> Disclaimer: Star Wars and all of it's Intellectual Properties is owned by George Lucas and Walt Disney, This fictional work and all of it's original characters are however mine.
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The corridor leading to the hangar was dimly lit, the flickering lights casting uneasy shadows as Jake, Rina, Davik, Mira, and the droids marched toward the Stellar Envoy. The station’s hum echoed in the silence, the occasional hiss of steam from overhead pipes punctuating their steps. Despite the tension of the cantina brawl, the group remained focused on debriefing once they were safely aboard the ship.
Davik broke the silence, muttering, “I swear, if this station survives another hour without imploding from its own chaos, it’ll be a miracle.”
Before Mira could respond, a group of armed thugs rounded the corner ahead of them, blocking their path. The leader, a scarred man with a sneer that stretched too wide, raised his blaster and pointed it at the group.
“You lot,” the thug snarled, his voice echoing in the narrow corridor. “I’m here to collect on the debt you owe for beating up my crew.”
Davik took a step forward, holstering his blaster but resting his hand on it. “Debt? Your drunk idiot tried to start a fistfight with a droid in a bar. What did you think was going to happen?”
The leader’s sneer twisted into a glare. “I’m not talking about the cantina. My men in the market—two of them were sent back bloody, saying you didn’t just beat them, you humiliated them!”
Mira and Davik immediately turned to Jake and Rina, both of whom froze under the scrutiny. Rina’s face shifted into an innocent look that didn’t quite work, while Jake scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
“Ah,” Jake said, avoiding Davik’s piercing stare.
Davik crossed his arms. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Before anyone could say more, Skew-02 stepped forward, its monotone voice cutting through the rising tension. “Should I enable the cease and desist protocol?”
Jake glanced at the towering droid, then at the armed thugs. After a beat of consideration, he nodded. “Yeah, go for it.”
Skew-02 didn’t hesitate. It shifted into an intimidating stance, its servos emitting a low whir.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Davik hissed as the droid advanced.
Jake held up his hands defensively. “Okay, okay. I might’ve accidentally loaded policing droid protocols from the holonet when I was fixing Skew-02. I didn’t realize they were so… aggressive.”
Mira, crouching slightly and ready to fire, glanced at the Nick droids. “Is it the same for them?”
Jake shrugged. “Maybe?”
Before anyone could argue further, Skew-02 began dismantling the thug's confidence, one well-placed backhand and efficient takedown at a time. The droid moved with mechanical precision, and soon Davik and Mira joined the fray, blasters set to stun as they cleared out the group of attackers.
The thugs didn’t stand a chance. In under a minute, they were lying groaning on the floor, battered but alive.
Davik holstered his weapon and shook his head. “That was... effective.”
“Cease and desist protocol completed successfully,” Skew-02 intoned, standing at attention.
Jake gave the droid an approving pat on the arm. “Nice work, buddy.”
As the group resumed their trek toward the Stellar Envoy, Mira spoke up. “What’s the story with those guys?”
Rina sighed, clearly reluctant to answer. “One of the merchants we talked to offered us a deal. He’d give us navigation data about Malachor V if we, uh… helped him collect some debts.”
Jake chimed in, “We didn’t know it was a gang of thugs when we agreed. But the data checked out—even had some details about the debris field surrounding Malachor V. That’s valuable intel.”
Davik stopped walking and stared at the pair. “So you started a fight with thugs to get navigation data?”
Jake raised a finger. “Correction: the thugs started it. We just... ended it.”
Rina added, “It was the only lead we had at the time.”
Davik sighed deeply, his hand covering his face. “Unbelievable.”
Mira chuckled softly, giving a strained smile. “Well, at least we’re alive and have something to show for it.”
“Yeah,” Davik muttered as they approached the Stellar Envoy. “Let’s hope it was worth it.”
The group boarded the ship without further incident, ready to regroup and finally piece together their findings.
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The interior of the Stellar Envoy felt like a haven compared to the chaotic station they had just left. As the ramp sealed with a hiss, Kado and Tarek greeted the returning crew near the central meeting area.
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Kado leaned casually against the wall, a smug grin on his face. “Welcome back. Looks like you all had... an eventful time.”
Tarek, seated in the support chair near the cockpit, nodded enthusiastically. “Meanwhile, we got everything resupplied without a hitch. Kado even managed to haggle for some extras—fuel reserves, emergency parts, even a crate of protein rations.”
Jake raised an eyebrow, his voice dripping with skepticism. “You’re telling me, in this station, with all its lovely personalities, you managed to resupply the ship without any problems?”
The rest of the group exchanged equally curious looks.
Kado shrugged, his grin widening. “Yup. No problems at all.”
Tarek chimed in, “Smooth as can be. No one so much as glanced at us funny.”
In unison, Jake, Mira, Rina, and Davik said, “It must be Tarek.”
Tarek blinked, confused. “What does that mean?”
Rina smirked, leaning against the table. “It means you have a weird aura of making things go your way. You’re like... an anti-chaos charm.”
Davik added, still dusting off his jacket from the earlier scuffle, “Either that, or the rest of us are magnets for trouble.”
Kado chuckled, but Tarek still looked unsure about whether to take that as a compliment. Jake waved off the topic and asked, “Where’s the rest of the crew?”
Tarek leaned back, counting on his fingers. “Arlos is taking a well-earned nap after helping with the resupply. Shmi’s double-checking the food stores—you know how she gets about quality control. And Anakin? Last I saw, he was peppering Nick-03 with questions. Probably about piloting or ship systems.”
Jake muttered, “I’ll check in on Anakin later. If he tries to rewire Nick-03, we might end up with another ‘incident.’”
Mira cleared her throat, signaling for everyone to focus. “Let’s get to the point. Here’s what we learned.”
She recounted the overheard conversations at the cantina, emphasizing the smuggling and salvaging frenzy sparked by rumors of hidden treasures on Malachor V. “It’s a hotbed right now. Every scavenger and pirate worth their salt is trying to beat each other there. One group even mentioned a pirate fleet patrolling the surrounding systems, possibly to stake their claim or keep others out.”
Davik nodded, adding, “From what I could piece together, the fleet’s route is predictable, and they’ve been active for days. If we plan this right, we can slip through without an encounter—or ambush them if needed.”
Jake leaned forward, steepling his fingers. “Good work. Now, here’s what Rina and I got.”
Rina took over, laying out the navigation data they had obtained. “The merchant claimed these charts were from crews who successfully navigated Malachor’s debris field. We cross-referenced the data before we left. It’s genuine, and it includes a safe approach vector to avoid the worst of the field’s hazards.”
Jake added, “There’s more. The debris data also suggests the remnants of a large battle—capital ship wrecks, planetary fragments, maybe even artifacts. If the rumors are true, those artifacts might not just be treasure. They could be dangerous.”
The room fell silent for a moment as everyone absorbed the information.
Kado finally broke the quiet. “So, we’ve got a solid lead and a dangerous route. Sounds like a typical day for us.”
Rina sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Typical or not, we need a solid plan before heading to Malachor. This isn’t just another salvage run.”
Kado nodded, his tone carrying the weight of senior authority. “Agreed. Let’s focus on consolidating what we’ve learned and make preparations. Everyone, get some rest and double-check your gear. We’ll regroup in two hours to finalize the plan.”
The crew dispersed, each heading to their respective tasks, leaving the central area empty save for Skew-02, who intoned softly, “Cease and desist protocol remains at full readiness.”
Jake patted the droid’s arm. “Let’s hope we won’t need it, buddy. But knowing us, we probably will.”
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The next day, by the ship’s internal chronometer, the Stellar Envoy slipped seamlessly into hyperspace, the familiar hum of its engines filling the air. Malachor V was their destination, and though the crew had a clear plan, the tension of the unknown hung over them like a storm cloud.
In the common area, most of the crew had gathered for a meeting. Tarek, at the helm, was absent, his voice occasionally crackling over the comms from the cockpit. Shmi was busy in the medbay, where Jake had tasked her with examining Skew-01, looking for anything unusual in its frame or systems. Anakin, too young to join the serious conversation, was happily entertaining himself in the storage bay, chasing a gleeful Zero with a remote-controlled speeder toy.
Mira leaned forward, her elbows resting on the table. “We’ve got the exit vector mapped out, but we’ll be dropping into the middle of a hot zone. The intel suggests pirate activity, and given Gardulla’s involvement, it’s likely a trap for anyone sniffing around that relic.”
“Agreed,” Davik said, his arms crossed. “The presence of pirates this close to Malachor isn’t a coincidence. Gardulla’s smart enough to dangle bait for the competition.”
Over the comms, Tarek’s voice chimed in, clear despite the slight distortion. “What if there’s more than just pirates out there? Gardulla’s not the only one who’d be interested in keeping us away—or taking the relic for themselves.”
Davik shrugged, leaning back in his chair. “Even if someone else is out there, we’ll have the advantage. We’ve got the data and the trajectory. Nobody else would be crazy enough to try and cut us off before we arrive.”
Jake, tinkering with a small rebreather unit, glanced up. “Speaking of advantages, I’m going to use this downtime to prep our gear. Rebreathers, emergency power packs, portable shields—everything’s getting fine-tuned. I don’t want any nasty surprises when we’re out there.”
Mira raised an eyebrow, a teasing smirk on her lips. “No plans to dive into Skew-02’s overzealous policing protocols, then?”
Jake chuckled, shaking his head. “Not urgent. The droid’s functional, and we’ve got bigger priorities. That mess can wait.”
“Fair,” Mira replied with a laugh. “Besides, it’s almost endearing. Like having our own law enforcement mascot.”
The meeting wrapped up quickly as the crew went over their plans. The hyperspace jump to Malachor would take just over nine hours, giving them time to prepare, rest, or handle personal tasks.
Jake disappeared into his workshop area, tinkering with shields and recalibrating the gear. Mira headed for the storage bay to check on Anakin and Zero, finding them mid-race with the little speeder zipping between crates as Anakin whooped in triumph. Davik opted for a quiet corner of the common room, reviewing the intel and their navigation charts once more.
In the cockpit, Tarek monitored the ship’s systems, still half-listening to the crew’s chatter. Though hyperspace didn’t require much active piloting, he kept an eye on the instruments, just in case.
Meanwhile, in the medbay, Shmi was deep in her task, carefully inspecting Skew-01. The droid sat motionless, its dull photoreceptors dim. Shmi’s meticulous checks uncovered nothing out of the ordinary, but she made mental notes of wear on the servos and joints. “Nothing too alarming,” she murmured, more to herself than to anyone else.
The ship’s hum remained constant as the hours passed, the crew each immersed in their tasks. Despite the seeming calm, there was a quiet determination in the air. The Stellar Envoy was heading into dangerous territory, and every moment of preparation counted.
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