Star Wars Tyranny on Teth

Chapter 1

"We lost Rieekan!" An exhausted Charles Rhodes yelled to his trusty C1 astromech he called, Hunter. Kirk Rieekan was a lowlife from the lower levels of Coruscant that Rhodes had hired before his last job.

"We are approaching Nar Shaddaa! Drop us out of hyperspace before we get ourselves killed!"

The droid did as he was told, and the Violet Kestrel plunged out of hyperspace.

The Hutt moon of Nar Shaddaa appeared in the viewport as they drifted toward it. Rhodes let out a sigh as he looked down at his fried companion.

"Poor fella managed to electrocute himself," Rhodes muttered. Hunter let out a series of sarcastic beeps as he rolled toward the front of the ship. "I know, I know, you said not to hire him but now is not the time for your 'I told you so'."

As Rhodes said this, a loud whir was heard as the engine started to shut down. The damaged HWK-290 freighter began to hurtle toward the moon below.

Rhodes slammed his fist on his armrest as he shot a glare at the still beeping Hunter. "Just try to get the main thrusters back online or we won't last much longer than Rieekan did."

As Rhodes tried to keep the ship steady, Hunter wheeled his way to the cockpit and began to work on the controls to the thrusters. The Kestrel could be flown by one person, but under these circumstances, a co-pilot would have really helped.

As the Kestrel plummeted into the foggy, polluted atmosphere of Nar Shaddaa, Rhodes grew more and more desperate. He aggressively pulled on the lever that normally activated the thrusters, but the engines continued to lay dormant.

"How can you be so calm?" Rhodes barked at Hunter who was quietly working on the wires that had electrocuted Rieekan. The droid ignored the question as he finished connecting the last wire.

His head turned toward Rhodes as he chirped joyfully. Rhodes pulled the lever again and the thrusters roared to life, preventing the ship from being completely torn apart. Rhodes caught his breath as the ship began to slow down and stabilize itself in the upper atmosphere.

After letting out a sigh of relief, Rhodes hit the thrusters and brought the ship toward the main spaceport of New Vertica. After making contact with the spaceport, he finally found a safe space to land.

The Kestrel clunked down in Bay 9 as the deck officer came out to inspect the heavily damaged ship. The yellow-skinned Zabrak waited as the ship shut down. He stared intently at the door of the freighter as it tried to slide open, eventually falling off the ship completely.

The Zabrak grinned, looking at Rhodes who was staring at his now detached door. "That's going to set you back a bit, my friend. It looks like you took quite a beating," the Zabrak's deep voice boomed.

Rhodes, still standing in the doorway, rolled his eyes as the man began to circle the ship, making notes on his holopad.

"From here, it looks like your hyperdrive and thrusters are completely overheated, your shield array is shot, and your hull's integrity is low. O, and there is the missing door to deal with."

Rhodes hopped down onto the platform with Hunter following behind him. He approached the larger man and looked him in his bright yellow eyes. "Anything you can do?" He asked the deck officer.

The Zabrak let out a dramatic sigh as he stroked one of the various long horns protruding from his head. He eventually shrugged and explained, "Well, I do have a skilled crew of mechanics who could handle the repairs." The Zabrak vigorously tapped on his holopad while he continued to examine the ship.

"Let's see, when you factor in parts and labor, the repairs are going to cost you about 10,000 credits. You are lucky we even have parts for a ship of this age. Oh and I will require an additional 1,000 for the hangar fee."