masshysteria
Explorer
Episode I: Scum & Villainy
Captain Tam Voren leads his crew back to the Vagrant Heart. An air of excitement surrounds the group. They just closed one of the biggest deals of their careers, filling their cargo bay with Mandolorian ore, and already have a buyer lined up back on Raxus VI. Now to get back to the docking bay and off this mynock infested planet.
Voren’s first indication of trouble is when Toth slings his blaster carbine around to a firing position. Tam follows the Bothan’s gaze to see a squad of stormtroopers interrogating the dock workers. One of the workers sees Tam and points weekly in his direction.
“You there, halt! Are you the captain of this vessel?” The lead stormtrooper gestures at the docked YT-2000. “I don’t see the appropriate license or declaration for this ore.”
“Ah, simple misunderstanding.” Tam says, thinking fast. “If you’ll just let me aboard the ship, we can sort this all out.”
The trooper doesn’t buy it. “You’ll stop right there.”
“But the documents are onboard, in my quarters.”
The squad leader thinks for a moment and then splits his squad. “You two, escort the captain aboard. The rest of you”—indicating the Bothan, Wookie, and Duros that walked in with the Human—“up against the wall, hands where I can see ‘em.”
Under the watch of two of the Empire’s finest, Tam walks into his quarters and grabs a handful of the most obscure documents he can find: a tech manual in Huttesse, a Jawa droid auction notice, some Rodian datacards that even he’s not sure what’s on them. He just hopes this is going to work.
Kaldo watches the stormtrooper trying to make heads or tails of the documents the captain just gave him. He also realizes he’s the only one that can make it to the ship and get it prepped for takeoff. The Duros takes a deep breath and soundlessly rushes across the docking bay floor, taking cover behind some crates. Half way there. He waits a beat, no reaction from the stormtroopers, and gets up and starts running again.
Crossing the gap to Vagrant Heart’s ramp, the red tracer of a blaster bolt scorches past his head.
“You there, halt!”
"Great," mumbles Kaldo, "Shoot first, talk later." At the base of the ramp, the Duros pulls his blaster and see his companions have already burst into action.
Toth lives for these moments. The Bothan draws his carbine up to a firing position, his finger moves off the frame onto the trigger. He exhales, bead on his target, applies even pressure to the trigger. Stormtrooper down.
The squad leader is at a tactical disadvantage. He is holding a drive manual with a poor Huttesse translation upside-down instead of his weapon. Tam pulls his blaster and drops him at point blank range only to get tagged from behind.
Rowintha howls. The female Wookie sees the captain get shot and draws her force pike. She covers the gap in quick powerful strides and with a snap of the wrist and crackle of the pike, another trooper is down.
The final stormtrooper is little more than an exercise in clean up to the group of smugglers. Tam pads out the burning hole in his coat as he runs aboard and slumps into the copilot chair.
“Let’s make star lines.” He says to Kaldo as the Vagrant Heart reaches for the sky.
Captain Tam Voren leads his crew back to the Vagrant Heart. An air of excitement surrounds the group. They just closed one of the biggest deals of their careers, filling their cargo bay with Mandolorian ore, and already have a buyer lined up back on Raxus VI. Now to get back to the docking bay and off this mynock infested planet.
Voren’s first indication of trouble is when Toth slings his blaster carbine around to a firing position. Tam follows the Bothan’s gaze to see a squad of stormtroopers interrogating the dock workers. One of the workers sees Tam and points weekly in his direction.
“You there, halt! Are you the captain of this vessel?” The lead stormtrooper gestures at the docked YT-2000. “I don’t see the appropriate license or declaration for this ore.”
“Ah, simple misunderstanding.” Tam says, thinking fast. “If you’ll just let me aboard the ship, we can sort this all out.”
The trooper doesn’t buy it. “You’ll stop right there.”
“But the documents are onboard, in my quarters.”
The squad leader thinks for a moment and then splits his squad. “You two, escort the captain aboard. The rest of you”—indicating the Bothan, Wookie, and Duros that walked in with the Human—“up against the wall, hands where I can see ‘em.”
Under the watch of two of the Empire’s finest, Tam walks into his quarters and grabs a handful of the most obscure documents he can find: a tech manual in Huttesse, a Jawa droid auction notice, some Rodian datacards that even he’s not sure what’s on them. He just hopes this is going to work.
Kaldo watches the stormtrooper trying to make heads or tails of the documents the captain just gave him. He also realizes he’s the only one that can make it to the ship and get it prepped for takeoff. The Duros takes a deep breath and soundlessly rushes across the docking bay floor, taking cover behind some crates. Half way there. He waits a beat, no reaction from the stormtroopers, and gets up and starts running again.
Crossing the gap to Vagrant Heart’s ramp, the red tracer of a blaster bolt scorches past his head.
“You there, halt!”
"Great," mumbles Kaldo, "Shoot first, talk later." At the base of the ramp, the Duros pulls his blaster and see his companions have already burst into action.
Toth lives for these moments. The Bothan draws his carbine up to a firing position, his finger moves off the frame onto the trigger. He exhales, bead on his target, applies even pressure to the trigger. Stormtrooper down.
The squad leader is at a tactical disadvantage. He is holding a drive manual with a poor Huttesse translation upside-down instead of his weapon. Tam pulls his blaster and drops him at point blank range only to get tagged from behind.
Rowintha howls. The female Wookie sees the captain get shot and draws her force pike. She covers the gap in quick powerful strides and with a snap of the wrist and crackle of the pike, another trooper is down.
The final stormtrooper is little more than an exercise in clean up to the group of smugglers. Tam pads out the burning hole in his coat as he runs aboard and slumps into the copilot chair.
“Let’s make star lines.” He says to Kaldo as the Vagrant Heart reaches for the sky.
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