be fine,” Tolian put his hand on her shoulder as he always
did when she needed calming.
Three hours later, Andromeda, Tolian, Zaron, Maharet, Gorr, Kosh and Luse
found themselves at the designated Cantina.
It was a small and dark one, located on the outskirts of Brindibarr
spaceport. Mikos was found sitting
with a crusty looking space dog, introduced as Captain Kortho Hatanga.
“So these are your friends! Mikos,
I never thought I’d say it, but I think you’re coming up in the world!
This isn’t your usual crowd. Please!
Have a seat, all of you. My
friend Mikos here tells me you need transportation to Derilyn,” Hatanga sat
back with his drink. “So what’s
the cargo?”
“Just us, Mikos, our ship, and no questions asked,” Tolian spoke up
for the group. “Just for our
sakes, just what are your credentials?”
“I have permits with Imperial Mining to do business on Derilyn.
I can land there without a customs inspection, so if you were to pose as
my crew, they wouldn’t check you for Travel Waivers.
My ship is an ore carrier, so yes, I can hide your ship in there.
We’ll put in a safe container and surround it with the radioactive ore,
so sensors won’t find it. This
ought to be fun—I’ve never smuggled anything that big before.
But there is one small detail. I’ll
openly admit that my license and most of my permits have been revoked due to my
excessive intake of what I have right here in my glass,” he explained.
“I just want you to be fully aware of what you are getting yourselves
into.”
“It was sounding real good up until the revoked license part,” Gorr
muttered.
“No problem!” Mikos chimed in.
“Sounds like an all or nothing deal,” Andromeda said quietly.
“What have we got to lose?” Kosh asked quietly.
“Our lives,” Zaron gulped.
“Anyone have a better idea?” Luse asked.
“Looks like we’ll accept. It’s
quite a generous offer, Hatanga,” Tolian extended his hand and Hatanga shook
it.
“Well, come along with me and I’ll show you my ship!” he said
proudly and led them out.
After being in that dark cantina, the late afternoon sun was bright.
He took them to a hangar in the spaceport and showed them his pride—the
Galax Titan.
“Beauty, isn’t she?” the crusty captain beamed.
“I know she looks like an old, clumsy, rusting bucket of bolts, but
I’ve modified her shields, added some laser cannons for protection and the
armory is well stocked in case of those pesky pirate boardings.
Hey—she’s no Millennium
Falcon! She’s all ready to go
with a shipment of radioactive ore bound for Derilyn.
All I need, besides my permits and license is a crew.
If you all can sign on as my crew, I can smuggle your ship past the
Imperial blockades.”
“Kortho, just give me a few hours and I will come up with your permits
and license! No problem!” Mikos
beamed.
“After all I’ve been through with you, that’s the least
you can do!” Hatanga muttered as Mikos took off again.
“But let’s get your ship loaded.
The sooner we can leave, the better!”
The Moon Shadow was put into a safe container and well hidden in Galax
Titan’s cargo bay amongst tons of radioactive ore.
The cruise was very tedious. The
carrier seemed to crawl along, even in hyperspace.
Kosh spent his time meditating, Gorr spent his time by shadowboxing, Luse
decided to sleep some more, Maharet was exploring the ship, sneaking around,
Zaron was busy working on the disks to decrypt the data, while Tolian and
Andromeda were helping Hatanga fly the ship, but since it was on auto-pilot,
Andromeda was driving Hatanga and Tolian crazy with a heated game of Sabacc.
“Um, Andromeda, I hate to interrupt your game, but I think I’ve found
something that’s real important,” Zaron approached, holding his datapad
carefully as if it would break.
“Yes, this had better be important,” Andromeda looked up with a
slight smile. It was the first smile
he had seen since that morning at Gwynn’s
Dispatch.
“I know that Lud Chud is a crime boss, but it sounds like he’s kind
of on our side—but only for the money. According
to what Mikos lifted, Chud is secretly accumulating a weapons dump on Derilyn,
selling the weapons to the resistance fighters there,” he said.
“So where’s the sight?” Tolian asked.
“Haven’t quite decrypted all of it just yet.
As a matter of fact—” Zaron began, but was cut short when without any
warning, the Galax Titan dropped out of hyperspace.
“Whoa! That’s not
supposed to happen!” Hatanga exclaimed as he rushed for the controls.
Everyone was trying to pick themselves up off the floor when Hatanga
barked orders over the intercom.
“According to the nav computer, the emergency overrides dropped us into
real space to avoid hitting a massive asteroid that was in our way,” Tolian
said as he bent over the computer.
“The oldest trick in the book!” Hatanga growled.
“Pirates!” He pointed out
the viewport. Several attack
freighters, Y-wings and a stolen customs corvette.
“Arm the laser cannons and arm yourselves!
We’re going to be boarded!” Hatanga barked.
The only place to hold them at bay was the cockpit.
These pirates must have been doing this kind of thing for years as they
expertly only needed one shot to ionize the Titan’s
controls. The laser cannons did
precious little as the pirates took out the Titan’s
weapons and power as well. The Galax
Titan was sitting dead in space and the pirates moved in to board.
Sounds of scraping metal rang throughout the freighter as docking tubes
attached themselves. With a
powerful, explosive shriek, the pirates burst in, blasters blazing!
Their strategy was simple—kill anything that didn’t surrender!
Mikos did what he did best—hiding.
Hatanga and the others decided to take their stand on the bridge.
“They aren’t getting me without a fight!” Hatanga roared.
They came blasting through the door.
The first one didn’t know what hit him as Maharet’s claws made a
swipe and came away with his throat. A
two more met a similar fate by Gorr’s hand and Kosh’s light saber.
The pirates fell back and tried to chuck a grenade their direction,
hoping to smoke them out of the cockpit.
It was a sorry toss, landing just outside the door, but it was enough to
blow a whole new hole in the wall. It
was enough to knock Zaron out cold and flying shrapnel hurt Gorr and Tolian, but
that misguided throw was enough of a blunder to take out two more pirates and
wound three others. This was only a
minor setback for them, and the pirates were shooting out everything in their
sights, not letting the cockpit crew get a shot in edgewise.
It didn’t look good.
Just when things were about to go from bad to worse, the pirate corvette
came under attack of an Imperial Star Destroyer!
It was only a very brief breath of relief, and Andromeda let out a gasp
as a familiar voice boomed over the ship’s com system:
“Attention pirate brigands! This
is the Imperial Star Destroyer Thunderflare.
Surrender immediately or be vaporized!”
It was Captain Pryl!
The shooting immediately ceased, but the corvette instantly broke free
and took off in a hurry, abandoning any remaining shipmates aboard the Titan.
They wasted no time in getting back to their little attack ships and
taking off. The Thunderflare
launched TIE fighters and very methodically tore the fleeing corvette apart with
its turbo lasers. Through the
viewport of the Titan, the Star
Destroyer continued firing on the corvette, even after it had signaled its
surrender, until it exploded. There
was a small, shared gasp in the cockpit and Andromeda felt her throat tighten.
Captain Pryl’s voice came back over the com system.
“That will teach others of their kind that the penalty for piracy is
death! The Empire shows no mercy.
“Glad for the help, Thunderflare.
I’ll just need to restore my systems and I’ll be on my way!”
“I can send some crew over to help,” Pryl offered.
“Not necessary, Captain. The
damage is not as bad as it looks,” Hatanga answered smoothly.
“Very well. I will serve as
escort to Derilyn, then. There have
been far too many reports of the pirate attacks all over the Elrood sector and I
will not have another freighter fall under my watch!
Just signal when you are ready to go,” she said.
Hatanga acknowledged her and signed off.
Kosh was already tending to Gorr and Andromeda was at Tolian’s side,
helping to dress his wounds. Maharet
revived Zaron. It seemed a long
while, but Mikos finally came out of hiding.
“Now this one definitely wasn’t my fault, I swear!” he said as he
caught a look at the massive Star Destroyer just outside the viewport.
“For once this one was not your fault, but I’d stay hidden if I were
you, just in case,” Andromeda said wearily.
“Looks like we’re ready to go,” Hatanga said quietly.
They quickly vacated the cockpit and Hatanga signaled the Thunderflare, and they were escorted to Derilyn without further
incident. Captain Pryl had ordered
Imperial Customs to allow the freighter to dock for repairs.
Much to everyone’s relief, the Titan
was waved through without an on-board inspection.
While on approach, the Titan
passed the immense Derilyn Space Defense Platform that slowly orbited the
planet. Just at first glance it was
easy to see that it was heavily armed to the teeth with more than enough TIE
fighters providing perimeter patrols. Certainly
a formidable fortress…
“Into the Farlek’s den,” Andromeda muttered as the Titan
landed at Imperial Mining. “I
wonder if they’re still sore over the Alluuvia incident?”
“That’s not funny! Don’t
even mention that!” Maharet said.
“Well, here we are! We’re
in Tekar. You don’t have a whole
lot of time. This thing is scheduled
to be unloaded and reloaded for a run to a nearby mining colony.
Due to repairs, I can give you a day or two at most.
I took the liberty of pulling up a map for you so you don’t get lost.
We’re in Imperial territory, so you can’t take any weapons with you,
since you don’t have the permits for those.
Here’s an I.D. card for each of you, saying that you’re part of my
crew. Those will only get you into
the city, so if you’re planning on breaking any laws, please don’t be caught
with these things,” Hatanga said.
“Where’s our resident know-it-all?” Andromeda looked around.
“Uh-oh,” Zaron groaned.
“Do I want to know what means?” Andromeda moaned.
“The disks are gone and so is the decryption program.
I had left it sitting right here!” Zaron pounded a fist on the wall.
“Maybe that’s a blessing in disguise.
Look out there! That’s an Imperial scanning crew!
You’d’ve been arrested if you were caught with that anyway!
Better make yourselves scarce. Good
luck!” Hatanga practically kicked them out.
Walking from the landing pad, it was more than clear that Tekar was in
the merciless grip of Imperial rule. The
citizens seemed to eye everyone suspiciously and there was a depressing feeling
hanging over the city and Andromeda could feel it like a terrible weight on her
shoulders. Imperial soldiers and
vehicles were everywhere, and they didn’t blink an eye or think twice when
pulling someone aside and asking for identification.
On a pillar at the entrance to the city, Derilyn’s laws had been
posted:
By
order of General Hul, the following laws are in effect until further notice:
1)
Curfew extends from sundown to sunrise.
All citizens must be in their residence or acquire an appropriate permit
from a local Imperial Office of Occupation and Law.
Violation is punishable by imprisonment or transfer to the smelting
factories.
2)
Food will be rationed as indicated in earlier proclamations.
Hoarding food is punishable by forced labor on
3)
Participating in illegal or unauthorized trade is punishable by
death.
4)
All citizens must have their I.D. card on them at all times.
All visitors must have their I.D. card displayed at all times.
Failure to do so is punishable by forced labor on
5)
Hindering Imperial forces is punishable by hard labor,
imprisonment or death, depending upon the severity of the offense.
6)
Vessels that land or take off without permission will be captured
and impounded. Surviving crewmembers
will be sent to
7)
Possession of a weapon is punishable by transfer to the smelting
factories. Members of the Imperial
armed forces have final discretion in determining what constitutes a weapon.
8)
Sheltering subversives is punishable by death.
9)
Membership in a subversive group and/or participating in
subversive activities (sabotage, espionage, assaulting Imperial personnel,
contributing to or aiding in the distribution of unauthorized publications or
broadcasts) is punishable by death, and the death of all family members.
10)
Citizens are required to report any subversive activity to the local
security office. Accurate reports
will be rewarded with extra food and privileges.
Failure to report such activity is regarded as willful tolerance of
treason and is punishable by death.
11)
Remember! Obedience to the
Empire means freedom! Subversive
activity means punishment for all! Report
subversives immediately! Obey the
Emperor! Obey the law!
It is there for your protection.
“Can’t see myself living like that,” Zaron said quietly.
“Sad, really. They think
fear will keep them in line,” Maharet said softly.
“I’m
liking this less and less. This city
is so huge. I wonder why the
peasants just don’t revolt?” Luse asked.
Andromeda only shook her head and sighed heavily, remembering a time when
she was once a part of the Empire, and how she was brought up to believe that
that was all that mattered.
“Let’s just hope we don’t get captured as we leave,” Gorr said
with a slight shudder.
“What? It’s not like
we’ve never done the forced labor-thing before!” Zaron tried to joke, but
only got a sour look. Tolian hailed
a taxi and they all crawled inside.
“Hi, I’m Scelli and I’ll be your driver.
Where can I take you?” The Meri cabby barely gave them a glance.
It was so rehearsed.
“Arena of Games,” Maharet said. The
cabby didn’t say another word and began to drive.
It was all stop and go. She
would stop to let Imperial vehicles and such the right of way.
There was only one checkpoint to speak of, and the fake I.D.’s held up
and the cab was waved through. She
only held her hand out for the fare when she dropped them off and sped off
again.
The complex was huge. Andromeda
would have loved to have made a smart remark about the “monument to Imperial
arrogance”, but knew it was best to keep silent, even without Uncle Tolian’s
hand on her shoulder.
They got into line to purchase tickets to the day’s event.
They paid the 100 credits each for the best seats available on the ground
level, closest to the action. The
place was buzzing with vendors and thousands of spectators.
Not all of them looked happy to be there.
Kosh sensed that they were there out of fear and because they felt they
had to be there.
They went in to scope out their seats, and were nearly overwhelmed at how
big the arena was. It looked like it
could seat 250,000 spectators easily, and it was already at half full.
There seemed to be no such thing as a “bad” seat.
There was a perfect view of the rectangular sand arena.
There were huge holo-projectors placed in strategic spots to give a full
view of any details happening in the ring, and it was flashing advertisements of
the sponsors. Teams of four storm
troopers were stationed at all stadium gates to squelch any trouble or riots
that could break out. It was hard
not to overhear people talking excitedly about the “mystery” gladiator.
That could only be Shondra—they were all thinking it.
Their thoughts were interrupted by the public address system that came
on:
“Attention citizens and visitors. Welcome
to the Arena of Games. Today we are
honored by the presence of Moff Villis Andal and our esteemed governor, General
Afren Hul. Wagering is permitted
only at the betting windows. Unlawful
transactions and unauthorized gambling is punishable by internment in the mining
camps. An inspection of participants
is permitted only before today’s tournament begins.
Have your identification ready at all times...for YOUR protection.
Your cooperation is appreciated.”
Wordlessly, the group made it’s way to the viewing gallery.
Four prisoners were sentenced to fight against Hul’s Coynite mercenary
warriors. Today’s match was a
“free-for-all”, meaning that all four matches would all be happening at the
same time.
Some spectators could be heard talking about the honor of the Coynites,
of how they never come to the aid of another in battle, and others would be
saying how the prisoners were getting just what they deserved.
As they reached the viewing gallery, four prisoners were led out to warm
up. Two of them began warming up and
stretching. Maharet gave a low moan.
“Oh, no!”
“So that’s where he landed his sorry little self!” Andromeda growled
quietly. Mikos was backed into a
corner, wringing his floppy hat in his hands.
It was obvious that he was no fighter.
The last of the prisoners was none other than
Andromeda was looking down at the playing field with dread.
The Coynites were already there, with their big swords and pole-arms,
looking absolutely intimidating. She
glanced up at the skyboxes and could see that the Imperial officials were
beginning to gather. Storm troopers
snapped to attention as General Hul entered, followed closely by Moff Andal and
his wife. The Moff took the center
seat, looking over the arena with stern approval.
There was a brief conversation between the General and the Moff, and the
Moff began to smile with a wickedly chilling grin, causing her blood to run
cold. She quickly looked back down
to the arena where the prisoners were now coming out.
The P.A. began to blare:
“Prisoners of the Empire! This
is General Afren Hul, governor of Derilyn. You
have been condemned to entertain in this arena, and entertain you shall.
Choose your weapon and prepare to fight to the death.”
A rack of melee weapons was pushed out.
Two of the condemned selected vibroblades.
Shondra pulled off a Coynite dagger and a two handed sword.
She held them aloft and turned to the crowd:
“Citizens of Derilyn! Rise
up and fight your enslavers! Death
is better than surrender!” The
crowd was unexpectedly cheering, and even the Coynite warriors looked impressed
with this prisoner that truly had a warrior’s heart.
But a storm trooper put a stop to that with a rifle butt to the back of
her leg that sent her sprawling and Hul’s voice could be heard again.
“Displays of subversion are punishable by enslavement in the mining
camps or serving as entertainment in this arena.
Cease this outburst immediately. Last
prisoner: choose your weapon.”
Mikos tried to pick up a heavy, bladed pole arm, but it slipped out of
his sweaty hands and landed painfully on his foot.
The Coynites found it funny and some of the crowd began to heckle him.
A storm trooper handed him a dagger and shield. Mikos was frowning.
It was clear to the crowd that he was no fighter whatsoever!
“Fight until your opponent is dead.
Mercy is not permitted. Glory
to the Emperor and the New Order!” Hul’s voice said with a sense of
finality.
Each Coynite moved into position, choosing a prisoner.
One grinned ferociously as he charged Shondra, who met him in the middle
and their swords clashed, ringing loudly like a bell.
The other two prisoners weren’t doing as well, and it was clear that
they weren’t going to last nearly as long as her.
To the amusement of the crowd, Mikos backpedaled away from his opponent,
making the Coynite mad.
“You insult me! Come over
here, little human, so you can die bravely!” his pole arm hit Mikos’ shield
with a loud clang. Shondra was
fighting valiantly, but she had lost her sword and it was clear that she
wasn’t going to last much longer.
With no warning, Tolian jumped out of his seat and into the arena.
Kosh took out the two closest storm troopers with his lightsaber and
Andromeda knifed a third, recovering his gun.
Zaron recovered another gun and began firing at the remaining storm
troopers. Gorr jumped into the fray
and pushed past the other storm troopers and joined Tolian in the arena.
The crowd gasped in amazement and a slow cheer rose to ring through the
arena. Maharet took a flying leap to
land inside the arena to assist Shondra, who was wounded during the confusion.
“Cease all combat immediately! Arrest
the interlopers! Do you hear me?
Arrest them all!” Hul’s voice could be heard.
More storm troopers headed in from the tunnels and before she could turn
to meet them, Andromeda felt a shot in her leg which sent her sprawling to the
arena below, but fired right back at them, and the crowd was beginning to go
wild. In fact, thanks to Luse, they
were beginning to riot and take on the storm troopers themselves, overrunning
the entire complex. The General, the
Moff and his wife had to make their escape or be mauled by the frenzied crowd.
In the confusion, Luse had made it down to the arena to aid his friends.
Tolian and Maharet were giving Shondra aid.
Andromeda and Zaron began firing at the Coynites to keep them at bay.
Gorr and Kosh were making assessments of the other prisoners and it was
discovered that the other two prisoners and Mikos didn’t make it.
A small group had broken from the crowd and rushed into the arena,
Andromeda had her gun leveled, warning them not to come any closer.
“Don’t worry! These are
Friends of Paran. They’re on our
side,” Shondra said almost breathlessly. They
were led out of the arena and through an underground passageway.
“Thank you,” was all Tolian could say as they were hurried along a
series of passageways. They finally
gained access to the street, via a sewer grate.
They had gotten past the Imperial checkpoint to the arena.
With the Imperials too busy trying to contain the riot happening in the
arena, they were able to slip away unnoticed onto a waiting speeder that was
owned by the resistance members. They
began to head for the spaceport.
With all the traffic, they were forced to turn around.
Any access to the starport was completely cut off by Imperial blockades.
Over the airwaves, a repeating order could be heard:
“By order of General Hull, complete martial law is now in effect.
All citizens are ordered to report to their homes.
Anyone not following this directive risks arrest.”
“Uh-oh. That means we’re
stuck. There’s no way we’re
going to get through any more checkpoints. Our
faces and Shondra’s are most likely plastered all over this planet and
warrants are out for our arrest,” Zaron said quietly.
“Turn this thing around!” Shondra ordered. “I know of a Paran base near Knellis, just east of Tekar. We’ll be safe there.” The driver turned around and sped out of town.
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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.