Faith in the Light

[Yusanis Myrishi]

Ever since the fall of Togoria, the planet Kiribi had been the center of frenzied attention.

Now the de-facto capital of the Free Systems Coalition, the half of the Republic snipped off from the new capital at Yutan, the planet and its government were leading the effort to resist any further Sith incursion every step of the way. In the city of Old Izrul, warships soared overhead. The cantinas were packed with off-duty soldiers trading jokes and stories, waiting for the hammer to fall. It was into one such cantina that a gleaming protocol droid, black on silver, delicately stepped, its well-oiled servomotors noiseless as it glided through the packed taproom. Its photoreceptors carefully scanned the room, passing over countless faces in search of a specific individual: one Captain [member="Reen Lorgon"].

GR-4CE, better known as Grace, had been dispatched on an urgent mission to find a trustworthy freighter captain. The droid's secret masters at SAINT had received a desperate distress call, and they planned to address it immediately. Normally missions involving the transport of sentient beings were not entrusted to captains they hadn't worked with before, but there was no getting around it this time; no one who fit the ordinary requirements was available. But Yusanis Myrishi had heard of a smuggler who had dared to stand against the feared One Sith admiral Malos Kas over Togoria and made a snap decision: Captain Lorgon could be trusted with this delicate job.

If it turned out that he couldn't be, if he betrayed the refugees to the Sith, they wouldn't be any worse off than if no one came for them soon.

Spying what looked to be the distinctive tendrils of a blue-skinned Nautolan at one of the back booths, GR-4CE trundled in that direction, carefully stepping around a spilled Tatooine Sunburn and the pair of Nikto arguing about which of them had tipped it over. The droid stopped at a respectful distance from the booth, but close enough that it could be heard over the wailing of the band and the persistent buzz of conversation. "Captain Reen Lorgon?" It inquired, its voice a smooth metallic purr. "The rumor has reached my master that you are an exceptionally bold and skillful pilot. Would you consider granting him a moment of your time? He would like to discuss hiring you."

 

[Reen Lorgon]

Reen sat in his booth, near the back of a crowded cantina. Since Togoria, many of the republic's finest had been prepped for all out war, and lots of those men and women were in that very cantina. Reen had been at Togoria, not an experience he enjoyed, but one that would stay with him for years to come. Yet much had happened since then, and with The Order of the Wolf Cat, he'd been occupied with other things.

This was the one time in ages he'd had some time for himself, so when he was disturbed by a droid, he was a bit annoyed. Granted, hearing that the droid's master was offering work made him keep his cool, but he was still visibly annoyed.

"I am the captain your master is looking for droid. And what he's heard isn't far from the truth. Two questions though. Who is your master and when does he want this meeting?" Reen asked in a calm voice, sipping from his scotch.

[member="Yusanis Myrishi"]

 

[Yusanis Myrishi]

GR-4CE took in the smuggler's annoyance and judged it to be time to move quickly in order to keep his interest. This was not a mission that could wait, and the network had precious few other candidates to turn to if this particular captain refused the job. "I will put him through now, if you will permit me," the protocol droid replied, raising one gleaming arm and unclenching its fist to reveal a spherical holocomm. With a press of a button the device whirred to life. Blue light filtered up from the base, forming the outline of a man in shadow. Yusanis Myrishi, Director of SAINT, did not take chances with his safety. He couldn't afford to with so many lives depending on him.

"Captain Lorgon," he began, his voice slightly distorted by distance and the jammers disguising the transmission's origin, "thank you for hearing me out. You can call me Mercy. I represent an organization interested in moving passengers and cargo undetected by the One Sith." It was a vague introduction, and deliberately so. Even with a known Republic supporter like Reen Lorgon, a secret association had to be careful; there was no telling what prying ears might overhear, or what Lorgon might give up under torture if captured. Until he had proven himself, it was safer for everyone to know very little. "We have a lucrative proposal for you, if you'll consider it."

The hologram flickered, and in place of the shadowy man a beautiful temperate planet took shape, slowly revolving under the cantina's dim lights. "One of our agents has identified a group of sentients in need of urgent transport off of the planet Ashera. Their safety is in immediate danger, but they cannot travel through official means due to the Sith occupation." The hologram shifted back to Yusanis's shadowed form, the gleam of his golden cybernetic eye briefly breaking through the facial distortion as he spoke. "We will pay you a substantial reward to pick them up and fly them back to Kiribi, where they will be safe."

Yusanis paused, silently assessing the captain before him. "Are you interested?"

[member="Reen Lorgon"]

 

[Reen Lorgon]

Reen listens to the man's offer, noting the golden eye, however that didn't give him any indication on who or what this person really was. "Alright 'Mercy', I'll play along with your secretive stance." He said, before placing his drink on the table and standing. "These sentients, who are they? How many are there? And how heavy is the One Sith grasp on the planet?" These were essential things for Reen to know, his ship could only hold 7 people comfortably after all. "And yes, I'm interested if you couldn't tell."

[member="Yusanis Myrishi"]

 

[Yusanis Myrishi]

Beneath the holographic distortion, Yusanis smiled; the captain seemed likely to take the job. That was good news indeed.

"The beings in question are native Asherans," he began, carefully keeping the feeling from his voice. It was Echani tradition to focus on discipline over emotion, but he found it difficult to achieve when discussing the victims of outright genocide. "They worship the Light Side of the Force, and for their beliefs they are heavily persecuted by the One Sith government; vast numbers of them have been killed. The group you will meet will be exactly seven of them." It was far fewer than Yusanis would have liked to save, a pitiful number beside the teeming masses of people who had once worshiped alongside them. But most of those people were now dead or enslaved.

"As for the Sith presence," the Echani continued, "the planet is under a Sith-supported government composed of Asheran worshipers of the Dark Side. They are a brutal and fanatical group that should not be underestimated. Imperial military presence, however, is limited; Ashera is not on one of the Empire's major frontiers and was conquered some time ago, so Sith fleets and armies have been deployed elsewhere." That was one advantage they had going for them on this particular world: the Sith believed their work there was done. Unfortunately, they were largely correct. "You will meet your passengers in the ruined city of Dalanse, well away from any government presence."

That didn't rule out complications, of course. Yusanis found that there was always room for complications.

[member="Reen Lorgon"]

 

[Reen Lorgon]

"Multiple force users and two cults. Guess I'm finally getting involved with both of those things." Reen muttered to himself, before looking back to the hologram. "Alright, I'll take the job. When do you need me to be at the meet point?"

[member="Yusanis Myrishi"]

 

[Yusanis Myrishi]

"Sooner is better, Captain," the Echani replied. "They'll be ready for you as fast as you can get there, but after a few days it won't matter." That was the grim truth; all SAINT operations worked on a dire timetable, the ever-shrinking space between life and death, preservation and destruction. Every moment lost was lives lost. "We have an agent in the system, codename Abel. When you have arrived and are ready for the pickup, contact her. This droid will provide you with a Pecheneg encryption key to allow the two of you to communicate without being monitored." GR-4CE produced a datapad, setting it gently on the table in front of the captain.

"Good luck," Yusanis closed, "and may the Force be with you." With that, the hologram winked out.

[member="Reen Lorgon"]

 

[Reen Lorgon]

Reen nods at the notion that he had a limited window to get in and out. "Best leave straight away then." He said to no one in particular. Taking the datapad from the table, he stood, making a mental note of his contact. "Alright droid, I guess I'll see you and your master when I return. Safe journey and all that." He said to GR-4CE, before leaving the cantina and heading to his for his ship.

Upon reaching his ship, he was greeted by his trusted R2 droid. "Alright Gree, we're heading to Ashera to collect a more... unique cargo." The droid beeped upon hearing the planets name. "Yes, I know it's under One Sith control, but this job is going to pay well. Plus, we get to save some people as well." Reen responded whilst heading to the cockpit of the ship. Pressing down lightly on the throttle, the ship lift off from it's landing space. Retracting the landing gear, Reen flew the ship into the space above the planet, before setting course for the planet. "Gree, forge us some fake ID and a different transponder code, don't want the Sith to recognize us."

[member="Yusanis Myrishi"]