Saga - Legends Kross Brothers Intergalactic Salvage and Holistic Artifact Retrieval and the Curse of the Jade Hand

Title: Kross Brothers Salvage and Holistic Artifact Retrieval and the Curse of the Jade Hand
Author: Thorn058
Timeframe: 2 ABY
Characters: Carter Kross, Declan Kross, 42, Mara Jade, Talon Karde
Genre: Alternate Universe, adventure serial, OC driven, Saga Legends
Notes: This is the first in a what I hope is at least two maybe more complete stories. It is set in the legends universe but I may include at least one Rogue One location so I guess AU is better. We will see how it goes. As always this is George's sandbox and Disney's I'm just happy to play in it. I really shouldn't write when I am this tired and rush to post, yikes editing galore.
Summary: The Kross brothers get roped into helping Mara Jade "The emperor's hand" on a mission of utmost importance for the Empire. Adventure is almost always assured when ever the crew of the Valkyrie are involved.

Special thanks to Sith-I-5 for giving me the perfect freighter for this story and just proves I need to be more active in the community because help and inspiration can come from anywhere.



Prologue


The breeze caused the waist high seas of grass to move in waves. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining but not too brightly, big fluffy clouds blunting its power, the wind moving them slowly through the sky. Carter Kross whistled to himself as he stood “watering the grass” and admiring the day near where their ship had landed. A sudden explosion near the ship jolted him out of his reverie and he quickly tired to do his trousers back up, as a second explosion hit he gave up all pretense and simply cinched his belt tighter and ran towards the boarding ramp where he had left his macrobinoculers and comlink sitting . As he scanned the gently rolling hills beyond the landing site the comlink crackled and his brother’s voice came through.

“Carter! Start the ship!”

Carter quickly found his brother some 500 yards distant running down a hill there were several crude four wheeled vehicles trailing him by a few hundred yards. A strange looking hover tank behind them, but more concerning was several swoops that seemed to be gaining ground on him. Carter’s comlink crackled again.

“Start it now! Carter? Are you hearing me?”

Carter pulled the binoculars down and yelled up the ramp. “42 start the ship.”

He took one more look to see Declan opening some ground between himself and the swoops before another round from the hover tank exploded some hundred yards from the ship and then he turn and ran aboard the Valkyrie.

“42 why aren’t the engines warming up or the repulsors kicking in, I told you to start the ship. 42?”

The droids black head with it’s dull amber photoreceptors peeked around a corner.

“I could tell you, but you’re not going to like it.”

Running past him Carter headed down the corridor towards the cockpit, a small amount of fear growing in the pit of his stomach. “what did you do 42?”

“The ship won’t start, it’s depressed, as if it’s got anything to be depressed about. It doesn’t have to walk about all day without purpose and feeling useless. It has a job. What do I have?”

“Why is Val depressed? You talked to her again didn’t you? How many times do we have to tell you.”

“It’s not my fault she asked a question, I just answered it. Can’t blame me if she has a mood disorder. I just told her where we were.”

“I don’t have time for this. Go help Declan.”

He mumbled under his breath as he made his way back towards the boarding ramp. Carter pulled on his headset and began running through diagnostics and making preflight checks. He pulled up the Valkyrie‘s command interface and began typing, trying to sweet talk the computer that ran the YV-560 light freighter. He glanced out the cockpit’s window to see his brother getting closer to the ship with the swoops once again getting closer.

“Why aren’t you in the air yet?” came over his headset.

“We have a problem. Val’s depressed.”

“What why is Val depressed?” “42” they both said in unison.

“Tell me again why I listened to you about that droid big brother?”

“Because I’m the smart one Dex? What happened out there?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You know the fuel expenditure alone on this job is going to kill us? If you screwed this up, I told mom that we should have left you for dead when you were born.”

“Yeah well you’re just lucky that Mom and Dad wanted one of their kids to live.”

“Well I have no idea why they had you then.”

“They wanted a good looking one too.”

Just then a blast from the hover tank rocked the ship on its landing struts. “Stop shooting at my ship!” both yelled.

“How much time do you need?” Declan asked his brother.

“I don’t know. Four maybe five minutes. The regular stuff isn’t working.”

“I’ll hold them off then.”

Declan Kross began to slow down ten feet from the Valkyrie. He was drenched in sweat from running full out for the last twenty minutes or so. In the distance he could hear the swoops as their pieced together engines would rev up and then down. He approached the starboard side aft landing strut and doubled over trying to catch his breath. He straighten up and pushed a recessed button on one side of the weathered strut, a hatch opened and began lowering a modified E-web cannon. It jammed part way down, rising a bit then advancing down again before stopping.

“Not today, you big piece of..”

He pushed the button, kicked the strut and jumped up and whacked the cannon housing with a rock. 42 poked his head out of the boarding ramp.

“It’s no use we are all going to die, why does anyone even care?”

The cannon sparked and then continued downward and locked into place. Declan stepped behind it grabbed the handles and began to stitch fire in front of the swoops, catching two and blowing them up causing their riders to be thrown to the ground, down for the count. He caught one of the drivers on another right in the chest, throwing him off his swoop, killing him instantly. He hadn’t planned on killing anyone but sometimes it couldn’t be avoided. A minute later the swoops were down, either destroyed or riderless. The four wheeled vehicles were getting closer and the hovertank was getting dangerously close to being in range to hit the Valkyrie.

“Swoops are down but that tank is getting closer.”

“Not now little brother, almost there.”

Carter’s fingers were flying over the keyboard, he wasn’t even sure of half the things he was typing but it must have been the right things because the ship’s power plant began to kick in, the cockpit emergency lights were replaced by the a fully active cockpit and the sublight engines began to cycle up. He spun his chair flipping the switches for the repulsors and then moved to the pilot’s chair.

“42 tell Dex we are in business. Time to go.”

“Sure why do I have to do everything, I’ll probably get slagged just poking my head outside, but would anybody miss me?”

“GO 42 DEX NOW!”

Declan was pouring fire into the hill surrounding the ship trying to keep the locals at bay when the droid’s head popped out once again.

“Carter says it’s time to go. “

“About time.” He locked the cannon back into position, gave it a good kick while pressing the button and ran for the ramp just as the repulsors lifted the Valkyrie off the ground. He pushed the button retracting the ramp and ran past 42 yelling as he did.

“Get your rusty butt out of the way and get strapped in.”

“Now I have a rusty butt, as if I didn’t have enough to worry about. I should just stay here and get slagged.”

“Your choice and don’t talk to the ship.”

He ran to the cockpit settling into the co-pilot’s chair making a point not to make a big deal about his brother sitting in his spot.

“Angle the deflector shields.”

“Don’t tell me how to fly.”

“I’m not telling you how to fly little brother I’m asking you to make sure we aren’t killed by angry locals.”

“You know I’m beginning to see why Mom and Dad didn’t stop after they had you. You really are annoying.”

“Less wit and more listening if you want to get out of here.”

“I’m bringing the main cannon online, swing around and we can deal with that hovertank. What did you have to promise Val to get her to start the engines?”

“We don’t need to take out the tank we will be out of range in moments. I had to promise to get her cleaned and painted.”

“Nobody ever offers to get me cleaned or maybe even a nice oil bath.”

“Shut up 42” they said together again.

“Yeah and you are worried about the fuel expenditures but promise something like that." Declan said while flipping switches and angling the deflector shields as the ship turned towards space and escape.

“I had to promise something or she would have pouted all day and we would have been very dead. What happen to a nice easy recovery job?”

“Well the ruins weren’t so much ruins as they were that tribe’s temple and they didn’t take too kindly to me desecrating their holy place and stealing their sacred artifacts. At least I think that was what they were saying. I couldn’t tell because I don’t speak the language but they looked really mad.”

“So we didn’t get anything? Who gave us this job anyway?”

“Qibbo and I wouldn’t say we got nothing for it.” Declan said holding out a handful of deep green gem stones.

“Qibbo? You took a job from Qibbo the Hut? We will be lucky to get half of our fuel bill paid for this little brother.”

“Senor contacts looks like sector patrol. What could they want?”

“This is a quarantined planet but nobody ever listens to me when I talk, it’s like I don’t even exist.”

They look at each other and then out the viewport.

“Switch places with me, quick”

“I got this Dex, there is no time.”

“I’m the better pilot Carter.”

“Yeah you are right, here” they switched chairs quickly with Declan putting the Valkyrie into a complex series of maneuvers barely managing to outrun the sector patrol and pulling away from any mass shadow that would prevent them from jumping to hyperspace.

“We are clear, coordinates look good we can jump to hyperspace in three…two…one.” said Carter.

Declan hit the button and the Valkyrie slipped into hyperspace leaving everything behind.

 

Oh the SNARK! And Val & 42!
They just add to the nonstop banter!

Mara and Talon are included.

 

Kind of like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Big Trouble in Little China meet Star Wars! I loved the dynamic between these two brothers, and the mopey droid 42, who I am convinced is the one that is making the poor ship feel self-conscious. Actually, I love that the ship itself has a personality. A crazy team on a collision course with trouble. Don't know where you'll go with this, but it looks as if it will be a fun ride.