A Fresh Start

[Kal Lorn]

The engines of the old HWK-class freighter sputtered to silence followed by the groans of battered landing struts. The stories told by passing transporters didn't prepare Kal for this experience. As a child Kal had dreams of traveling among the stars, but being abandoned at birth led to inevitable slavery. Whenever he was transported from one planet to the next, he spent the trip inside a cargo hold. Well no more. Kal wasn't going to be property any more. He wasn't going to wear that insufferable collar any more. Just as soon as he could get it off.

"Time to move, Doc. We may have disabled this collar's self-destruct protocol, but it probably has a tracking chip. We need to lose it fast." Kal said as he faced his co-pilot. Kal and DK-9 were often the only residents of the mining operation on Cirrus II. Kal's ability to maintain the mining drones kept him firmly planted in the colony. DK-9, or Doc, was a medical droid that was only necessary to keep Kal healthy. Luckily, Kal was able to reprogram Doc to manipulate the slave collar, but if he had taken it off it would have signaled his plans to escape.

The only way on or off the colony was through the infrequent transporters that picked up the raw syntonium crystal. Kal's interaction with the freighters were through docking procedures and casual banter as the crystal was loaded. The crews never left their ship and Kal never left the bay. That was until a brazen smuggler decided to make a small profit cutting out the mining corporation. Kal would never forget how excited he was to interact with someone face-to-face. He would also never forget how scared he was when that smuggler pointed a blaster at him. Kal was forced to hold a small shipment off the books for the smuggler to sell on the black market. Once Kal realized the smuggler operated alone, he devised a plan to escape. Which is what brought him to the famous Hutt moon on a stolen freighter. Nar Shadaa was preprogrammed as the destination and Kal didn't know enough to change the flight controls.

Kal followed Doc to the cramped work space on the ship. Littered with clutter, Kal sat beside the desk and handed Doc a spanner. "Disabling the tracker will take time. I will first remove the collar."

"I don't need a play by play, just get it off." Kal was nervous. How long did he have? How would he get away? Where would he go? Suddenly a light blinked on the comm panel next to him. A hologram appeared in front of him of a scraggly alien that Kal didn't recognize. "Merlo! My friend, you are early."

Kal's heart was beating so fast he thought he would pass out. Kal fought to keep silent. It was over. He was caught.

"Merlo? Are you still angry? Cheris doesn't control the prices. Now quit sulking and come out here." The alien wasn't going to leave.

"This alien must be the buyer for the smuggler's goods. I don't think he can see us." Doc said now holding the collar in his hands. Kal hadn't even noticed it was removed. It should have felt amazing, but Kal couldn't seem to catch his breath. He closed his eyes. He was being overrun by his emotions. He felt trapped. He was out of options. His freedom was fleeting.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in front of a closet. Doc was still standing beside the workbench. He was looking at a change of clothes and immediately swapped out of his rags. A plan was forming in his head.

"Take inventory of what we have on this ship. We'll need credits if we are going to move on." Kal donned a dark-brown jacket with a blue stripe over the shoulders. The jacket apparently had a small blaster concealed. It was now or never.

Exiting the ship, Kal knew he didn't appear formidable. He was average height for a human. His short black hair and thin frame didn't lend to any mystique. He wasn't going to fool anyone if he came on too strong. "Mr. Cheris! It's nice to meet you. I'm K'taal, Merlo's new cargo transporter." Kal tried to display a casual demeanor. This was just another business transaction.

"Merlo didn't mention any partners to Cheris." The alien was beginning to look skeptical.

"Well partners is a bit of a stretch." Kal shot a sly grin to emphasize a calm outlook. "I would say I'm in his employ. Apparently following his recent interactions he realized he needed to expand his business. Of course, this means he is going to organize his business ventures from afar. Merlo is worried the new prices are going to cut into his profits so he has a few extra shipments on their way. That's why I'm here. He wanted me to assure you that he isn't upset and instead wants to keep your relationship intact."

Cheris gave no indication if he was buying it. Kal noticed the comm link in the alien's hand. It wouldn't take more than a second, a few words, and Kal would disappear forever. Kal stared into the eyes of this alien. He felt something stirring. He poured his energy into the alien's gaze. His fear of being captured. His need to believe this story. A fire within Kal urged the alien to accept him.

Suddenly, Cheris opened his arms wide, "Of course! I figured it would only be a matter of time before Merlo found a way to keep the credits flowing. We should have the cargo offloaded in no time. You tell Merlo, next time he comes so we can discuss his new business model in person."

"Of course. I'll pass the message right away. Also, I need to clear some space on the ship so I have a few extra crates to sell. Can you handle that as well?"

It wasn't long before Kal was back aboard the cargo ship. Doc had highlighted all of the excess cargo crates which netted some extra credits. It seemed like they bought a few more minutes of freedom. "Ok, Doc. I'm going to get us some supplies. I won't be gone for long." Doc resumed familiarizing himself with the ship. If they were going to navigate the stars, they would both need to get to know the ship transporting them.

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Kal was lost in a flurry of movement. He had never been in such a busy place. The only motivation was the looming danger of being found and forced back into slavery, or worse. Finally it was time to return to the ship and leave the planet. He found the docking bay and felt reassured to see Doc in the cockpit.

A figure emerged from the shadows and blocked Kal's path to the ship. A Falleen male approached Kal, something was in his hands. Kal didn't like this.

"So Merlo finally got smart and hired someone to deliver his goods for him. Smart for him, not for you." The Falleen didn't look like a welcoming party.

"I'll pass the message to Merlo." Kal didn't have to check behind him, he felt two other figures approach from behind. He just now realized that the docking bay appeared empty aside from the 4 of them. It was now clear what was in his hands. Kal was frozen as he focused on the blaster now pointed his way.

"No, I think we'll pass the message ourselves. We don't want it to be misinterpreted." The Falleen said with a smile on his face.

So close. Kal was so close to freedom.

[Rhoden Carbine]

Rhoden watched as the young man was surrounded. He had been sent to this unfavorable planet to hunt criminals and rebel spies, instead he had found a runaway slave. An interesting development, he may have wasted a full day keeping an eye on the ship but it might just turn out to be worth it assuming the little runaway could be persuaded to join the Empire.

"Take those slimeballs." Rhoden said to the man sitting beside him, Rhoden lifted his rifle and sent a shot tearing into one of the Falleen. Rhoden had already jumped out from his hiding spot and sent three rapid fire bursts into another of the aliens. There was one left, but the kid was between Rhoden's line of fire, he would have to deal with the alien himself.

Distantly Rhoden knew he'd probably be sent packing out of the spaceport in his YT-2000 freighter if the Falleen had any friends lurking around. That would hopefully be a minor issue only.

[Kal Lorn]

Chaos erupted as blaster shots rang through the air. Kal dashed behind some bins to his side. He fumbled in his jacket for the blaster and finally popped out to see the big Falleen in front of him. The hulking alien didn't waste any time to let loose a flurry of blaster shots. Kal dropped back down and crawled to the side. Laying prone he returned fire.

The first shot missed high. The Falleen took aim, but Kal rolled back and popped back up. Slow your breathing. Take aim. Kal fired off two shots and the room fell silent again. The Falleen had slumped over his cover with both shots smoldering his chest. His companions were crumpled on the ground. How did that happen?

Kal didn't have time to analyze the situation. It was apparently time to leave. He started moving towards his ship.

[Rhoden Carbine]

The young man shot the last alien and turned to run up the ramp of his ship, Rhoden slid to a stop directly in front of the boy and turned to face him.

"Well, looks like you're in a spot of trouble." Rhoden said, as Jorvan ran up too. "You see, whoever your former owner was," Rhoden continued, slightly growling the word 'owner'--he idea that anyone could be owned was revolting--"I doubt they'll take kindly to your running off." he finished. "And..." Rhoden let the word hang for half a second "Whoever these goons were I doubt they'll have been alone."

Now, all the kid had to do was say yes and the Empire would have another new recruit, and Rhoden had found new recruits who came from unfavorable backgrounds to be more than fair officers.

"The Empire needs anyone willing to serve, and to be honest, the only difference between the life of an Imperial and the life that lay ahead if you refuse is how many allies you'll have when you're getting shot at." Rhoden raised one eyebrow. "And how many people there are shooting at you."