Chapter 2

Hades Ortul opened the plasteel container and shifted though the contents. Unable to find what he was looking for, he closed the container and made his way out of the cargo bay. At the pilot's station of the KSE Firespray was a mandalorian in his traditional armor.

"We're out of booze," Hades said, taking the seat next to the pilot. "I'm surprised Ordo, you normally never run out of any kind of alcohol.

"Whatever, have you heard of this group called the 'Mandalorian Republic Army?' They sound pretty kriffin' sweet. They just blow stuff up!" Ordo said enthusiastically. Hades let out an exasperated sigh. Just as he put his face in the palm of his right hand, a beeping sound emitted from the dashboard. Waving his free hand casually, a holographic image of an armored Quarren appeared on a small pedestal that jutted up from the center console.

"Hey Jessek!" said Ordo, happily to the image. Hades released another sigh, and returned his face to his palm.

"Hades and Ordo, we are about to enter the system right now," Jessek said. As soon as the last word was spoken, a medium-sized gunship shot out from the black of space and hurtled toward the planet.

"Meet my group at Katraasii Starport," Jessek told them. Hades gave a slight nod to the hologram, opening his mouth to speak before being cut off by Ordo giving a noisy shout.

"Let's blow some stuff up and party afterwards!" shouted Ordo, quickly followed by another sigh from Hades. The man turned back to the hologram.

"You can pay me back in booze."

Chapter 1

Jessek awoke with a start. His skin was unusually moist for a Quarren. He pushed his bed sheets away and sat up, looking out the viewport into the mess of blue of hyperspace. The Legacy was underway to the planet of Katraassii in the Outer Rim. They had fought their way through attacking Imperials in the Vergesso asteroids with their rebel friends. Though they had considered their escape successful, Jessek felt only loss. During the escape, a pursuing Star Destroyer had blown a hole in the Legacy. Ailyn Vel had been sucked out into space. Before any rescue could be attempted, the ship had jumped to hyperspace. Weeks passed, and the pain in Jessek's heart grew worse. Until two days ago, Alliance Intelligence received a tip off that Ailyn might be alive on the planet Katraassii. Now they were on their way. Jessek swung his feet over the edge and got up stretching. Slowly, he made his way to the cockpit. The ATAT/i gunship was large enough to house a crew of six and carry up to eight passengers, making it the perfect choice for a pirate vessel.

As the Quarren made his way through the ship, he entered one of the ship's large cargo bays. Inside this particular cargo bay was his own personal starfighter. The unnamed TIE Defender prototype had been stolen on a raid of the Kuat Drive Yards. Underneath the fighter, was a green rodian covered in a light armor. Holstered on both of his hips were a pair of DL-44 blaster pistols. Covering the rodian face, was a large metal face mask. In his hand was a sparking fusion cutter that generated the sparks that fell from the Defender's panel and onto the rodian's armor.

"Jak!" Jessel yelled out to the rodian below. The two antennae at the top of Jak's head twitched in response, and he switched the tool off, causing the flying sparks to stop. Flipping the metal face mask up, Jak looked up at his captain.

"What's up boss?" Jak shouted up.

"How's the ship coming?" Jessek replied.

"She'll be alright," Jak explained. "Just a small scratch on one of her panels." Jessek gave a slight nod, his tentacles twitching in thought.

"Where's everone else?" Jessek asked.

"Sish is in the cockpit, Barbaros is with Tik in the mess, and Kalima is doing whatever it is Force Witches do." Giving another nod, Jessek turned and walked down the catwalk to the door at the far end of the cargo bay. As the door swung open, the sounds of the fusion cutter began once more, only to be cut out of existence as the door slid shut behind him. Continuing past the turret ladder, jessek opened the door to the cockpit and walked in.

Inside the cockpit, a large Trandoshan sat at the controls. Outside, a torrent of swirling blue passed them. As Jessek entered, Sish Sadeet gave an evil grin, revealing the sharp teeth common to his species.

"We are about to come out of hypersspasse boss." He said in his heavily accented Galactic Basic. Jessek took a seat in the chair next to the lizard.

"What's the word on Hades and Ordo?" Jessek said, looking out of the viewport into the hyperspace lane flying past.

"Both are waiting for usss, in sysstem," Sish replied.

"Alright," Jessek said, leaning forward. "Bring us into the Katraassii System."