Well, that was… interesting. What a mess that thing made of my ship. And now, I’m missing out on yet another adventure, with a bandaged leg and a broken ship. Having to say goodbye to Rix again, damn that hurts more than… well anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.
We had just moved the ship with the sublight engines from orbit around Chandrial’s moon to an obrit around the planet. Tam had grown fond of Chandrialian squigs, and there’s no better place to get them than on the homeworld itself. The journey had lasted a few rotations, so I took full advantage to catch up with Rix. I read mother’s letter again with him. I still need time, but I am grateful for his forgiveness.
After going to hell and back, we were finally headed to Batuu. Navi and I were back in the pilot and copilot seats. It was like sliding in to a warm bacta tank of my own after all the stress with Tav and Rix. I had just given Navi the order to engage the hyperdrive when all hell broke lose. He had just activated the hyperdrive when alarms lit up his panel like the skies during the Eye of Aldhani. The ship shuddered, lurched, and then went completely dead.
“Status report, Bi!,” I barked in to the comms.
“Captain… I don’t… everything has gone dark. There was a power spike, but the reactor scrammed automatically.” Bi’s voice wavered. I knew it must be dark in Engineering, and I know she hates the dark.
“Is Quebec with you?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s here. We’re bringing emergency power on now.”
The emergency lights in the ship came online, their red glow casting a very unnerving and eerie light across Navi’s face.
“What the hell was that, Captain? The hyperdrive was functioning perfectly when the crew came back from rescuing Nyar. Luap ran diagnostics while we were bringing Rix and Tav back up to the Mayhem. Everything checked out. It does’t ma–“
He was cut off by the unmistakeable sound of blaster fire.
“Let’s go!” I barked as we both launched ourselves out of our seats.
“Luap, were are you?” I said on the open comm channel.
His reply came with more sounds of gunfire, but as typical of Luap, there was no hint of urgency or alarm in his voice.
“Captain. There’s something onboard. Tam and I have it cornered in the hangar bay.”
“We’re on our way. Bi, get the lights restored. Everyone else, get to the hangar bay.”
When Navi and I reached the hangar, we were shortly joined by the rest of the crew. Luap gave the signal for everyone to keep silent. We quickly fell in to our roles. Having infiltrated some of the darkest corners of the galaxy, whatever it was that waited for us in the hangar did not know what it had coming.
Luap and Werdna took point. As we crept low in to the room, Luap indicated for Nyar, Navi, and Tav to circle around to the opposite side of the storage crates. I made eye contact with Rix, nodded toward the door, and he responded with a nod. While he stood guard, Tam and I followed close behind Werdna, the emergency lighting making visibility in the cavernous room difficult.
We slowly advanced toward the rear of the room, my ears straining for any sound. As quite as I was trying to be, this old body just isn’t what it used to be. While I’d like to think it was a lucky shot, I’m pretty sure it was the creaking of my knee that gave away my position.
Blaster fire erupted from behind a crate, and strick me right in the leg. I cried out in pain. Tam is lucky that he was in front of me, and we’re both lucky that the first shot was lousy. As soon as I was hit, I toppled over taking Tam down with me. The next blaster shot would have taken him square in the head had it been there a second sooner.
At the precise moment the second blaster shot went off, Bi was able to restore power to the lighting system. In an instant, the hangar was flooded with blinding light.
“Captain’s been hit!” cried Werdna. “The shots came from–“
“I see him!” shouted Navi. “Drop it!”
He was pointing his blaster at a Weequay, his beady black eyes dancing between the two groups that had him surrounded. As the Weequay made the choice to try and salvage his bleek situation, he pivoted his blaster toward Luap, arguably the largest of the targets. Luap didn’t even flinch as he squeezed the trigger to his own blaster. There are only two times in my life I can recall Luap missing his shot. This is number three. The bolt struck the Weequay in the hand, causing him to drop the blaster. What happened next, however, will live on in my memory forever.
I cannot say for certain what it was that snapped in Nyar. Maybe it was the stress of being captured, maybe it was seeing a stowaway shoot the captain, maybe it was some deeply rooted childhood trauma with a Weequay. Whatever it was, it shook the crew to its core. The next thing I remember seeing is the Weequay, clutching his throat, gasping for air. Nyar was slowly approaching him, his arm outstretched, his hand clenched in a fist. He was shouting. Luap was running toward him, shouting. Navi was tugging on his shirt, shouting. But it was Rix’s voice that cut through it all.
“Nyar, let him go.” His voice was calm, but commanding. It seemed to snap Nyar out of his fervor, though. The Weequay immediately dropped to the floor, doubled over, choking and rubbing his throat.
“What was that? Were you choking him? How?? What is wrong with you!” yelled Tam.
Nyar looked up at Tam and said, “Well if that isn’t the Quacta calling the Stifling slimy.”
No one found his quip funny. I saw Luap’s grip tighten on his blaster, his finger inching toward the trigger. Everyone’s eyes were on him, wide and disbelieving.
“I’ll be in my quarters,” Nyar mumbled as he quickly left the hangar bay.
I again caught eyes with Rix. He nodded and silently trailed after him.
Turns out, the Weequay was the cause of our hyperdrive failure. Seems as though our saboteur fancied himself a pirate. He was only 17 cycles old. Why he thought the Mayhem was a good target is beyond me. If it weren’t for the fact that he only speaks Huttese, I might even invite him to join the crew. We could always use someone with his nerve. And with his knowledge of ship drives. He was very thorough in his sabatoge. He crippled the Mayhem in a way not easy to find, and has now forced the ship to stay stationed at Chandrila while I await for repairs. The mechanic thinks it will take at least a few weeks. Rix is anxious to get to Batuu. I still find it eerily coincidental that we were headed there anyway. Rix keeps muttering on about Kyber crystals. I promised him I would get him there, and I don’t intend to break that promise.
As luck would have it, the Halcyon is parked here in orbit as well. The passenger liner, owned by the Chandrila Star Line, just happens to be headed to Batuu in a few days. While Rix was willing to take any transport, I know Captain Keevan from a previous “encounter”, and she has “adjusted some schedules” to allow Rix to go. I’ve sent the rest of the crew also, except for Quebec. Even though we were hired by the Resistance to escort Nyar, after everything that we’ve been through, we could all use some rest and relaxation. It didn’t take much convincing. I’ve heard rumor that Hondo Ohnaka has taken up residence at Blackspire Outpost, and he owes Navi credits. Bi and Tav could use some time together away from their duties, and I know he never misses a chance to stop by Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities. I’m even hopeful that Oga can assist Tam with some of his, uh, compulsions. Luap and Werdna, always loyal to the mission, would not want to pass off Nyar’s safe passage to someone else. Though honestly, I think Luap wants to keep an eye on Nyar.
So, here I sit nursing my leg, listening to the crew once again laugh and joke with one another. The Weequay encounter really helped remind us all that we’re not only a crew, we’re a family. Ugh, what a sap I’ve become. I hope no one ever reads these logs.
