Taris part 13

Taris Part Thirteen

The rain fell steady on me as I sped through the jungle of Taris, other than me the jungle seemed empty. Rakghouls and wild life alike must have moved into shelter from the rain. I was riding full speed through the rain and jungle, easing on the throttle only to wipe the rain from the visor of my helmet. It took two hours to get to the facility, which seemed like an eternity when your friends were dying. I was able to ride all the way to the front of the building, no rakghouls in sight.

The once tall building was now half a building with ruble piled around it. A large doorway still intact looked to be the only way inside, I approached cautiously. No doubt this was where the rakghouls would come to seek shelter from the rain. I entered the through the doorway into a large lobby area, dimly light from the light coming through the cracks in the walls. The lobby looked as you would think, furniture and ruble scattered about, every thing in disarray. There were rakghoul marks on everything, but dim security lights still lit on the walls. This place still had power. An old directory still stood against one of the walls. Scanning over the holo-display I saw “Research facility fifth floor –Restricted–”

That had to be were the serum was kept. “Breathe” I told myself.  Calm yourself. Don’t allow your feelings to distract you from the task at hand, words Zotta had told me in our short time together repeated in my head. I cleared the rest of the lobby and found a doorway to the stairs. The stairs where clear of rubble mostly. I slowly made my way up the stairs and got to the fourth floor. The stairway was blocked, it was caved in. Looks like I was going need to find another way up to the fifth floor, as I had moved up from floor to floor, the stairway had gotten darker and darker, the security lighting getting dimmer and dimmer.

I opened the door to floor number four and expected to see pitch black. That was, unfortunately for me, not the case. I opened the door to see a brightly lit hallway with power lights running waist high, all the way down the hallway.

“What the…” I said aloud.

I followed the light down the hallway it was nice, carpeted and had been well kept. Someone was here and it wasn’t rakghouls. I came to a door with an entry pad on the wall next to it. I was about to get out my slicing kit when I thought, I wonder… I pressed the enter button and the door opened up, no one was supposed to be here so why would they lock the place? I walked into the laboratory filled with kolto tanks, most empty a few with rakghouls inside of them no scientists though. Weird.  Next to one of the tanks was an Imperial marked case and I looked around inside it, I read the words I had hoped to find, “Rakghoul Serum Cure”. “Imperials! Stang!” I needed to see what they were up to. Why were they here? Was Stalk or ‘the General’ with them? I opened the case to find 2 vials full of serum they looked like two doses. With what I came for in hand I decided to do a little recon. I went to a computer terminal and started searching, mission statements, authorization codes, formulas for the Rakghoul plague cure.

“If they had this cure why hadn’t they sold it yet? It was more than funding their war efforts” I said aloud.

I had completed a download of the formula for the cure and other Intel I thought would be useful when I heard something behind me. Whatever it was it was good, moving softly in the shadows trying to get the jump on me, but I wasn’t about to let that happen again. I placed the vials and the data disk securely in my utility belt but continued to type on the holo terminal as if I was looking for something, waiting for my would be attacker to close the distance.

I breathed and showed every interest in the terminal in front of me at the last second when I heard the faint sound of a virboblade being unsheathed I spun around drew my rifle to the hip and blasted a hole in my would be attackers mid section. The blade that was meant for my back fell, unused, to the floor and my attacker stammered back a step and collapsed.

My would-be attacker was no scientist; he was plain clothed wearing what anyone who wanted to fit into a crowd would wear. But he was no civilian not with the viroblade and the blaster rifle he was carrying. He was Imperial, probably Imperial Intelligence. I searched him for anything vital he might be carrying but I knew better. If he knew I was here it was likely others did too, I needed to get out of here. I made my way over to the door and checked the hallway, empty; I then proceeded to the stairwell. I cleared the stairways just as I had before and made my way into the lobby. I hadn’t taken three steps when lights flashed on overhead and standing in front of me was Stalk and about twenty of his men. The empty, dimly lit lobby I had been in not two hours ago was fully lit and full of soldiers ready to kill me.

“Ah Lieutenant Dimbo, we meet again, I must admit, I’m surprised to see you again after the present I left for you at my previous place of employment.” Stalk smiled as he spoke, plotting my death. I survey my surroundings; I really didn’t have time for this. It had been almost six hours since I left and it was going to take another two to get back to base.

“Hello Stalk, I have to admit I’m impressed with your setup here, manufacturing a cure for the Rakghoul virus is no small feat.”

“Well Dimbo, the serum was still intact when my science team came here. Now manufacturing it to be used as a weapon? That was difficult, which is why you need to die! You blew up that batch that was going to turn the war in the Empire’s favor! I had planned to expose people inside the spaceport and military base, so the rakghouls would over run it.”

While he spoke, I listened, careful not to make any sudden movements. I was standing next to a big semi circle shaped reception desk that was going to be my best choice for cover when the blaster fire started. Stalk continued speaking, “But no matter, soon you will be dead and my new batch of Rakghoul infection serum will be ready to deploy to the spaceport.”

“So your science team came here first to setup shop, they never reported back in causing the Republic to think they had been killed by Rakghouls and then the Republic classified this area level Black?, And then you were free to continue your research?” I said.

“Very good Lieutenant, I had no idea there was a brain under that thick skull.” Stalk joked. I didn’t laugh, I was a good soldier and because of that I was going to be the only one walking out of here alive.

“Well I guess there is only one more thing I need to know then.”

“And what is that?” Stalk asked, he turned to laugh with his men certain of my soon demise.

Like it was part of my body I raised my rifle, launched two frag grenades at the group of soldiers waiting to kill me. Out of my belt I grabbed a concussion grenade and threw it at the feet of Stalk. I jumped behind the reception desk as the soldiers that were still standing returned fire. They had been so confident in their numbers they had left themselves exposed in the open. Secure in my cover I began my attack. Standing up from behind the desk I launched two more frag grenades and began my barrage of blaster fire as blaster bolts raced past my head. Like paper targets these sorry excuse for soldiers went down where they stood. I watched as Stalk, who had recovered from the concussion grenade crawled across the floor like a Kath hound trying to escape from the fight. One of the soldiers managed to close the gap and attack me from the left, I activated my new boots Alten had provided for me and he went flying across the room and was impaled into a piece of rebar sticking out of the ruble. Stalk had made it to the stairway door, in his attempt to escape. I launched a Frag grenade directly at him and he landed next to a pillar and the pillar collapsed on his lower body he lay there motionless. Five soldiers remained, they coward behind a pile of ruble, I could see the fear in their eyes; they were rethinking their defection to the Empire. I launched another frag grenade between the five and after they explosion they fell motionless to the ground.

I walked over to Stalks body. I could hear his faint breathing and he started to cough, he looked up at me and said, “I thought you had another question.” He spat blood at my feet.

“I do,” I pulled my side arm from my hip and aimed it straight at his head, “Where can I find ‘the General’? Tell me and I’ll end you right now, no suffering.”

Stalk looked at the muzzle of my blaster and laughed, “You wouldn’t leave me here, it’s your duty to take me before the Senate, I need medical attention, take me back with you and I’ll tell you everything.”

“Stalk I’ll find ‘the General’ with or without you, if you want to die with clean conscience, tell me.” I looked at him straight faced, I knew I’d never make it back in time carrying him on my speeder if I wanted to save my friends I needed to leave. There was no way I was taking him back with me.

Stalk pressed his lips together in a sign of not saying anything else. I pulled the trigger on my pistol and walked away without a second thought. Stalk had died a traitor to the Republic; he didn’t deserve the chance to stand before the government he had sworn to protect.

Taris part 12

Taris Part Twelve

The next morning I awoke alone, in a room in the cantina, Lechelle and I had spent the night together. It was such a good night. She had worn a green gown that hugged her body, I more then noticed her slim figure as we walked into the cantina to see the band and dance. We danced, laughed, talked and drank. Then we kissed and kissed some more and that lead to getting this room.

But Lechelle wasn’t here anymore, I think she got up early to open the shop but I wasn’t sure, we had had a great time and I had drank a little more then normal; my head ached. I got out of bed and gathered my things. I checked for any personal items of Lechelle’s but found none. I went back to the barracks showered and headed to the Mess hall. Zotta was no where to be found so I figured he had went to eat without me. I got a tray of food and found him sitting alone at a table near a window. It had just started to rain outside when Zotta said, “Late night last night huh?”

I smiled, “Lechelle and I went to the cantina and listened to the new band.”

Zotta started to say something about attachments when Lechelle burst into the Mess, a couple of sentries where running after her, “Miss you can’t be in here, Miss!” she had changed into her normal cloths and she looked worried.

“Dimbo!” she yelled, “I have to find him.”

I stood up, “It’s ok sentries, I’ve got it, I’m over here Lechelle.” She sighed relieved to have found me.

“Dimbo, they’re gone…they’re gone and I can’t find them.”

We walked down to Alten’s store, while Lechelle told me and Zotta what had happened. Lechelle’s parents had left on a trading run, destined for one of the civilian colonies deeper into the Taris jungle, a small group of aliens and humans trying to make it on their own. From what I had heard in my short time here the colony had struggled at first but was doing very well. Lechelle told us that her parents had left the afternoon before and were supposed to be back in time to open the shop this morning. She had tried to reach them on the holo, and the civilian colony reported they had left hours ago, more then enough time had passed for them to have been back. This pretty little Twi’lek was crying tears running down her face.

“Please help me Dimbo, they are all I have.” Weeping onto my shoulder she hugged me.

I sat Lechelle down when we got to her parents store, I hated to pull T7 off analyzing the message of Stalk in hopes of a finding lead, but Zotta and I would need his help on this mission. I raised him on the holo and told him to prep our speeders. I contacted the civilian colony to get the trader caravan’s last known location. I sat down next to Lechelle, “I’ll find them Lechelle don’t worry. Stay here at the shop, don’t leave, I’ll call you on the holo when I have news.” I hugged her.

With tears still running down her blue face she smiled and simply said, “Thank you.”

Zotta and I turned and left the shop, we broke into a jog, with the rain failing on us, all the way to our speeders.

T7 was already waiting on the droid platform so we hoped on and took off. Zotta didn’t need any explanation, innocent people that we both knew were in danger and we were willingly to risk our lives to save them.

We traveled through the green luscious jungle of Taris south of the spaceport mostly on dirt roads or make shift paths. But this area was mostly unsettled. Only the monthly trading caravan ever traveled this way. There were trees growing out of building rubble and the rain was still coming down. We traveled toward the last know location for about an hour and finally came across the caravan. We got of our speeders and walked toward the caravan, T7 started to scan the area. Blaster fire came from the caravan over our heads. We ducted down and I yelled, “It’s ok, we are friendlies, Lieutenant Dimbo here, and we are here to help.”

“Dimbo? Dimbo! It’s me Alten come quick Lynnda is hurt.”

I ran over to where Alten’s voice had came from, when I saw him I knew instantly he had been infected, part of the flesh on his left arm had been ripped off, it hung limp at his side. Zotta looked around for more survivors while I tended to Lynna. She had a bump on her head and one broken left. She was unconscious and had flesh missing from her thigh.

I surveyed the site, one of the transports had gotten stuck on a tree blocking the road. “What happened?” I asked, as I gave Lynnda a kolto pack, my field medic skills where basic at best, Lynnda needed a doctor and fast.

“Well our transport got stuck so we all got out to clear the road, and they just came out of no where…The rakghouls so many of them all at once. We never had a chance.” He cried as he held his mate.

“It’s ok, we are going to take you back to base and get you both fixed up. Lynnda’s vitals are stable we need to hurry.” T7 moved to turn our speeders around and brought them a bit closer Zotta pulled me aside after I had tended to Alten’s arm.

“Dimbo.” He said, I knew he was serious because he didn’t call me ‘Leftenant.’ “Dimbo they are infected with the rakghoul plague, I don’t think we can risk bringing them back to the spaceport.”

“I know my friend, but it’s a risk I’m willingly to take, we can keep them safe until we find a cure, medicate them or something to slow down the transformation we have to try.” I pleaded with Zotta.

“Ok, there might be something I can do to help,” he replied.

We got both Lynnda and Alten loaded up onto the speeders and headed for base. T7 messaged ahead and when we arrived at the entry of the base they had a decon route setup for us to follow leading us straight into an isolated section of the medical center. Medical droids and doctors in hazmat suits appeared and started taking reading, sampled and they worked to treat the open wounds of both Alten and Lynnda.

I called Lechelle on the holo and she said she would be at the med center in minutes. The chief medical officer pulled me and Zotta aside, “Lieutenant, they are most certainly infected with the rakghouls plague, I can sedate them, but that will only delay the transformation they will turn into rakghouls in the next eight to twelve hours unless something can be done. And with the mother’s wounds she might not even make it that long.”

I looked away from the doctor to see Lechelle appear in the door way. I could tell by her eyes she had heard enough. Lynnda and Alten had been moved behind an isolation field, Lechelle could only watch now as her parents slowly became monsters.

I walked over behind her and put my arm around her side, she turned to me and said, “Is there anything the doctors can do? Anything anyone can do? I can’t lose them Dimbo, they are all the family I have.”

I didn’t know what to say, there wasn’t anything I could do. No base I could storm, or hide out I could sneak into, there was no cure for this disease.”

“Dimbo, I believe there is something I can do to help.” Zotta spoke, “I can meditate to help stop or delay the spread of the disease it might give them the entire twelve hours but there is no guarantee, I can only try. Someone will still need to find a way to completely stop the disease from spreading.”

“Ok, Zotta you do that and I’ll work on a cure.” I said. Zotta walked over to Lynnda and Alten, dropped to his knees into his meditation stance and started his meditation. I left Lechelle so I could think across the room.

A cure. How was I going to come up with a cure in twelve hours for a disease that no one had been able to cure in the 300 years of its existence here on Taris. It hit me like a truck, Snap! Wait 300 years ago someone did come up with a cure, but it had been lost in the destruction. What did that soldier on the transport say when he brought Zotta and I back to the base after being trapped by Stalk? Something about that old medical facility having a cure, I called him on my holo, “Sergeant, this is Dimbo, listen I have an emergency here and I need all the info you’ve got on that medical facility most Ricky-tick.”

“Sure thing LT,” he said.

The sergeant moved over to this holoterminal, our holo channel still active.

“Let’s see, the hospital was on the upper city of Taris, below that the under city, not a lot in here. It was Viper blade territory before the bombardment some Mandalorian girl Bounty Hunter armed with a lightsaber wiped out the Vipers, killed their leader and all the thugs jumped planets, sorry LT, I’m looking.” He scrolled thought the know info, “Here we go, like I said before, the doctor there was reported to have found a cure to the rakghoul disease hours before the Sith bombardment. Now fast forward 300 years later, one research team went into the facility in search of the cure but were never heard from them again, that area is now overrun with rakghouls and classified as level black, no entry.” He turned away from the holo screen to look at me.

“Send that info to my T7 droid now! And thank you so much soldier, I owe ya a brandy next time I’m at the cantina.”

“Sure thing LT, but you’re not planning on going in there are you?”

I cut off the transmission; I knew what had to be done, for my friends Alten and Lynnda and for Lechelle.

My holo rang, it was a technician from the command post, “Lieutenant, I’m working on the Stalk recording here in the command post, we think we have a breakthrough we could really use T7’s help.”

“I’ll send him right over,” I said and closed the channel, looks like this is going to be a solo mission. I messaged T7 to get over to the command post, and I went back over the Lechelle, her blue face was a shade of red from crying, tears still on her cheeks. I kissed her forehead. “Lechelle, I’m going to go find something to help your parents. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Where…where are you going?”

“To an old medical facility to find a cure.”

“There’s a cure? Oh Dimbo please be safe and hurry back,” she said. I could see the concern for my safety but at the same time the worry for her parents in her eyes.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, stay strong we’ll get through this, I’ll always be here for you Lechelle,” she kissed me, sobbed and then turned to sit by her parents.

It was mid afternoon, I walked out of the med center, took my speeder that T7 had uploaded the location of the old medical facility in and headed into the jungle, rain still hitting my head and the wet ground around me. I had to be back before the dawn.

Taris part 11

Taris part Eleven

I woke up the next morning refreshed; our trip back to base had been uneventful. The three of us went to the command center, and sent in a holo of our report.  Zotta and I went to the mess hall and then straight to bed after eating. T7 stayed behind in the command center to analyze the Stalk transmission, I turned the rakghoul transmitter over to the technicians for study, hoping maybe it could provide some sort of a lead.

Because we didn’t have a lead on Stalk, I didn’t have much planned for the day. I thought I’d spend sometime in the command center researching Stalk, and ‘the General.’ And if I found some free time I’d go see Lechelle.

Stalk and ‘the General’ graduated form the academy together; ‘the General’ quickly rose through the ranks in the chemical research and development division.  Stalk managed to follow in is wake, a true lackey. Other then that there wasn’t a lot of information on the two of them, neither of them had taken part in any major conflicts. Actually they had both managed to come to Taris after the big battle between the Empire and the Republic to help with the resettlement of areas affected by the war. While looking through more records I noticed wherever they went some sort of epidemic would follow only to be miraculously cured later on. Looking back on the data, it was plain to see they’d been experimenting on those left in the wake of the war, in environments where viruses would naturally pop up. This explains why so much of ‘the General’s’ work was able to go straight into the field with minimal testing. He was testing on civilians with out the Republic knowing about it. I now knew exactly the kind of man I was dealing with, someone who would do anything or hurt anyone to get the job done.

Finding him was not going to be easy. T7 told me they still were not able to get an exact location based on the transmission of my conversation with Stalk, so I went to the Mess hall for lunch.

After chow I headed down to Alten’s shop to see if I could find Lechelle. I’d had quite an adventure since the last time I saw her, I thought maybe we could go back to the range or do something more intimate. I walked through the base; it was a cool day with a light breeze as the sun poked in and out of the clouds and the tree lines. The base was busy, new buildings going up, new recruits were arriving at the spaceport and others leaving for their next assignment. The Senate wanted to rotate out a good portion of soldiers of Taris to minimize any spies Stalk and ‘the General’ might have in our ranks. When I arrived at the shop Alten greeted me with a warm hello.

“I heard of your adventure Mr. Dimbo.”

”With the rakghouls? Oh it’s all in a days work on Taris.” I replied.

“Oh that too,” he laughed, “I was referring to the range with my daughter. She told me she had a good time and is becoming quite a shot.”

“Oh thank you sir, I’m glad she had a good time, I was hoping we could do it again sometime, perhaps now?”

“Well yes, yes of course, but first I have something for you.” He moved over to a cabinet behind the main counter. “After your recent encounter with the rakghouls, I acquired these just for you. They should be perfect for keeping the rakghouls at a better distance away from you.”

Alten reached down and pulled out a plain white box and handed it to me.

“What is it?” I asked and I set it down on the counter.

“Open it,” he replied.

I opened the box and inside were a pair of boots, similar to the ones I wore now. White military grade with a compartment for a small blaster on the right and a food and water ration in the other. These boots however had one small difference, attached to both boots were small sonic devices used to knock anyone in close radius to the wearer back.

“I’ve heard about these boots, Alten, but no one had been able to get the blast radius right, do they work?

“Of course, my good friend I tested them myself,” he replied.

“But where? How did you get them?” I questioned.

“I traded for them,” he said “An experimental engineer came into town this morning and I just couldn’t pass them up. They work, I tested them myself. The guy said he’d been trying to sell the idea to the Republic for sometime but couldn’t get approved for field test because of funding problems due to the war. I told him I knew just the soldier for the job.” While Alten spoke I looked over the boots, they seemed safe enough.

“Try them on Dimbo,” Alten said.

I took off my old boots and put the new ones on. I adjusted the size for a snug fit and walked back and worth in front of the counter.

“Let’s go out back and try them out,” Alten said. He led me out the back of his shop where he had six barrels of water set up in a circle. “Stand in the middle,” Alten said.

I walked over into the circle.

“Download this program into your wrist holo,” Alten said and handed me a datapad. I did and a command prompt showed up on my holo display. Alten took cover back in the doorway and said, “Hit it!”

I was a little nervous, I didn’t feel like spending the rest of the day soaking wet or worse spend it in the infirmary because I got knocked on my head. I braced myself for an impact I was sure was coming and pressed the command button. A pulse wave erupted from my boots knocking back all the barrels of water a good eight to twelve feet. I didn’t even get wet. The barrels exploded with water against the back of Alten’s shop.

“Wow, these things are great!” I said.

“And they run off the same power packs as your blaster rifle,” Alten said.

“Well, Alten, how much do I owe you?”

“Dimbo my friend, they are a gift.”
I shook my head, “No my friend, I cannot accept them, you have done to much for me already.”

Alten started to argue but he could see in my eyes, that I wasn’t budging. We settled on a price and I paid him. The boots would be a good upgrade to my current arsenal.

Lechelle came outside smiled at me and Alten walked back inside in shop.

“Hello Dimbo, it’s good to see you again,” she said.

“It’s good to see you also, I was hoping we could hang out today, go to the range or what not.” I thought to myself ‘please say yes.’

“Well actually I heard they opened up the cantina in the space port with a new music act. It sounded like fun, if you feel like dancing.”

“That sounds perfect, when do you want to go?” I asked.

“Let me grab my things.” She went back inside the shop.

Taris part 10

Taris part Ten

Zotta and I quickly turned toward the door of ‘the commanders’ bunker. When I opened it we heard a strange siren noise as we exited the bunker. I turned to look at the top of the bunker and there was a mini transmitter dish producing the noise we were hearing.

“What does it do?” I asked Zotta.

T7 had moved inside the walls of the camp and wheeled himself over to us. He showed me the scans of Rakghouls approaching. There wasn’t much time, we needed a way out. As I looked around Zotta said, “The transmitter must be attracting the Rakghouls.”

I looked at Zotta. “I guess this is the surprise Commander Stalk had planned for us.” I told T7 to get the main doors on the camp closed, “That should keep the rakghouls out long enough for us to find a way out of here.”

I made my way over to a cargo hauler. Then suddenly Zotta yelled, “Watch out!” The Jedi jumped next to me, force pulled T7 toward us and the walls around the camp exploded, with me and my companions in the middle of the camp. The explosion was monstrous; Zotta enclosed us in a force bubble that prevented us from being burned alive. But even in the bubble I could hear the rakghouls howling and growling; they were waiting for us.

In the commotion I noticed Zotta had also used the force to grab the transmitter dish. “If you could be so kind as to turn off the transmitter Leftenant.” Said the Jedi, straining to keep his force bubble shielding us.  A quick blaster bolt made short work of the transmitter.  I took it and had T7 stash it in one of his storage compartments. It might come in handy later.

Once the smoke cleared we could see what was left of the walls that would have helped protect us from the Rakghouls. The Rakghouls were all around. We had our work cut out for us. Zotta dropped the force bubble drew his lightsaber, igniting its blue blade. T7 lowered a compartment shield to expose his blaster and opened another compartment that held a mini flamethrower. My companions knew we were in for a fight.

The rakghouls, despite the transmitter being shut off, were still coming toward us. The noise that the transmitter dish had made must have pissed them off enough that they were coming, explosion or not. The sounds of the transmitter dish had brought the biggest rakghouls I had ever seen; bigger then the ones I faced just days before. These stood six to eight feet tall, had greenish gray skin, razor sharp claws on both hands, vicious long teeth, and they were foaming at the mouth ready for battle. They closed the distance between us in seconds. Zotta forced leaped into the middle of the group slicing down two of the beasts when he landed. He then force pushed one beast into another in an attempt to control the rate at which they advanced. T7 used his jet pack to hover above a group that had rushed him spraying them with fire and finishing them off with a blaster shot.

Seeing my companions flow so easily into combat empowered me. I launched two grenades into a group of rakghouls on the other side of Zotta, careful not to give my companions anything else to worry about.

With a group this large the best tactic was to slow them down. Zotta was doing a good job at that and with my added barrage of blaster fire, our enemies slowed their advance. However, the number of rakghouls was overwhelming. How much longer could we keep this up? I continued to shoot at the rakghouls and they fell one by one, carefully placing grenades as needed. Zotta, still slicing through the rakghouls, used the force to grab pieces of debris and hurled them at the incoming enemies.

It seemed as though we had been in combat for hours, but it had only been a few minutes. Time slows down in battle and there isn’t a lot to think about other than staying alive and keeping your friends that way also. I’d say we had killed thirty to forty of the monsters judging by the bodies that surrounded us. T7’s scanners had picked up at least fifty initially and there were at least that many left now. They had us surrounded and were closing in. Unless a miracle happened we were not going to last much longer. To die in battle didn’t scare Zotta or I.  I could feel his strength flowing through my body. We fought bravely together and the bond formed on the battle field could never be broken. We were no longer Jedi and soldier, or friends, he was no longer my subordinate; we were now brothers.

From my left a big, ugly, grey rakghoul lunged at me. I drew my vibroblade, stabbed it under the chin into its brain and flung it on the ground next to me. The rakghouls had corralled us back to back to back and then just as the rakghouls closed in and it looked liked all was lost, a Republic transport ship flew up from the horizon. The doors on the side of the ship opened and pointing right at us were two very large assault canons. They started shooting to my left and right, clearing away what was left of the rakghouls that had surrounded the three of us. I was relieved. I’m not sure we would have made it out alive if that ship hadn’t shown up when it did. The sounds of the transport’s engines and seeing their kin fall in the battle caused the remaining rakghouls to scatter back into the forest.

The transport raised me on my holo audio only. “This is Airbird zero-five, calling Havoc…come in Havoc.”

“This is Havoc, so nice of you boys to show up. Thank you!” I replied.

“We saw the explosion sir, figured we’d come check it out. What’s this about Stalk going rogue? We got a message from your T7 droid.”

“Can you set down and give us a lift back to base?” I asked.

“WILCO,” the pilot replied.

They set the bird down about 100 yards away. Zotta, T7 and I made out way over to the door of the open transport, climbed in the cab and the door sergeant gave the order to take off. I put on a head set and said, “Thanks again. You guys really saved our hides back there.”

The flight back to base gave me a different vantage point of Taris. I could see out the windows of the transport and high above the trees. I could see wild life roaming and the large ruins of what must have once been the upper city. I spoke to the door sergeant and pointed to a ruin. “What’s that?”

“Oh, that’s the old hospital. Some say they found a cure for the Rakghouls disease there hours before the Sith destroyed the planet.”

Interesting, I thought. “And that looks like an old ship?” It wasn’t far from where I found Lechelle and her parents days before.

“Oh, that’s the Endire Spire. She went down prior to the Sith bombardment too.”

We continued our flight back to base and as I looked around at the 300 year old destruction I realized something; this planet has a lot of healing left to do, and I can only hope that my time here on Taris will help with some of that.

Taris part 9

Taris part Nine

I woke up early that next morning well rested and in a fantastic mood after the events of the previous day. Zotta was meditating next to his bunk. I got up, showered, dressed and thought about yesterday. Lechelle and I had spent the majority of the day at the range. I taught her how to aim, shoot, and the difference between cover and concealment. She was a natural gunslinger. Afterwards, I walked her home and her dad gave me the food rations I requested and said he had a surprise for me. He brought out four cryo grenades and placed them in my hands.

“For saving my family,” Alten said.

“Thank you.” I knew better then to refuse the gift. He worked fast to get these for me; less then two days in the camp and he had already managed to acquire military grade cyro grenades that even the republic didn’t have stocked on Taris. He went inside and Lechelle and I were left alone. She thanked me for the day, gave me a hug, pulled back and smiled. Then she went inside. I smiled the whole way back to my bunk.

But today I needed to stay focused. Today was about beginning my search to find ‘The General.’ As if sensing my mood Zotta “awoke” from his mediation.

“Good morning, Leftenant. I trust you got a good night sleep?”

“Yes, and I’m not a ‘Leftenant’ anymore. I got my armor fixed,” I said as I flashed my wrist piece in his direction for effect.

“Very good then. Let’s get some chow before we start, Leftenant,” he laughed and walked out in front of me.

Over breakfast we talked about our first move. “I think the best lead we have is Captain Stalk. Let’s go talk to him and see where that leads us.”

“That sounds like a great idea my friend,” Zotta replied.

I heard some beeping going on behind me so I turned to look. T7 was approaching with the tech I had given him to.

“He’s all set LT, we just need your access code to connect him to the republic mainframe. Security sweep was negative, and it looks like you’ve got yourself one fine droid here.”

“Well thank you very much.” I input my code into the technician’s console and he nodded and walked away. “Glad to have you back little buddy.” T7 beeped with excitement.

“Ok, let’s go have a chat with Captain Stalk,” I said to T7 and Zotta.

If only it had been that easy. Zotta and I were riding on speeders down the main road toward the forward camp Taris Kilo three in hopes of finding Captain Stalk. We were both on separate speeder bikes with T7 on the back of Zotta’s speeder. Suddenly, about a click or two out from the outpost, Zotta thrust his hand in my direction and I went flying off my speeder. I managed to stand up right as I saw a missile explode into my speeder bike. Zotta had turned into the tree line of the jungle, he dismounted and made his way over to me.

“Glad you are still in one piece” Zotta said.

“Yeah my butt is sore, but the rest of me is thankful you pushed me off when you did. Who shot at us? The pirates maybe?” I asked the Jedi.

“No Leftenant, that came from Stalk’s outpost. Apparently he is mad you blew up his serum, or maybe he didn’t like the color pattern on your speeder.”

“Maybe both,” I replied. “Well looks like I’m going to get to see that blue blade of yours in use this time. We are getting into that outpost one way or another.” Zotta nodded and we set out toward the outpost on foot.

We stayed clear of the main road after the welcoming present they had sent out. My companions and I approached the outpost from the backside and made our way around the parameter. They knew we were coming and had locked down the entire outpost. We could hear some of the guards talking. They were working for ‘The General’ now, and their orders were to kill me on sight.

T7’s scanners were running, but other than the fifty plus men inside the outpost he wasn’t reading anything out of the ordinary. I was sure Stalk was still in the camp. His command tent has been replaced with a mini bunker with more guards around it than the gates and parameter. There was no way around it; we were going to have to fight our way in to get to Stalk.

I positioned myself near the Northwest corner and Zotta at the Northeast, the best points of insertion to quickly take out the gun turrets that made the four corners of the outpost. Using hand signals I counted down our attack. The plan was simple, take out the four turrets then make our way to command bunker. Once inside, get the information needed out of Stalk. I just wish it was going to be that easy. I signaled “3…2…1.”

Zotta forced leaped on to the top of the turret and sliced the barrel in two, and then he impaled it for good measure and deflected the bolts of the Southeast turret back onto itself. I launched two grenades onto the closest turret and made my way to the wall to be out of sight of the Southwest turret. Zotta force pushed a cargo hauler toward me. I climbed up on it and used it to jump over the wall. We were both inside the outpost now with a platoon of men and one more turret between us and Captain Stalk’s bunker.

Zotta’s blade sliced through the air deflecting bolts and moving him closer to our objectives. I followed in his wake, taking out the now traitor soldiers, with a barrage of blaster fire. Once I was in range I launched two more grenades at the last turret and it exploded. We moved back to back through the sea of blaster bolts and bodies, closer to the bunker. I launched and threw grenades to take out clusters of troops. Zotta was deflecting blaster bolts, only a few soldiers were stupid enough to approach him with a viroblade and they became cushion under our feet. A few of the soldiers had taken up positions on top of the walls in an attempt to snipe us down. I continued with my barrage of blaster fire, and Zotta returned the attacking fire back to our attackers who then fell to their deaths.

When we reached the bunker only a few guards remained in the fight. Some pressed on with their attack defending their commander to the death while others, the smarter ones, turned tail and ran. We reached the door of the bunker and found it open. We went inside into a small room, lights lit but empty, nothing in the room but the same holo Stalk had let me use just days before.

Zotta shut the door behind us and the holo flickered on. A blue and white holo image of Captain Stalk appeared, “Lieutenant, it’s so good to see you alive, and I see you brought your pet Jedi with you.”

“Kriff off!” I said.

“Now, now, Lieutenant, if you’re mean I won’t tell you about the surprise I have for you,” he smiled.

“Where are you ‘Captain?’” I said sarcastically.

“I am very safe and very far away from your location. ‘The General’ wanted to express his thanks for blowing up his supply of serum, but we’ll get to that,” Stalk said.

“Listen Captain…” I started.

“It’s actually Commander now. Serving the Empire has its benefits.”

“Empire? So that’s who made the serum for you. What did you hope to gain?” Zotta replied.

“Yes Jedi, you’ve found us out. I switched sides long ago, and I was nearly done collecting enough Republic supplies to cripple the Republic here on Taris allowing the Imperial operation here to get started with everything it needed.”

“Imperial operation? What’s your end game?” I asked.

“That’s not your concern, not that you will be around to figure it out anyway.” He was smug in his answer and suddenly I realized this was a trap. He knew we would start looking for ‘the General’ here and moved elsewhere a long time ago probably moments after I left just days before.

“Leftenant, we must go, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Zotta said.

My holo rang, T7 sending a message, “Thanks buddy,” I replied. “Zotta, there are fifty or more Rakghouls headed for this camp we need to move.”

“Enjoy Lieutenant, I look forward to never seeing you again.” The ‘Commander’ smiled and the transmission cut off.

taris part 8

Taris Part Eight

            The security hologram stood in front of me and I spoke, “Confirm; alpha, one, seven, hotel, foxtrot, Lieutenant Dimbo, Havoc squad.”

“Command confirmed; only voice command allowed until further notice.”

“Now T7, let’s find out where you came from,” I said eyeing the little droid. Zotta and I walked over to T7 who tried to wheel away, but all the doors were secured and any terminals the droid could have accessed had been locked out for the time being.

“Sierra, confirm astromech droid in briefing room,” I said.

“Confirmed. Model T series astromech droid designated T7-03.”

“Planet of origin?” Zotta spoke up.

“Planet of origin Corellia,” the Hologram said. I placed my damaged holo on a scanning terminal, “Sierra, download all holo messages received in the past week and show on the display screen.”

“Download in progress….Data corrupted, showing all available data.”

There were only a couple of files; some messages from Moss and the two from the sergeant from the supply run. The protocol droid that gave me T7 had said the transfer papers were in my holo. I selected the message.

“Play selected message,” I said.

“Confirm play message. Notice, some data is corrupt.” A distorted holo image of a Rodian appeared.

“Moss?” I said surprised.

“You know this Rodian?” Zotta asked.

“Yeah he is, well like my father,” I said. The recording spoke, cutting in and out.

“Dimbo, this astromech droid is for you. It’s a gift from me. I had a friend in the republic upload all the files and protocols it will need to assist you on your missions. All you need to do is hook it up into a republic mainframe and input your authorization code to activate it. I hope this droid can help you on your journey. Know that I miss you and can’t wait for you to visit.”  The recording ended and the holo of Moss disappeared. I took a minute to think. Where did Moss get the money for an astromech droid? Zotta sensed my emotion but stayed quiet.

“Okay little buddy, you’ve been good to me so far. I’m going to send you in for a security sweep and then you’ll be good to go. Does that sound ok?”

T7 beeped in affirmation.

“Sierra, cancel security protocol and stand down. Confirm kilo india four ice,” I said.

“Command confirmed, shutting down.” The security holo disappeared as the doors to the briefing room opened. I signaled for a repair technician to come to the briefing room. When he arrived I told him to have a full security screening done on T7; not to wipe his memory, just confirm he was republic and didn’t have any tracking or monitoring devices. Once completed, I asked him to bring the droid to me. The tech saluted and T7 rolled away with him. I turned to look at Zotta. He laughed and said, “Am I next?”

I laughed with him. “Don’t tempt me,” I said. “Where do we start?”

The best place it seemed to start was with Captain Stalk, but I was unsure of the reception we would receive once we arrived. The General was right, this mission could take sometime and after the day Zotta and I just had, I figured this mission wasn’t going anywhere. The both of us could use the rest of the day off to rest up for a fresh start tomorrow.

“Zotta I’m going to the range. Let’s start the search tomorrow. We are both tried and could use the day off before we embark on the planet wide search for ‘The General.’”

“Agreed Leftenant. I’m going to meditate. If you need me just call my holo,” Zotta said and then turned to walk away.

“Zotta, why do you keep calling me that?”

“Because Leftenant, that’s what it says right there on your sleeve, ‘Leftenant’,” he smiled and walked away.

“Are you kriffing kidding me?!?” It did say ‘Leftenant’. Did the Republic have some imperial putting ranks on armor these days? I couldn’t believe it. First stop to get my armor rebranded second was to find Lechelle, and third, hit the range.

While I waited for the tailor to rebrand the sleeve portion of my trooper armor, I took a good inventory of my utility belt and armor set. I had picked up a new holo in the command center. I had various grenades, flash, plasma, therma, frac, sonic and stun. They weren’t standard issue, but during my time in the service, my experience had changed my definition of standard issue. I kept a slicing kit, four extra charge packs for my rifle, ten kolto packs, military grade, and a side arm blaster modified for a quick draw and an even faster trigger. But my main asset is my rifle. She was loaded with eight frac grenades and had a reinforced stock in case I had to get up close and personal. She also had a hidden compartment with two extra charge packs; I never wanted to find myself without a charged rifle, especially not after what happened on Ord Mantell

My armor was heavy for the first month or so, but now it was like a second skin. I rarely remembered I had it on, unless I’m getting shot at. Then I’m thankful I do. It’s white with orange havoc squad markings and a good amount of battle scars. I keep it up well and I’m very proud of my armor: it had saved my life a couple of times in my 9 years in the service. I paid the tailor and thanked him for the rapid fix, loaded up all my gear, and headed out into the spaceport. I could use a couple food rations packs for my utility belt and I thought I knew where I could find them.

I asked around and found out where Lechelle and her folks had setup shop. Lechelle saw me coming and ran up to see me. She signed hello with her lekku then started to speak, “Hello!”

“Hello Lechelle. It’s great to see you again. I’ve got some time off this afternoon and was wondering if you had time to go to the range.”

taris part 7

Taris Part Seven

I walked into the briefing room. It was just me, T7, and Zotta. The holo screen in the middle of the room flickered on as if on cue. General Garza and a robed figure with his face covered appeared before us.

“Lieutenant, I read your report. Great work on exposing the General’s plot with the serum,” Garza said firmly.

“Thank you, General. I couldn’t have done it without T7 and Zotta here, they were both invaluable,” I replied.

“Ah yes, Lieutenant,” the cloaked being spoke. “It appears as though you and my apprentice, Zotta, work well together.”

“We do, Master….?” I said hoping to discover the mysterious person’s identity.

“I’m sorry Lieutenant, but I will not be able to reveal myself at this time. Perhaps when you find yourself on Coruscant.” I shook my head; more secrets.

Zotta spoke to me, “Dimbo, this is my master. I can assure you the secrecy is only for his and the Order’s safety.”

“Okay, Master Jedi. If Zotta is good taking orders from a masked holo, I can too… for now.”

“Oh Lieutenant, it isn’t you that will be doing the following. We are assigning Jedi Knight Zotta to work under you as a member of Havoc squad,” General Garza said.

“Under me? Isn’t he like a General or something?” I was shocked. I enjoyed working with Zotta, but I didn’t realize we’d be teaming up for more missions. “Plus, security detail for supply runs seems a bit out of a secret Jedi society’s league.”

“Lieutenant, I didn’t send you to Taris to play security guard. That was simply your cover. We have had our suspicions about the General for sometime. I wanted to see if they had any legs. I just didn’t realize you would uncover it on your first day. You and the Jedi have worked well together; it only makes sense,” Garza told me.

“Wait, why does everyone keep calling him ‘the General’? Doesn’t he have a name?” I said looking at the two holos and then to Zotta.

“His name was classified at one point for his and his projects’ safety. That was years ago. It was so secret it was forgotten or deleted; no one knows who he really is.  He had been loyal to the Republic until he became head of research for the rakghoul purge. When it got turned down no one really heard from him and he had just recently turned up back on Taris,” The Jedi Master told us.

“Okay General Garza, what’s my new mission?” I asked.

“Your cover as a supply runner is no longer needed. The General will no doubt know you are after him and will go into hiding. Your mission is to find him and capture him. Bring him to Coruscant for trial. This is not an easy assignment, Lieutenant and it could take some time. The General has a loyal following on Taris and there will be those that try to get in your way. You and Jedi Knight Zotta are to complete this mission then report to Coruscant with the General and await your next mission. Any questions?”

“Just one; who do I thank for the T7 droid?” I asked.

“T7? I didn’t issue any droid to work with you, Lieutenant. If that is all, Garza out.” Zotta bowed to his Master as the holo flickered off. I was left in the room with T7 and Zotta.

A lot had just happened. I received a new mission, and Zotta was part of my team, I had just spoke to a Jedi so secret I couldn’t know his name or see his face and then there was the fact that T7 didn’t come to me through any official channels.

“Zotta, What do you think of all this? Are you okay working under me?” I asked the Jedi.

“Leftenant, it was my idea. As I told you before I believe the force has brought us together. I am a servant of the Force, the Order, and the Republic. I will follow you, and fight along side you until the Force shows me a different path. Plus, we make a pretty good team, don’t you think?” He smiled while saying the last sentence.

“That I do, friend,” I smiled.

I was happy to have him along with me. I knew he would watch my back and he had already proven to be a wise and dependable companion. I walked over to a computer terminal and punched in a security command. There was just one more thing to take care of before we could get started.

“Security protocol engaged. I am Sierra-Papa Zero-nine, please confirm.” A hologram appeared of a security program droid.

Taris part 6

Taris Part Six

“Well, this was a great idea,” I mumbled to myself under my breath as I started back toward the camp. The charges we had rigged had failed to blow and it was still up to me to destroy that serum.

When I arrived back at the camp I was able to penetrate the defenses once again in no time. I had to hide from a couple of patrols, but managed to get back to the storage tent without any problems. I double checked the charges on the crate of serum and found the problem: one of the wires was old and wasn’t making good contact. I wasn’t going to take any chances this time. I pulled a thermal detonator from my utility belt and set it to blow in ten minutes. I figured that should give me plenty of time to get out of the camp.

On my way out of the camp I was forced to use a different route because of a sentry patrol on the path I had used before. I hid between two tents so I could get a good look at the path I would need to take before I could exit the camp. I checked that the path was clear, stepped out from behind my cover, and immediately heard sirens go off and a saw red light blinking.

“Stang!” I must have set off an alarm. I could have tried to made a break for the tree line, but it was too far. I’d get shot down if their sentries made it here in time. I hid behind a crate and waited for the pirates of this camp to come.

Six men came around the corner armed with blasters and rifles. They didn’t look like much. I tossed a flash grenade and opened fire while surprise was still on my side. If I could just hold them off a minute or two more, the explosion of the serum should be enough distraction for me to get away.

Two of the looters dropped their guns when the flash bomb went off covering their eyes and screaming, “I can’t see, I can’t see!” The four others opened fire on me, hitting the crate I was hiding behind. I launched a second grenade at the looters and three more men went down. The other two had finally picked up their weapons, but were shooting blind. The three remaining looters were soon joined by ten more. Just as the thirteen men started to open fire on me, the explosion went off and lit up the night sky. The pirates couldn’t help but turn to look.

“We’re under attack!” some yelled, while others shouted, “Our stuff! All of our loot!” Some of them even ran over to the explosion site forgetting all about me. I sprinted to the tree line, into the night and the looters never even noticed.

I showed up at the main road to find my companions, Zotta and T7, safe, but Lechelle and her parents were no where in sight.

“Where…?” I started.

“It’s ok, Leftenant. I called a shuttle to come get them and transfer them back to the spaceport base. They are good men and I know they will set them up with a place to stay for the time being. They are safe,” Zotta assured me. “Now what of the serum? I saw a big explosion back there.” He pointed in the direction of the pirates’ camp.

“Well Zotta, as you know and as my report will note, we got the civilians to safety and then I went back to secure the serum to bring back to the Captain. However, I was attacked by the looters and the serum was destroyed in the fire fight. Tough break really…” I smiled at my new friend.

“Ah yes, Leftenant, that is what I recall as well.”

We got on our speeder bikes and headed for the base camp. T7 could deliver our report to Captain Stalk via holo. It was almost dawn and we needed rest.

Zotta woke me around 8am. I had fallen into my rack when we arrived in the barracks and fell asleep almost instantly. I was used to getting only a few hours of sleep, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t still tired.

“We have a briefing with General Garza and my Master.”

“Great, do we have time for chow first?” I asked. Zotta nodded. I got up and got dressed, hoping that my second day on Taris would be easier then the first.

I decided we should walk to the Mess hall, hoping it would give me a chance to look around for Lechelle. I couldn’t wait to see her again. I hoped to get know her better.

Walking through the base camp was uneventful. I watched the busy people going about their daily routine; workers, soldiers, and vendors, all busy with their own duties.

Zotta and I arrived at the Mess hall. It was probably the third biggest building in the camp after the Spaceport and the Command center. It was used to feed all the soldiers and Republic workers stationed here on Taris. When we went inside and I smelled the food, I realized just how hungry I was. In all the excitement yesterday I hadn’t eaten since the shuttle ride. I got a big plate of food that reminded me of home at Moss’ diner, and then washed it all down with a glass of blue milk.

After we finished eating, I took some stim tea to go. Zotta and I walked out of the mess toward the Command center and about halfway there I saw her. She looked like a dream; rested now and not scared for her life, she had a certain calm about her. She ran over to us. She was still as beautiful as the first time I saw her.

“We still have a few minutes, Leftenant,” Zotta said knowingly as he walked away to leave us alone. Lechelle was wearing simple clothes; brown pants, and a yellow shirt with a light brown vest to match. She smiled at me.

“Hello Lechelle. How are you and your folks doing?”

“Good morning, Dimbo! We are great thanks to you and Master Zotta,” she replied as I smiled. “Dad got us set up with a shop to sell out of and we are staying in a compound just outside the base.”

“I’m glad to hear you are all well. I’m really sorry, but I have to go report for a briefing,” I told her.

“It’s okay, I just wanted to ask you for a favor,” She smiled as she spoke to me.

“Anything Lechelle.” I was eager to spend more time with her, no matter the task.

“Could you teach me how to shoot? I’ve only ever handled a blaster a few times and Taris is a scary place. I don’t want what happened to us before to happen again.”

“Sure thing, I’d be glad too, but no one is going to hurt you as long as I am around. I’ll come find you later today. I have to get to my briefing, I’ll see you later.”

“Thank you Dimbo,” she said. I waved and walked to the command center.

Taris part 5

Taris Part Five

We followed the trail for three clicks into the jungle, south of where the haulers had been hit. We found tracks of ten men, six of which were carrying crates of supplies. As we followed the trail, I looked around us and still couldn’t get over the beauty of the jungle among the ruins of what used to be city. Wildlife had reclaimed this planet. I doubted Taris would ever be the “gem” the republic wanted to return it to.

We reached a camp just after dark; this is where the tracks had ended so this was where we would most likely find the supplies. The defensive systems were solid enough to keep out rakghouls and the wild life, but a Jedi and a trooper like me didn’t have any problem getting by them. They had standard perimeter alarms and generators, no doubt looted from republic supplies, a half dozen probe droids patrolling the boundaries, and a few sentries doing their best to stay awake; definitely not a military operation. We left T7 at the perimeter and continued into the camp.

Zotta used some Jedi distraction to get us past a couple of choke points, which allowed us to easily make it to what appeared to be the main storage tent. It was our best guess on where the supplies would be.

We entered the tent and found it to be empty of people, but found both the missing food rations and the serum. The food containers had been opened, but the serum appeared to be untouched. We had to decide whether to fight our way out with the serum which would slow us down, or destroy it and quickly make our way out of the camp.

It was late and the camp was quiet. My mind began to wander as I thought over the decision.

“Dimbo, we are not alone,” Zotta said quietly.

In the far corner of the tent was a cage with three Twi’leks inside. They were looking at us, probably wondering if they should shout out to the guards or not. I walked over to them and the older male Twi’lek put himself between me and the two females.

“It’s okay, I’m not here to hurt you,” I told him. “Who are you?”

“My name is Alten and this is my wife and daughter. We were captured by these pirates shortly after we arrived on Taris. We are traders, or we were anyway. All is lost now. These pirates stole all of our supplies and plan on selling us into slavery.”

“Listen, my name is Dimbo. I’m a member of the Republic armed forces. My friend Zotta and I are going to get you out of here.”

Zotta walked over to cell drew his lightsaber and cut through the lock.

“Thank you! Oh, thank you!” Alten said.

“Everyone stay quiet. We have a mission to complete before we can get out of here,” I said. “We need to blow up one of these crates.”

“There is a box of marked demolitions in the other corner over there,” the daughter said as she pointed.

“Thank you…” I trailed off hoping she would give me her name.

“Lechelle,” she replied.

“Right, Lechelle.”

She was beautiful. I’d never seen such wonder. She was an inch or two shorter than me, had luscious blue skin, bluer than any ocean, and her lekku hung one behind her back and the other across her chest. I could tell she was afraid, but she had strength in her eyes.

“Okay Leftenant, let’s get to work,” Zotta said, bringing me back down to Taris. “Are you sure you want to destroy this serum?”

“I’m sure I’m not going to let the General hurt anymore people,” I told my Jedi friend. Zotta walked over to the demolition crate as I approached the crate with the serum. I opened the crate and took out one small vial; we needed proof for Zotta’s mission and for evidence against the General. I placed the vial in my utility belt and helped Zotta rig the charges he had found.

“How are we going to get out of here?” Lechelle asked.

“The same way we got in,” I replied. “Nice and easy. When we are far enough away I’m going to detonate the charge and that will be enough of a distraction for us to get away.”

“Mr. Dimbo, could we take some of these food rations with us?” Alten asked. “We will need something to get our business back up and running.”

“That’s okay with me. Take all you can carry, but we need to be able to move quickly.”

Alten’s wife, Lynnda, found some backpacks and the three of them loaded them to the brim.

“I can carry one of those too,” I told Alten.

“As can I,” Zotta spoke. Between the five of us we were able to carry enough supplies for the Twi’lek to have an alright start on Taris.

We went out the back of the tent. I took point in front, with Zotta at the rear. We ran quickly across the camp. A few minutes later we meet up with T7 at the camp’s defensive perimeter.  We were far enough away now to detonate the charges. I told Lechelle and her parents to take cover, just in case. I pressed the detonator button and nothing. Nothing happened, no explosion.

“This is unfortunate my friend,” Zotta said to me.

“Okay everyone, listen up. Zotta is going to take you back to the main road. Wait for me there.”

Apparently Alten and his daughter had found a couple of blasters while they were gathering up supplies. Alten quickly pulled two blasters out of his pack and handed one to Lechelle. Apparently she was handier with a blaster then her mother.

“We will be safe with the Jedi,” Alten said firmly.

“I’m going to go back and detonate the charges myself. I’ll meet up with you guys soon,” I told the group.

“Dimbo,” Zotta said speaking so only I could hear. “This is too dangerous for you to do alone, I must go with you.”

“No my friend, you must take care of these civilians. I will complete our mission and catch up with you in plenty of time. You won’t even know I’m gone.” Then I spoke in a whisper, “Keep them safe Zotta, keep her safe.”

I looked at Lechelle one more time as Zotta nodded. Alten took my pack of supplies and the four of them disappeared into the night.

Taris Part 4

Taris Part Four

“Captain,” I said as he approached the tent. “I’m Lieutenant Dimbo with Havoc squad and this is Jedi Knight Zotta. We’ve just arrived in your camp with the supplies.”

“I’m very aware of who you are Lieutenant. I was informed of your arrival, though I didn’t think your first mission would be incomplete,” he said facing away from me. He turned around to look me in the eyes. He stood straight, a clean-cut officer. I imagine this was as close to the front lines he had been or would go. His uniform was clean pressed and he spoke with the notion that we were beneath him. “The General has been informed of what transpired in the jungle and is aware of the fact that a case of medical supplies is missing.”

“And two cases of food rations,” I added.

“Yes, yes, that too. The General and I are more concerned with the medical supplies. Those were not just your everyday kolto packs. They contained an experimental serum designed to assist with the fighting the rakghouls on Taris.”

“Experimental serum? I’m not sure I understand,” I replied.

Zotta chose this moment to speak. “The senate banned that serum because of the cost of human life. The serum was being smuggled as regular kolto packs, but it is actually an illegal substance. The serum is injected in a human host, then that host is dropped off into the heart of rakghoul territory. The host is basically feed to the rakghouls so that all of the rakghouls that eat the host will die from the poison in the serum.”

“Correct, Master Jedi,” said Captain Stalk as he stared at Zotta. “The idea is to target the main camps for maximum exposure; it has quite a large kill rate. As far as the senate goes, what happens here on Taris is up to the General and isn’t up for debate.”

“But if the senate banned it from being manufactured then who made it?” I questioned the captain.

“That, also, isn’t your concern. Your mission is to track down the scum that stole the serum and bring it to this camp so I can make use of it.”

“All do respect Captain, I don’t report to you or this illusive ‘General’ you keep referring too. I report to General Garza only,” I said as I started walking away.

“I thought you might say that.” He pushed a button on the holo between us and a hologram of General Garza appeared.

“Lieutenant, you are to assist Captain Stalk in the recovery of the stolen medical supplies.” It was a recorded message so I was unable to respond.

“T7, can you authenticate that message?” He wheeled over to the holo and plugged in after a moment he beeped in conformation.

“There, you see Lieutenant,” the captain said smugly.

“What do you think of all this, Zotta?” He had been quiet since explaining the details of the serum.

“I am but your servant at the present time, Leftenant,” he replied. I could tell by his tone he would have more to say when we were alone.

“Okay Captain, I’ll follow orders and get your serum.”

“And be quick about it. If that scum that looted the serum uses it while not in the heart of rakghoul territory it won’t attract many rakghouls. That would be unfortunate, because it would be a waste of the serum,” the captain said. He smiled as I turned to walk away.

Zotta and I walked out of the command tent and headed for the speeder bikes that had been unloaded from the cargo haulers we arrived on. We didn’t speak as we hopped on the bikes and headed back to the site where the haulers had been hit to track down whoever looted the supplies.

 

It was almost dusk when we arrived at the site. I got off my bike and looked at my new Jedi friend, “Zotta, what’s going on?”

“Dimbo, it’s time I was straight with you on why I’m on Taris in the first place,” he said and then paused before continuing, rubbing his chin he spoke. “I’m a member of a secret Jedi special forces unit who perform the missions that the senate wouldn’t publicly ask of the Jedi.”

“What?” I couldn’t believe what he was saying. “I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

“Ah well, it is secret. It’s much like your havoc squad. Only a few members of the council know of its existence,” Zotta explained.

Zotta went on to explain that he had been sent here to find this serum, confirm its existence and destroy it. I paced back and forth while he spoke taking all of this information in. First learning of the existence of this illegal serum, now learning of this secret Jedi unit; it was all a little overwhelming.

“The force has brought us together, Leftenant. We are to complete this mission together.”

“This mission? Yours is to destroy the serum, mine is to recover it so Captain gundark back there can sacrifice innocent beings to kill a few rakghouls. How can we do both?” I replied. I was confused on whether to follow my orders or do what I knew was right.

“Dimbo, this is your mission and I believe our paths have crossed for some reason more than this serum. You must decide what is right and I will follow with what you decide.”

I looked at him for a minute studying my new companion, my new friend.

“Ok, well first we have to find the looters that took these supplies before they get themselves killed.”